D.C. Trip :: Day 3

Morning: The Smithsonian’s National Zoo

Afternoon: Georgetown and D.C. Cupcakes!

Our first stop was for cupcakes then we walked around Georgetown. It was a really neat place, but not very stroller friendly! All the "sidewalks" are bricked which makes for a bumpy ride!

Waiting in Line

So worth the wait!

Friday Night we went to Wegmans (the most awesome grocery store EVER, I understand why Kristen is always talking about it!) got some stuff to cook and ate in and just hung out. I got this amazing fruit tart in the bakery (they had all kinds of ridiculously fancy pastries and desserts!!). . .I am going to try to replicate it sometime, but I'm sure it wont be as good!

D.C. Trip :: Day two

Thursday we slept in. . .well till 8:00 anyway! Then we ate breakfast and got ready and headed to Baltimore. Kristen drove us in her swagger-wagon. Which was an experience. We almost hit a PARKED truck in the middle of the six lane toll road! It was a highway department truck, too!  Wow!

The Baltimore Harbor was really cool, I would have like to have spent more time there, but our main attraction was the National Aquarium. We got to Baltimore around noon, so we hopped into PotBelly's for a sandwich before heading to the museum.

Ian, Stratton and Kate at Baltimore Harbor

Jarrod and Stratton in front of Hard Rock

 

The aquarium wasn't what I expected, but it was pretty neat. Stratton really enjoyed himself I think! Note of warning. . .the aquarium won't let you take strollers in! It's basically all escalatos and moving walkways, so I can see how strollers would be a major hazard, but wow! Luckily we took the monkey "leash" (haha) and Stratton wore that and we let him walk most of it or held him. It worked out pretty good. There were some really exhibits with cool fish, turtles, rays, and SHARKS that came right up beside you- scary and dolphins!! The kids loved it!

Stratton and his leash! haha

floor to ceiling tanks, on all the floors. . .

Creepy Jellyfish!

After we got out of the Aquarium, it was sort of drizzling rain so we headed for the car, in hope that the kids would take a nap! We visited Historic Leesburg in search of a cupcake place, only to find it was closed! So them we stopped at a swanky Italian place called Palio (named after the Palio horse races in Siena, Italy- a place that K and I have both visited and loved)and had supper. Kristen had to go in and ask if they had highchairs, she had been there before with Brett and it's not exactly child friendly, but we were starving! They were so nice! The food was awesome, but too bad my  child was so cranky and fussy it was not a good experience for us. Jarrod ended up not even eating and taking S outside to walk around. Oh the joys of being a parent!

That was it for our first full day of our trip! I am glad we got to go to Baltimore, it was really neat and the aquarium was worth visiting for sure.

D.C. Trip :: Day one- flight

I was really nervous about flying with a 22 month old! But to my surprise it was a really pleasant experience. Our first flight was from LR to DFW, then from DFW to Dulles. It seems ridiculous to have to go to Dallas and then to D.C., but there weren't any direct flights and all the ones that stopped in Atlanta were way more expensive. So, we can say we've been to Dallas, now!

Our flight on Wednesday left at 6:20 am! We decided to try to leave as early as possible so that Stratton would hopefully sleep during most of our flights. But that meant we had to be at the airport in Little Rock at around 5am. . . so we also decided to stay with Jarrod's parents in Searcy on Tuesday night so that we'd at least be an hour closer. I still had to get up at 2:30am! Whew! It was worth it though. We just put comfy clothes on him to sleep and got him up right before we walked out the door. He stayed awake for most of the drive to Little Rock, and stayed awake and was great until right before take off- then he just passed out! He slept the whole way to DFW, waking up just right before we landed. We didn't have much time at all to switch planes, basically time to run to the bathrooms and jump back on another one! Again, Stratton feel asleep as we were taking off! This time he was a little fussy right before. I think he was just restless. He had a cold so the Dr told us to give him Benadryl before we flew that it would help open his ears and throat up. I think it made him drowsy, which was also a plus! He did so great! I couldn't have asked for more!

We got to D.C. (landing in the rain!) and Kristen and her kiddos, Kate and Ian were waiting on us! We grabbed our bags and headed out! First stop- lunch! Then we went back to the Graham's house to crash! We took a little nap and let the kids play, then Kristen grilled us some awesome chicken (I have never seen Stratton eat chicken like he ate that night!) and we just sat around and visited and watched the kids play. Then we gave them all a bath and sent them to bed!

Brett had to work late, so after he got in we visited with him for awhile before turning in ourselves. Kate had kindly let us borrow her princess room for our stay, I gotta tell ya. . .I don't know if it was all the pink or what, but I slept great! ha-ha! I especially like her castle nightlight that changed colors!

First time at the zoo

We decided since we needed to shop for  a few things before our D.C. trip in Memphis that we would leave a little earlier and take Stratton to the zoo. We picked the perfect day to go. It was slightly overcast and not too warm or cool and believe it or not it really wasn't that crowded! Stratton was so great! I know I brag on him all the time, but he really does excellent in public when we are out and about. He stayed in his stroller and didn't complain. We had to get him out pretty frequently so he could see over the people and barriers, but he was always fine with getting back in the stroller and moving on to see something else! I think he liked the elephants and bears the best. The grizzly bears were fighting and wrestling and I don't think he liked that very much! He also like all the cats, he growled at them! He also really enjoyed the farm animals, and wanted to pet all of them. He did a lot of pointing and saying "oohhh!" We had a great time!

See the orangutan laying above them?

watching the sea lion show

He could have looked at the elephants all day

Petting the sheep and he tried to pull his hair!

Petting the horse- he has no fear!

This was the look after he heard the rooster crowing!

"This way dad!"

"Oohhh Tigers!"

The picture that makes the whole day worth it!

It's expressions like this that make me wonder what's going thru his little mind!