On our drive back home yesterday I realized, and mentioned to Jimmy, that this is our last spring break (school associated) vacation for a little while. It was an odd feeling, but exciting none the less. So we went out with a bang. Our bang is not as exciting as most people's bang, meaning we did not go to Haiwii or something crazy like that. Instead we decided to crash on our friend's couches and visit the great cities of DC and the Chesapeake bay area. It was just the kind of vacation that we do. We drive a lot and we see a lot. It was crazy, but enjoyable. So without further adieu, let's explore our adventures.
Monday morning we ventured out of our apartment around 8 am, fully packed. We arrived in Bathesda MA around 11:30 am to visit our friends the Ericksons. They really are some of the most enjoyable and entertaining people. We really wish we lived closer because I am sure Melanie and I would swap recipes and Jimmy and Davis would swap insults/compliments all day long. Not to mention their adorable kids who Lucy just couldn't get enough of. She was calling every baby "baby Bear" after we left.
In the afternoon we went to the zoo. Lucy LOVED it. She was mesmerized with the otters and laughed when the elephant broke a long branch with his(or her) foot. Note: This was day 1 without a nap. She got pretty antsy by the end of our stay. So we decided to take advantage of the DC scene and found an Indian restaurant. Lucy wooed the waitress into giving her an extra mango yogurt smoothie, I got chick peas and masala and Jimmy burned himself on some really spicy lamb dish. It was wonderful. Did I mention that I love Indian food?
Then we headed back to the Ericksons, put Lucy to bed and played a game with Davis and Melanie before most of us went to bed.
Tuesday we got up, got dressed and Jimmy and I headed to the DC temple for a few hours while Melanie (bless her heart) watched all three kids. When we got back we decided to head into DC for lunch and some museums. It was POURING! Our first stop was the Air and Space museum. Lucy flew some planes, touched all of the buttons available and again, missed her nap.
Anticipating a cranky sleepy girl we decided to see one of the IMAX shows. Jimmy let me choose, since I am the sciency one, and so we decided on Hubble-3D. I had heard great things about it, and felt sort of ashamed that I still had not seen it. Our hope was that Lucy would fall asleep during the movie. We were somewhat mistaken. When we entered the theater Lucy was okay, but up until the movie started she was crying and carrying on. It wasn't until the movie started that she settled. And then, of course she didn't wear the glasses. So she watched most of the movie blurry. It still seemed to keep her attention until the very end were she lost it again and Jimmy took her out. Day 2 without a nap.
We left the Air and Space and headed to the National Aquarium. Have you ever heard of it? Neither had we. But we found out why. When we got there, around 3:30pm we found it cost $10 per person, and it closed around 5pm. We decided it wasn't worth it and headed for a lap around the Washington Monument because Lucy was not having the stroller thing anymore. When she is tired she doesn't do the sitting still thing very well. So she "ran fast" around the monument and then picked up the metro to head over to Dupont Circle to look at the shops.
Once we arrived, we grabbed a smoothie and literally did a circle of streets back to the same station, until we found that we should head back to the Ericksons to eat with them. It was decided that we would do Cafe Rio since they have it in DC. We got back a little late, Jimmy and Davis headed to pick up the food and we put the kids the bed. Once they returned we ate and chatted until we again headed to bed.
The next morning we packed up and headed off for our next adventure to see my best friend from college. She just had a baby a few months back and I was dying to meet her little girl and to have some fun times with her. Jimmy dropped me off around noon and he and Lucy headed up to Ocean city for a daddy-daughter night while I stayed with my friend Andrea.
Jimmy's night with Lucy was eventful. He took her to the beach (though it was freezing), he found out she doesn't like being in the car ("outta here!") and she showed her flexibility when she decided she would have no more sleeping in the pack-n-play. My favorite part was receiving the voicemail from Jimmy. It went something like this:
"Lucy knows how to get out of her pack and play. I don't know how she does it and I don't know what to do...." all said in a very desperate voice. I felt bad giggling a little inside. Jimmy really was a trooper. Turns out he could only get her to stay in by singing to her for 45 minutes. At this point in time her favorite song is "I am a child of God" which she calls "God" and the "Itsy Bitsy Spider."
I had a very relaxing afternoon and evening. I went for a walk, helped make dinner, and snuggled Andrea's adorable little baby. And we talked. Sometimes its nice to talk to a good friend. I woke up the next morning without my Lucy alarm clock and helped out by letting Andrea go for a run. Soon after Jimmy and Lucy showed up. Turns out they missed me. Lucy cried if I left the room, thinking that I would leave her again. And this was day 4 of no nap, since apparently the day before she hadn't napped either. She was crazy. She read every child's book in Andrea's house and jumped all over the furniture.
