Washington DC came and went with a whirlwind of activities. We got up and were all ready to go and check out everything DC had to offer...dismissing only a few tiny details. (1) There is very little parking to be had anywhere near your destination. (2) Even without the humidity it was hot. I mean hot, hot! (3) I have two little ones who are just now transitioning from two naps to one...must I go any further with this one? Okay, I will. Given all the best of circumstances here's what we had planned. We wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, The Museum of Natural History, The Space and Aviation Museum, WWII Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Iwa Jima Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and of course the White House...not in that particular order of course.However, my fingers get tired just typing it all out and my brain truly hurts just rethinking about it because remember, I said under the BEST of circumstances. = ) Now let me tell you what really happened.
The crew was once again loaded up...this time their tummies were full and I was loaded up on snacks for then (we're already doing better than yesterday) It did take forever, but we finally found a decent parking spot. However, I think someone forgot to tell us how far apart everything was and how dog-gone rude people were about their pictures. I think it's safe to say this country has a problem with 'having a sense of entitlement'. Mommy Dearest over here had to step in more than a couple of times so that my babies didn't get run over/taken advantage of/pushed aside...the nerve!!!! I have never wanted to appropriately use the phrase 'oh no you di'en!' more in my entire life! Anyhow, despite all the walking...sweating...baby melt downs...complaining (by the 2:30 hour) we managed to see everything except the Arlington Cemetery, Iwa Jima and the Museums of course (those were for the afternoon).
We decided to take a break and get checked into our hotel . We thought we were checking into a Comfort Inn, but turns out it was more of a Mystery Inn. The mystery was...if you find it you can stay! There directions were so wrong and our GPS kept going out. The children had not eaten and were all super fun by this point. After about an hour of this we decided to just go on the museum come back with a fresh set of eyes, besides the babies had gotten a good hour nap in. So, we happened upon a GREAT parking spot and went on our merry ways to the Natural Science Museum. This kids and I were all in heaven! The boys and I loved the dinosaurs! Tori loved the mammals and the oceans life. It was all just so fascinating. We could have spent all day there. Of course we chose to skip the entire evolution section. The children chose their souvenirs carefully, not to spend all their money.
Then we headed to the Air and Space museum. This wasn't so much my cup of tea, but ALL of my boys thought they had died and gone to heaven! It was so precious to watch their excitement.
Unfortunately it was at this point where things began to literally unravel. Mike took Thing 1 aka Kaitlyn outside because she decided she wanted to scream uncontrollably. I was trying to help the big kids spend their money wisely all while Thing 2 aka Miss Addeline had emptied an entire shelve of toys behind me. So I quickly and quietly told the big kids to take their places in lines while I picked up all the toys...cue Addeline. As soon as I turned her stroller away from those toys she transformed herself into a screaming bucking bronco. I was sweating profusely and could not move us fast enough out of that store. FINALLY everything was paid for and we were out and there I found a matching display of animal behavior. The only difference was Mike was handling it much better than I was. He said, 'well she wouldn't stop crying so I've been putting her in front of displays taking pictures.' He said it so matter of fact, I thought I'd die laughing!!
Thankfully everyone made it out alive, but we have never walked so fast. We were getting the 'I'm so sorry' looks. Just on a side note...I hate those looks, because everybody's children pitches those kinds of fits sometimes! Anyway, so after we made it back to our car AND found the hotel with ease we put those little turkeys to bed as fast as we could bathe and dress them! The rest of us enjoyed a pizza while just hanging out and laughing about the craziness of our day. I'm thankful that inspite of all the hiccups in our day we were still able to sit and laugh about it. I definitely think we should come back to DC. We need more than one day to take it all in. I'm thinking fall might be a better time though = )
No comments:
Post a Comment