HIKING AT FOURTH OF JULY CANYON

There are few things out there that rejuvenate me like a long hike. Since we've known we were going to leave Albuquerque, we've been trying to make the best of our time here by getting out of the house often. We have a long list of things we want to do before moving day, but I'm sure we won't get to them all. One of our favorite things to do as a family is go hiking, especially since Noble was born, so that part of the list has become priority. It's the one place that the three year old doesn't have to be entertained 90% of the time, but still gets out enough energy to not fight her nap - and the baby just passes out in the Ergo. When it was just Ev, getting outside for a hike was simple once we got a routine down. Hiking with two has become a bit more complicated, especially since Ev doesn't fit in a carrier anymore. She really is an expert hiker for a three year old, but we have to put a lot of thought into which trails she'll enjoy and be prepared to turn around early. Though some days I feel like a herd dog biting at the ankles of a sheep, we still make an effort to go often. Cultivating a love of nature in my kids is one of the most important aspects of being a parent for me. I've been reading Last Child in the Woods over the last month or so. Louv urges people to consider time in nature for children as essential for their health as good food, loving parents, and a full night of sleep. Time outside shouldn't be a extracurricular activity or something reserved for vacation - it should be an integral part of their day.

On this day, my mom was here visiting and we all woke up ready to get out of the house. Alex had a long weekend and we had originally wanted to go camping, but just couldn't get all of our t's crossed and i's dotted in time, so we settled for a hike somewhere we'd never been before. Fourth of July Canyon is known for its Fall colors due to the Maple trees growing in the area (uncommon for New Mexico). The drive out there was intense, ending with 7 miles on a winding dirt road, so we were glad to have four wheel drive. We did the easy one mile trail where Ev was glad to run wild, blow dandelion fluff, and talk about dinosaur tracks (and how it looked like they were chasing the horse tracks + that we needed to save the horses), then we started on the 6.5 mile loop. We made it a mile or two and decided to turn back, but I definitely want to see the rest. As I looked through the pictures of her blowing the dandelions, I realized I had taken similar pictures almost exactly a year ago in Brooklyn. Watching her grow is such a beautiful thing.

If you're local and looking for a similar hike a bit closer to home, we found a new favorite at the base of the Sandias. We were only able to hike the Sulphur Springs trail, but rumor has it there's a creek on the neighboring trail.

SOLO ROADTRIP WITH A TODDLER

one: melissa & doug reusable sticker pads • two: m & d latches board • three & four: color wonder paper and markers (we have this travel tote, but I really think a clip board would be a better option)

• five: water wow painting pads • six: fisher-price travel doodler • seven: finger puppets • eight & nine: lots and lots of stickers & a pad of paper • ten: a play and travel tray

Whew.

So there are approximately five million and one things to read out there to prepare for a road trip with a toddler, and plenty of them have tips that were helpful while we went on this grand adventure where vacation and the depths of parenting meet, but I found it nearly impossible to find anything geared toward a parent traveling alone with a child, in a car (not on a plane), for days (not a three or four hour trip). There are two groups of women I consider the strongest women - military women and New York City moms, and while it's been comically trying at times, I'm proud to have been in those two categories in my lifetime. There's something about the lack of public bathrooms, physical impossibility of carrying your stroller, child, and all other normal items down four flights of subway stairs, and the overall chaos of city life that can't help but challenge you and refine you into a stronger woman and mother. As far as military women go, we've moved four times this year and while that isn't the norm, plenty of military spouses have similar tales to tell. When I told my family about my plan to head to Missouri, the response I got was, 'Wait a second. You're going to drive 1,000 miles, alone, 20 weeks pregnant, with a two year old, in the middle of Winter, to go live in a hotel for three months?' And I just nodded and went on my merry way because I don't think twice about these sorts of things anymore or I start to panic. When you have no choices, you learn not think about something too long and you just buckle up and go. You realize quickly that you can make it through pretty much anything. Two days in the car with a screaming two year old? Buy some earplugs and drive through it. You'll get there eventually and everyone will recover. Luckily, my kid has been training for this her entire life, since this is her eighth road trip in her almost three years of life. She's a road trip pro, but I feel like I've become quite the 'pack up and go' pro too. Though she's probably a bit more agreeable in the car than most kids, I was still a little intimidated at the thought of driving solo and entertaining her sans iPad, since I'm usually the one entertaining her from the passenger seat while Alex is at the wheel. We made it through and dare I say, we actually enjoyed ourselves a little.
Here are some tips for a solo road trip with your kid:

