The Rest of Our Vacation

VIRGINIA



We were invited to play laser tag with friends.  Caroline did not want to go, so she stayed back and had a good day with Grandad and Nana.  The boys and I were joined by five other families - all friends from our old church in Virginia.  We were the only people in the building, so they had the arena to themselves.  I was able to stand inside to watch and was amazed to see the kids were actually following the rules and not running.  Henry's gun stopped working at one point which upset him since he doesn't like to lose (it just needed to be reset), but once fixed he got back into it.  They liked it, but Henry said it wasn't as fun as he thought.  Afterwards, most of us joined back up at a playground.  There the kids played cops and robbers which must be the 'in' game right now.  It's what the kids all play in Texas, too.  I learned later that the big kids were making themselves the robbers because they were quicker, and the smaller kids (Josiah and Henry included) were assigned to be cops.  Henry got upset by this and instead of saying he'd rather be a robber, he enacted some police brutality when he caught the robbers.  So, I pulled him aside to have a chat.  Fortunately one mom went to the store and bought a bunch of ice cream and popsicles so the rest of the time was spent enjoying those.  I enjoyed my time with the other moms.

One day we went to a Chinese buffet with Grandad and Nana.  Caroline's version of Chinese food was sticky rice and buttery rolls.  She wouldn't even try the sweet and sour chicken (sans sauce) even when I said it was like a chicken nugget.  All carbs, this girl.  Josiah liked the teriyaki chicken because it was on a skewer and he's partial to anything that has a stick.  We can always rely on Henry to try new foods.  Grandaddy got him mussels and fried calamari and he liked both.  They all had about as many desserts as they did regular food.  That's one of their favorite things about buffets.

I was able to spend time alone with each kid.  One evening Josiah and I walked to Dairy Queen and shared a blizzard.  We had a good time together.  Good conversation.  I asked him if he minded being smaller than his peers and he said that it did bother him sometimes, but that his size also makes him more agile.  He likes his agility.  We talked about how God makes everyone different - different sizes, looks, and abilities, and that's what makes people so interesting.  None of us are the same.  When it was time for Caroline and I to go out, I mentioned that I had gone to DQ with Josiah.  She didn't want to go there (she doesn't like soft ice cream), so we set a breakfast date for Dunkin Donuts and then walked to the library that evening.  The library had games out on tables in the children's section. We played Chutes and Ladders and Pictureka.  We read two books and headed back home.  It was a good time just the two of us.  The next night, Henry and I headed to DQ.  He does like soft ice cream.  It was sprinkling on the walk over, so we ate inside.  After a while I noticed Henry really wasn't eating, so I asked him what was wrong.  It was too cold in the building to eat it.  So we went to the tables outside, but by this time it was raining.  It was kind of fun to sit in the rain and let him eat.  It wasn't pouring - just a nice soft rain.  We walked back in a steadier rain, but it was all fun.  The rain felt really good.

Another day Henry said this to me, "I love you Mommy.....[a long pause with a lot of thinking attached to it]....sometimes."
Me - "I love you all the time Henry."
Henry - "Well, I was just being honest and you want me to be honest."
Me - "True."
Then several hours later, Caroline who had observed this earlier exchange, said,
"I love you sometimes, too, Mommy."
Me - "I love you all the time, Caroline."
Caroline - "You do??"  She was genuinely surprised that I loved her all the time.  I told her I don't always like it if she chooses bad behavior or mean words, but I always love her.

The kids loved their time with Grandad and Nana.  They love their house, their backyard, their circle in which to ride bikes.  They love Nana's dinners and they love dessert every night!  It was hard to leave for the next leg of our journey.


DC




I waffled back and forth for weeks about whether to take the kids into DC or not.  Josiah really wanted to see some monuments.  Henry said he did, too, but then we had the issue of another younger family member who I knew would have very tired legs if we made the trek in.  Did I dare put her through the marathon walking knowing it would elicit a bit of complaining?  Did I dare put myself through listening to the complaining?  In the end, we made the trip.  It was a roundabout journey.  We drove up early one morning, parked at our hotel and caught the hotel shuttle which took us to the closest Metro Station.  That station was closed for platform repairs so we then caught a free Metro bus to the closest open station.  (I did know this beforehand - but since their favorite part of the Fun Run is the school bus ride to the race, I figured the kids would enjoy all the shuttle & bus rides.)  Then we finally took the subway into the city.  It was a beautiful day to be at the National Mall.  We made our way to the American History Museum first, mostly out of the need for bathroom facilities.  We walked around two exhibits, but then they were ready to leave.  (They really were more interested in monuments than museums.)  As we entered the lobby to leave, there was a dance group performing. Caroline was enamored.  I think she would have sat there for a long time had the boys not gotten impatient.


From that museum, we walked towards the Washington Monument, which sadly was closed for elevator repairs.  We all had wanted to go up that one.  A good walk behind it is the World War II Memorial.  We walked around it and took a picture with Texas.  Then we headed on towards the Lincoln Memorial.  The reflection pool in-between the two provided a lot of entertainment because there were many ducks to watch - many baby ducks following their mothers.  By the time we made it to the Lincoln Memorial we already had some tired feet.  About 1/3 of the way up the stairs we needed a break.  I did feel bad for Caroline.  She only had sandals because she left her close-toed shoes at a CC party several weeks ago and they've never been found.  So, sandals weren't ideal.

Tired feet!

After a picture with Abe, the kids were ready to walk right back down.  And not read the words on the walls?  Nope.  We made it down, turned left and saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  I had promised refreshments after this one.  We sat down for a while in the shade enjoying ice cream and popsicles.  Caroline was a little freaked out by the friendliness of the squirrels who were used to tourists feeding them.  She was not sharing her ice cream bar.  While we rested, Caroline and Henry played on a make-shift slide.

From there we headed over to the Korean Veterans Memorial.  That was an incredibly neat wall the way they have carved it to look like soldiers.  When you touch it, it just feels like it's chiseled just a little, but from a distance you see incredibly clear pictures of soldiers.   That was one of our favorites (Josiah and I).  From here we were heading back to the Mall area, but as we were approaching the WWII Memorial again, a lady was stopping everyone and having us line up to stand and clap for some Vietnam and Korean War veterans that were coming.  They were all in wheelchairs and we stood and clapped for them all.  It was good for the kids to pay their respects.  We headed left behind the Washington Monument to get to the museums on that side of the Mall, but along the way we saw the White House.  Josiah loves the White House and truly expects to live in it some day.  We had to take a very quick picture from a very far distance because we had a little person that had to go to the bathroom very badly.  The closest museum we could enter was the American History Museum.  After using their facilities for the second time that day, we saw the Batmobile and snapped a quick picture, but then we headed next door to the Natural History Museum.  We attempted their new dinosaur exhibit, but it was so incredibly crowded in there that it was hard to move or read the exhibits.  Plus we were all tired and somewhat cranky at this point.  We headed upstairs to see the Hope Diamond.  I think the general reaction of the kids was, "That's it?"  It was a bit smaller than they expected.  We left, got some slightly warm pretzels and a hot dog from a street vendor who used her hands to handle our food and our money.  We prayed that no one got sick, especially the one eating the hot dog, and then headed back to the subway for our subway/bus/shuttle back to the hotel.  As we sat on our hotel beds eating dinner, my legs were tired.  I asked Josiah how he felt, did his legs hurt?  No.  He was perfectly fine.  He enjoyed it all and we'll definitely have to go back.  He has many more things that he would like to do there, specifically see the inside of the Capital, tour the White House, go up the Washington Monument, and see the other monuments that we missed (WWI).  It really went better than I expected.  It was a good day.

THE BEACH

As we approached town for the first time, Henry read the signs hanging from the light poles - "Bethany Beach, the Quiet Resort" then added, "not anymore."  Our kids absolutely loved playing with their cousins for the beach week.  Henry spent much of his time catching waves on a boogie board with Charlie & Lucy.  He spent hours in the water each day.  Caroline enjoyed the water and sand at first, but as the week went on, she waned in her joy of the beach.  She went home early a few days and one day she stayed home altogether.  She got some good Grandma and Grandpa time in.  While she was on the beach, she liked to dig moats and make mounds in the wet sand where the waves break.  Josiah would do the boogie board in the water followed by lying in the hot sand to warm up.  Josiah asked to be buried nearly every day.  One day Henry tried to throw goldfish in his mouth.  He missed a lot, mostly on purpose, because he was trying to entice the seagulls to fly near Josiah.  The water felt amazing this year - not too cold at all.

Many waves looked like they would demolish Henry, but he always managed to come out of them still upright on his boogie board.  

We had to get all of our traditions in.
Pirate golf with the cousins.  There were lots of holes-in-one this year.

We took our annual trolley ride.  This year Charlie came with us and Caroline immediately had him sit next to her.  Henry squeezed into the seat as well.  Charlie graciously let all three kids take pictures with his camera as we drove around.  I sat with Josiah and we somehow got on the topic of designing military ships.  That led him to come up with designing a military helicopter he dubbed the Yellow Jacket.  He then went into extensive detail telling me all about the features he would put in it. After that he shared the designs of military tanks, airplanes, cars, and boats.

We ate our traditional shrimp one evening and included mussels and clams in the order.  Henry enjoyed those.  I think that was the first time he's had clams.  Another day Henry was able to enjoy a chicken foot that came all the way from Cambodia.  After taking a bite, he merely said, "Hmm. Spicy."

We didn't get ice cream every night this year!  The kids opted for Shave Ice several nights.  The shave ice place had Klondike bars, so Caroline was a happy camper.  This was probably the first year I've been to the beach and didn't get a single ice cream cone.  :(

The younger cousins got together and did a rap about Max.
Give me a M.
Give me an A.
Give me an X.
Who's 15 years old and has blue eyes?

Our traditional pictures on the front steps got goofy when it was time for a "grandkid only" picture.  They wisely chose to pick up the lightest of the bunch.

After our beach week we headed out to have lunch with Great Grandma.  It is always good to see Great Grandma!  The kids got to show her the rocks they decorated for her collection.  We keep trying to find a rock in the shape of Texas, but so far we've seen nothing of the sort.  They enjoyed playing with the same dominoes and hand-held games that I used to play with as a kid.  They also enjoyed seeing her artwork on the walls.  They were very impressed by how well she painted faces.  As Henry said, "Noses are hard."

We had a few more days with Grandad and Nana before we flew back to Texas.  No joke, Josiah got dinged again by the metal detector at the airport.  He didn't know it, but I saw it go off.  I don't know if it was another random search, but instead of doing anything to him, they just took my phone and tested it.  I don't know what it is about that kid!  We were glad to see Todd and get home.

After three weeks away, I wanted to sleep in the first day we were home.  Todd said good-bye before leaving for work and minutes after he left, the kids started coming in talking to me one at a time.  After 5-6 interruptions of my sleep, I threatened a non-specific consequence to the next child that came in to talk to me.  I slept all the way to 8:15 a.m.  Then we had a discussion entitled: Reasons to wake me up in the morning.
1-The house is on fire.
2-One (or all) of us has sustained a head injury.
3-Someone is bleeding profusely and you need me to apply pressure to the wound.
Reasons not to wake me up in the morning.
1-You want me to put your doll's hair in pig tails.
2-You want to know if the neighbor kids don't knock on our door, could you go knock on their door.  Even though their mom is a single mom and works all day and won't be home til the evening time.
3-Blasting a Beatles CD, singing Yellow Submarine at the top of your lungs, and wanting me to watch.
I was also glad to get back to my big bed because everywhere we went, I shared a bed with Miss. I'll-take-the-middle.