Monday, May 21, 2012

Washington DC Weekend


 This weekend we traveled to Washington DC for the memorial of a family member.  I'm really glad were able to be there to remember and celebrate his life as well as give some big hugs to people we don't see often enough.  It's a pretty short/easy drive to DC - we need to remember that and make the trip more often.  

We decided to get an affordable hotel room and stay through Sunday because (1) Toddlers and Pregnant Ladies need lots of breaks and (2) We hoped to hit up a museum or two the next day.  Leo <3s hotel rooms.  His favorite things include "talking" on the phone (after I've disconnected it), watching TV in bed, and jumping (boinking, he calls it, which just sounds so inappropriate) on the bed.  Sounds like a good time to me.

The memorial was on Saturday, then Leo and I both needed a nap.  After we rested we went to the home of an old friend for dinner.  We woke up early on Sunday and we were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather.



We began the day with a little walk and a coffee shop breakfast.  I think Leo feels pretty special when we have breakfast at a coffee shop. It's the perfect combination of the special-ness of going out without the formality of a long restaurant experience.  Plus there was honey in his yogurt and granola.  Best morning ever.


From breakfast we headed right for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  I wasn't really convinced he was old enough to appreciate it (at a freshly minted 2 years old) - but from the moment we walked in and there were full sized planes hanging from the ceiling he was enthralled.


There were enough hands-on exhibits to keep his interest.  He loves airplanes and repeated over and over, "Leo ride in an airplane with Abi" or "Abi works on an airplane."  My mother is a flight attendant so he naturally associates planes with her.  It was also the first time we'd really talked to him very much about space and planets - which he was pretty into.  He would race from exhibit to exhibit, study each one for a few minutes and then exclaim, "Next one airplane!"  I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it.


 After two hours we headed back to the car - we wanted to push his nap back a couple hours and hopefully also hit the Museum of Natural History (Dinos!), grab some lunch and hit the road.  We strapped him into his carseat and asked him if wanted to eat first or go to another museum first and he fell asleep mid-sentence.  Like dead asleep.  His mouth was still open.  So, uh, I guess that was the end of our DC adventure.  It was probably for the best because soon after I had one of those "not sure why I'm crying but I can't stop" moments - so I think it's safe to say I was pretty tired also.

jb and I stopped by our favorite restaurant on our way out of town to grab some take-out, so we were pretty happy.  About halfway back to Philly, Leo woke up and the first thing he said was, "Next one airplane, please."

6 comments:

  1. so cute! I love following along with the adventures of your family!

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  2. He had such a good time it was worth the swollen feet!

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  3. Carolyn Chernoff5/24/2012

    Raven likes to demand NAKED JUMP UP AND DOWN ON BED! and also MAMA NAKED JUMP UP AND DOWN ON BED. Dang, these kids know how to party.

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  4. It's true. They are pretty good at the party thing ;)

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  5. The hotel part looks like the most fun to me! I have a thing for hotels but rarely get to stay in them. We stayed in a bad one with Sebastian when we lost our power one day but that hardly counts. That picture of Leo with the phone is perfection. Does he get the novelty of sleeping in a new place?

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  6. Yes! I am a big hotel fan, too. I'm always torn between going out and exploring and just enjoying the room. If there's a pool, forget about it!

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