DC Day 4.5 :: Rehearsal Time

We found our hotel and unpacked...to find that someone had forgotten to check the closet before we left DC. The dress from hell was still in the city! Now, given my relationship with the dress, I was fine with, except Gracie's flower girl dress and dress coat were also there. I felt horrible. And oh-so grateful when Jeff volunteered to go back into town and get the stuff I'd left behind. Someone ought to marry that guy.

We met up with the rest of the family at the rehearsal. Gracie & Natalie are always happy to see each other, but I think Grace was extra happy after spending so much time with the boys. After a quick run-through, everyone headed to Maureen's parents house for dinner. And a Hudson cuddle. Yes, the tiniest member of our crew made the trip!

After the rehearsal, PopPop was ready for bed and so was Gracie Mae. We had adjoining rooms, so they went to sleep in one room while the boys had some kind of Pokémon-fest. Jeff went on his recon mission, and everyone else found there way to McCormick & Schmick's. Yes, we found the Oregon-based chain in Virginia.

I was stressed from having forgot the dress and sending Jeff into the yawning maw of DC Friday night traffic. And so, my brother's medicated me...with beer. I do believe I had a good time, though I have no recollection of taking this photo of my mother doing tequila shots with my brother and his buddies! Too funny!

DC Day Three:: All restaurants should be Gabe-Approved

Our tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing started bright and early. They didn't allow pictures. Or give out free samples. Hayden couldn't stomach the smell of the ink, so he didn't even do the whole tour.

We live in a land where coffee is always only a block away. At most. Downtown DC has not realized this key to productivity yet. We were committed, and finally found an underwhelming source at Potbelly. Where, we also found a giant roach. We live in a roach-free land. And so the kids thought it was someone's pet that had run away... Lake Woebegone has nothing on us!

Gracie had spied the Carousel at Smithsonian Castle during our trolley ride, and we got there as soon as it opened. Gracie wanted Jeff to ride with her, so I got to take pictures. And may have had an altercation with a twit whose mouth worked faster than her brain. Bayley was embarrassed. Ah well. There are certain words I do not tolerate being used in front of my children, even if they aren't directed at us.

The Museum of Natural History came next. An African Elephant greeted us in the rotunda, and really set the tone for the visit. Gracie loved the animals and dinosaur fossils. I made sure I saw the Hope Diamond. We'd planned on doing the butterfly pavilion, but the wait was ridiculous and the kids were hungry.

One of the most raved about places in all the online DC with kids guides is Mitisam, the restaurant inside the National Museum of the American Indian. Well, it's a really expensive cafeteria. Poorly laid out and impossible to go through as a family. I had to pay four separate times. Since there was a crowd and only one station to pay...yeah. These guides were really letting me down!

While the cafeteria was craptastic, the museum was awesome. After the first floor, Hayden was tired and decided to laze about in the lobby. Which meant the rest of us had to rush through. Definitely a museum I'd love to see again.

The US Botanic Gardens is right next door. We had lovely weather, so took our time moseying on over there. The boys weren't as into it as we girls. Everything was so colorful and lovely, with a slower pace and fewer crowds than everywhere else we'd been that day.


We checked back at the hotel, and with Uncle Gabe. Apparently we should not be allowed to choose our own restaurants. We took the Metro up to Capitol City Brewing. Now, we go to a lot of breweries and such with our kiddos, so when they declared this the best one ever, I knew Uncle Gabe knew what he was doing. It may have had more to do with the unlimited soft pretzels, but a win is a win.

Since it was such a nice night, we decided to walk back to the hotel. The National Mall is much less crowed at night, plus the monuments are all lit up. It's hard to get good pictures, but much easier to find things - like our state at the National World War II Memorial.

DC Day Two :: Let's See EVERYTHING!

We woke up ready to tackle the day and did breakfast at our hotel. Bayley ate a mountainous plate of bacon. Hey, that's what vacations are for, right?

We planned this trip so that we could pack in as much as possible in a short time. There is just so much to see and do, you can't possibly work it all in, but we tried! We started the morning with a walk to the Capitol Reflecting Pool. Only, it was too windy to see our reflections.

On the way to Union Station to catch the trolley, we paused to take a picture with the cherry trees. Bayley even got extra credit for sharing the picture with his teacher!

The trolley took us to the opposite end of the National Mall so that we could (mostly) walk back and explore the monuments as we went. It was a great way to get a lay of the land and gauge distances for our other excursions.

The Jefferson Memorial was great. A ranger was there explaining the thought process behind the placement (so that the statue of Jefferson was in sight of the White House). The boys read to us the quotes carved into the walls, which became something we did at most monuments. It forced the boys to slow down and think about why a monument existed in the first place.

We walked through the FDR Memorial, which worked through his life and had some great quotes. And the waterfalls are lovely and calming. It leads into the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. By this point, the kids were done with walking. But we had to make it to the Lincoln Memorial.

I could have sat on those steps all day, just people watching. But my minions were tired and hungry. Not the best combo. We hopped back on the trolley, and let it take us towards the National Portrait Gallery. But first, we wanted to check out Shake Shack. We'd heard great things, and they were on all the lists of what to do in DC. We really wanted to like it. But can't say it's something we'd repeat.