- plan out your stops: After one too many times of listening to a baby screaming in the backseat while we frantically looked for a good place to stop, we started planning our stops ahead of time. It's amazing how much more peaceful a road trip can be when you know exactly where you're going. There are plenty of options when you're traveling in warm weather, but it's much more limited in the Winter. I mapped out the Chic-fil-a's along the way, so that I could have decent food to eat and she could have a place to burn off some energy. I also mapped out all the Starbucks along the way, so I knew where the point of no return (no coffee) was in places like Oklahoma, where you can go stretches of 100 miles without seeing a gas station, much less a coffee shop. I went so far as to write down the mile markers for every rest stop and welcome center on our route in case I was caught in a panic and needed to know how far away the next one was. In the warm weather months, it's smart to find a few parks along the way. Sometimes it can be a bit challenging to find parks in a place you aren't familiar with, but the easiest way I've found is to look on town and city websites for the place you plan on stopping or to simply pull up Google maps and zoom in at the streets around the interstate, looking for green spots, then googling the name to be sure it's a legitimate park. Bubbles and a soccer ball are good things to stash away if you have to stop at a place that doesn't have a playground, so they have something to do besides walk in circles.

There are also the holy grails of road trips with kids that are impossible to find online - rest stops with playgrounds. You people are in luck though (or at least you people who ever travel i-40 through New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, or i-44 through Missouri) because I kept my eyes peeled and wrote down where they are on this particular route. i-40 Eastbound, there is one just past the New Mexico/Texas line at mile marker 129, while there is one Westbound just before the NM/TX line at mile marker 132. On i-44 in Southern Missouri, there are rest stops with playgrounds on both sides at mile marker 111.

- get and stay organized: Keep things contained - in the front seat and floor board I had a bag for toys, a bag for books and Highlights, a bag for cold snacks, and a bag for dry snacks. At each stop, I would pull out a few activities and snacks from the floorboard and put them in the passenger seat so they were reachable until the next stop to minimize the swerving across two lanes unintentionally while digging for a toy incidents, clean up the chaos that had happened in the backseat while I was driving, and pull up the next stop on the GPS. You always feel like you're in too big of a hurry to get back on the road to clean, but it makes a big difference in your sanity level.

- have a few new things up your sleeve: This is rookie advice, but don't bring all the same toys your kid has been playing with at home and expect them to be entertained for longer than say, five seconds. I'm not a huge proponent of buying my kid a new toy every week, but road trips are the exception. Keep in mind, simple things like stickers, tape, aluminum foil, or pipe cleaners can often keep them entertained far longer than any toy, especially because they're usually off limits at home. If we could have, a huge tote of library books would have been parked right next to Ev's seat so she could reach them all, but since we'll be gone for months that wasn't really an option. See the photo above and links for more road trip friendly toys. Also, don't underestimate the power of the Target dollar section and the like. Even if you don't want a bunch of junk floating around at home, $10 is worth a few hours of entertainment and you can throw it all out when you get home.

- try to keep to your normal schedule: Now some people swear by driving at night while their kid sleeps, but that's usually a recipe for disaster for us, so we try to stick to our normal schedule. We eat breakfast before we hit the road, have a 2-3 hour chunk of driving that needs to be filled with entertainment, stop for lunch and try our best to wear her out, get back on the road and declare it nap time so we can drive 60 miles with a full bladder but refuse to stop because she's sleeping, stop once more when she's finally awake and try to finish out the rest of the driving before dinner time. That kind of schedule limits you to eight hours of driving, nine tops, but we've just accepted that and don't push ourselves any further, which brings me to. . .

