Washington DC days 3 & 4

Thanks for sticking with me as I attempt to share our wonderful trip to Washington DC.  I'm going to wrap up the last to days in this post.

*Come Saturday morning, everyone was feeling back to normal, thank goodness!  We left the hotel on time and headed to the Smithsonian's National Zoo.  This was a stop requested by Myah and Maysen.  We had such great weather so it was enjoyable seeing the animals.  We've been to other zoos, of course, but this one featured Baby Giant Pandas (pretty sure that's an oxymoron), Lions that were amazing to watch, and large beautiful elephants among many other things.  These three features, were our favorites for sure.  We purchased some of our few souvenirs at the zoo and the girls still talk about the pandas!

*We rode the Metro to Chinatown and ate at the Wok-N-Roll.  For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE Chinese food (and that HyVee Chinese is the best in Ames!).  That being said, I'm pretty sure this place had the best Sweet and Sour Chicken I have ever had (and I've had a lot!).  On a historical note, the restaurant is in the Mary Surrat's Boarding House where the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln took place...crazy, huh!?!

*Following lunch, we metroed our way to the Newseum, an interactive museum featuring journalism's finest moments.  The museum wasn't as great as some of us anticipated, but we got to see (and touch...shhh) part of the Berlin Wall....way cool.  It was Family Day that day so they had some crafts set up for the kids.  Myah and Maysen made some snowglobes and newspaper wreaths.

On Newseum balcony with Capitol in background

*We headed on over to the National Archives right before they were to pull the documents....Brandon got to see the Declaration of Independence.  Mylie needed to eat at that time, but luckily I had seen it on my last trip to DC.
*We ate at Union Station for supper....talk about a busy place.

*Since I had gotten sick on Friday and missed the monuments, my dad went with Myah, Maysen and myself to see the Martin Luther King and World War 2 memorials since these were both new since I had last been there.  They are both quite amazing.  Martin Luther King stands so strong and powerful.  The design of it is so amazing.  The World War 2 Memorial is breath taking and one could probably spend an entire day there alone.
*Brandon, the girls, and I flew out from DC earlier than the rest of the crew because we needed to get back to be able to drive to Ames, settle back into home and get to work the next morning.  Because of our early flight, it wasn't direct.  We had to connect in Memphis, which ended up being delayed 2 hours.  The same thing happened to Brandon and I when we connected in Memphis for our Honeymoon.....must say something about that airport.  Nonetheless, our girls were angels and entertained themselves in the airport and on the plane again.  I still can't believe they were so good on each of the flights.  They weren't even a little whiny or crabby on the flights home after being gone for 4 days.  I would definitely travel with them again.  Aren't they sweet??

We had such an amazing trip and my notes here can't recount all of it.  Most of all, many family memories were made.  We all bonded in new ways and it was amazing.

Happy Holidays to all of my faithful friends and readers!

Washington DC Day 2: The Capitol

We got started a little late on day 2 (about an hour to hour and a half behind schedule if I remember correctly).  We didn't have reservations anywhere, so it was ok.  We all knew that since the day before had gone so smoothly, something was bound to go wrong....

*We rode the metro to "the Mall" area.  For those of you not familiar with DC, this is not a shopping mall, but the National Mall of monuments and government buildings.  Once we got off the metro, Maysen threw up.  Poor girl.  Luckily for all of us, she didn't get any on herself.  She rode/slept in the front of the double stroller for most of the rest of the day.
*We walked past the Library of Congress buildings, Supreme Court, Hart Senate Building (where Cole works), and saw Cole's apartment.

*Cole gave us a special tour of the Capitol building.  Because he is an employee, he was able to take us places that people on the regular tour don't get to see.  Upon entering the building, all food and drink had to be discarded.  That included the applesauce, fruit snacks, and airheads I had in my bag for my girls.  I honestly forgot they were in there otherwise I would have left them at Cole's apartment.
*The tour began with us watching a short film called "E Pluribus Unum," which means "Out of Many, One."  It is the phrase that appears on the Seal of the United States.  It is very motivating and empowering and should give every American pride in their country.
*Cole gave a spectacular tour of the Capitol.  I am so proud of him and was very impressed with all of the knowledge he had about the Capitol building.

 

 

 

 

*A little ways into the tour, I began to not feel so well.  I thought Maysen had gotten sick from the speed and motion of the metro.  Now, I was convinced that the two of us (and luckily just the two of us!) had caught some bug.  I turned green (my dad told me so) but still plugged through the rest of the tour.  The Capitol building is so amazing and I still feel bad that I got sick there.  NOTE: my sister said (something like this) to me later "being a mom looks like a lot of work....you can't ever really get sick, can you, because you still have to take care of your kids."  She's due with her first baby in March :)
*We took a late lunch (2:30), as did about half of the tourists and locals.  We wanted to try "Good Stuff," but ended up at Pour House, which had average food.  I was feeling better (for the time being), but Maysen fell asleep right on the table.
*My dad and I took the three kids back to the hotel so we could sleep off our germs.  The rest of our crew toured the monuments at this time.  It's a bummer that we were sick, but the monuments wouldn't have meant anything to the girls, I have already seen them, and so it actually worked out well so that Brandon could see those glorious tributes without being distracted by the girls.  Sometimes things go "bad" for a reason.  It all worked out.