Hayden's class is studying American History, and the National Portrait Gallery takes you through history one president at a time. I could have stayed there for hours. But most of the exhibits didn't hold the kids interest. Bayley decided Teddy Roosevelt was the coolest president we've ever had, and you can't really argue that. His exhibit had many of his hunting rifles, which really intrigued Bayley. Maybe we'll hit the NRA Museum when we're in Virginia.

The trolley took us back to our hotel, and on the way Hayden fell asleep. We didn't realize he'd crossed from resting to passed out until the trolley stopped and he rolled onto the floor!

Since our pick for lunch went sideways, we opted to take Gabe's advice for dinner and went to R.F.D. Real food! Great beer! Just what we needed after a long day.

DC Bound!

It's finally time! We've made it to Washington DC to celebrate Uncle Gabe & Aunt Maureen's wedding. The kids were expert travelers - honestly, they were better behaved than most adults on our plane. We even got in early...and waited on the tarmac for over an hour for a gate. Yikes.

With instructions from Uncle Gabe, we braved the Metro to get from the airport to our hotel. Thanks to his suggestion to stay 'to the right' we had no trouble. Even with suitcases.

Gabe & Maureen were nice enough to meet us for dinner out first night. It was so helpful to have guides for our first foray into the city. And having them with us meant I got to be in a picture at Bartholdi Fountain. We had dinner at Tortilla Coast, and after a couple of margaritas I really started to enjoy the trip.

Welcome to the Family

Uncle Matt & Aunt Courtney have a baby! Hudson Samuel, we're so excited to have you around. The boys especially. Three girls in a row threw off their game.

Seussical The Musical

Every year the school puts on a musical that all the kids are encouraged to participate in. The teachers all donate their time. It is such a labor of love, and the kids truly love the experience.

This year, Hayden didn't want to try out. He wanted to be on the Stage Crew! Bayley did stage crew last year, but I'd always seen Hayden as more the on stage type. But he really loved making sure everything was in the right place so his friends could do their parts. He hopes to be stage manager next year.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of someone on stage crew? It's darn near impossible. It's their job to not be noticed!

I'm Beginning To Think....

This kid OWNS Junior High. I hated junior high. Like, loathed the place. But my kid? Apparently he owns this business. Not only is he glad to get to see his Patterson friends and his Jackson friends and his Scout friends in one place, he's finding some amazing opportunities.

He loves his GameMaker club, and he got to participate in the geography bee, and then he qualified for National Junior Honor Society. I just can't even. He's so great. And way more well adjusted than I ever was at twelve!

The Zombie Gets The Girl

A fun, lively production of Zombie in Love made its world debut Saturday in Portland at the Oregon Children’s Theater. A cross between the original illustrated story and High School Musical, the show brings to life the story of Mortimer, a lonely zombie looking for love in all the wrong places. Determined to find a date for the Cupid’s Ball, Mortimer struggles to find a girl who doesn’t run screaming at the sight of him.

Mortimer writes an ad for his perfect girl and waits not so patiently at the punch bowl for her to arrive at the dance. When our zombie duo finally finds one another, they show their classmates how to be who you are and have fun while doing it.

Mortimer entered by lurching through the seats, the ensemble sang and danced in the aisles, and one of the girls terrified by Mortimer’s zombie ways ran screaming past the kids multiple times. Being so interactive really holds the kids’ attention.

Gracie was a bit worried before the show that the zombie would be eating brains, but Mortimer saves the brains for his lunch, and only manages to lose a hand and large intestine. Hayden hoped there would be blood, but settled for cracking up when Mortimer tries to impress a girl by giving her a beating heart.

We adored Zombie in Love and giggling our way through the unpleasant realities of being judged and avoided for being different. A wonderful message of being true to yourself, energetic songs and laugh-out-loud comedy combine for the perfect musical to share with your family.

Goodnight Moon

I've been trying to get the kids to as many plays this year as possible. Lucky for me, the kindergarteners had a field trip scheduled to catch Goodnight Moon.

To keep the bus numbers down, Naoko & I were able to drive
ourselves. Score! We were able to get to the theater a bit before the bus, so were about to greet the kids as we all filed in. The show was adorable. As you'd think Goodnight Moon should be.

When the rest of the kiddos headed back to school, we stayed downtown to celebrate Naoko's birthday. She's lived in Portland forever, and yet has never been to Papa Haydn! Can you imagine? I was all about the dessert, as were the girls. I think they enjoyed the pastry counter even more than their own lunch!

Cross Over

It's Hayden's turn to cross over from cub scouts to boy scouts. It seems like he was just a Tiger cub. But alas, he's done with cub scouts. He earned the highest honors in the program - the Arrow of Light and Heavy Shoulder.


Arrow of Light is for those who did more than the minimum to cross over, and heavy shoulder means they earned every pin possible. Hayden was determined to get heavy shoulder because Bayley didn't. The competition among brothers...


The cross over ceremony is called the Blue & Gold dinner. The pack provided pizza & cake for the boys, which made everything go much smoother than when the individual troops did their own thing.

Bayley and his troop were there to welcome Hayden (and five other boys from his den) to the troop. It reminded me of when Bayley and his den crossed over, practically doubling the size of the troop! I think the troop enjoyed bringing Hayden aboard in an official capacity, he'd been the little brother for too long.