D.C. Trip :: Day 4

Saturday!! What a fun day! The weather was perfect! Brett was off work, so he was our very informative tour guide! We started our day (late morning) at the Roosevelt Memorial then walked along the Tidal Basin and had awesome views of Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument. Then we went to the World War II Memorial (which Jarrod and I both missed the times we were there in the past because it's relatively new), then on to the Lincoln Memorial (Stratton liked all those steps). We climbed back in the swagger wagon and drove around and looked at just about everything else from there- so the kids could get a quick nap. We then drove to Clyde's for lunch, which was wonderful!! The best place we ate the entire time! I had the best crab cakes! Yum! Then we were headed to the Air and Space museum, which Brett got called back to work, so Kristen and I decided to take the kids to a nearby park and let them run off some energy! Later that night after the kids were in bed Kristen and I went to the "Town Center" to a place called Blue Ridge Grill and got our food to go and went back to their house to chow with our fellas. We stayed up way too late that night! We did have some fun conversations, though! : )

Perfect Photo Op!

The ONLY picture I got of us and it's horrible! The wind was blowing and did not make for a good hair day!

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial. Not a good pic, but Jarrod and Stratton are at the top of the first set of steps. As you can see it was a crowded place!

It seemed like every time we got in the van Stratton would pass out! Poor thing!

Playing at the park

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!

The Greatest Show on Earth (or at least in Jonesboro)

We took Stratton to the circus tonight! I thought he would really like it and he did! Surprisingly, I think his favorite part was when they brought out about 7 different dogs and had them do tricks. He got really excited and was talking and pointing. I think the rest of the show was overwhelming and he didn't hardly move, I think he barely blinked! He was so good and we couldn't have asked him to be any better behaved. However it was late by the time it was over and he was sound asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!

Unsure at first!

"Where did they go?"

Walking around at intermission

Craighead Forest Park/Pictures

We met local photographer, Lindsey Turner for pictures tonight. They were rescheduled from April 16th and were supposed to be "easter pictures" but because it was so cold and yucky that Saturday she decided to do them today which was the first sunny, non-rainy day we have had in a while! I haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure she got some good ones, despite Stratton's uncooperative mood! He didn't want any part of standing where she wanted him to, or smiling at her! I think she might have gotten a smirk or two, but not a full out smile. After our session with her, we took Stratton down to the water and park, which he really liked. He loved the playground with all the slides and steps. We will be taking him back!

waiting for daddy to get home

pointing out some ducks

looking at the duck and geese from the dock

. . . not so sure about the geese!

sliding at the playground