- have realistic expectations: Don't expect your toddler to ride six hours straight without protest, stay in the car during gas stops, or any other convenient, but crazy notions you may have. When you find yourself getting frustrated at their requests for something else to play with or the unceasing noise from the back seat, take a deep breathe and remind yourself they're two and this is a hard task for them. Muster up some patience.

- don't rush your stops: . . . or zone out on your phone at rest stops. Run, play games, be silly, be loud, climb in the play place with them and get crazy looks from all the other adults. Your kid will be much more willing to get back in the car if you've connected and played together, even for just a few minutes. There are also tons of ways to connect in the car. I would start a story and ask Ev to continue it, talk to her about what we were seeing outside the windows, ask her to sing me a song, teach her a new song, give her some sea creature stickers and ask her to color them an ocean/home and some food, etc.

- give in a little: We usually don't eat at fast food places period, but we rarely order kids meals or let Ev pick out her food. Road trips are the exception. We hardly let her down from the table to run and play during meal times either, but road trips are the exception on this too. Treat it a little bit like vacation.

- limit the sugar: While I'm all for giving in a little, a sugar hyped kid strapped into a car seat for hours is a force to be reckoned with. Try to pack healthy snacks and let the sugar splurges happen when they have time to run it all off. Be sure to open all packages and put everything into little snack packs that can be handed into the backseat without a worry of a huge mess. There's no reason to be passing a Costco bag of baby carrots back and forth the whole drive. A little basket with a few options for them to choose from that you can pass into the backseat might be fun too.

- save a few fun Pandora stations ahead of time: Good music makes everyone feel better when you're getting antsy in the car. And channel surfing while driving is no fun, so find some before you hit the road. Some of our favorite stations: indie singer-songwriter + classical relaxation are good for nap time, 90s alternative is good once you thumbs down some of the hard rock and thumbs up Matchbox 20 and the like, PG comedy is fun without running the risk of hearing your toddler repeating the F word from the backseat with the today's comedy station (and yes that happened on a past road trip), Ray Lamontagne will always be my perfect station, and Disney is fun for kids. We also have some old tapes in our middle console for backups when my phone doesn't get a good enough signal to use Pandora. Books on tape might be a good option to entertain you during nap time.

That's all I've got! If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below. I also thought it might be fun to share your favorite Pandora stations because we all need new music, even when we aren't road tripping!

THE LAST OF NEW YORK

 

It's been a tad bit quiet over here as we're all trying to adjust to life in New Mexico again. Instead of blogging, I've been using the majority of my down time reading or organizing pictures, but I'm starting to ease back into my normal groove and catch up on posts. The week before we left Brooklyn, my Mom came for a visit. We were really more focused on spending time together than giving her the grand tour, so we didn't get around to showing her much. We did manage to take the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm usually not impressed with the tourist attractions, but something about the open air, city views, and magnitude of it all made Lady Liberty worth it. We had been admiring her from afar for quite some time now. Anytime we got a good sweeping view of the skyline, Ev would point out the 'Satch-oo of Wib-tee.' No view compares to standing under the real thing though. At some point I'd love to got through the museum at the base and climb to the crown, but the museum wasn't feasible with a toddler who needed a nap in tow and they don't allow kids under 4 in the crown. Though we're no longer Brooklynites, we aren't done with New York. We still have a long list of things we would love to do, so a trip in the near future is inevitable. Before going, it didn't seem like there would be a lot to do and I wasn't sure how enjoyable it might be for Ev, but she was surprisingly excited about the whole thing. She loved the ferry ride, the walk along the edge of the island, looking at the skyline through the view finder, and standing under the 'big lady holding an ice cream cone' as she liked to call her. After my mom's visit was over, we set to work packing and headed out just a few days later, so these are the last of our New York pictures. Each time we move, it's even more surreal as to how fast your life can change with just a rental truck and a drive.

