Day 783 | A Final Museum

If you're keeping track, we are one (1!) activity away from finishing our bucket list. Today we ventured down to the Mall for a trip to a museum. It wasn't the museum previously mentioned on our lists, you might notice. Chase decided to call an audible and select the National Museum of the American Indian instead, for two reasons. One, he could feed the ducks at the Capitol reflecting pool. Two, he wanted to play with the igloo. 

The American History Museum is always a crazy mess so I completely grabbed hold of this shift in plans and we went with it. There was a moment of panic when we found out the igloo wasn't going to open until later in the day, but luckily we befriended a sweet employee who made an exception for the cute kid who wanted this to be his last museum trip before he moves. Yeah, I laid it on a *little* thick, but super-sensitive Chase wasn't going to handle this turn of events well. In the end, good fortune won out and we were allowed ten minutes to build it up. Whew.

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park
• Play at the National Building Museum
• Have a snack by the train tracks
• Feed the ducks at the Capitol
• Build an igloo at the National Museum of the American Indian

Day 499 | National Building Museum

Another check on the DC tourist list for my parents today: the National Building Museum. We didn't visit the exhibits but the building itself is worth the trip. Robbe and I hung out in the Building Zone (one of our favorite outings) while the folks explored the museum. It was a nice little morning.

Day 777 | Metro + Building Zone

We buckled down to cross two more bucket list items off the list: a metro train ride and the National Building Museum.

It was a highly successful outing full of lots of playtime and giggles along the way.


DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park
• Play at the National Building Museum
• Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 162 | National Building Museum

The weather has turned a bit cool and dreary today so we brainstormed an indoor activity with Caia and John: to the National Building Museum!

The boys had a great time playing in the Building Zone. Robbe took a snooze on the go (top-right photo is how we accomplish this) and woke up in time to get in some play time of his own.

And we arrived back home just as the rain started. Perfect.

Day 782 | Wheaton Miniature Train

The heat couldn't keep us down today. To Wheaton we went for one last ride on the infamous (to us, anyway) miniature train and carousel. We've been here a handful of times over the past two years and it never disappoints. It just might be one of my favorite outdoor activities in the area. I think the boys would agree.

And, to keep with the focus on nostalgia, here are some past miniature train posts:

Day 50
Day 150
Day 746


DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park
• Play at the National Building Museum
• Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 781 | Snack on the Track

It was a rough morning. Lots of factors collided to challenge my ability to keep it together. By around 10:30am (yep, this all happened before then), I had pulled myself together enough to take the boys on an outing across the street to have a snack and watch the trains. It was as enjoyable (if not more) than I remember it being. Are you getting tired of me mentioning how much I'm going to miss this place, yet?

For the sake of nostalgia:
Snack on the track: Spring 2015
Snack on the track: Fall 2014

And for those keeping track:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park
• Play at the National Building Museum
• Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 274 | Back At It

I'm back to my regularly scheduled blogging. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the random things that bring a smile to my face these days. It's been a big (huge!) week around here while I've been distracting you with My Favorite Things blog posts. I'm going to keep you hanging one more day before divulging details, though, because we went on an outing too fun not to share this morning: to the National Building Museum.

I've talked about it before, but this is really one of my favorite indoor activities to take the kiddos to in the District. Judging by the crowd of people and two sold-out Building Zone sessions, a few other people think the same thing. We had lots of fun looking the Hot to Cold exhibit, playing in the atrium, and visiting the gift shop (Chase is really into picking things out for his birthday lately). The highlight for both boys was the Building Zone (no surprise). Then we packed up the car, braved DC traffic, and made it home in time for naps. Just perfect.

Day 437 | The Beach

Have you ever been to a beach made up of 700,000 balls? We have!

Our friend, the Building Museum, has a special exhibit right now called, The Beach, and although it's pricey, chaotic, and impossible to successfully contain two toddlers solo, it was amazing. The boys and I had a blast during our last (sniffle, sniffle) play date with our good friends Miss Caia and John before they move later this week.

We're devastated (that doesn't cover it, actually) but so happy for them and their new adventure. I see fun trips to Florida in the future. 

Day 635 | Seriously Social

Oh, and Chase spent some time with this lion, too.

Today was a day. We managed to see three different sets of friends (four if you count the sweet friend who is part of our babysitting swap and stayed with our kiddos after bedtime) over the course of today. Whoa.

We met a new friend at the Building Museum for a play date. So fun meeting new people!

Another friend hosted us for [a delicious] dinner and lovely conversation. 

And yet another friend let us crash their house post-bedtime for a glass of wine and kid-free communicating...the night before their due date, no less!

We feel very social and very lucky for the people who have crossed paths with us in this city. 

Day 413 | Big Outing

I went all in today: skipping morning nap and metroing down to the National Building Museum for some serious playtime and picnicking fun. The outing was practically perfect and we all had a blast back at one of our favorite DC attractions for kids.

