Tag Archives: washington dc

Day 3 – Washington DC and Alexandria VA

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We moved by bus, metro rail, and our own two feet today as we navigated the DC transportation system through construction sights to the National Mall. Elliot’s first time in the Nation’s Capitol was a smash! He recognized the Capitol Building from our USA cartoon placemat map, so he’s clearly a genius. Despite the incredibly hot weather (because July), we made it to three Smithsonian Museums today.

First up (and the one we spent most of our time at) was the National Museum of the American Indian. There’s a fun children’s discovery area called ImagiNATIONS, where kids can learn about different tribes from around the globe. The boys weaved a basket and paper, built an igloo, skateboarded, cooked fish and tried other hands on activities. Their favorite included stamping their passport with stamps representing various tribes. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and enjoyed a plethora of Native American foods. We highly recommend the food and the museum!

We saw there was no line for the Air and Space Museum (there was a long one first thing this morning), and it’s the 50th anniversary of the moon landing so we headed inside. It was packed! So much so that we looked at a few rockets and a lunar module and then split.

We metroed to the National Portrait Gallery and prioritized because nap time approached and the kids were cranky and energetic (as only tired kids can be). The main portraits I wanted to view were the Obamas – and we saw them in their full glory! President Obama was in office for both boys’ births, and he’s been the only president elected by me since I became voter eligible in 2000. Hopefully, my vote will change things in 2020 and I’ll once again elect an excellent president into the White House. Their portraits were so vibrant and lovely! I also enjoyed seeing President Kennedy’s portraits and the four female Supreme Court Justices.

After returning back to the Brownes, they planned a little Lutheran Campus Ministry get-together with the McKenzie-Harwells (Leanna and Drew) and the Bells (Brad, Erica, and Samuel). Catching up in person seems to rarely happen these days so I’m happy Vanesa facilitated it. Henry said the best part of his day was hanging out and playing with this new friend, Samuel. He relished being the big kid amongst the little ones.

We told Vanesa and Scott that we would be staying and moving in with them – that’s how much we love them. Not actually doing this, but how awesome would it be to live nearby all the people we love most in the world? I don’t think we could contain our joy.

Epic Walbolt Road-Trip Vacation

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Tomorrow we leave for a 17-day great American road trip as a family. That’s right, we’re taking our 3 and 6 year olds with us in our Toyota Corolla up the East Coast from Florida to Maine and back. You’re probably thinking we may be crazy, and as I pack, clean, and do last minute preparations, I’m thinking you may be right.

Just kidding, we’ve got this.

I’m mostly sure.

Our idea for this trip was planted when we realized how many people we loved lived from the mid-Atlantic to New England and we missed them so much we knew we needed to schedule a visit. Flying four people anywhere costs a fortune, and then we’d have to rent a car anyway once we arrived. So we drive!

Each kid has a tote bag of car distractions that include a whole lot of Melissa and Doug, coloring books, games, and building toys like Legos and Tegu magnetic blocks. I also have another tote with school-type stuff for Henry – reading and math workbooks as well as books to read aloud so he can get to Home Base for Reading with the Rays (and fill my only official summer learning requirement of reading 30 minutes a day). He’s going to try to read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which will be incredibly challenging so wish him luck and persistence. Finally, we have iPads for each kid to watch movies and play games when the time on the road becomes too intense.

H’s Car Distractions
E’s Car Gear (don’t worry, I have more things for him for later in the trip)

The kids expectations regarding our trip are mixed at best.

Henry thinks it will take 3 hours to get there, and that time frame is entirely too long. “Why aren’t we flying?” is the main question he’s been asking. Such a privileged kid, mostly flying everywhere since he’s been alive. He’s most excited to visit Vermont, for reasons involving a horse and ice cream.

Elliot thinks we are visiting Spain and chose it as his top state on this trip because it’s like church. I wish we could drive to Spain, buddy. He has also asked when and how we are seeing Marlon Bundo while we are in DC…Tia Nesa is somehow making that difficult request happen.

I’m excited to see friends and family who we don’t get to see as often as we’d like. So is Keith. Overnight stops include:

• Walterboro, South Carolina

• Alexandria, Virginia

• Spencerport, New York

• Bristol, Vermont

• Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

• Jamestown, Rhode Island

• Rockville, Maryland

• Yemassee, South Carolina

We’ll be stopping at least every three hours so the kids can run around at parks and playgrounds along the way. Hopefully, that will break up the monotony of interstate travel and let them get their energy out. And nap. So no one goes crazy.

The Vaseline Incident

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the Vaseline incident – it sounds like a band name, doesn’t it?!

I’ve been putting off posting about this until it wasn’t so fresh in my mind since it felt traumatic at the time, even if everyone else thought it was hilarious. It was not funny at all then, and still isn’t (but hopefully will be soon). On our second day in DC, I put Henry down for his afternoon nap in Vanesa’s room. I thought I had cleared away everything that he could possibly get into, but i was wrong. In the back of Vanesa’s (closed) closet, behind some toilet paper in a closed cabinet lurked Vaseline. A full jar of Vaseline. 
Henry had learned earlier in the day how to put hair product in his hair to make it curly and he decided to try it on his own since he had clearly mastered it before. So while we thought he was sleeping (because he was quiet – always question the silence!), he was busy emptying the contents of the Vaseline onto his head and face. It took less than 15 minutes, because that’s when I asked Vanesa if she would go check to see if he was sleeping.

