Time for the ZOO!

Soooo - Sunday started off a little slowly.  As soon as we headed off to the subway station to take a trip to the zoo, Doug realized that one of our tires on the stroller was flat.  What to do - we are in the middle of a big city :)  We asked a nice gentleman where a gas station and a bike shop were and eventually decided to head in the direction of the gas station to pump up the tires.

On a side note, the subway station we were headed to was closed for maintenance....More on that in a few minutes.

Probably 20 minutes of walking allowed us to find a gas station where Doug and my dad emptied one tire and filled up all three.  ALL BETTER!!!!  They lasted the rest of the Washington portion of our trip.....Thank goodness, because we were in for a long walking day!

Since the Subway was closed, we decided to walk to the zoo......What we thought was probably 2 miles turned into probably three and lots of that portion was up hill.  Thanks Auntie Pookie for pushing Charlie in the stroller :)  Charlie eventually fell asleep on the way with his head leaning up against the bar in front of him.

Once we arrived at the zoo, we made a pit stop at Starbucks and 7-11 to refuel.  After we rested for a little bit, we headed in!  Charlie eventually woke up in time to see the Panda and other animals.  It was a good zoo - not the best I've been to, but it was FREE!  Which obviously makes it a good zoo :)  The only bad part is that it is built on a hill.  So we slowly made our way all the way down to the bottom, and when we were ready to head home, we had to walk all the way back up (roughly 15 minutes), just to start our trek home.

We had a good day at the zoo and got some good exercise!!!!

Momma - there's a panda right there!!!

What is he eating????

Charlie taking his cue from the Panda and eating!

Is the elephant real????

On Momma's shoulders.  Notice how I'm holding his hands....If I don't, he pulls my hair and he can pull hard!

Here is a short video of the walk to the zoo!

Washington, DC

Doug and I were in Washington for a 1.5 day blitz back in the fall of 2009 before heading down to Williamsburg for a week.  To say that there was tons that we didn't see was an understatement.  This time we spent 6 days in Washington, and we still didn't make it to all of the 'free' museums :)  We met my parents and two sisters down there and thanks to hotwire, had a fantastic (and very affordable) hotel 3 blocks from the Whitehouse.

Charlie did so well with the exception of one night when we couldn't get him back to sleep and he ended up waking Auntie Pookie and keeping us all awake for quite some time.  He slept every morning and afternoon in his stroller - usually while we were walking to and from the museums.  The best part was that his nap in the morning started while we were walking, but lasted well into the first museum we were visiting.  He ate like a pro at the restaurants.....making a little mess on the floor, but never refusing food - unless there was something better on the table that he saw.

Ok - so enough writing.  Here are some pictures and some stories to go along with them.  I'm going to use the blog as a diary so that I don't forget important moments or funny stories along the way.

Our first stop on Friday was the Museum of Nature and the Museum of American History.  Charlie was asleep for 3/4's of the Nature Museum, which was great - he woke up just in time to see the animals!

Mom - look at the giraffe right behind me!!!!

Fish!!!

 This was day two - Saturday.  We went to the Holocaust Museum, and then walked around to all of the Monuments.  It was a sunny day - I wish I had taken a few more pictures....but I tell myself I have them from the last time we went!

I'm free from my stroller!!!!!

I refused to look at the camera when Auntie Crystal wanted a picture

Someone wasn't too happy that they are fixing the reflecting pool :)

Someone didn't care or notice :)

So - as we were headed back to the hotel, we noticed they were stopping traffic at the back entrance of the White House.  I said that we should stick around as they don't just stop traffic for anyone - plus, 6 or 7 helicopters had just flown by 20 minutes before.  I didn't think it would be the President as I thought he flew right to the White House......So I wanted to see who it was.

Turned out it was one of President Obama's children - we think it was Malia (Spelling???).  She was looking out the back of the vehicle.  These few pictures are the motorcade - there were about 6 o7 vehicles.  And by the way - I didn't get to see her because I was holding the camera and acting like a total tourist....After working in politics, I feel silly doing these things.....But I still wanted a picture to capture the memory!

Georgetown Cupcakes

It was a rainy day in Washington and half my family took the train to Baltimore.  Sooooo - Doug, Auntie Kendra, and I left Charlie with Grandma and headed to Georgetown.  We shared a couple of umbrellas and headed out for a good 50 minute walk. 

