Day 91 | Fun with Miss Sarah

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What a crazy fun morning. Our friend, Miss Sarah, joined us for another jumping session at Sky Zone. The adult-to-child ratio of one-to-one is much better for this type of outing. Chase had so much fun with the focused attention and engagement. Makes me wish I could give him more of that on a daily basis. I guess we'll just take advantage of sweet friends to fill this void in the meantime.

I also got a special treat from Sarah this afternoon: she made me the delicious salad pictured above. Seriously...so yummy. It was so kind of her to host an impromptu lunch date with us. 

Day 88 | A Bold Endeavor

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I finally got brave enough to try a full-scale grocery trip solo with the two kiddos in tow. We've been stocking up on weekends when Chris or I can just pop out, but who wants to spend their precious weekend time doing that?

So here we are. One baby in a carrier. One toddler riding in the cart bribed with goldfish crackers. 

It was a highly successful trip, I'm happy to report. The toughest part was getting all the groceries into the house and put away with two babies stretched to their patience max. 

I'm pretty sure this will be our new Monday post-nap activity. I promise not to write about it every week, though. 

Day 86 | Playing Tourist

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Inspired by Chase's Clifford Goes to Washington book, we loaded up the car and headed down to the Tidal Basin to take in a few of Clifford's favorite spots.

The weather was lovely and the boys (ok, mostly just Chase) really enjoyed the outing. If you ask him, Jefferson was his favorite but from my perspective, Roosevelt's dog, Fala, was the real highlight. 

Day 85 | I'm So Vain

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If I have any choice in the matter, you will not see me without makeup. I know as a stay at home mom it probably doesn't make a ton of sense from a time management (it only takes me five minutes, I swear!) or financial perspective (makeup is expensive, after all, and there are some days I see practically no one). But it makes me feel better about myself. Is that vain? Probably.

No judgement to folks that go natural, but to me there's nothing worse than feeling exhausted from a rough night and then being reminded of that exhaustion every time I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. At least if I've made an attempt to look decent (that's really all I'm aiming for these days), the face looking back at me semi-resembles the better-rested, higher-energy version of myself. 

So, two tips to share on the makeup front that took me far too long to learn:

1. Wear mascara. It immediately makes you look more refreshed. It's really amazing. 

2. Wear blush. This one was quite the epiphany to me recently. Taking five seconds to add color to your cheeks makes a world of difference. I wasn't sold on this forever but now I don't go a day without. 

There you have it. If you have two minutes (seriously, two minutes), add these two items to your morning routine. Or don't and continue embracing your natural beauty. Maybe I'll get there someday but not now. Now I'll take all the help I can get. 

Day 85 | Botanic Garden Redo

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We decided to give the US Botanic Garden another shot today after the semi-disaster of the last trip. I'm happy to report that today's trip was much more enjoyable with less reprimands (none, actually!) from the staff.  

Highlights this time around:
  • The catwalk over the jungle with our good friends Caia and John: It is pretty fantastic.
  • Getting soaking wet in the Children's Garden:You might remember Chase was devastated about getting his sleeve wet last time. This time he was drenched and perfectly fine with it.  Toddlers...you never know!
  • Smelling the aromatherapy corks: This time Chase enjoyed practicing saying the names of the scents (lemon verbena, patchouli, thyme, etc.)

Day 84 | New and Improved Mealtime

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After far too many hours, we have a new dining room table with six chairs (and a hidden leaf!). I was going to share a photo of the completed project but then I snapped this moment right before breakfast. It took place at the new table, at least.

In addition to the table, Chase's new chair came from Grandma Mary and Grandpa Paul. Robbe (true to little brother tendencies) got Chase's old chair (it's more suited for a baby) and Robbe loves it. Can you tell from the photo?!? 

Looking forward to all the memories we have ahead of us at the new table. 

Day 83 | Making it a Home

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After eight plus years of using lots of hand-me-downs and buying needed furniture on the cheap (thanks for the good memories, IKEA), we decided to splurge on a few real pieces of furniture for the new house. Be on the lookout for future posts about our new loveseats for the living room (6-8 weeks...urgh!) and the new built-in bookshelf for the basement (hopefully next week!).

Today, though, I'm excited to announce that our new dining room table has arrived! This was a big deal for us. We eat 95% of our meals together as a family...that's right, all four of us when Chris is home or me and the boys during weekday meals. I feel like it brings us together and teaches the boys the importance of manners during mealtimes. I know every family can't do this (we couldn't have when Chris was at his old job)...we recognize how lucky we are. 

So my plans during nap and post-bedtime? Unpacking these boxes and putting together our new table!! I can't wait. Finished product photo to come. 

Day 82 | Grateful for Friends

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We had another visit from friends today. Pearl is Chase's age and their family will soon be welcoming a new little guy Robbe's age. Laura and I met at the yoga studio in a past life and have managed to stay in touch through several moves. Shocking!

We're still in the process of meeting friends in our new neighborhood so we're incredibly grateful for our friends from our old neighborhoods who are willing to come visit (even super pregnant!) and see our new digs. 

Day 81 | National Harbor

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In all his trips to DC, Mike has never been to National Harbor (not really that surprising, for the record). We decided today was the perfect day to do something DC-y without being in the District.

They recently opened the Capitol Ferris Wheel at the Harbor and we had to check it out. It had less-than-impressive views of the city but was overall really enjoyable. Chase had a great first Ferris wheel ride and no one got queasy. Success!

Chase also rode the carousel three times (and not always on the lame bench shown above). We even made it home for nap without the baby falling asleep in the car seat. Overall a lovely outing. 

Day 80 | More Visitors!

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Uncle Mike came to check out our new house and spend lots of quality time with the boys (including his little brother). Aren't we lucky? And the weather couldn't be more perfect. I'm hoping we can convince him to uproot his family and move here. No luck so far but I'm optimistic!

So far Chase has learned how to eat bricks, how to estimate the number of monkeys he can fit in his bed, and the value of being able to run really fast. And that's just one day's worth!

Day 79 | A Purr-fect Afternoon Outing

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We took the boys to tour another one of our neighborhood treasures this afternoon.  The Washington Animal Rescue League is quite possibly the best animal shelter in the world (in my limited experience).  It's bright, clean (really...it doesn't even smell!), there's water running over the doggie dens (not cages), and the kitties are allowed to run around on the floor together.  Kitty and puppy paradise, that's for sure.

Chase loved frolicking among the animals and luckily didn't realize that he should ask to bring one home.  No way, sir!  For now we'll just enjoy visiting.

Added bonus? Chris surprised us by coming home early so we got to go as a family. Woohoo!

Day 77 | Sweet, Sweet Robbe

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I feel like Robbe doesn't get his fair share of publicity around here.  His brother tends to be in the action a lot more than this little dude so the blog reflects that. 

At four and a half months, he remains the happiest baby I've come across (and I'm not just biased!).  His days are filled with observing our household chaos, smiling constantly, entertaining himself (probably too much), tickling his own feet, and, of course, eating and sleeping.

We still haven't gotten over the rough nights.  I'm hopeful I'll have good news to report soon but for now we will keep taking it one night at a time.  It's hard to hold the crappy nights against him when he wakes up in such good spirits.  All. The. Time.

Day 76 | Visitors!

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We have family in town! Reidar and Kaitlen arrived last night for some fun in the District. We're so happy they are here.  

This morning we took them to the National Air and Space Museum. Chase showed them all around some of his favorite spots.  I'm sure they fully enjoyed being lugged around by a toddler (or, more accurately, lugging him around). They were definitely good sports about it, though. Chase has two more best friends.  

Day 74 | Happy Birthday, Grandma Bibi

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Since we couldn't celebrate in person, we decided the second best way to celebrate Grandma Bibi's birthday was to spend the morning at her favorite store: Target.

It's always a production when you walk through those doors, isn't it? We ended up with WAY more than we expected but it was a worthwhile trip for sure. Chase and Robbe were real troopers. In fact, Chase really enjoyed his quality time with the red balls out front and one of the chairs on display (we practically had to rip him away from it). 

Happy birthday, Grandma Bibi. Sending lots of hugs!

Day 73 | Mommy Marshall Morning

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Last weekend, we celebrated Daddy Marshall Day so today we had to even the score with a Mommy Marshall Morning.

Even though it was a pretty lovely day (weather-wise), we decided to check out a really close neighborhood attraction that has been on our list since we moved. Chase and I walked to the Takoma Aquatic Center for some indoor swimming fun. The kiddie pool wasn't open which was a bummer but Chase did great in the big pool. Lots of jumping off the edge, kicking on a kick board, using a noodle to float, and walking up and down the ramp into the water. 

I really enjoyed the one on one time and I think Chase did, too. We'll definitely be back to the Aquatic Center (maybe we'll go when there's bad weather next time...). What a fun activity to have two blocks from our house.