NIAGARA FALLS

Our life has just been a whirlwind basically since the day we married. We've moved eight times in five years and have lived in four different states. We were on a tight budget since basically day one and not much has changed in that time - each year when our anniversary comes around we always contemplate whether to celebrate by going somewhere new. So far, we've always said yes and no matter the cost, it's always been worth it. We spent our honeymoon at Disney World, our first anniversary in Savannah, Georgia, our second in Dallas, Texas, our third on a motorcycle ride through the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico, our fourth in New York City, and our fifth at Niagara Falls. We haven't come close to seeing all that we want to see or taken many extravagant vacations, but I feel incredibly lucky to have experienced these places and more together. I'm a firm believer that traveling is never financially convenient for most people - you just have to make it a priority. You just have to do it.

It's about a seven hour drive from New York City to Niagara Falls using toll roads, but we always try to avoid paying tolls because East Coast tolls are straight up ridiculous. You might as well drive down the road with the windows down just throwing money into the air. We also wanted to have more to look at than the sides of an interstate, so we took a scenic route (scenic byway 97) and it ended up taking about eight and a half hours, but quite a bit longer with stops. The view was beautiful - rolling hills, farmland, winding roads, green saturated mountains with their tops hidden under a blanket of fog. We found this perfect little park to eat lunch in off of highway five called Clarence Town Park. If you ever make a similar drive, it's definitely worth the stop. It was like hitting the road trip with a toddler jackpot. They have three different playgrounds nestled in beautiful trees and a pond with a fountain that Ev spent a good 20 minutes throwing rocks into and pointing out a rainbow above it.

We spent the majority of our time on the American side of the falls, but stayed in a cute little place in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. We were just there for a few days and most of our time was spent driving, so we didn't get much time to explore anything more than the Falls, but I wish we had. This town was just idyllic. If there are any fellow Gilmore Girls fans out there, it was like Stars Hollow come to life, but even cuter. Outside of the town, along Niagara River Parkway, are beautiful homes and vineyards that we drove past each day. They became more enchanting each drive. I would love to come back to the area sometime just to explore this little town more. Friday night we walked into town in search of some good food and ended up at The Irish Harp Pub. We weren't sure how kid-friendly they might be, but they welcomed us two year old and all and we had a blast. They had live music, delicious food, and a good drink selection. Ev loved the music so much she didn't want to leave at the end of the night.

 

Saturday was a little rough as we spent two hours sitting in line at the border crossing with a screaming toddler going to the Falls and two hours sitting in line at the border crossing with a toddler that needed to poop and couldn't hold it any longer leaving the Falls. Hashtag real life. That's the only downside to staying in Canada and exploring the American side of the Falls - there are almost always long wait times at the border crossing. The one time that we zipped right through was at 9:00 A.M. on Sunday morning. We were able to laugh it all off though and had a good time regardless. We had been talking with Ev about seeing the big waterfall for weeks now because we knew we would be getting close at some point and didn't want her to be too scared. She was so excited and asked every day leading up to Saturday if today was the day we would drive to the big waterfall. I didn't want to stress too much about seeing all the tourist attractions in one day, so we just picked one, The Cave of the Winds, and that ended up being plenty for us. We put on our ponchos and climbed the stairs and platforms, closer and closer to the Falls. I left my camera safely tucked in the backpack for fear of it getting wet, but I bought a waterproof disposable camera and brought that along. By the end of it, the ponchos hadn't done much to keep us dry and our faces hurt from laughing so much. For a toddler, it seems that talking about getting wet under the waterfall and ACTUALLY being under the waterfall are two very different things. She didn't shed a tear, but changed moods between smiling, scared, and done with this attraction every few minutes. She's still talking about getting wet 'under da big watuhfaw' and asks if we're going back every day now.

