Summer recap...In TRUE Mommy Blog Style...Minus the 8 Billion Photos That Only My Mom/Grandparents Care About

June:

Utah

Basically, I spent the month feeling nauseous on my mom's couch, soaking up the essence of HOME. I shared a bed with my sister, spent as much time as she could stand in my mom's presence, and enjoyed seeing my family for the first time in months.

Bryan and Brittany got married on a perfect day in June. It was so lovely, and there was this amazing pasta salad at their wedding lunch... You know me and food. Oliver grouched through their whole reception. Her mom probably hates me for bringing my screaming child to her daughter's wedding reception.

There were a couple of trips to Bryan and Brittany's house for swimming. We went to Ogden's dinosaur park, where Oliver was mostly terrified and awestruck at the same time. I got to go to Sunday dinner for four weeks in a row, which hasn't happened since before I was married. It was glorious.

Jesse stayed home and asked me to please never leave him for so long ever again.

July:

We drove from Utah to Maryland in my new car. Mostly my dad drove because he is wonderful like that.

There was a short stay in the enchanting town of Oskaloosah, Iowa where there is a pastry shop that you must eat at before you die, and a park that you must take your children to before they are grown. The city of Oskaloosah knows how to make life worth living, that's for sure.

Pastries from Jaarsma Dutch Bakery. The picture doesn't do them any justice.

I got to eat my fair share of Beef Chalupas Supreme (I'm sure I'll never be able to get enough of them), and I started to remember why I held strictly to a "NO BATHROOMS BUT MY OWN" policy when I was younger.

Andre stayed with us through July and we were so lucky to have him. He kept Oliver occupied, he helped around the house whenever I asked with whatever I needed, he was fun to talk to, and he was always up for a new episode of Dr. Who. I'm convinced there's not a better house guest anywhere.

We visited a long list of places while he was here, walked our feet off, and mastered the metro. It was exhausting, but so much fun.

August:

Mike, Jacque, and Emma came to stay...we had a full house. It was fun to watch them interact with Oliver, and he loved getting to know them better. Andre all but adopted them as his own. It was a nice visit.

Jesse spent our anniversary at Six Flags with Andre and Wonder Woman. I'm over it.

I put Andre on his airplane and sent him home with a whole bottle of hot sauce in his bag to surprise him with when he got home. Both Andre and the hot sauce made it home in one piece.

I spent the rest of August hanging out with Jesse, who had a couple of weeks off of school, and recovering from the whirlwind month of July.

September:

Jesse is loving his Pediatrics rotation. He likes the clinic he was assigned, and not just for the unlimited free hot chocolate and free lunches. He's probably going to cry when it is time for his Psych rotation at the end of this month.

It's pretty safe to assume that Oliver is potty trained! And that's a big deal.

He's also got something going for himself almost every morning of the week. Monday is rest day. Tuesday is preschool. Wednesday is playgroup. Thursday is preschool. Friday is play date. The kid has more obligations than I do...I've had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my mornings are no longer my own.

I'm the same old, same old. Just looking forward to the beautiful east coast fall season that is just around the corner...I can feel it! Also, I've decided that my son is truly old enough now to remember things like family traditions, and whether or not we decorated for holidays and things like that. I can no longer approach holidays with the level of apathy that I've shown in the past. I've been pondering things like family holiday traditions for various holidays and pinning DIY decorations like a madwoman.

And that, my friends, was my summer vacation. Probably the best one yet.

What are your various holiday traditions? Specifically for October, as I really stink at Halloween? Help a girl out!

The Tidal Basin in Full Bloom

I had pretty much given up hope of seeing any Cherry Blossoms this year... there were just too many conflicts, and this one car business was making it difficult to manage necessary tasks and responsibilities, let alone frivolous day trips. So you can imagine my surprise and elation when I got home last night and Jesse informed me that I would indeed be able to go to Washington D.C. today to see those glorious pink blossoms. He's pretty fantastic.

So Oliver and I dropped Jesse off with his carpool buddy Rose (who is kind of a saint), made preparations for our day trip, and headed to Greenbelt to catch a train...er...commuter rail.

I'll have you know that I successfully navigated the Metro and D.C. without any trouble ALL BY MYSELF today.Which may not seem like a lot, but the thought of it gives me great anxiety.  The ticket machines...and the train transfers between lines, and feeling disoriented every time I exit a building in the city... I did it all anyway!

Also, I bought a Smart Trip fare card...so I'm pretty much legit now.

But here's the best part:

Just after Oliver and I had extricated ourselves from the hoard of picture taking people near the entrance to the basin, we plopped down on a shady bit of grass somewhere between Martin Luther King Jr. and Franklin D. Roosevelt to bask in majesty of the Tidal Basin in full bloom.