Silly blurry camera, this was the best picture we could get!
After showing Andrea the craziness of a 21 month old we all headed back to Ocean City for our last day of vacation. Lucy was now saying "outta here" or "Lucy drive" or "close the door" every time we put her in the car. We got back into Ocean City just after one and decided to go to the beach. Our hotel was literally right next to it.
Sidenote: getting hotels out of season is a steal. We got a really nice room with a kitchen included and ocean front location for a very low price. Plus there was an indoor pool. It was very, very nice.
So we went to the beach with lots of clothes on and put our feet in the sand. It was cold of enough that we only lasted a few minutes, but it sure was a beautiful view. Once we got back we headed to find me a bathing suit. Again, out of season, in a beach town equals cheap bathing suits. It also means that the bathing suits (for me at least) are all HUGE. Now granted, I am getting along in size (remember I am pregnant), so I wasn't expecting to wear my normal size. But XXL just wasn't going to cut it. I did find something that kind of worked but I think I will need to give it away now. Jimmy and Lucy however found nice new bathing suits for very reasonable prices. Anyways, I digress.
In case you are wondering this says "D + M" (Daddy + Mommy) = Lucy
So we took our bathing suits and headed to the pool. Lucy adores the pool. She was laughing and smiling the entire time. If she actually knew how to float she would have been all over that pool.. As it was she was practically leaping out of our arms most of the time. It made me think it was time to think about some swimming lesson option for the summer. She is such a little fish.
After swimming we warmed up and went out for dinner. The downside to out of season beach town was none of their good seafood restaurants were open. We settled for mediocre food. Lucy favorite part was the applesauce.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped to pick up a movie since Jimmy and I needed something to do after Lucy went to bed. Turns out we probably could have just gone to bed after she finally fell asleep. 45 minutes of singing didn't cut it. We sang, we held her in her bed, we barricaded pillows up so she couldn't see us. Nothing worked. It wasn't until Jimmy sternly told her to stay in bed that she finally laid down. That was after she jumped up and down in her pack-n-play enough times that she bit her lip. It was an interesting evening.
The next day we got up, went swimming again, packed and headed out for breakfast. Breakfast was significantly better than dinner, but it left me full for the rest of the day. I guess that was good considering we had a 5+ hour drive home.
We drove for about 2.5 hours until we reached some outlet stores. Mistake-- possibly. I was totally in a buying sort of mood. Good think our tax return just came in. Lucy got a new Columbia windbreaker (it was a steal!) and a spring dress, and baby Coopito got a fuzzy suit and hat for this winter as well as a new newborn onesie. To be fair, this was our first real purchase for Coopito. There was no real excuse for Lucy's new clothes. We loved the coat and she can always use new church clothes.
I told Jimmy it was good we did not live nearby. Everything was so low priced that I would not feel really bad getting a bunch of clothes, until I realized that I bought far more than I needed and had spent far more than I had intended.
We got back in the car for the final leg of our journey. And guess what? Lucy took her first nap of the week. A good 2 hour nap, mind you. We made it home just before 5 pm. Our house of barren of food so I ran to the store, got some food and we had dinner before venturing to put Lucy to bed.
Now, if you recall Lucy could get out of her pack-n-play which we feared would allow her to get out of her crib. Her crib however was much higher. So we took a leap of faith and removed the front of her crib. She is now a toddler bed sleeper. And she is really good at it. For now. She slept in it last night, took a nap this afternoon and is asleep once again. In fact Jimmy said that when she woke up from her nap today, she whined until he came to get her. And when he walked in she was still in her bed. She is funny, funny girl.
So things we learned from this vacation. 1.We have amazing friends! Thanks for letting us stay with you. 2. Lucy loves her mommy. I am pretty sure I won't be able to leave for a night for a little while. 3. Lucy can't sleep with us in the same room. She needs her space or she gets totally distracted. 4. We can have incredible vacations even if we are driving and Lucy goes without a nap. 5. Everything is an adventure.
And that is that. Our "last" spring break vacation.
That sounds like quite an adventure! I've learned the hard way that I sleep horrible in the same room as my kids, but sometimes I suffer through it if we're visiting someone. Our spring break is coming up soon, but I don't know if we're going to do anything too exciting. (Of course James gets spring break since he's a teacher!)
ReplyDeleteI thought I had published a comment but don't see it ... so will try again. Thanks for keeping us informed. Sounds like all three of you had a great time and you wil have some great memories.
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