weekend lessons learned...

Friday night, Ben and I ditched Amelia for a few hours for some quality time at Lowes. I needed to pick out flowers for my rock garden planters and Ben needed to do some serious calculations in the lumber department to purchase materials for my next project idea.
Lesson learned: Trying to make decisions at a store is so much easier without your child trying to "wash her hands" in all the fountains in the garden center.


Saturday we took the metro downtown with the Webbs to check out a baseball game at the new Nationals stadium. My plan was to get the cheapest tickets possible and enjoy the game as long as the kids could last. I didn't realize the cheapest seats would actually sell out. I was just too cheap to fork over the cash for the better seats so we quickly formulated a plan B. Amelia was not pleased when we left the ball park. We had been talking it up all morning since she really had no idea what a baseball game was. We decided to go to the National Building Museum instead. The kids (including the husbands) had fun building and playing in the kids zone and Ben and I were excited to check out an exhibit there about the architect Eero Saarinen.
Lesson learned: Buy tickets in advance or go to weeknight games.






Before heading home, we decided some food was in order. We walked by Chop't in Chinatown and it smelled so deliciously fresh. But the crowds and lack of seating forced us next door to Fuddruckers, where a chocolate milkshake sounded refreshing.
Lesson learned: Chop't = good for the stomach, Fuddruckers = not so good.
Bigger lesson learned: Don't leave your bag hanging over the back of your chair while you eat. A man who, in retrospect, was acting very suspiciously managed to steal all my cash ($25) and my debit card out of my bag, which he quickly used to charge over $500 at various locations (including $40 at Five Guys...that man likes himself a burger).

Final lesson learned: You might be better off just paying a lot for a baseball game.

We had a babysitter that night so we decided a cheap date was in order. We postponed our viewing of Iron Man and checked out the new National Harbor (new home to "The Awakening" statue). It was a lovely evening to stroll along the river and discuss the injustices of life.


We finished off the weekend with a quiet Sunday evening stroll through Huntley Meadows. Everything is so green there right now. By the time we left, it was dark outside and the trail was covered with gigantic spiders.

Good friends.

Sarah and Ethan came up from Williamsburg for a few days this past week and we had a great time. Amelia was so happy to see her friend Ethan again. She watched for him in the window all morning until he arrived. She cried when he left and throughout the day she kept saying "I need Ethan back at my house"...I think he is a better playmate than mom. Sarah and I were able to have a girls night and met up with some other friends at a little coffee shop near Old Town. We took the kids to the zoo and enjoyed a picnic lunch there while watching the turtles and lemurs and enjoying some great weather. I finally made it to the Dairy Godmother for some delicious custard, after hearing Sarah talk about this place all the time. I've already marked my calendar for the upcoming flavors that I must try. Since I grew up in the custard capital of Wisconsin, you would think I would have checked out this place sooner. We did a little shopping one morning and Ethan and Amelia had fun pushing their little carts around Trader Joes. We really miss you guys and hope for another visit soon!!

A delicious weekend.

Thursday night, Amelia had a sleepover at Emma's house, so Ben and I went out for ice cream before settling down to watch Lost. Then we enjoyed a nice relaxing morning and had brunch at La Madeleine in Old Town (yogurt parfaits and chocolate croissants...yum). We made a stop at the Firehook bakery for some goodies before picking Amelia up and heading down to Richmond for one last visit with Ben's sister Rachel before she and Jeff and Anna move to Denver (sad). We hung out and walked around the beautiful University of Richmond campus and went to the park. Rachel's neighbor watched the girls while we went out to dinner at this great place, the Hill Cafe, where we enjoyed some delicious southern food before heading back home. Saturday night, Ben and I had a babysitter so we went to our old neighborhood in Arlington and ate at an old favorite, Tara Thai. Then we browsed the book store before stopping for ice cream at Carvel.

What DOES he do at work?

Amelia and I took the train to Ben's office last week for World Malaria Day/bring your child to work day. Ben was directing the video shoot of a concert by the World music superstar Youssou N'Dour. Amelia and I got to see him in action calling the shots. Whenever someone would try to talk to Amelia, she would cover her face with camel (who we nearly lost twice in the last few weeks, requiring return trips and more rescue missions). I guess she is a little shy with strangers.

The death of cool.

