Day 3 & 4 of Summer '11 Road Trip

The first half of Saturday turned out to be a success, but the second half was a big mess.  We woke up, got dressed, and packed everything we needed for the day.  People in my family always get on to us about being late and taking too long to get places or get moving, but it's a lot of work getting all our things together.  You just don't know, unless you have a little ones yourself.  Diapers, wipes, wipe solution, hats, extra clothes, camera, bib, cup, sling, carrier....I could go on, but you get it.  We gots lots of crap! So after all that we headed to the National Zoo.  I went back and forth about whether I wanted to go because frankly, I don't so much like supporting the idea of housing animals in a small enclosed space when they should be roaming free in the wild.  But after much turmoil in my head, I decided it would be fun for Cambria AND it was free, so she probably wouldn't have an opportunity again for a while.  So we went.  It was awesome being able to show Cambria animals she sees in her movies or reads about in books.  It got pretty hot towards the end, but it was overall a fun adventure.  We got to take the "choo-choo" too and Cam liked that. :) 

I was very pleased with the cleanliness of D.C.'s metro system.

walking to the zoo.

turtles

the lion was my favorite.  he went to the very top and roared several times!

there were so many pretty buildings like this one!

cool guys in the city

When we got back Cam and Ezra both passed out.  They were sleeping for so long that we finally decided to wake them up!  We headed out at about 6:30 in hopes of finding some dinner and seeing some sights.  We decided to get off at a stop right near The Mall and quickly discovered there were NO places to eat.  Literally nothing except like two uppity, non-kid friendly places.  I was freaking out at this point and starting to think I was going to have a panic attack or something.  We were out in D.C. with two babies, at 8 o'clock, aimless and hungry. After walking around for almost an hour hungry and aimless, we found a little health food burger and pizza place.  The meal wasn't bad, but at the end we realized that somewhere along the way Kyle had lost his debit card!!! AND I didn't have mine with me.  Luckily Kyle is a weirdo and has memorized all of his card's information so we were able to pay with that.   After the meal it was getting dark so we quickly made our way to the metro and then headed back to our hotel.  It was a stressful evening that didn't go as planned.  Well, actually, we didn't have a plan when we left our hotel, so maybe that was the problem.  Maybe we should start actually making plans when we do things...nah, that's just not our style. (sorry Ashley) ;)

she was PASSED OUT

as was he

while we were walking around we stumbled upon a sweet view of The Capital

finally a place to eat!

he just couldn't hang anymore

cancelling his lost card :/

Sunday we woke up, quickly gathered and packed our things, and got some breakfast at a local cafe.  We saw the sights we had wanted to see the day before and got back on the road.  There are so many things to see in D.C. and we definitely did not see everything, so a trip back is in our future.  The 5 1/2 hour trip to New York ended up taking us about 7 1/2...typical.  It was a relaxing drive except for the last hour or so when Cambria was done being in the car.  I'm glad we have until Saturday before we have to drive back again.  In the meantime, we will be enjoying ourselves up here in Upstate New York! 

Mr.O's house

that boy eats anywhere, in front of The White House even

Washington Monument

Kyle in his happy place, the National Air and Space Museum

The Supreme Court.  The massive size and detail of the buildings was incredible.

my kids love to sleep

and they love their pacys

we HAD to stop for ice cream.  you just can't find the ice cream they have up here anywhere else!

ice cream + my cuties = a happy mama

I'll blog about our time in New York thus far tomorrow, but it's really just been a lot of relaxing, playing, and eating.  All the fun things in life :)