Summer Vacation: Part II

Although the summer heat was intense, we beat the heat and had a great trip visiting our nation's capital with its monuments and museums.  Mommy and Daddy learned some new things about me on this trip: I enjoy screaming in places that have echoes, I do not like dark museums, I like to sneak into rooms if the door is left open, I'm a charmer in restaurants, and no matter where you put me to bed, I will sleep all night long.  We had such fun filled days on our trip, its no wonder I slept so well at night.

On Tuesday we woke up and had a nice breakfast at the hotel.  Without wasting a minute, Mommy and Daddy loaded me into my stroller and we were walking down 16th street towards the White House, where President Obama lives.  After taking a peek of the outside, we were already off again towards the National Mall.  Once we arrived, we viewed the Washington Monument, then walked over to the World War II Veterans Memorial.  We stayed there for a bit and remembered my great grandfather, Gramps because he is a WWII veteran.  No sooner did we take a moment for some photo opportunities when we were off again towards Constitution Gardens where we stopped so I could eat breakfast.

Mommy walked around with me for a bit after breakfast, and then we walked over to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  I remember it being very quiet as we walked along the wall, and it was so shiny that I could see my reflection in it.  At the end of the wall, we kept walking along the sidewalk and it took us to another large monument: the Lincoln Memorial.  Unfortunately the Reflecting Pool was drained due to renovations, so I couldn't see any reflections in it.  We went inside of the Lincoln Memorial and got into an elevator which took us up inside where there was a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln.  It was huge!  There was so many people there, we didn't stay long.  Back at the bottom again, we walked back towards the mall and into another memorial, this one for the Korean War Veterans.  It was cool seeing the oversize statues of soldiers.  We took a moment to rest in the shade at this memorial in preparation for a short walk around the Tidal Basin.  Along the way we stopped at the FDR Memorial.  I liked this one a lot - mainly because I got to get out of my stroller and enjoy some of the waterfalls built into the walls.  It was starting to get really warm by this time so I was happy to get back into my stroller.  We strolled along the water towards the Jefferson Memorial and once we arrived there, we got onto another elevator to see a statue of Thomas Jefferson.  There are so many interesting memorials to see in Washington!  By this time I was pretty warn out.  Luckily, our next stop was the Holocaust Museum.  It was cool inside there, but once we got inside the exhibits, I wasn't so happy.  I didn't like the dark areas - which was basically the whole museum.  We had to hurry along through the exhibits; I felt bad because it was so quiet and solemn and everytime I made a noise, it made Mommy and Daddy disappointed.  Finally we made it through - and did I ever scream for joy once we got to the brightly lit areas.  After we left the museum, we walked back toward the hotel and stopped off for dinner along the way.  We were all hot, thirsty and tired from walking so much so we enjoyed sitting for dinner.  We had delicious Lebanese cuisine.  When we were ready go, we had a nice casual walk back to the hotel.  The room we had in the hotel only had a shower, so it was fun getting a bath.  Mommy would hold me and daddy would shower me off - it was a fun change from my tub at home, but I miss eating my bubbles!

The next day we woke up and had a nice breakfast again.  When we left the hotel, we walked to a Metro station.  This was a fun experience!  We went deep down underground, bought some tickets and then got onto a train that took us to Arlington Cemetery.  We went to the visitor's center and bought some tickets for an open air bus that took us to the major sites in the cemetery: JFK's burial place, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers where we saw the changing of the guards and the Arlington House.  We saw some neat views of downtown Washington, DC from there.  Once the bus tour was over, we got back onto the Metro which took us back to the Smithsonian.  Daddy was really good at navigating the Metro - it always got us exactly where we needed to go.  Once at the Smithsonian, we walked up the Mall a bit towards the Air and Space Museum.  It was very crowded there and we were so exhausted from our morning that we didn't last too long before we decided to leave and head back to the hotel.  I got to play around a bit in the hotel before dinner.  We had a nice walk to a Japanese restaurant and a nice dinner once we got there.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and were all ready for a shower and bed.  Walking around all day is exhausting!!!

We woke up on Thursday morning - I couldn't believe it was our LAST DAY already!  I wonder what was in store for today???  We walked down to the Museum of American History and started our day there.  I liked this museum more than others.  The things to look at were much more interesting, AND it wasn't as dark.  After an enjoyable morning there, we walked up the street to the National Archives.  We got to see the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Because I was in a stroller, we got to bypass the long line and go through a special entrance!  We looked a some other exhibits there, then made our way to another museum.  Along the way I took a nap, and when I woke up, we were at the Building Museum.  It was really big inside!  We spent the afternoon there, and when we were done, we took the Metro back to the hotel.  We relaxed for a bit and then went out for dinner.  I think each day, we took on a few less things, mainly because it got hotter each day we were there and we wanted to be relaxed on our vacation.
On Friday we packed everything up for our drive home.  We stopped unexpectedly on the way out of town to see the National Cathedral.  I'm happy we stopped because it was an amazing place.  The ceilings were so high and the windows were beautiful.  There was even a chapel that had chaired sized for small people like me!  After touring the Cathedral, we got back into the car and headed home. I had such a good time and I'm so glad Mommy and Daddy took me on a summer vacation!!!