The one thing that we had heard about the area around Niagara Falls was that the food was lacking. There are some chain restaurants and pizza joints, but we couldn't find much more until we stumbled upon the restaurant inside the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute. The food was delicious and their lunch prices were reasonable. It seems to be a well kept secret in the area as it wasn't very crowded, but trust me when I tell you to skip everything else and just eat here. My other piece of advice is that Smokin' Joe's has the cheapest deals on souvenirs, but if you don't fancy going there, the gift shops near the attractions in the National Park carry the same things and are also cheaper than the shops that border the park. The trolley tickets are also worth it - Ev flipped her lid about riding on a trolley like Daniel Tiger's.

I was really surprised and relieved to find so much in the area that was kid-friendly. All of the attractions allow babies and toddlers and most let them in free if they're under 6. We almost always bring Ev along on our adventures and it can be frustrating when places aren't welcoming towards families. 'See Niagara Falls' has always been on my bucket list and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. Though the trip was tiring, it was nice to get out of the city and reconnect with each other. The beauty was astounding and life is just a bit more enjoyable today as I think of all the smiles we shared and the experiences we had together. I love to think about all the memories we've made together and the ones yet to make. I hope my girl can look back on her childhood and trips like this and know that she belongs in this family, that she is loved.

(P.S. We took a different route home and ended up stopping at Dinosaur Barbecue in Syracuse. If you're ever close by, it's worth it.)

Guest Post • Big Sky Lullaby • Sleep + Summer Vacation

ev's first trip to the beach

Back before I actually had a baby, terms like 'child sleep consultant' and 'sleep training' sounded like a foreign language to me. 'Don't babies sleep a lot?' I would have asked, but it really isn't that simple. Some people get lucky and their kid is just a natural born sleep master who goes down easily at all the right times and stays asleep all night, but the majority of us really have to work at it. It's like a science. Anyway, Diana is a child sleep consultant who shares some of her knowledge through her blog over at Big Sky Lullaby and also offers private consultations. We've been emailing back and forth over the last few months, trying to find time in our busy schedules to exchange ideas and basically just get on the same page. We finally managed to get all of our ducks in a row and make this happen. It's so refreshing to interact with someone to who has an understanding of the hardships in juggling motherhood and a career. As some of you know, this family of mine has been put through the ringer in the sleep department. Ev didn't sleep through the night until she was 18 months old and by 'didn't sleep through the night,' I don't mean she woke up once or twice at night. She was awake around the clock, every two to three hours like a newborn. How we made it through that and solved her sleep issues is another post for another day, but needless to say, a sleep consultant would have been a God-send. Without further adieu, here's Diana with advice on keeping your babies and toddlers on a sleep schedule this Summer.

Sleep should not be compromised in order to enjoy your summer vacation, and the good news is it doesn’t have to be! With summer upon us, I wanted to take this opportunity as a guest blogger to provide some suggestions about maintaining healthy sleep while on family vacations. Believe it or not, there is a way to keep your children on a schedule so that their normal routine is not permanently disrupted, while also getting the opportunity to relax and enjoy your time away!

It's important to take into account your child’s age and the location you'll be traveling to. Be realistic, you can't have late nights with no concern for time, and then expect your child to cooperate the next day. Never forget that sleep begets sleep; in other words, the more they sleep, the more they sleep! When your child is put to bed at a much later time than usual, this can be acceptable if, and only if, your child is on a solid routine to begin with. It is much easier to make an exception for a special occasion and have your child snap back into their normal schedule the following day if their schedule is solid and consistent; however, a week’s vacation doesn't really qualify as a special occasion. 

TRAVEL

Let’s begin with some tips and suggestions for your time spent traveling to your destination. If you're driving to your vacation spot, start your trip at the beginning of your child’s nap time. This is one of my few exceptions to my rule of motion sleep. (More to come on motion sleep.) This will give your child a good amount of time to nap and by the time they wake up, you'll be several hours into your trip. 

If you're flying to your destination, nurse or bottle feed your baby during take-off and landing to help with the pressure on their ears. Buy a small toy that your child has never seen before and pack it for them with some snacks and comfort items. When it is time for them to nap, hand them their usual comfort item that they bring to bed (pacifier, lovey, teddy bear, etc.) and let them know it is time to sleep. Every once in a while, take your toddler for a walk up and down the aisle in order to get their wiggles out.

