Wylie's First bike ride!

Daytrip!

We really hadn't been on the road enough.  Fourteen days, phooey, what's one more?  The kids were beginning to miss being strapped into their car seats hoping for a snack or an ipod or a bathroom break.  Home less than a week and I decided we need to get back out there again. Destination: the beach. 

Mom, Finn, Wylie, and I had THE BEST DAY yesterday in Bridgman, MI.

Finn claims his favorite part of the day was a dip in the big bathtub at the end of the day, which helped me rid the two boys of at least some of the sand they'd accumulated. Funny, I didn't take any pictures of that event because I thought the highlight was a toss up between the BEACH and chatting with Mom and Amanda.




Really, the best part of the day was the glorious HOUR during which Finn entertained himself by taking little boat rides.  He would climb in this little boat, lay back with his feet up, drift down the shore a bit, get beached, climb out, drag the boat back to his starting point, and do it all over again.

Wylie would say he was torn between the basketball Amanda let him bring to the beach and the dogs who were so, so sweet to him.

Thanks to Amanda for welcoming us with open arms!  It was truly the perfect day.


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Love the pampering!

Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat

As we progressed along the Ohio turnpike with Chicagoland in our distant sites, and with one boy engrossed in "Bee Movie" on the trusted MacBook for the fourteenth time and the other babbling and transfixed by some ball or another, we reflected on what a great success our east coast sojourn had been. We even dared to contemplate doing it again next year; it had been just that good.

Sure, every adventure brings its share of trials. What was it from Garibaldi: blood, toil, tears, and sweat? Finn did bloody his knee at Dutch Wonderland. Jen and I did toil a fair bit schlepping the boys from place to place - staying in seven different places over fourteen days. Wy shed his fair share of tears, typically brought on by being over-tired or his brother swiping his toy. And given the dramatic swing in temperature - clocking in north of a hundred when we left DC and on or about that at each spot along the way home, we'd been sweating it up in the full heat of a new summer, which technically began the day we arrived home.

As we look ahead, we have some advice to ourselves to keep up the positive traveling vibes for next year.

1-Do the same right things: leaving late afternoon, having plenty of games and technology and snacks in the car, staying in suites offering cocktails and a pool, stopping along the way to see so many family and friends, just accepting the fact that our children's diet will mostly involve tubed meats and liquids tinted with manufactured food colorings with some hope that they will transition back to normal without too much fuss when we get back home, and trusting that on the very last leg of the journey, when you have a half-day of driving left, one boy will make it in his swimsuit b/c that's the only shorts you've got left that are clean and the other won't need more than two more diaper changes, because that's all that remain from the 72-mega-pack you started with.

2-No need to complain about how small our car is - it did the job and rear view mirrors are overrated anyway.

3-Set modest expectations. Someone recently told me that what keeps him
happy is low expectations for just about everything. That way, he's always pleasantly surprised! ("How's things?" "Well, my wife hasn't left me yet and the kids still speak to me. Things are great!") We paced ourselves, we got to what we could get to, and we pushed the kids (and ourselves) to their limits, but just.

With that in mind, let's say we don't expect next year to be even better. But, we do expect doing it all over again next year.

Last Day in DC

We snapped a quick pic with Jason before he rushed off to his meetings.  The boys and I took a more leisurely pace and hung out at the Capitol Building, soaking in a last bit of DC, waiting for the museums to open.  From there we escaped the heat and explored the National Museum of Natural History Museum, per our friend Carter's recommendation.  Thanks Carter!

DC Outings minus Papa

While Jason was busy with his serious, suit and all, meetings, the little and the medium, and I explored more of DC.  We saw the Titanic exhibit at National Geographic, the pandas at the zoo, and the White House.

Finn taking a picture of himself in front of the White House.

Ketchup is love

At dinner tonight Finn declared, "Ketchup is the same thing as love, like your heart."  I think he was combining the idea that he loves ketchup with his knowledge about the heart from the Museum of Science and Industry.  Interesting metaphor.

Reunion at Rock Point

This weekend our east coast road trip took a delightful side trip to rural Rock Point, Maryland.  Our reunion with Liz and Jim, Katherine and Peter, Susan and Dick, and Susan felt like old times, except there were six short people running around making it a whole lot more chaotic and lively!

Finn's first sleepover, and it is coed!

The little squirts--Wylie, Charlotte, and Aileen.  Help, someone stuck us in a canoe and we can't get out!

Finn, Carter, and Emily gearing up for the first boat trip of the weekend.

An expedition to the beach to collect rocks and shells and beach glass.

The kids put on a "parade."

I can actually do it!

Popsicles, bribery for participating in a big group photo.

Splinter removal.

A quick dip in the hot tub before we head back to DC.

Washington DC, Day 3

Thanks to our friend Jim Wood, we enjoyed a tour of the Capitol Building on Friday.  Sure, the fascinating facts and details about the murals and statues might have been a bit much for Finn, and Wylie wanted nothing more than to escape his stroller and run.

Being goofy in front of the Capitol.

Apparently it is good luck to step on this spot under the dome--the center of DC.

Congressman Hoyer's office.  Blue, cool!
Wylie was desperate to get his hands on an autographed basketball behind Hoyer's desk.