Washington DC Trip 2012

So guess what? We got to go on TWO vacations this summer! The Disney trip for Jason's work was completely out of the blue, but we had a week of vacation planned for mid-August too! So we decided to head back to Washington DC and do all the things we missed the last time we went (although, I'm SHOCKED at all we were able to accomplish last time in 3 days - this time we had 7 days plus an extra person... and a half. Hey, that kinda makes sense, right?) 

This isn't going to be a word-heavy post (like all my Disney recaps) - just highlights. 

You're welcome. :)

White House

Jack on the Metro

had to go to the zoo again!

my sweet boys looking at the big lion

Arlington National Cemetery - JFK Eternal Flame

changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider

amazing view of downtown DC

family shot at Arlington

AIRPLANES!!

Washington Monument

Oh, this picture. So we just HAD to go to Serendipity 3 to have frozen hot chocolate! It was a MUST!! Jason got the original and I got the oreo (these are the REGULAR sizes, people! not the big ones!) We were all excited about giving some to Jack because he's all about ice cream. So Jason took this picture (Jack is more interested in my lactaid pills than being photographed), and I kid you not, 5 seconds later, while I lean down to put the pills back in my purse, Jack decides we're not being fast enough with the whole ice cream thing and yanks the giant goblet into our laps!! Total chaos ensued. 

Luckily, Jason kept a cool head while I basically gave up on life - all is lost!! Jack's clothes are ruined! Mine are ruined! Let's go HOOOOME!!! Really, it wasn't so bad, and with a few (thousand) napkins and some washcloths, we were as good as new not as sticky. LUCKILY, only about 1/3 of the frozen hot chocolate landed on us, so I was able to enjoy the rest while Jack sat in his stroller. Sorry bud, keep your grabby hands away from mommy's ice cream.

on our way to Mt. Vernon

Mount Vernon

George and Martha Washington's tombs

sweet, happy boy watching the animals

Mt. Vernon Inn - yummy restaurant!

Jefferson Memorial

the back of the Jefferson

FDR Memorial

MLK Jr. Memorial

the Capitol

Capitol tour

Other places we went that I didn't get pictures of: the Holocaust Museum, the Pentagon, the memorial at the Pentagon, several restaurants in Chinatown, and I'm sure there are other places I'm not thinking of.

popsicle!!

We celebrated my 26th birthday while we were in DC, and while I really don't remember what else we did on that specific day, I DO know that we went to Georgetown Cupcake and I got a very yummy birthday cupcake!

By the time we left, we were all totally pooped!! 

(We walked 12 MILES on our first day and 7-8 every other day! Close to 50 MILES total!!)

Had a blast, but happy to be home for a while! :)

Touchdown and other fun words

This kid cracks me up. :) Here he is showing us how he does TOUCHDOWN! Then saying some serious gibberish, eating goldfish, and waving bye.

(go to youtube to see the videos larger)

Then he actually SAYS touchdown (ta-da!), then car, dog, and cat!

He's growing up so fast!

Disney World - Day 6 (FINAL Update)

We got a late start this morning (Friday, July 19th), thank GOODNESS!! We headed to Epcot around 11 and got a few souveniers then ate brunch at a French cafe (ham and cheese quiche and a chocolate croissant). After walking around a little more, we went back to the Three Caballeros ride with Jack and he loved it!! 

Then we went to Living with the Land and Jack fell asleep on Daddy. :) We were hoping to do Nemo when he was awake, but we went ahead with him sound asleep. We thought we wanted to do Ellen's Energy Adventure, but Mommy (as in, me) vetoed it when they said it lasted 45 minutes. :)

Back to the room we went for a little down time. Here's our MESS of a room. 

Seriously, disaster area.

Even though we were still exhausted, we knew we wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom, so we took the bus for our last evening at the parks. When we got there, Jason said we should go straight to the theater to see if we could meet Mickey. Turns out, it was only a 15 minute wait!! We got to meet Mickey and Minnie, and get autographs and pictures! So fun!!

 

I HAD to get a Dole Whip while we were there, and it was really yummy! I got the swirl which had pineapple juice, but it would have been just as good (or better) with just the pineapple ice cream. Yum!! 

We rode Pirates again then Jack passed out and we got popcorn. We walked around for a little longer, but when we realized that Peter Pan was an hour wait, we knew there wasn't much else we wanted to do. So we rode the monorail back to Epcot, and Jack kept sleeping!

We had every intention of calling it a night, but we decided to let Jack ride the Donald Duck ride again since he got so excited about it last time. We stopped in "Club Cool" and they had an assortment of cokes you could try from other countries - like at the Coke Museum! (I was shocked this was free!) 

We rode the duck ride again and he loved it again, stopped at a food cart and got BBQ stuffed bread and a strawberry oolong tea slush and ate it on our way back around the countries. Jason stopped at the crepes cart and got an ice cream crepe! Then he stopped in at the French cafe and got a ham and cheese croissant and two apple turnovers (we waited until we got back up to the room for those - um, they were the most amazing apple turnovers I've ever had. Ever.)

Whew!! I clocked over 8 miles on my pedometer today! Add that to the 7 from the day before, and about 5 from the previous days, and sheesh!! That's a LOTTA walking! (25+ miles??) We came back and packed (bleh), then hit the sack. 

The next day we headed back to Knoxville, then drove home. Man, what an AMAZINGLY fun trip! But wow, were we exhausted!!

From a Turtle to a Parrot

We've been in and out of town lately and have missed several Sundays in a row at church, so when I took Jack to his Sunday school class two days ago, they informed me that he was moved up to the next class (the Parrots).

Okay, mothers out there. I am not super crazy about all this, but I PANICKED!! What?! But we love our teachers! We love our room! We're comfortable there! I NEED WARNING, PEOPLE!

Anyway, so I head all the way down the hall to a new classroom with new teachers and several kiddos I didn't recognize off the bat. And this is the scene when I walk in...

...Well, let me back up. First I'll set the scene of the other classroom: 6-8 little ones crawling all over the large room, playing with toys, swinging in swings, some happy, some crying, not chaos, but not completely calm either.

Now, the new classroom. I walk in and 5-6 precious little ones are quietly sitting down in tiny little chairs at a tiny little table, happily (and did I mention quietly?) eating cheerios. The first thought that goes through my head is "My kid is not going to sit still and each cheerios at a tiny table!"

But oh, how I was wrong! He was THRILLED to sit at the table and eat cheerios. He laughed and giggled when I set him down in the tiny chair! I cannot get the precious image out of my head, when I was walking out of that room, to see my grown up little man doing as the other big kids were doing.

Toooooo much!!!