First stop - Georgetown Cupcakes - otherwise known as DC Cupcakes on TLC.  We stopped to take a look and then kept walking to Georgetown University.  We saw the Cupcakes van along the way and took a picture.  Once at the university, I found a sweater for me and one for Charlie.  When we visited Boston a couple years ago, I bought a Harvard sweater, so I went ahead and bought one at Georgetown U as well!

Then we came back and bought cupcakes.....There was a line up out the door, so we waited in the rain :)  Once it was time to order, we bought chocolate vanilla, mocha, and salted caramel.  But we didn't eat them yet as we hadn't had lunch.  Off to Chipotle!  YUM, YUM :)

Once we had enough of Georgetown, we headed back downtown and found a Starbucks along the way.  We bought our chai lattes and opened our cupcake box in secret :)  We indulged in our yummy cupcakes and headed back to the hotel.

Here are some iphone pictures from the day.

Mocha

Salted Caramel

Chocolate Vanilla = BORING :)

Busiest travel day of the year - no problem!

The seven of us headed to the Dulles airport at 1pm on Wednesday - supposedly the busiest travel day of the year.....What we encountered was NOTHING!!!!  Mind you, we never had any weather issues or traffic jams along the way, but I was expecting much worse at the airport. 

We flew Southwest - there was no line-up at check-in and barely much of a line at security.  So we had a relaxed lunch and headed to the gate to check in.  We got great seats and Charlie slept for the first hour sleeping on Auntie Pookie!  Once we arrived in Denver, we picked up our luggage, put it all in the box of the truck and headed for Auntie Crystals!

Even though it was Charlie's bedtime, he hadn't fallen asleep yet, so we decided to make a quick stop for dinner.  Dad suggested Chick-fil-A - and I automatically said YES!  I have read about Chick-fil-A on other blogs I read and thought we should try it.  Funny thing is that I never knew how to say Chick-fil-A.....for  non-Americans, it is pronounced Chick filet, but I thought it was chick fil aaaaahhhhh.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!  I kept laughing at myself for not knowing how to pronounce the name :)

Sooooo - here is a picture of Charlie and I at Chick-Fil-A!!!!

We're back!

We've arrived back home after being gone for 12 days.....We were in Washington, DC and Fort Collins, CO and had a GREAT time with my family.

We walked tons and tons in Washington, and ate some pretty yummy Mexican food in CO - plus we had a great time staying at Auntie Crystal's!  I have a couple posts coming about our trip half way through.....More will come from the beginning and the end.

Charlie did great!  He slept fairly well the whole time and was a real trooper in the museums and during the 16 hour drive home from Colorado.  We couldn't have asked for a better boy!!!

More to come soon!

Watching Dad carve a pumpkin

Charlie loves to watch what I'm doing in the kitchen.  I had to learn that he would rather see what I am doing than be stuck on the floor.  So when I'm cooking and more recently, baking, I bring over the high chair, plop him down, give him a spatula, and some cheerios, and he is happy as can be.

Doug carved a pumpkin the day before Halloween, so out came the high chair......  Charlie didn't seem too enthused and I know this activity was more for Momma's sake, than Daddy's or Charlies, but I like making memories, so the will be a definite family night activity in the future!

BORING MOMMA!!!!!

Uhhh, Daddy - what is that??

Chewing on the scooper is way more interesting!

Smiles all-round for our pumpkin!

Trains and Trucks

Ok - before I forget - Charlie's first audible word was CLOCK -which happened quite a while ago!  It was the cutest thing ever.....Doug got in on video, but of course, we don't have that downloaded.  Just today, he looked at the clock in his room and said perfectly, CLOCK.  Adorable....

Moving on - he got a fire truck a couple months ago from his Great Uncle.....he LOVES it.  He pushed it around everywhere as it was a good substitute to the chairs he used to push on our floor.  Now he is tall enough to sit on it and his legs are almost long enough to shuffle himself around. 

And for his trains - he has a couple and loves to cart them around.  He also likes to bang them on the floor, so whenever that happens I move him to the tile floor instead of our hardwood :)

Choo - Choo!

Whatcha doin Momma??

I'll show you my train if you show me your camera!!!

Climbing up the stairs!!!!!