DC Trip

I'm sure it is unethical to plagiarize while blogging, but Nikki summed up our trip to DC so well, that I am basically using her descriptions from her blog and have added detail where necessary... We (Nikki and I) took the kiddos to visit their Great Aunt Joyce in DC. We decided to travel by bus which turned out to be a huge adventure in and of itself. It started with the bus being an hour and a half late (want stress? picture yourself entertaining three young’uns on a busy and unshaded New York sidewalk with no ability to go anywhere because you are also traveling with three car seats, two strollers, two suitcases, and various small bags and you only have four arms combined to deal with it all). Then shortly after getting all three kids to sleep (finally) they were all awoken by a screaming toddler in the row in front of us. This continued for the rest of the journey thanks to some really spectacular parenting. Then Bryce puked. Then when we finally reached our destination and Joyce pulled up in the car, the heavens opened up and we suddenly found ourselves in a torrential downpour (we had shelter, thank goodness, but we couldn’t load the car). We eventually made it to Joyce's house and enjoyed a delicious dinner and then happily all stumbled into bed. Bryce was sleeping on the floor next to my bed. At around 2am, I was wakened by Bryce calling/crying "Mommy!" from the hallway. I rushed out to get him and found him standing at the top of the stairs (no gate) holding 2 of Joyce's dumbbells! I explained that it was too early to weight lift or to even have breakfast and thus Bryce spent the rest of the night in bed with me!

The next day dawned hot and muggy, but Nikki and I were determined to take the kiddos to the zoo. Bryce had been talking about going to the "Elephant Zoo" (which is his name for the National Zoo) for over a week. Almost all of the animals thought it best to remain hidden in the shade (which seemed like a super idea to me), and several species were simply no longer at the zoo due to construction for an elegant and long overdue elephant enclosure. As you might imagine, we didn’t see too many critters. The one thing that you can count on to distract a two-year old from a tantrum (ooooh, look at the animals!) was not really available, so Bryce had few more meltdowns than usual, and Danny didn’t sleep (as usual) and to top it off, Audrey, who is normally the world’s happiest and most laid back baby got her first tooth. We had an absolutely marvelous time (actually we did...it was just exhausting).

The next day dawned even hotter and muggier, but Nikki and I are nothing if not determined, and Jeremy had joined us the night before, so we confidently headed out to the Smithsonian. I am not exaggerating when I say that the only time that I’ve ever seen crowds like this is Christmas time at Rockefeller Center in New York (and it least it’s cold then). We went to the Air and Space Museum, rode the carousel, then strolled through the butterfly garden to get to the Natural History Museum. We had a bit of a break there because Bryce discovered a bunch of cool boulders to climb, so Nikki pushed the babes around while he did some serious rock climbing.

At the Natural History Museum, Bryce was practically overcome with excitement when he saw the Elephant in the Atrium. I wished I could have captured his reaction on video. He was walking by himself and then made two fists (and his arms slightly sticking out from his sides) and began shaking and gasping! As Bryce tells it, "That elephant is VERY BIG!"

The museum was more than packed, so Nikki and I played around with taking self portraits and some posed shots (with the crowd as a backdrop since you couldn’t really see the dinosaurs with all of the people there) because that’s about all we could do with a double stroller and two babies in slings. Jeremy and Bryce were able to slowly weave through the mob to check out the dinosaurs and other animal exhibits.

The next day, we rested. We had no choice, really....we were so tired! My friends from college (Courtney, Jenny and Sara (and Sara's boyfriend, Neil) came over for lunch (Joyce is a fantastic cook!) and ice cream. It was so much fun to get to visit for the afternoon...and for them to visit with the kids. Jenny discovered that I rarely get to use the bathroom alone. Bryce followed her to the bathroom and was putting his hands under the door and chatting. Then, all of a sudden he announced, "I want to come and watch you!"... and barged right in! Jenny, luckily was already washing her hands, so a potentially embarrassing moment was averted! Later in the day, Joyce offered to set up the sprinkler for the kids, so we got them all suited up. Audrey hated getting in the water and Bryce was rather reluctant at first. However, as long as I was holding him and acting goofy, he had a blast! Danny, who doesn't seem phased by anything, also had fun getting zapped by the water!

On Monday, we headed home. Before we left, Bryce spent the morning with Joyce. First, they went fishing for rocks in her yard. Then they headed over to a local playground. There were no other kids there, but Joyce played her part perfectly! They pretended to go to the zoo together and then pretended to drive to New Jersey together and even bumped into each other on the spiral slide!

The bus ride back was relatively uneventful. Bryce and Jeremy sat together in the very front row to help deal with car sickness. It didn't seem to help... Bryce threw up within the first 15 minutes on the bus. Jeremy wasn't quick enough with the bag, so we had to strip Bryce down to his diaper until we were able to stop at a rest area. The problem is after Bryce gets sick, he gets hungry again, but we don't want to feed him because he will probably get sick again! This time, we reluctantly gave him a P,B&J sandwich. As he was eating, he became so sleepy that he fell asleep mid bite! Jeremy had to catch him (and the sandwich) from falling on the floor! Luckily, the motion sickness problem did not occur again on the trip.

This video is of Bryce reading his book to Audrey as I was packing to come back home. I wasn't quick enough to catch the first few pages, but he does a great job remembering the words and pattern of the story!