 

after washing with regular baby shampoo
  
 
She came down the stairs giggling in shock, and he was so happy and proud! We carried the slippery sucker up to the tub and tried (unsuccessfully) washing out the Vaseline with regular soap several times and warm water and then brushing it out. Fail. Panicked phone calls were made to my mom and Marcie. Vanesa told Marcie and Lisa they had to drop what they were doing and come, because the situation was getting more and more slippery. My mom told me to call poison control since he may have swallowed some and she didn’t know if it was toxic. 

 

washing with Dawn
 
I’ve never felt more like a bad parent than in this moment, talking to a lady from poison control and explaining I didn’t know how much Vaseline he had ingested. For future reference, the woman I spoke with was very calm and helpful, and assuaged my fears. For all you parents out there – Vaseline is NOT toxic. It acts as a laxative depending on how much one consumes. And it can be a choking hazard since it is extra thick. Since Henry was not coughing (too much laughing), the choking bit was ruled out, and it didn’t seem like he ate a lot of it (probably only 1-2 bites) so he was going to be fine. 

 

washing with corn starch
  
 
Lisa (our go-to librarian) researched how to clean Vaseline out of hair and there are a couple of ways: (1) Dawn dish soap like they use for oil spills and (2) corn starch with hot water. If you use cool water, the Vaseline clumps up and becomes even more difficult to get out. We used both methods on the Hen, multiple times a day, for several days. In case you are wondering, it takes about a week and at least 37 washings of hair to make the hair feel and look natural again. 

There was just so. much. Vaseline. It was like wrestling a slicked up pig, and the tub was so incredibly slippery each time the adults had to shower it was like ice skating (I am not a skater). Needless to say, we will not be keeping it our house anytime soon. One day I will be able to laugh with everyone else about it, but today is still not that day. 

 

playground fun afterwards
  
  
hair isn’t wet, it is vaselined
  
 

DC Adventures (Mostly in Food)

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Looking back at the pictures my friends and I actually took over our DC trip, most of them involved gathering around a table and enjoying delicious food and drinks drinks and even better conversation. We started off the weekend right with sangria (super sweet) and Jazz in the Garden. We sprawled in the shadow of weird sculptures with hundreds of others. Since we didn’t bring food, we walked to Hill Country Barbecue Market for melt-in-your-mouth brisket and so many sides. 

  
The next day we split a pizza and hummus appetizer at Pi Pizza, which totally hit the spot. For dinner, we met up with my fav aunt, Aunt Jane, at Ted’s Bulletin for drinks, tasty food including homemade pop tarts, and adult (spiked) milkshakes for dessert. Mine was key lime pie flavored with coconut rum, and it was definitely refreshing. 

   
 Sunday morning we headed over to Georgetown for brunch at Farmers Fishers Bakers. It was pricey, but the variety of breakfast and lunch foods was excellent and the cinnamon rolls and creme brûlée grapefruit were to die for. 

   
 On our last full day we ate lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian (http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/content/menus.asp), where it was difficult to pick which foods to eat because they all looked amazing. I ended up getting a variety of foods and not being able to finish any of them, but they tasted as good as they looked. We had drinks that night at Ambar, our first visit to a Balkan restaurant. I’m pretty sure I liked the American Indian restaurant the best, with Ted’s Bulletin a close second. 

  
We even saw a few tourist sites – the Natural History Museum and the National Building Museum. We saw all the highlights of Natural History in one morning! That’s how my two year old rolls. Actually, he ran through each exhibit, pausing for a bit at the animal and dinosaur skeletons, long enough to pet a caterpillar and a hissing cockroach, and took time to admire the beauty of the Hope diamond (oh wait, that was the adults). We wanted to check out the beach at the National Building Museum, but the wait was more than two hours on a Monday morning, probably because it was 107 degrees outside (not really but it was hot)! Henry had a blast playing with toys in the gift shop (he got one small fire truck for the plane ride home) and climbing up and down the stairs. The building’s design was beautiful with its rows and columns of arches and spacious interior. We will have to see the exhibits next time we visit DC, especially if Henry still likes building and destroying things. 

   
   

Planes, Trains, and No Automobiles!

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Two weeks ago, Henry and I traveled to Washington, DC to visit Henry’s godmother, Tia Vanesa! It was his third airplane ride (round trip flight), but his first alone with me. Keith had flown to Detroit, MI to be part of the ELCA National Youth Gathering, chaperoning 6 youth from our church. We were sad to be without him, but excited to visit with not only Vanesa, but also some of my other college besties – Marcie, Amber, and Lisa!

   
 
After breezing through check-in and security, we ran around the terminal for a while, then boarded the plane. I was totally prepared for the flight, I had snacks, activities, and my iPad stocked full of games and movies to watch. I was in for a rude awakening – my iPad would not turn on. I tried everything, even using a lady’s charger on board, but nothing happened. I have never wanted to cry more over failed technology. Luckily, I had plenty of other toys, crafts, etc. to make it through the flight – changing things up every 5-10 minutes. Henry did great, until we stayed on the tarmac for 20 minutes following the flight. Like everyone else on the plane, he wanted off, and couldn’t really hack staying on board. He was literally jumping in his seat and licking the plane. 

  

Speaking of licking transport vehicles, Henry also loved licking the metro. Totally disgusting, I know, but once it happened there was nothing I could do. He only developed a slight cough so his immune system is amazing. Henry’s favorite part of DC was riding the metro, which we did every day. If that happened to be the only thing we did besides visit Tia Vanesa, then it would have been an awesome trip for him. Toddlers are so silly.