Month: June 2017

Trip Report: Washington D.C.

A few weeks ago, we flew to D.C. for a family wedding. Since I’d never been, we decided to make a week-long trip of it. It was also the first vacation-ish trip that we’ve taken with Finn without our parents tagging along for support. (We took him to Virgin Gorda, last year, but the rents were there to help.)

It was also the first time that he’s been on an airplane since he was 7 months old, as last year’s big move prevented a lot of traveling aside from Italy, which Sona and I did by ourselves.

I was a little nervous about it. As I’ve mentioned before, Finn is the world’s most energetic child. He moves CONSTANTLY. Like, he really never, ever sits still. Also, three days before we left, he was diagnosed with a double ear infection.

The plane ride to D.C. was a bit of a challenge. He did okay, but we had to wrestle him into his seat more than a dozen times, and he totally lost his shit at baggage claim in D.C. It was past nap-time, he needed desperately to get out some energy, and we were asking him to sit still and wait.  On the way back, though, he was a perfect angel. So, I think some ear discomfort might have contributed to his behavior on the first flight. Or not. You never really know. Complete 180s are a pretty common occurrences with toddlers, and I always prep myself for the fact that it could go either way.

Either way, we had a good time in D.C., after we got past the first day or so of general out-of-sortedness. We rented an AirBnB in a great neighborhood, which was within walking distance of the main highlights, but we didn’t realize that the bedroom didn’t have a door. So, Finn slept in a pack-n-play in the living room and had a clear view of our bedroom. It wasn’t ideal, and it interfered with sleeping just a bit. He took forever to go down for naps, which is super unusual, and we had to hide out in the bedroom the entire time he slept. (It was WAY too bright in the bedroom for naps.) As a result, he was a little bit of a crank that first 24-36 hours.

Sona and I also had a few “Oh, so this is what traveling with kids is going to be like” moments. We needed to adjust our expectations quite a bit, as we are so accustomed to globe-trotting on our own, but once we did, everything was a lot better.

Things really improved once: 1. We recognized that Finn should lead the way, most of the time. 2. We gave up on walking miles and miles in the heat and Ubered to a lot of places, allowing more time to explore and less time spent in transit. 3. We honored nap time. 4. We gave up on trying to do a lot of indoor dining with Finn, opting for picnics and outdoor options, instead. 5. We let him walk/run more than he was in the stroller. 6. We found a playground and a splash-pad near our apartment, which gave Finn a sense of normalcy, as we do those things at home a lot. 7. We had a babysitter come after he went to bed in the evenings, giving Sona and I a chance to have adult time and explore some of the good eats D.C. has to offer.

All in all, it ended up being a really great little trip, and I’m glad we worked out the kinks of traveling with a toddler before we take a bigger trip later this year.

Here are a ton of pics:

We were super ambitious and walked to the White House pretty much as soon as we got off the plane.

We were kind of surprised that, despite a lot of greenspace, D.C. didn’t actually have a lot of parks or playgrounds that were for little kids. In Chicago, we are spoiled by a plethora of playgrounds! But we did find Stead Park, which was just a few blocks from our AirBnB, and it was a total hit!

We did the National Mall on our second day.

Finn really enjoyed our picnic by the water, watching the ducks.

The morning ceremony was at a Hindu temple about 30 minutes outside of the city. Finn didn’t do so well there, but he did enjoy the music. (Another lesson: don’t take a toddler to a wedding!)

It was nice to get dressed up–and have my BFF babysit–for the evening wedding ceremony.

The fried chicken, honey butter, hot sauce, and donut sandwich at Astro Donuts is what dreams are made of! We went three times. Don’t judge us!

Someone at the wedding recommended the paddleboats on the Potomac, and it was SO much fun!

 

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with dinner at Le Diplomate. SO yum!

We had a babysitter 4 of the nights we were in town, and it allowed us to enjoy the nightlife a bit.

   

Our D.C. Faves and Recommendations:

  • Eat at Astro Donuts–like 10 times, at least
  • Rent a paddleboat from Tidal Basin
  • Have pina coladas and empandas at Colada Shop
  • Have dinner (or brunch) at Le Diplomate–get the gougeres and seafood tower
  • Get ice cream at Ice Cream Jubilee
  • Make the most of the toddler-friendly main attractions: White House, National Mall, Smithsonian Natural History Museum
  • Eat at Compass Rose
  • Visit Stead Park for the playground and splash pad

 

Summer Bucket List

As an English professor at a local community college, I’m lucky enough to get a lot of time off. Even though I sometimes teach in this summer, I decided not to, this year. So, I’m off for nearly 3 months.

I know that having that much time off is a luxury that most would jump through hoops to take advantage of, and I am really happy to have a career that affords me so much flexibility and time away from work. However, when I do have an entire summer off, I sometimes go a little stir crazy. (Is the world’s smallest violin playing for me, yet?)

Often, by the end of the summer, I have reverted to my pretty pathetic 20-something habits: staying up until the wee hours of the morning, sleeping half the day, showering  irregularly, spending WAY too much time on the internet, watching trash TV. You get the idea.

Now that we have Finn, that’s a little more difficult. He requires that I remain at least minimally functional.  Plus, we want him to have a summer full of new things and adventures (big and small) and lots of time spent outdoors.

Also, now that we are homeowners, there is a never-ending list of little projects that need done–most of which have been neglected for the past year, as we try to stay afloat with two full-time jobs, a toddler, 2 rabbits, 2 cats, and countless other responsibilities.

So, in an effort to have both a memorable and a productive summer, I’ve made myself a summer bucket list, which will hopefully guide and motivate the next few months. Maybe putting this all out there will help keep me accountable for the not-so-fun stuff. MAYBE.

Either way, here it goes.

The Fun:

  • Spend several days at the beach
  • Hit up a new Caribbean island
  • Have a no-cook charcuterie/tapas-style dinner on the porch at least once a week
  • Have a swanky rooftop cocktail date downtown with my gal
  • Visit a farmer’s market at least once a week
  • Catch up on our vacation photo books (Alaska/Cannon Beach, Belize, San Juan/Nevis/Anguilla, Virgin Gorda, Italy)
  • Take Finn to the Thomas the Train show
  • Visit my hometown in Tennessee for the first time since Finn was born (and eat lots of Mexican food while there)
  • Go berry picking with Finn
  • Binge watch OITNB
  • Get family photos taken
  • Finally get back to blogging before/after photos of our house
  • Finally get back to blogging regularly, in general
  • Celebrate Finn’s 2nd birthday with a casual beach party
  • Plant an herb garden–and keep it alive
  • Finally visit one of the surrounding state fairs
  • Eat watermelon, corn, peaches, and tomatoes until we explode
  • Get my hands on a pair of those freaking copper-colored Birkenstocks that I’ve been stalking since February (No, really, I know this one is stupid, but I have wide feet and it’s hard to find cute shoes, and I’ve literally checked for these EVERY SINGLE DAY for months)

The Not-So-Fun:

  • Finish Kellogg practicum project
  • Clean out Finn’s closet and list a ton of clothes in his Kidizen shop
  • Clean out my closet and do the same
  • Go through the house and clean up/touch up paint, which we’ve been meaning to do since we moved in
  • Pack up some of Finn’s baby toys 🙁 and organize what is left
  • Have all of our windows professionally cleaned–they are GROSS
  • Get back into a steady workout routine
  • Have a pretty standard out-patient surgery that I’ve been putting off because it means I won’t be able to pick Finn up for two weeks
  • Get started on the two book projects I’ve been delaying, which are due relatively soon
  • Begin visiting possible preschools and (hopefully) get on a waitlist
  • Sign-up for and start swim lessons with Finn
  • Potty-train  (KILL ME NOW)