SLEEP ENVIRONMENT

Once you've arrived at your destination, set up your space in a way that will be as familiar of a sleep environment to your child as possible. For example, bring the big blanket you use to cover them in their crib at home, not just the small one that they use for comfort. Bring some of their stuffed animals or dolls. If you are in a hotel room, you can use a dark corner of the room to set up their pack 'n' play or you can also use the bathroom and treat it like their own room.

Pay extra attention to your bedtime routine; go slow and provide extra comfort and soothing time if needed. Your child might be apprehensive about the new environment at first, but just keep reassuring them that Mom and Dad are nearby, just like at home.

MUST HAVES AND JUST-IN-CASE

Always bring medicine. I travel with everything I would need if my baby were to come down with a fever while we're away. It's very common for a child to catch a cold if they're on a plane, and you don’t want to be caught off guard in the middle of the night, in an unfamiliar place, around unfamiliar people. Here is a list of 'Must Haves' and some 'Just-In-Case' items that I recommend.

Must Haves

• Thermometer (Make sure it has batteries if needed, and the cover to go over the tip that gets changed after each reading.)
• Tylenol and Motrin (Bring both in case you need to switch off using them every four hours.)
• Nose syringe (If your child is having trouble breathing.)
• Saline Drops (Helps clear what the syringe can't.)
• Vicks Vapor Rub
• Gripe water or Gas drops 

Just-In-Case

• Teething tablets (Teeth like to present themselves at the most inconvenient of times, especially the molars!)
• Prune juice or natural child laxative (Many child experience constipation while traveling.)
• Portable Vicks Vaporizer

SUMMER NIGHTS

Let’s be realistic, you didn’t spend all of this money and go through all of this hassle to go on a vacation and not spend some nights out relaxing and enjoying yourself, whatever that may mean for you. In an ideal world we would bring along a babysitter, nanny, sibling or parent who could remain at the hotel after the kids are in bed so that you and your spouse can enjoy some nights out. If that’s a possibility for your family, I highly recommend it. If not, you just need to plan it out in a way that gives everyone time to enjoy themselves without compromising your children’s need for healthy sleep. Here is what I suggest:

If you are going somewhere where you can sit out on your porch and relax after you put the kids to bed at a reasonable hour and enjoy yourselves, this is an ideal situation. It's also something to look for when planning and booking your vacation destination. If you are on vacation with a group of people, plan your nights out in advance and take turns with your spouse. This will eliminate all surprises and will give everyone a turn to relax and enjoy things such as a late dinner or a show.  

OUT AND ABOUT

*Motion sleep occurs when your child sleeps in motion; such as in a car, a swing, or in a stroller. Since the child is in motion although they appear to be asleep, they never enter the deep sleep phase and therefore never benefit from the mental and physical restoration that sleep provides.

However, vacations are an exception to my rule of motion sleep. Although it is not ideal, it is also not detrimental. Motion sleep is often used to “save the over tired state,” meaning that if you are out and about during your vacation and unable to go back to your hotel room in order to put your child down for a nap, let them sleep in the stroller or car. This will prevent them from being overtired at bedtime and ultimately having trouble falling asleep and waking during the night.

The key to a nap during a busy and exciting vacation day is a comfort item. For example, if your child is attached to a lovey, keep it in your bag and then right at their usual nap time, no matter where you are, hand the lovey to your child and this will signal to them that it is time for sleep. Try your best to put a blanket over the stroller to darken the sunlight, or if you are in a car perhaps use a shade for the windows.

TIME CHANGE

If you're traveling to a different time zone, remember that they will not adjust to the time change as quickly as you will, so this needs to be taken into account. I advise parents to watch their child more than they watch the clock and really pay attention to sleep signals. Go about your family’s daily routine as normal and your child will follow your cues and understand when it is time for sleep.