White House

Brandon in front of white house

Washington Monument

 WWII Memorial

Lincoln Monument

 Martin Luther King Jr. Monument

*Everyone was feeling much better after a nap so Papa took the girls swimming at the hotel pool (Myah's favorite part of the trip).

Thanks for sticking with me and for checking back as I try to catalog our trip.  It was so wonderful and of the three full days we were there, this was the best day for us to be sick if it was going to happen.  Another great day overall.  Days 3 and 4 are coming soon!

Our Trip to Washington DC--Day 1

My parents graciously flew 9 of us (my sister, her husband, my mom, my dad, brandon, myah, maysen, mylie, and myself) out to Washington DC for the Thanksgiving holiday.  My brother is currently living out there, so we were ultimately visiting him and in addition, we got to see our Nation's Capital.  This was my third trip to DC and it was just as beautiful as I remember.  For my American History teacher of a husband, however, it was his first trip.  In the two months leading up to the trip, I will admit that I was a little nervous about flying (on a holiday, nonetheless) with three kids 4 and under.  My worries were worthless because they did great....that's an understatement....they did perfectly!  Here's a "Cliffs-note" version of our first day.

*Alarm clock goes off at 4:30 am.  I had showered the night before so I could simply get dressed and get the kids up and dressed.  Myah and Maysen were no problem as they had been counting down the days to the trip since the day we booked the tickets (end of September).  Mylie was a little confused as to what was going on.  If I was holding her, she was fine, but if I wasn't, then she wasn't very happy about being woken up at such an early hour.
*At 4:45, I discover that I have a plugged duct on the left side (for those of you readers who don't breastfeed, it has something to do with that--I'm trying to be a little discreet so I don't offend anyone).  I put a hot rice sock on for the ride to Des Moines so that when it's time to feed Mylie she will be able to take care of the situation.
*5:00--leave house and drive to Des Moines airport.  Mylie screams the whole way there because 1.  It's dark  2.  It's early, and 3.  She's hungry.  Again, for those of you who are familiar with breastfeeding, you know that hearing your baby cry (or simply seeing your baby for that matter) can trigger 'let down.'  Therefore, I have a plugged duct, I'm applying heat and pressure to it AND my baby is screaming.......you bet I had some leaking going on.
*5:45--Arrive at airport.  Breeze through security.  Feed Mylie and all issues are taken care of!
*7:10--plane departs from Des Moines airport and we experience a perfect flight.  There were other people's children having meltdowns, but that didn't bother me because I was just glad that none of mine were crying, puking, etc.  We had no control over the times of our flights, but they all seemed to jive well with Mylie's eating and sleeping schedule.  I cannot say enough times how well our girls did--we would not think twice about taking them on another trip!  Simply amazing.
*We arrived in DC sometime around 10:30 (they are one hour ahead of Iowa). Cole meets us at the airport--lookin' good I must say! We checked into our hotel (DoubleTree by Hilton--Crystal City).  We had a great view of the Pentagon as well as the skyline of DC.

*Thanksgiving dinner was at Joe Theisman's.  Brandon was craving the 'traditional' Thanksgiving meal, which he got there.  I shared some potato skins with my mom.  They were delicious!  Maysen enjoyed these chicken strips.

*The plan was to spend the day at Arlington National Cemetery.  We got a crash course for the Metro (our second most form of transportation for the trip--walking would be the first).  FYI--the Metro ('Train') was Maysen's favorite part of the trip.
*To our surprise (or maybe demise), the 'Tourmobile' has been discontinued at Arlington so we were in for more walking than planned.  Since it was day 1, we tackled it well.  We got to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, JFK Eternal Flame Gravesite, Robert E. Lee Arlington House and then we walked (and walked, and walked) to the Iwo Gima Marine Corps Memorial.

*The temperatures were in the upper 50s so it was a beautiful day outside.
*When we got back to the hotel, we were pretty hungry.  We had failed to think ahead on the fact that most places wouldn't be open for supper since it was Thanksgiving day after all.  We knew none of the adults would starve, but we were ready to pool together some granola bars, peanuts and pretzels from the airplane for the little girls.  Luckily, for us, the hotel 'SkyDome Restaurant' dropped it's dress code for the night.  You can't wear any type of sports clothing, tennis shoes or shorts to this place, but for that night only, they changed the policy.  You might have had to be there to really understand how underdressed some of us were, but believe me, it was hilarious.  Brandon had on gym shorts and a long-sleeved shirt he had worn that day.  I had flip-flops and a lounge outfit on.  We stepped out of the elevator and the lights were dimmed and flashing in true night-club fashion.  It's been way too long since I've been around that type of scene and the only thing we could do was laugh and be glad that no one there knew us.
*Many laughs were shared and great memories were made by the 10 of us.  We will cherish this trip for years to come.....and this only recaps the first day.  Stay tuned for day 2.....I'll get around to it eventually!!

For better pictures, hop on over to Words of Williams where Kelsey and Eric are recapping our trip as well.