playing tourist in our nation's capitol

Jessica and I were bound and determined to do something together for our birthday this year.  We tossed around some ideas, but the one that got us excited was a touristy trip to Washington, D.C.  The hubs and I have wanted to play tourist, see all the monuments and museums, and Jessica and Tim were up for the trip!  We drove to their house on Friday, leaving the kids in the capable hands of Memaw and PawPaw.

Our first stop (after silly photos of "holding up" the Washington Monument") was the World War II Memorial.  The hubs and I have not seen it before, and it was very beautiful and incredibly quiet.

The WWII Memorial is in a direct line with the Lincoln Memorial, and the WWII Memorial was getting some construction work finished.  I saw this construction vehicle rolling across the water and it cracked me up!

We strolled down path to the Lincoln Memorial, then decided to move to the Reflecting Pool.  

There was music blasting from the steps, some frats playing hackeysack (seriously?), and two people dressed up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse in full costume.  We also saw some German soldiers in full uniform taking a tour.  I had forgotten what an incredible mix of people visit Washington, DC.

Next to the Lincoln Memorial was the Korean War Memorial.  None of us had seen it before, and it was very moving, and somewhat eerie, because the statutes were so realistic.  

The granite walls surrounding the memorial were etched with soldiers' likenesses.  I loved how the statutes were reflected in the walls.

Next we went to the Holocaust Museum.  There's no photography allowed, and unlike the unsavory folks taking selfies at the entrance, I thought it in bad taste to be hamming it up for photos outside of the museum. I'll be honest - the Holocaust Museum is amazing and very informative, but it also emotionally draining.  

We went to lunch at the White Apron, a fantastic sandwich shop the hubs found online.  It was so good!  And we were all starving and needed a chance to sit down and relax.  We couldn't have asked for better weather, and Jessica's FitBit was working overtime.  She calculated that for the entire trip, we walked 7.5 miles!

We had planned to go to the American History Museum, but when we figured out we were walking down Pennsylvania Avenue and were only a few blocks from the White House, we decided to see the White House instead.  I've never seen the White House in person before!

We pulled off a great birthday tourist visit to DC!  After we got back to the van, and all piled our achy bodies in, we headed back to Jessica and Tim's house.  We were expected some VIP people to show up - Garrett and his girlfriend, all dressed up fancy for their homecoming dance!  How cute are these two? 

I'm thinking that Jessica and I need to make this an annual thing - every year we find a different city to discover, or in this case, re-discover.  Husbands allowed, but no kids! Then we get to stay up late and sleep in!  Where to next year, Jessica?

yinzered out

I've felt incredibly ridiculously busy for the last two weeks.  Did I mention I'm Britton's Daisy troop's leader now?  And I found out today that I've got a meeting at 7:30 pm on Tuesday night, which will be a nice ending to the two parent-teacher conferences I have to go to at 5:00 pm.  It's stuff like that.  

And I've completed some great sewing projects, none of which I can share because they are either Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, or Halloween costumes (I made one for each kid this year).  And we did our Christmas card photo, and again, it's too early to share it.

See this photo below?  That's life right now!  The hubs is giving a thumbs up to his clay turd, Barrett is trying to reach something he shouldn't have (and will eat), Britton is being sweet as sunshine, I'm behind the camera and laughing at the clay turd, and no doubt all those sandwich bags on the table means we're out and no one put them on the grocery list.  

But seriously folks, have you tried this Model Magic clay?  Fantastic!  

So by last night, the hubs wanted a break from it all.  And he also badly wanted to go to a hockey game.  He found good tickets and invited his dad to go, which is fine by me.  I have a phobia of the puck hitting me in the head (I know, I know, it makes no logical sense), and with Memaw here the kids would be entertained.  A win win!  The hubs and PawPaw had a great time (Penguins won!) and brought back some loot for the kids.  

Did you know that people from Pittsburgh are called "Yinzers"?  It comes from the slang of "yinz" as in, "Yinz going to the Steelers game?"  My Virginia background would say it as "Are you guys going to the Steelers game?"  But there's also "youz guys" (New York or Jersey) and "yunz" (hillbilly and/or South).  I admit, when I hear someone start off a question with "Yinz..." my toes curl.  The word is downright abrasive to my ears.  So when Britton got into her Steelers shirt, and Barrett put on his Penguins sweater and sweatpants, and then stole Britton's hockey stick, all I could hear was "YINZ."

I've yinzed my kids.  Next stop is a big plate of potato perogies covered in french fries (it is standard for salads to come with french fries on them) and converting to Catholicism.

Except.... how sweet do these kids look in their black and gold?  Honestly, have you seen cuter yinzers?  Somehow a little of those three polluted rivers in the confluence seeped into our souls and  

family photo overload time

I saw a special deal on Facebook - a 30 minute mini session with a local photographer (Kelly Searle Photography), at the park across the street from our neighborhood.  For a fraction of what I've paid in the past, we got as many photos as we could take, plus we got all printing rights for every single photo.  No requirements to buy anything, and I can print them out myself!  And seeing as we haven't had a family photo in over a year, at least not since our last Christmas card session, I figured it was high time to get some family portraits.  Here are my favorites...

 

barrett: 17 months old

That happy boy is now 17 months old!  Not two seconds before I started taking his monthly picture, the hubs asked me if I knew the sign said "14 months old." Ummmmm.....no, no I didn't.  And I didn't have time to go reprint, so that "14" is now covered up with a mailing label, and I wrote in "17."  Sneaky sneaky!

Barrett got his first real correction today, and man, he did not like it one bit!  Barrett was pushing the little chair from their little chair and table set over, so that it would fall back onto the floor.  I told him "no," but he did it again.  I said "no" again, and somehow I expected some different action on his part.  Amateur hour over here!  Of course he kept on.  So I got down on his level, repeated "no" and added "stop," then took the chair to the dining room.  Oh, that poor lip got pushed out so far it nearly got stuck!  I'm not a big stickler on kids snapping to my orders, but on the other hand, I don't want to stand over Barrett saying "no" 500 times without consequences.   

And yep, as you can see, he got over it. He always does.  Barrett had an ear infection last week, and a marathon vomiting session this weekend (after he throws up once, he keeps going), but he just snuggled into me and took the day a little easier.  The hubs and I always say that he wants to be good, and it's the truth.  And while some things he does are testing and annoying, like dumping any and every toy basket, he's doing it because (1) that basket had it coming, (2) how else do you find out what's in the basket?  He's exploring his world, and he's figuring out more and more every day.  Barrett's disposition, his "default setting," is to be happy.  

Likes:  reading books before bed, being outdoors at all times, running after Britton, coloring, dancing to music

Dislikes:  getting his diaper changed

loving fall: to the pumpkin patch we go

I officially declare that it is fall around these parts!  We ushered in the fall weather at Britton's soccer practice on Saturday morning, when the wind picked up, the rain came in sideways, and then not five minutes later the sun peaked out.  Fall in Pennsylvania tends to be completely random!  And while the hubs and I can burn Yankee Candle's "Mountain Lodge" candle all day, have a never-ending pot of apple cider on the stove, and sprinkle cinnamon and pumpkin puree all over the kids, nothing says "FALL" like a visit to the pumpkin patch.  Plus, well, we needed some pumpkins.

Of course, the minute we got there it started getting really windy.  Memaw and I knew what was up, so everyone stayed in the car while the rain poured, then we all lumbered out five minutes later.  Britton wanted to get pumpkins first, and we were good with picking out from the pile.  The idea of going into the field to pick our own, knee-deep in mud, was not appealing!  

There is a barn with pigs, baby chickens, and donkeys, and I could only stand being in there for about two minutes.  The ammonia smell was overwhelming!  But these pigs were too cute, so I held my breath and got a picture.

Then it was hayride time!  Barrett stayed with Memaw and PawPaw.  We sold Memaw and PawPaw's golf cart to the owner of the farm about two years ago, and we spotted it on the way in, parked in the driveway.  I think PawPaw just wanted to see the golf cart again!  So the hubs, Britton, and I got onto the hay bales, while PawPaw hunted down the golf cart.  

Then on the way back to the main area of the pumpkin patch, we ran into the farm cat.  Britton loves cats, and they love her right back.  This cat was all about letting Britton pet her, but the minute I got a hand in there she hissed.  She must have sensed that I'm not a big cat person!

Then Barrett decided to have a photo shoot, LL Bean-style.  The hat is from Aunt Jessica!

We grabbed some hot apple cider and decided to head home.  Everyone was freezing cold!

Our bounty!  I'm waiting to carve the pumpkins into jack o'lanterns until we're closer to Halloween.  One warm day could send them into meltdown!

62 months old

I wish I woke up with hair like that.  Check out that volume, that shine, that style.  On to the 62-month-old....Britton has completed her first month of kindergarten!  Britton is having a blast, and since it's a small class of only 14 kids, she's getting a lot of individual attention.  This week they are learning about 2-D and 3-D shapes, last week it was abstract art, and before that it was music.  Suffice it to say, she is doing great at school and really enjoying herself.

And along with getting older, she's now getting more independent and sassy.  Britton desperately wants to do things on her own, but we're not there yet.  I'll let her wander on her own in the supermarket, or walk ahead of us in the neighborhood.  Baby steps (for mommy)!

Britton's newest toy is Barrett.  And this newfound interest coincides with Barrett exploring everything in the house.  So while Britton is trying to convince Barrett to play in a couch fort with her, Barrett has other plans (involving dumping the dog food and running like a banshee).  But then he turns around, and wants no one else but her.  These two are just ridiculous!

Likes: soccer, reading her "Dick and Jane" books all by herself, the new "Dora and Friends" television show, chicken and waffles (together)

Dislikes:  waking up with the dark mornings (when does the time change?), she's decided she now dislikes all milk except chocolate milk