A Weekend in Washington D.C.

Todd signed up to run with his firm in the Lawyers Have a Heart 10K, this past weekend. Which meant we would be making the drive up north.  It was nice to get away from home and the normalcy we are use to. We were up bright and early(too early) on Saturday morning.  The run was in Georgetown along the waterfront.  The kids and I enjoyed playing and exploring for the first part of the run.

Here they are not getting wet(eye roll).  It was about 8am and still a little chilly for wet clothes.  They blamed me for not bringing their suits.  I guess I should have known.

 We lined the street to cheer the runners and wait for Dad.  He ran over to the side to give high fives to his biggest fans!

 Then he ran through the fountain with them. They were all dripping by the time we left.  I like Georgetown except for the small problem of WAY too many people!

 Here Aaron is cleaning up the place.  He pulled this bottle out of a flower bed and was pretty pleased with himself.

After Breakfast we all laid down for a quick rest.  Then it was off to the Metro. Finally the moment Aaron had been waiting for, He was so excited!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo.  It was hot and by the time we walked from the metro station to the zoo the kids were in need of something cool.  Thank goodness for misters and dippin' dots!  What a great idea to have these around the zoo, it sure was needed.

Walking back to the metro required another cool treat.

The next day we went to the Natural History Museum. We have been here two other times, but it was so rushed that we just wanted to take our time.

It was fun to watch Claire go through the museum.  She wanted to read everything, and felt very rushed by us.

For lunch Dad took us to Nando's Peri Peri, for a South African style lunch.  This was probably my favorite part of the trip(aside from being with my husband).

We finished the D.C. Experience with the air and space museum.  Another favorite of mine.

Here is everyone with the Spirit of St. Louis! I'll go ahead and risk sounding stupid to admit that I didn't know these old planes were still around.

I had promised the girls I would take them to The American Girl store. They were so excited.  They each got their doll's ears pierced.  For 20$ the ladies behind Olivia and Claire would have braided the doll's hair. Really!?  Luckily I am quite the braider of hair myself and told the girls I would style up the doll's at home for frEEEEE!

It is always good to see Todd. This weekend was exhausting though.  I am fearful of actually living in a place like this that is go, go, go, all the time. True there is so much to do, but when your constantly watching the kids trying to keep everyone together, and out of the way of other people. It becomes more stress than fun.  Driving home, I relaxed  when I hit the farms. It was getting dark, the sky was still pink and the fireflies were dancing. It was so beautiful. It's good to be back!

Weeks 2 and 3

Thanks to Memorial day week two went by very quickly.  Thankfully too because I was feeling off this week.  Just out of energy, and a little low on patience.  This is also the week Ben decided he was ready to give the toilet a try.  He just started to tell me that he had to go. He was spot on the first two days, having one accident with the exception of No.2. Which really I can't call an accident because he told me he had to go, he was just afraid and wanted his diaper back on.  His interest has faded a little bit, and that's okay. I know he's got the idea and we'll be there soon enough.  He is now in pull ups and he sometimes tells me.  He prefers to go standing up like big brother.  It's really pretty funny since he is just slightly too short.  He is in there up on his tippy toes, with his little butt cheeks clenched, peeing mostly on the floor!



On Friday Todd got home late after the kids were already in bed.  They were sad not to see him that night but WAY too tired to wait up.  I quite liked it this way.  I had him all to myself.  This is beginning to be the pattern too. All six of us fighting over Dad. Two days is not enough time.

On Saturday the girls got their Gymnastics award for a full year of participation.  They were over the moon excited about this! I am very proud of them.

Claire

Olivia

Paige

The weekend was over before we knew it!  This week has been really busy with school activities.  Field day to be exact.  Claire and Paige had their activities on Monday. I took the boys and they had a great time, particularly Aaron who joined into nearly every activity.

Paige with her class mate

 Claire with her fantastic teacher, Mrs. Wood

Hopping to it!

Ben my photog I have about 30 pictures of the grass!

Aaron jumping right in!

It was a really fun day and they both napped really well.  The next day we went back to school for Olivia's field day. I wasn't planning on staying long, actually I expected it might be canceled because it was cold and the sky was looking dark. However they had planned to continue rain or shine.

Olivia with Finley and Christina

Madison and Aaron getting in 

I told Aaron he wouldn't be getting wet but he joined in where he could.

Then it began to rain.  I had two umbrella's in the car this one has about 8 kids underneath.

Mrs. Strickler was a real go-getter

Not sure if it was my morning in the rain, but I started coming down with a cold yesterday.  :(  I felt pretty miserable. Thankfully today is a little better.  I had a sitter watch the boys so I could run an errand and get a little cleaning done.  HEAVEN, let me tell you. I am also indulging on the sitter again this evening to have dinner with a friend. Just a little time away helps SO much.

Then what do you know?  Tomorrow is Friday!!!