One thing I didn't enjoy on today's outing? The advice I was given by two strangers while we were navigating the metro. I know I should just say thank you (which I did) and move on (obviously haven't) but seriously? How incompetent of a person do you think I am?

Scenario 1: waiting for the elevator up and out of one of the metro stations. I'm waiting patiently (as are the babies) for the elevator to arrive (which, in case you're unaware, metro has the slowest elevators of all time). I've pushed the button several times because it's not lighting up but, after a few attempts, give up and assume the light is just broken and we continue the wait. Several seconds later, the driver of the train yells out his window. I assume it's not directed towards me. It was. He yelled again to tell me I needed to push the button for the elevator to arrive. What? Thanks, captain obvious. I've got it from here. Luckily, the doors opened at that very moment so I proved myself as a capable member of society. 

Scenario 2: on the train ride home. Chase requests a window seat (for obvious reasons) so I park the stroller out of the way near the doors and take the boys to a window seat a few rows in. We pass a few stops and I realize my wallet is peeking out of the stroller (near the doors...eek!) so at the next stop, I tell Chase to sit nicely for a second while I take Robbe and grab my wallet. In the two seconds (no joke) of me walking towards the stroller before I turn right back around, a woman says to me, "you forgot one of your babies." This has to be a joke, right? I can only shake my head, even now. 

Needless to say, we made it home (with both babies) even though society seemed to think it was questionable many times. 

Ha!

Day 582 | American History Kids Area

The photo is from yesterday, but we got all four kids to look so it had to be shared!

There's a brand new kids attraction in the District! The American History Museum just added a super-fun children's area called the Wegman's Wonderplace. As much as we love this museum, it has been missing an area for the kiddos to run free...problem solved!

There's a market (with an egg drop, Chase's favorite), a kitchen, a climbing structure (Robbe's favorite), lots of building blocks, and a guarded baby area. My only complaint is that it could be a bit bigger, but I'll take it.

The new area is for kids from 0-6 and is open every day but Tuesdays (I'm including this information here in the hope I internalize it).

Day 764 | Summertime Bucket List

Things got serious around here today. We made a to-do list for our summer vacation. Two lists, actually. One for DC and one for EC (short for Eau Claire, our new home in Wisconsin).

Here's what's going to keep us busy for the next few months:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza

EC Bucket List, Start Date: July 22

• Watch cows being milked
• Discover new playground
• Walk to the Children's Museum
• Go to a movie in a move theater
• Find a new library
• See trucks
• Ride ATV with Grandpa
• Ride in a real tractor
• Order from Toppers
• Attend fair/festival

The good news is we've already checked three of our DC items off the list since drafting this yesterday. Take that!

Day 433 | Jason's Day of Fun

Today turned into an inadvertent Jason's Day of Fun. We started off with delicious breakfast sandwiches, then a stop off at a coffee shop in Jason and the fam's old neighborhood before heading to the National Museum of the American Indian.

The kids loved the time at the museum and the adults even got in on the action by successfully assembling the building block igloo (quite an accomplishment, I have to say). Then we retreated home for a lovely naptime and sushi with one of Jason and Erica's longtime friends.

You're welcome, Jason.

Day 768 | Gravelly Point

Another check mark on the bucket list. Today's adventure? Gravelly Point in Virginia. We watched airplanes take off right over our heads. It's been on my personal to-do list since moving to DC. Ten years later: check!

A double-the-time commute and grumpy Robbe couldn't even sour the experience. We'll call it a success.

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point

Day 769 | Trampoline Park

Man, we are rocking this bucket list. Today's adventure? The trampoline park. Again, ages two and four for this outing are much more enjoyable than 8 months and 2.5 years.

Check!

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park

Day 766 | Yards Park

It was the perfect day for an outing to Yards Park: hot and sunny.

We've spent four summers visiting this gem with kids that were not quite the right ages to fully appreciate it. Not this year. Turns out two and four are the ideal ages for two kiddos to play and entertain themselves with very little intervention from me. Woohoo!!

The downside? Chase insists that we need to make the trip down to the Yards Park wading pool one more time before we move. That means I'm not supposed to cross it off our bucket list yet...but I'm going to anyway. Don't tell him!

I'll include the updated bucket list when we cross something off:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point

Day 772 | Berries Galore

It turns out that June 26 is our annual blueberry picking day. Amazing coincidence, right?

Two pounds of blueberries + two pounds of black raspberries + two small children with full bellies = a successful outing. We even had enough time to enjoy the play structures, mini tractors, and giant slides. Thank you, Butlers Orchard. We'll miss our frequent visits.

In case you're curious about what our visit from June 26, 2015 looked like, here you go. And here's the trip from 2014. So cute!

One more check off the list:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park