My main piece of advice is to know your child. If they are a sensitive sleeper, don’t push them to adjust to a schedule that you know they will not take to very well. It will just mess with their regular schedule that you probably spent a lot of time and effort getting them on in the first place. If you have a child that adjusts easily to sleep situations, you are lucky and are able to be more flexible. Either way, no matter how quickly your child may adjust, everyone needs healthy amounts of sleep in order to function and ensure that every member of the family enjoys your summer vacation!

You can find Diana over at bigskylullaby.com. Feel free to leave any questions below, as I'm sure Diana would love to answer them.

DC Adventures • National Gallery of Art

So Tuesday morning started out with a little bit of this. . .

Our favorite breakfast right now - steel cut oats with blueberries, almonds, a sprinkle of sugar, and a splash of cream.

. . . and a little bit of this.

Then we said goodbye to Papa like we always do, but he came back through the door just an hour later and I couldn't stop smiling. The stock truck was supposed to come that morning, but was rescheduled, so they sent him home. He's been working nonstop over the last month or so to save up the money to get to Brooklyn because well, we mostly hate D.C. but maybe a little less on days like this. What we both really wanted to do was lay around with unwashed hair in our pajamas and drink coffee all day and watch old Meg Ryan movies on Netflix. Well we probably would have argued about watching Meg Ryan all day, but I digress. Ev and I have been suffering from serious cabin fever these days and although it makes it a little more bearable and cozier inside with Alex home, Ev was still antsy. It was early, so we decided to drive into the District to see one of the many museums we've had every intention of seeing by now, but well, it's Winter and the trek is long with a toddler in tow. We settled on the National Gallery of Art and while it was definitely worth the free admission, it was no Georgia O'Keeffe museum. That one's my favorite. Maybe I was just overwhelmed? I really enjoyed the Monet and Van Gogh section, but for the most part we wandered around in the stuffy portraits and made jokes about how many nipples we could spot in each room (Ok, maybe that monologue was in my head. . .), then we ran out of time and had to get back to our car because we could only find a 2 hour spot when we came in and I had already fed the meter an entire jar full of change (no, seriously - I keep a Mason jar of change in my floor board that I could probably kill someone with if they ever tried to rob me). It was an outing, nonetheless, and we were all a bit happier as we left, but hungry, so we stopped by District Taco in the Eastern Market area. Ev fell asleep in the car on the way there and by some miracle - the parenting Gods were on our side that day - she stayed asleep as we got out of the car and walked her down the street and laid her in a booth. She slept through the entire 40 minutes the parking meter gave us to eat and it sort of felt like a mini date. There may have been some goofy smiles and quiet high fives at the dinner table because 'hey, free date!'

Obligatory ceiling shot.

I love a man that takes charge of the stroller, but not more than a man baby wearing.

My goal was to get just one picture of her looking at a painting studiously then I would put my camera away, but the skylight in the ceiling was way more interesting. And I had plans to put a picture of Ev and I in front of a Van Gogh painting here, but the sweater I was wearing was too short and every time I bent down next to the stroller my butt crack was showing and it was in every picture, so there's that.

And here's a picture of a meltdown because I'm a doofus and forgot to pack a snack in the bag and it was past lunch time and it was nap time, so in toddler-land that's basically the end of it all. On another note, isn't the way she holds her own hand the cutest? I think that's how you survive the toddler years, "She's screaming for a snack and I have no snack and I'm getting really stressed out - oh look how cute her hands are!" So we asked a nice security guard where the nearest snacks were and headed that way where we shared a tiny banana bread and bottle of milk and found a fountain that made her day. She flipped her lid over the 'big wah-wah!'

When the day was done, we made our way back to the apartment and resumed our winter hibernation. Let's all hope it doesn't snow again and Spring comes soon because the Jacobs family is losing it.

The end.

P.S. Our trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
And a trip down memory lane when we went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum for my 23rd birthday.

If you enjoyed my winter-induced pyschotic rambling, feel free to click the link below and vote for HMRM.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend!