Picnic under the Cherry Blossoms

In an attempt to meet up with my friend Katie at the National Cherry Blossom Festival today, the boys and I hopped on the Metro and headed into downtown D.C. We packed a tasty lunch, brought our blanket, walking shoes and camera to soak in all of the famous Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin that we have heard so much about. They did not dissapoint! Sheer Heaven, gorgeous blossoms as far as the eye could see!

This should be a fabulous picture. Ronan should be able to do something at this stage in life rather than stare directly back at me whenever I turn a camera on him. Porter should be able to smile normally as well without doing strange things with his hands. However, "should be" and reality are two different things. Thus, this is the best picture I was able to procure of the Jefferson Memorial, blossoms, Tidal Basin, and boys. My boys are such stinkers sometimes, but I love it.

After wading our way through a sea of people, police cars and road blocks ( being as we watched the motorcade for either our President or the French President-depending on who you asked-go by) we gave up on trying to find Katie. The fact that I need to reprogram about 50 phone numbers back into my phone at the moment, so I didn't have hers when I needed it is a whole different story. Sorry Katie!! But I digress, so yes... the best part of being a "kind-of-tourist", as I've decided to call it is that we can go and enjoy whatever we want for whenever we want and not feel too much pressure. I really have been trying to focus on the moments, and enjoy what we can, while we can.

So Porter helped me pick a "just perfect" spot to throw out our little blanket and set up our picnic on our own. Both of my boys are in love with the idea of a "picnic". They think it is fabulous to eat outside. We sat and ate, laughed as Porter told me jokes, and enjoyed the amazing scenery. PB&J never tasted so good!

We walked around a bit more, thought about the idea of waiting in the two extremely long lines to get through security for the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum; and eventually settled on getting some popcorn from a street vendor (also something Porter has been dying to do). We relaxed on a bench and enjoyed our snack while Ronan slept peacefully in the stroller!

It really was fabulous to really do nothing big at all. Just enjoy my boys, enjoy the SPRING, and enjoy the current blessing we have to be living in the D.C. area. It is days like this that really make you fall in love with this city. Another great day for the history books.

Gravelly Point

We hit Gravely Point again for a quick trip this last weekend for a nice little afternoon. The airplanes were "landing the right way" this time, so it was really amazing. They land against the wind, so sometimes you can catch them coming right over your head. The boys LOVED every second of it!

It is also a fabulous place to relax, and enjoy each other's company

I'm still working on getting a really great shot with the boy(s) and the planes. One day before we leave, it will be my goal.

Lots of grass to run, run, and run some more!

And we loved just lying flat on our back to watch the airplanes fly over our heads!

We were dumb and didn't bring the camera again today, so we stole all these shots from our friend Kesli's camera! She got some awesome shots for sure. Even the smoke from the tires hitting the runway.

A fabulous new favorite pastime to be sure.

Jellyfish, Sharks, and Sea Turtles Oh My!

In our crazy life, I have been getting totally behind! So I am making a mad push today to get caught up. We headed out to the Baltimore National Aquarium the weekend before last. Our cute friends Tara and little Hazel were also able to join us. Fun stuff. It was the weekend with the CRAZY amounts of rain, and apparently we weren't the only ones who had the idea:) It was pretty packed, but we all had a wonderful time just the same! It was HUGE! We were there for hours and we didn't even attempt to see another whole building ( Australia type stuff I think). It is in an awesome location though, right on the waterfront in Baltimore; so we were also able to see the USS Tursk (submarine) and the USS Chesapeake that were both anchored there. Maybe on another day when it isn't raining cats and dogs we will explore the waterfront more.

They had some amazing exhibits though, that we all loved. They had tons of different kinds of Jellyfish, which if I'm being honest, really gross me out... but they were still incredible to see. The kids were all fascinated by them.

Porter and his leatherback sea turtle. They are his FAVORITE kind of turtle-a love he developed from Diego.

And yes, they have indoor dolphin shows at this aquarium! A baby dolphin had just been born when we went, so they weren't doing actual shows that day. Instead they just let everyone watch their training sessions...and told us all to keep it quiet, no applause so mommy and baby could bond in a calm environment. It was still pretty great though!! Just enough for our kiddos. Word to the wise though...you have to check your stroller at the door. Definitely a time I agree with the little leash backpacks!

We all had a great time; saw sharks, all sorts of rays, dolphins, jellyfish, turtles, and every other type of sea life imaginable. Oh yes, and a baby seahorse!! It was SOOO teeny, it was amazing. If they had not pointed it out I would have never known it was there! We finished off the day at Hard Rock Cafe Baltimore, which was also right on the water-and sat in the section with all the Beatles' Stuff. It was a fun day. Tip: excellent Mac and Cheese for the kids:)

They also take a fun picture of your family when you enter, which can be seen online here, but I did not feel the need to pay a bajillion dollars for this photo of us. sorry folks:) This will have to do.

Fascination at it's best! And, cute Hazel:)

Anniversary Weekend-Lucky 7!!

Our anniversary date-photo courtesy of Porter

We recently celebrated our 7 Year Anniversary!!!! We kind of did a whole weekend of fun things, starting with a date night out to Sweetwater Tavern-super yummy!! (Sidenote, we got a babysitter for the boys that night, who is just darling; and best part-she is moving with her family to Istanbul as well- arriving just a couple of weeks after us!!! How lucky are we to take our babysitter with us!!)

The next morning we hit Gravelly Point with our pals Ryan, Kesli and Ryli! We have heard so much about it, and it was awesome! It is a park right on the water, and right next to Reagan National Airport. The planes take off and land right before your eyes! We all loved it, and will definitely be making more trips:) I might even get some shots with the airplanes next time-sorry I just wasn't thinking.

Next we headed to Old Town Alexandria, which was so beautiful. We accidentally happened upon their St. Patty's Day parade as well! We got there just as it was starting, and got to see some great things-including this awesome Revolutionary Style marching band! Loved it, now that is something you don't see in any parades out west:)

Old Town was so beautiful, and full of the history. I just LOVE all of the history things and the beautiful homes. The waterfront was also wonderful, and we finished off the morning with a tasty lunch at La Madeline (in keeping with our French honeymoon).

We did squeeze in a few real life things the rest of Saturday and Sunday, but completed the weekend with some "French" Toast on Sunday morning, and relaxing on the couch with a movie, sparkling cider and yummy treats!

I LOVE YOU Babe!! What a fun and amazing journey we've had so far! I can not wait to experience the next step of our lives together!! Happy Anniversary. It was truly a Lucky 7 for us:) Love you.

National Building Museum

We made a venture to the National Building Museum with the boys a little while ago. Now as far as musuems themselves go, this one had a few cool exhibits for the adults, and the building itself was absolutely beautiful-but the real draw was the Children's Room! They all had a fantastic time-a little boy's dreamland!

There were construction worker dress-ups, that Porter and Ryli were LOVING.

Awesome trucks, trains, and GIANT legos to build with

and of course, some amazing stuffed blocks to build some fabulous towers! We all had a great time, and they have been requesting to go back and play!

A photo of my cuties in the center of the museum, gorgeous building truly. It would make a beautiful spot for a wedding or something. I wonder if they do that? Anyway, it was a fun day.

National Air and Space Musuem Annex

Although I am a tad slow getting this, and a couple of other posts up; we have been quite busy around our house lately! A little while ago we were able to get out to the National Air and Space Museum Annex out at Dulles Airport. This is an actual airport hanger that houses the things that were just too big to fit down town. It was absolutely amazing. I have to say that to date, it is perhaps the favorite thing that we have done here in D.C. We were able to go with our fab-u-lous friends Ryan, Kesli, and Ryli on a day out; and we all had a great time! They have the actual space shuttle United States Enterprise housed there, along with some other awesome flying machines!

Ronan and Daddy

The boys on a flight simulator. This event was begged for all morning, all his lunch was eaten in a timely manner, and then just wanted Mom the moment it started:( Poor kid. Still pretty fun though I think.

The Enola Gay was the "Flying Fortress" that dropped the Atomic Bomb

Larger view of the Enola Gay. This was so amazing that they had it here. I am such a sucker for history.

The Concorde Jet. Love it! Too bad it doesn't fly anymore, and too bad we couldn't have afforded it anyway:) Hey, anything to make for a shorter flight with kids!

We love our Air France. It and Delta-our go to airlines of choice.

Now the coolest thing of the day was the actual airplane the boys got to play in! It was so cool, the boys loved it up! They all got to sit in the cockpit, play with the controls, steering wheels and walkie talkie thing. (No, I do not know what it is called in an airplane)

A great picture of Ryli and Porter. They are definitely going to miss each other when Ryli moves soon:( I keep trying to prepare Porter, but he doesn't really get it. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there!

They zoomed with their airplane arms all around the museum that day! Darling, just letting the boys be boys! Behind this photo is the Sr-71 Blackbird. I believe it is the one that goes faster than the speed of sound. Yes, I apologize to those of you who are cringing at my pathetic knowledge base on the subject:)

Still working on a great shot of the three boys. Ryli, always does a great smile, Porter sometimes if he will look at the camera, and Ronan is still trying to figure out what is going on in life I guess!! This is our typical picture. We had a great day out with our friends, and will love to take anyone back who comes to visit! hint. hint.

Beautiful

Isn't she beautiful? I have the most amazing husband ever!! This was my surprise Valentine's Day gift, complete with matching tulips. Noah somehow found this beauty in my size and totally surprised me! Needless to say, I am IN LOVE. Both with my husband and my beautiful new bike.

My other bike is packed away in storage, (it was a mountain bike anyway though) and this one is a Comfort Hybrid. I think it is essentially a cross between a mountain bike, beach cruiser, and a road bike. We found out that we will be having some time to do some great bike rides on some awesome trails around here before we leave for Istanbul. We are so excited to go on some family bike rides this summer. It is one thing that we have always really enjoyed doing together. Great times.

And finally, yes. My favorite tulips. He knows me so well. It was a fabulous day to say the least.