dc highlights

As Max mentioned, we spent a couple of nights in DC. We are generally not that crazy about big crowds, but we were pleasantly surprised by how much fun we had. We drove most of the day Thursday, stopping in Cleveland for lunch and a visit with Aunt Dana at Cahoon Nursery, and got to DC in the late evening. Once we were settled in our hotel room, we ordered pizza (from We the Pizza, naturally), and once dinner was over, we were a little bit restless, so we decided to do a little late-night exploring on the Mall. Mike was skeptical, but it actually was really great. There were people around, but nothing was super crowded, and the boys could run pretty freely. We went from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping at the World War II Memorial along the way. And once we got to the Lincoln Memorial, we could see lightning from a distant storm, though it looked like it was right by the Washington Monument. Once we were all exhausted, we caught a cab back to the hotel and crashed out.

Friday was all memorials, all day long. We went back to the Washington, saw the White House, headed out to the Jefferson, saw the MLK Memorial, and generally acted like tourists. The boys had a great time setting up pictures that made them look like they were holding up buildings that were off in the distance. The crowds were bigger, but it still wasn't terrible. We took buses all around town, which was surprisingly easy, and fun for the boys, who have never been regular users of public transportation. We ended up at Union Station for lunch because Mike had a long-ago memory of having lunch there with his family ... and that's where things started to go sideways. Henry got his head stuck in a revolving door and, though he wasn't really hurt, he was scared, so he screamed bloody murder. We were all starving and it was jam-packed with people and options and just generally very overwhelming. We ended up getting bagel sandwiches at Einstein Bros., after which everyone was in a much better mood. Henry was exhausted, though, so I decided to take him back to the hotel for a nap. Liam opted to go with us, while Mike and Max set off to see the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Once we were all reunited, it was pool time! The boys have been so excited about this leg of our trip because we told them that the hotel has a pool on the roof. They have been pondering how such a thing was possible, whether the hotel would be flooded if it sprang a leak, and so on. I'll admit, it was pretty incredible to swim on a rooftop above Washington with the Capitol dome in the background. Definitely not something I ever thought I would do.

We had dinner, then set out again after dark to explore the Lincoln Memorial. If you are thinking this would be because I couldn't get any good pictures the night before because I am not very good at taking pictures at night ... give yourself a prize. We started to walk, but then it started raining, so we cabbed it the rest of the way. By this time, Henry had gotten so accustomed to taxis that he kept asking us if we could just "catch a cab" to the next destination. It was really cute, like he was suddenly a little city boy or something. Eventually, we took his advice again and caught a cab back to the hotel, got some sleep, and were off early Saturday morning to make our way south.

 

dc with dad

by max

we are on vacation, and the first two nights, we were in washington, dc. we went to a ton of  places, like the lincoln and jefferson memorials, the washington monument, the white house, the supreme court, and the capitol.

 

 

however, my favorite place was the united states botanic garden. henry was super cranky and had to go take nap (yay!) and liam didn't want to walk  anymore, so after lunch, they went back to the hotel with mom. dad and i decided to walk to the botanic garden. i thought it would be like my garden at home, but bigger with more plants, but it was not at all what i thought it would be. it was like a giant greenhouse with different sections, like jungle and world deserts. dad and i went in and we thought it was so cool. we went to this cool lime tree and we found some bananas.

then we went to the hawaii section, and we saw this weird tree that looked like a japanese maple but it was blue.

we went to the orchids section, and it was so cool. there was a white-trunked tree across the middle of the room, and it had lots of orchids growing on it. we saw one awesome-looking flower that was purple, pink, and white.

next we went to the world deserts section, and there were so many cacti. I liked the cactus with red thorns and the one that looked like spaghetti.

after that we went to the jungle section. it had giant trees and crazy vines and streams.

 

then we went to the outside garden and there were a lot of plants we could plant in plymouth. and that was the end our visit to the botanic garden. this was my favorite part of our trip to washington, dc.

oh, henry!

Tonight I smelled something truly awful (really, it was odiferous!) upstairs. I followed my nose to a drawer in Henry's dresser that smelled overwhelmingly like some kind of gas. (I was guessing kerosene.) All the clothes and little trinkets he had crammed in there positively reeked, and I was more than a little freaked out. Where did they get gas? Why would they pour it in a drawer? What is even happening here? After intensive interrogation techniques got me absolutely nowhere with the boys, I acted on a hunch and called my dad. Thank goodness I did, because he figured out the problem right away: MOTHBALLS. They were in the flowerbeds at my mom and dad's house, and Henry liked the way they looked, so he smuggled some home in his pockets and stored them with all his other beloved trinkets. Crisis averted ... except for the smell. People actually USE these things???

time to cool off

Ah, summer. How we've missed you. (Well, the boys have. Me, not so much.) All indications are that we will be spending a good part of our summer at the splash pad or at Price's Pond. And check it out: at the pond the other day a giant koi decided to make friends with Henry!

congratulations to klaudia!

Friends, I can hardly believe this day is here, but it's true. Our Klaudia has graduated from high school. She has gone from cute baby to precocious toddler to sassy preteen to polished young woman before our eyes, and we couldn't be prouder of her. I can't wait to see what adventures she will have in the next few years!

preschool graduation

Henry's graduation from preschool was Saturday, and Miss Kimmy really pulled out all the stops. It was held at Plymouth's funky new event space, Wild Rose Moon, and she set up chairs on the stage for the graduates. They did a little program where the kids sang songs, told us what they want to be when they grow up (Henry: "I want to be the president and have a million dollars."), and did a spectacular reading of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, with our very own Henry playing the part of Pete. Oh, and Henry won the "Classroom Comedian" award, and Kimmy told us all how much she enjoys his seemingly endless reservoir of fun facts. After the ceremony there were refreshments, and families got to browse the student art gallery and play with props in the photo booth area. Barb and Kevin made the drive in, and my parents were on hand too for this momentous occasion. So much fun!

on the trail

Summer is off to a weird start for us. Mike has had mandatory overtime almost every Saturday, plus we've had soccer (and now baseball!) practices and games to work into the schedule. It's been pretty busy. There is always a ton of stuff to do around the house too, but sometimes, it's best to just take the boys and run off some of their energy. So this afternoon when Mike headed off to the salt mines, the boys and I set off for the Greenway Trail. It was Henry's first really long ride, and he handled it like a total champ -- except at the end, when he was tired and thirsty. I honestly didn't think he would last very long, so we didn't take any water or anything. Whoooops. We made a couple of stops along the way to check out the river, ran into a traffic jam of sorts, climbed a big hill (well, not me, but somebody had to stay at the bottom to take the picture!) crossed many bridges, stopped at a playground, and 90 minutes later were back home guzzling ice water. Now to fill the rest of the evening...

end of an era

Pretty much continuously since we moved here, we've had one or more children enrolled at the same daycare (yes, the one where Liam pulling the fire alarm somehow didn't make them burn our application and forget they ever met us). But last night, that golden era came to an end with Henry's spring concert and graduation. He went out with his inimitable Henry style, too, wearing the shirt, vest, and tie from his suit with black soccer shorts, knee-high orange striped socks, and red tennis shoes. I tried to get a good shot of the whole ensemble, but he was moving too fast all night. Oh well. At least the concert itself was a success, with Henry singing his heart out and enthusiastically participating the whole time. Only the summer to go, then we will have ourselves an official kindergartener!

We did try to take some selfies beforehand, with mixed results. Here are the best two: 

mother's day eve

Dear boys,

Tonight I tried to tell you a story, and I messed it up. I waited until late at night, when you were at your most fractious, and I made it too long to hold your interest for the grand finale, but the truth is that even if I had made it the perfect length and told it at the perfect time, I probably still would have messed it up, because that's the way it goes with the really important stories. And since this was the story of how you made me a mom, and how having you took us from being a happy family of two to being a complete family of five, it's right up there with the most important stories of my life.

I hope you will remember that even though the story was long, it was joyful and full of laughter. How silly we were to have thought we wanted a girl. How we changed your middle name, Liam, because that first day you were so grumpy and had such a furrowed brow that you looked just like Grandpa Okie. How we didn't tell anyone your middle name, Max, until after you were born -- because naming you for my dad was really important to me, and I didn't want to mess that story up either. How you surprised us, Henry, by deciding to join us a month early so you could have the luckiest possible birth date. And how every day, no matter what kinds of school/sports/work/stuff we have going on, I look at you and marvel at your personalities, your quick and quirky wit, the things you love and the things you hate. I think about the wonder that you have brought to my life, and I hope that your lives will be wonderful too. I think about all the things we ever hoped for our children to be and have, and I'm so thankful that the things we hoped for most are exactly what we got: healthy, strong children who have the best parts of both of us.

The part I didn't get to tell you, the part I probably should have led with, is this: We aren't perfect parents, and you aren't perfect sons, but we're perfect for each other. I love each one of you so very much, and I'm so very happy that I'm your mom.

But don't worry -- I'll tell you the story again next year, and every year after that. And when I get through, you will know it without a doubt: You are seen. You are known. You are loved.

Mom

not to be left out ...

Check out the happy face of a boy wearing his first pair of contacts! I'm not sure how this will ultimately work out, but the optometrist agreed that he is probably ready to try them, so we got one box for each eye just as a test. I think they will come in really handy for sports, but my prediction is that he won't bother putting them in (which is of course very hard for him right now) on a regular basis for a while yet.