Summer Vacation: Part I

We just returned from a wonderful family trip - I'm still helping with the laundry and taking it easy to recover from all the fun I had with my family last week.  Since we did so many things, I will split it into parts.  Its not easy sitting for a long period of time and typing.  After spending Thursday evening packing everything, we woke up Friday morning and got in the car and drove for a long time!  We were headed to Philadelphia where we were going to meet Uncle Dickie and Louisa.  We arrived late in the afternoon, and was I ever excited to be out of the car.  I got to meet some new dogs, Walter and Lady who were both very nice.  I liked Lady a little better because she didn't lick me or jump up on me.  We played around a while, then ate dinner and relaxed.  Before I knew it, I was already getting ready for bed.  I guess it was mainly a travel day, but I still had fun, and I was tuckered out from all the travel.

Trying out my birthday gifts!

When I woke up in the morning I got to open up an early birthday present from Uncle Dickie and Louisa!  It was fun - and I even got to try on some of the clothes that they got for me.  After a late breakfast we had to leave.  We had to get back into the car so we could drive to New Jersey.  The ride wasn't nearly as long as the day before, but there was traffic so it seemed like forever.  Eventually we made it to our hotel - which had a great view of New York.  You could see all of downtown from our window, so even though we didn't actually go into the city, I got pretty darn close!  Soon after we unpacked our stuff in the hotel, Grammie and Grandpa arrived!  Shortly after that, my cousins came too!  It was like a big family reunion!  We all gathered together in the hotel for a while, and then decided to go for some dinner with even more people!  We had a nice dinner outside, but it always seems like my bedtime creeps up on us so we had to leave to go to bed.  I tried to be on my best behavior meeting all of Daddy's family - I think I did a good job!  Everybody was so happy to finally meet me! Mommy and Daddy set up a really cool bed for me in the hotel room - they hung a blanket over a lap so that the light wouldnt bother me while I was sleeping but it was like I was in a big tent!!!

Swimming with my cousins

The next day we woke up and spent more time with family.  I got to go swimming with my cousins - Kaitlyn did a really good job swimming with me.  After that, we had to get showered and ready for a big wedding!  Mommy, Daddy and I got all dressed up and soon left with Grammie and Grandpa to go to a big church where we saw Daddy's cousin Laura get married.  There were people in the pews behind me smiling at me I had plenty in the church to keep me intrigued so I was very well behaved.  It was a beautiful ceremony and before I knew it, we were outside taking family photos and back in the car.  When we got back to the hotel, Randi - one of Mommy's friends met us.  Mommy talks to her a lot so it was nice getting to meet her.  Unfortunately, I was not allowed to go to the reception for the wedding, so Mommy, Randi, Kaitlyn, Lauren and I went out to eat together.  I had such a fun time with them!  It was like a girls night out! My cousins are so much fun!!!  I love them!

Posing for a picture outside the church

On Monday morning, we all woke up (some more slower than others because they had fun the night before) and went out to eat breakfast at a diner.  There must have been 40 people all gathered together! Soon after we finished eating though, we had to say goodbye to everybody because everyone was going home.  We were only getting the second part of our trip started!  Next stop: Washington, DC!!!!

Me and Randi: "Smiley Face"

Me and Randi: "Fish Face"

Me and Randi: "Another Picture? Face"

Good at Getting into Trouble!

I've been spending the past week continuing to explore and get into things all over the house.  Daddy had to pull the drawers out of the coffee table so I would stop pulling them and now that I have found the second entrance into the kitchen, there is a gate in front of it.  I really love to open cabinets and take things out of them and for some reason Mommy and Daddy don't like me doing it.  They do it all the time...I don't understand!!! I also like playing hide and seek now.  I like to crawl around the corner and disappear, then turn around and crawl back and appear!  Its a fun game and Mommy loves when I play it with her.  I've also been playing with Sophie a lot - this evening I was chauffering her around the house and talking to her while I did it.  I'm really good at my na na's, ma ma's.  Last week I had a cold, and I was able to rest up on Friday and Saturday so I'm feeling much better to start a new week!

Holiday Weekend!

Its a holiday weekend and I am LOVING it so far!  First of all, it's only Sunday night and I still get to be home with Mommy and Daddy tomorrow to celebrate the 4th of July. Because we are home and relaxing all weekend, I'm taking the opportunity to try some new tricks I've been wanting to show everybody.  On Friday morning, Mommy took me to daycare for a little bit.  Although I thought she was going to leave me there, she didn't.  I got to show her what I do when we spend time outside at daycare.  After we went to daycare, we went to the mall to run some errands.  It turns out one of those errands was to buy me some shoes!  I got to try on some different sandals, but I liked one of the pairs much more than the others because they were really comfy and stayed on my feet really well.  I had to get the smallest size shoe that they had at the store: size 3!  
On Friday afternoon, I decided to walk down the hallway into my room and pick out a book from my bookshelf and take it into the living room for Mommy to read to me.  I appropriately picked out Are You My Mommy? Mommy did end up reading me the book and I enjoyed it!  I may have to start getting more books out of my room.  I'm very good at carrying objects when I crawl now!
Saturday afternoon, we went out in the front yard to take some pictures of me with the flag that Daddy bought for me.  I figured that would be a good time to show Mommy and Daddy that I can stand on my own!  It takes some time for me to get my balance, but when I do, I think I'm pretty good at standing.  Maybe it was my new shoes, or maybe the grass, but I will keep practicing to get better balance.  So far, its been a GREAT weekend!