I guess I'm old. I always wondered when I would finally stop going to concerts. I can't say definitively that the time has come, but my desire to stand for hours in a smoky sweaty venue to hear live music has drastically declined over the last few years. When I was in high school, I was present at nearly every show that came through town. Which was surprisingly a lot considering that this was Green Bay, Wisconsin, which turned out to be a hot bed of punk rock activity for midwest bands and others (we're talking Fugazi, Jawbox, Jawbreaker, etc.). My concert attendance continued while I was at school in Minneapolis, although my tastes became a little more discerning. Even when I moved to Logan, I went out of my way to find good shows in Salt Lake. I even met Ben at a Strokes concert, so I knew that was a good match. While I kept up with new music and purchasing new CDs, I started to hesitate forking out money for shows. Ten years ago, I would have gone crazy with all the possibilities for good shows here in D.C. But so far, Ben and I have only managed to see a few that I can remember. We saw Low at the 9:30 club, but I remember leaving during the encore because I was tired (in my defense, I was pregnant with Amelia). More recently we saw one of my favorites, Mates of State, at the State Theater, which turned out to be ideal because we snagged a table in the back, enjoyed some food, and remained seated during most of the show. I would have mocked myself for that years ago. Then there was the failed attempt to see Sufjan Stevens, when we realized too late that D.C. probably has a lot of cool kids who would want to see such a performance (or at least charge exorbitant prices on Craigslist for tickets that were free to begin with). Which brings me to this evening. A Minneapolis-based band, Tapes 'n Tapes, were playing tonight. My first thought: that could be a fun show. My second thought: that could be a lot of standing. My third thought: that sounds painful on my feet and back (again, pregnancy defense). My fourth thought: Am I still cool enough to show up at one of these? Am I too old? Will I be the only one there with a mortgage and a 401K and a costco membership and a babysitter at home? My last thought: Maybe I'll stay home and download their new album and enjoy it from the comfort of my living room, seated, feet up, with a fudgesicle in hand (pregnancy defense).

So in honor of good music, which continues to live on in our home (and our car...we love xm satellite radio...my proudest accomplishment as a mother is that I've never played kids music in my car), here is a video of a Tapes 'n Tapes song, which you too can enjoy with your feet up.

The Greatest Show on Earth...

...Or at least some good entertainment for a Thursday night. Ben called me Thursday morning to say he would be working late that night, so I decided a trip to the circus was in order. I called up Micaela and we took the girls to their first circus experience. Actually, it was a first for all of us. The girls loved the elephants and tigers and all the noise and chaos. They were fixated through the whole show, except for maybe the "dancing with the clowns" segment. And they didn't even mind that our seats were at the very back of the arena. And who knew dogs could really form a conga line? And I don't know why anyone ever thought it was a good idea to lock themselves in a big cage with 9 giant tigers and make them do tricks, because there was something creepy about watching that last tiger do a "tigger hop" on his back legs across the stage. But I was glad to know that people were still being shot out of cannons.

NYC on foot...

Last weekend I took the bus to NYC and met up with two of my sisters and my mom (who flew in from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona). My sister Stephanie had a conference there and we all took advantage of her hotel, the Marriott Marquis in Times Square...thanks Steph! Everyone else had flight delays on Friday so I was the first to arrive. After checking into the hotel, I wandered over to the Museum of Modern Art and joined the crowds for the free friday evenings. The next three days were spent walking, and walking, and walking. But how else do you see and hear and smell the city? I'm surprised I didn't walk the baby right out of me. We went to the Met and had a hard time finding our way out of the Egyptian art. We checked out the crazy Cai Guo-Qiang exhibit at the Guggenheim. We walked from nearly one end of Central Park to the other. We saw a fabulous brand new production on Broadway of Macbeth, with Patrick Stewart. Intense and creepy and bloody and dark. Awesome. We had brunch one day at a great little cafe in Greenwich Village and then walked through Soho, Chinatown and Little Italy. Erin and I liked how the Chinatown in nyc really reminded us of China, especially the smells (love that old cabbage and fish smell) and crowds. We stopped into the New Museum, which is a very interesting building. We took a break to enjoy our cupcakes (from Magnolia's) and pastries and watch a soccer game at Columbus Park, with some lovely Chinese music in the background. Then we made our way to Brooklyn and ate the most delicious pizza at Grimaldi's Pizzeria, which is under the Brooklyn Bridge. We decided we hadn't walked enough, so we took an evening stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was an amazing view of the city at night. On our last day, we went to Rockefeller Center and went up to the "Top of the Rock" for a great view of the city, although a bit windy and cold. We also went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and the NY Public Library and Grand Central Station and then enjoyed some Thai food. Hooray for New York! But I must say it was nice to come home to the quiet streets of D.C.


The view from our hotel room.


Top of the Rock.


Brooklyn Bridge

Cherry Blossoms

This is our 4th year checking out the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin and we picked a perfect evening for our stroll. It was over 70 degrees outside. We enjoyed a quiet picnic in the tulip-filled gardens behind the Smithsonian castle and then joined the crowds for a walk around the tidal basin to capture the usual photo of the Jefferson Memorial framed by the blossoms.

Cousins.

While Jeff and Rachel were in Denver looking for a place to live, we got to watch Anna for a few days and Amelia couldn't have been more happy to have a playmate. She was so sad when we had to say goodbye to cousin Anna. It has been so fun to have some family close by so we'll be sad to see them go, but we know that they're headed for an exciting new adventure.


Anna and Amelia and their favorite activity.


Playing at the park.


The Smithsonian Kite Festival.


Fun in the soft playroom at Jackson's birthday party.