Washington DC

So here is the long awaited post form our trip to Washington DC last week. Sorry it took this long for me to update my blog. I've been trying to catch up form this past weekend on laundry, bow orders for Easter Sunday (why do people wait until the last minute to order???), getting groceries, housework, and of course SLEEP! So like I said the other day the trip went well. Actually really well for it being the first out of state (besides PA) trip with 3 toddlers and 2 parents. We went to Pittsburgh last Summer with the girls but my parents were there and Caroline was a baby. Meaning...when you put her down and walked away...she was still there when you got back!

It's amazing how when you only have a baby to compare parenting to you think you'll never get out of that stage and this MUST be as hard as it gets! Believe me....I'd take those sleepless nights....2-3 hour feedings....spit up stains, constant diapers...and fussy night back in a heart beat! LOL! Now she's mobile, into EVERYTHING, still in tons of diapers (oh no potty training is coming way too fast!), making twice as much laundry from being a messy eater and getting into everything she can and spilling it on herself, being old enough to want to walk but still small enough that she has to be carried in public places and now weighing MUCH more than that baby carrier did, and last but not least...the crying infant has been replaced by babbling....loud screeching...and of course screaming just because she knows mom needs her quite. How on earth did I get on that tangent? Anyways...like a wise mother to teenagers once told me....it doesn't get any easier as they grow...it just "changes."

So the trip went great and it was nice to take the girls to our favorite tourist spot. I've been there pregnant with each of the girls, Caroline was there last year for CPAC at 6 weeks old and Maddelyn was there for President Regan's viewing at the Capitol. So here are a *few* of my favorites from the trip. For anyone who knows me...like I said...a FEW.

My little ladies in the new shirts I got for them at Gymboree this week. Just love the colors in their new Tropical Garden line and of course I made matching bows.

A mall we went to in Virginia had this adorable train that let kids ride all over the 1st floor of the mall for only a dollar a child. the girls loved it of course and deserved it after waiting on mommy, who was looking for swimsuits in Gymboree.


The girls and Nathan at our favorite Irish pub...the Dubliner. Oh those Reubens and Shepherd's Pie! YUM! We try to stop in each time we're in DC. A former professor of ours (Dr. Lee Cheek) showed us the spot. That night they had a live Irish band playing and the girls got a kick out of hearing it.


We happened upon the girls' first pro-war rally...uh hum...I mean Freedom rally! LOL! Yep we start them young! You should have seen Caroline chanting "U-S-A" and marching with her blue star flag! No just kidding!

At the Natural History Museum there is a wing totally dedicated to "stuffed" mammals. It's pretty cool to see all these animals up close and personal even if they are stuffed! Look at the giraffe's tongue!

Seeing dinosaur bones for the first time.

Of course we had to look at all the "real princess jewelry" in the gemstone room.

Little Miss Hollywood was posing totally by herself in these! Oh my Hollywood look out!

Isn't she gorgeous???

All my girlies!

Proof that we actually made it alive to Washington DC with three kids under 5 in a van for 8 1/2 hours!

What's an American history exhibit without Dorthy's ruby slippers and the Scarecrow's costume? Obviously my kids were much more excited about he "idea" of looking at the slippers than actually getting to see them.

A bit of Star Wars history

Mary Todd Lincoln's Dress.....yep I loved that one!

Chairs form Appomattox Court House where Lee Surrendered. Leather chair - Grant and Cane chair - Lee. There also are 2 albums of war photos by the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady.