DC excursion

Wow, how has September just flown by?!  It is September 24th and my first blog post of the month?!  What have we been doing?!  I honestly don't know, but life has felt pretty busy around here lately.  My work caseload has bumped up a bit, which is good, kind of.  I still need to work on my schedule to streamline things a bit more because I have been missing out on too many mornings with the kiddos lately.

This past weekend we took a family trip to DC.  I serve on the national joint committee for the communication needs of persons with severe disabilities (how's that for a mouthful!), also known as the NJC, and this past weekend was the annual face to face meeting.  So I was in meetings all weekend and Michelle and the kiddos had a blast hanging out with one of Michelle's friends from high school that she hasn't seen in probably 15 years who lives outside DC.  Amy and her husband have this great house 20 minutes from DC and were kind enough to host our not-so-low-maintenance family of five for the weekend.  The kids had a blast playing with new friends and new toys and Michelle got to reconnect with an old friend.  Isn't it great when you hang out with an old friend and find that you would still be friends 15 years later?!  It was so comfortable and easy hanging out with them and for the past few days almost every time we get in the car one of the kiddos says "go to Amy's house!"  Avery is particularly sad because the temporary tattoo of a dinosaur that Amy gave her has rubbed off.  =)

the crew
(*sidenote...this is 5 kids under the age of 3.5 & all 5 are potty trained
(well, training might be more accurate)...what are the chances of that?!)

watching the deer from the deck was a highlight!
(They'd put corn out for the deer so they were super excited to watch them eat it)

toddler pizza night!

it was almost 90 degrees on Saturday!

bro hug =)
(Isaiah may have been hugging a little longer than necessary!)

Jeep rides were a big hit too!

After my meetings on Sunday we all met up at the National Harbor because they have a $7 all you can ride carousel and our kiddos are big time carousel lovers ever since the trip to the Brookfield Zoo this summer.  It was funny because Amy's kiddos rode it once and then moved on to play at the park next to the carousel while our kiddos (and therefore Michelle & I) rode it five or six times in a row!  And they would have kept riding but were starting to crash because it was already past dinner time. 

he didn't want to get off, but barely cracked a smile the whole time

happy girl with a goofy smile

Ellie on her favorite horse that she named Sally

Mama & her girls

 Monday I skipped out on the morning meetings to take the kiddos to the zoo.  Our original plan was to go with Amy and borrow a stroller, but then plans changed and we ended up going solo and therefore had no stroller.  It wasn't a big deal because we had carriers, but there were a few times when that meant me wearing one kiddo on my back and carrying a second because the DC zoo is on a hill and really spread out!  So the kiddos did a TON of walking and got pretty wiped out (as you can see in the picture by the seals!)  And then there were the cranky or generally choosing not to listen toddler moments that also necessitated carrying.  By the time we got back to the car we were all exhausted.  The good thing about that was that the kiddos all slept for two of the four hour drive home!

lion watching!  One of them was actually playing with a cardboard box
and not sleeping like they usually are so that was fun!

all the animal statues were a hit too...
Avery hugging the pandas

and checking out the elephant statue 

"Mama, look, belly!" (romper was NOT a good choice for the zoo,
but it was the only pink outfit left and she HAD to wear it!)

hmmm...think maybe they're worn out?

a not so great family pic by the seal statue

yet another animal statue they didn't want to leave

"hug seal"

Post-zoo family selfie