We munched on cookies, and every once in a while, I managed to snap a photo without 87 thousand people in it. We enjoyed the view of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial all dressed up in soft pink, and breathed in the scent of cherry blossoms as it danced past our noses on the wind...

...and we got a phone call from our mutual friend Jesse! He informed us that classes had been canceled for the afternoon, and since he was at a metro station in Bethesda ANYWAY, he would be joining our little escapade in no time at all.

So we ate some more cookies, sipped some more water, snapped some more pictures and enjoyed ourselves until Jesse got there and then we carried on.

Jesse totally made me pose for this photo. I felt super awkward, but he was pretty pleased with the outcome. "Just do it" he said. "It'll turn out to be your favorite picture." He said...

It was just another magical day in Washington D.C.

Duckpin Bowling

Behaving Like Tourists

Cherry Blossom Trip...sans Cherry Blossoms

We bought a fancy schmancy new lightweight stroller (which, incidentally, I am in love with), and hopped a train into D.C. so we could see some cherry blossoms in the Tidal Basin...  

Except, as you can see, there weren't any!

Not a single tiny pink little bud. 

We soldiered on anyway. Stopping in to see monuments and memorials as they crossed our path, and taking numerous photographs of ourselves.

Oliver fell asleep somewhere between the Lincoln Memorial and the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. He slept through the commotion of the metro at peak travel time, trains blowing past, and one train transfer. He woke up as we were stepping onto the Greenbelt platform and cried all the way to the car...

...because he wanted to ride the train!

But hey, his new stroller must have been pretty comfortable! Which, incidentally, makes me love it even more.

And as for those pesky cherry blossoms...maybe my new stroller and I can squeeze in another attempt to see them later this week. Oh, and I guess Ollie can come too.

Long Neck Turtles

We went to Inner Harbor and visited the National Aquarium again!

Favorite aquatic specimen from this visit:

This fish is called a cowfish. He is NOT a very fetching fish.

This turtle's neck is about 37 times longer than the other turtle necks in the tank. Ok, that was an exaggeration, but not by much! This photo just doesn't do it justice. It seemed that he could move his neck any way that he wanted. Like a snake...with a turtle shell. 

It was fascinating...and gross.

Also fascinating: Just past the turtles, we came across a woman feeding a bucket of crickets to a tank of fish. She would dip a long stick into her cricket bucket and hold it over the tank. The fish inside would spit water up to the stick to knock cricket off and into the water. Jesse and I were enthralled by the actual fish feeding. Oliver was most interested in the bucket of crickets.

Sick Day

Fever [fee-ver]. noun. The price you pay for adventuring in March.



When Grandpas Come to Visit {part 2}

Hey Dad! Remember when you came to our house for a visit? Let's do it again sometime, ok?

At the B & O Railroad Museum Oliver loved the roundhouse. At the first sight of all of those train cars in one place he gasped and whispered "WOW!"

Grandma Min sent two t-shirts, a froggy rain jacket, and some monkey gloves for Grandpa to deliver to his little friend, who promptly put them on and refused to take them off for hours.

We drove into D.C. for the sole purpose of trying out Ollie's Trolley, which is apparently home to the best burgers in D.C. After eating one, I can honestly say that any other burger, anywhere, has some pretty stiff competition.

We walked around the mall, where Dad dragged us into the toy store to play. 

And he introduced us to my current favorite sport: Duckpin bowling. 

Thanks again for burgers, crabs, train museums, Ikea visits, bowling, endlessly playing with Oliver J., and anything else that I'm forgetting at the moment. You make a pretty great house guest!

When Grandpas Come to Visit...

 It makes us happy.

My dad came for a visit early this month.

A "Just Because" sort of visit that we have been anticipating since October.

He arrived in the middle of the night.

Oliver woke up to find him sleeping nearby, and they played all morning.

cars, trains, books, animals... you name it, they did it. 

It was really quite magical.

Nostalgia

My sister, Heather, and I have decided to be grown ups...

 

We have agreed to sell our Barbie collection. Which pleases our mother, as she has been storing it for the past eighteen or so years.

 

I have to tell you how much fun it was to spend the entire afternoon sorting and arranging all of the Barbie furniture (which was always my favorite part) one last time so that I could take photos for the online classified ads.

 

Are you interested in some Barbie accessories? Maybe a classic dream house with a working elevator?

Check them out here, here, here, here, here, and here.

And, yes. I did just shamelessly advertise my own classified ads on my blog. And I'm OK with that.  

Oliver's Hero...

...is Andre.

Always has been.

He talks about him in Maryland almost everday.

And Andre loves Oliver. A whole lot.

So you can imagine how happy they are to be together again.

Since we arrived, Oliver has followed Andre around like a little shadow, mimicking his every move.

 

It's pretty much the sweetest thing there ever was.

Official Report:

The morning started with a question posed by Jesse at the breakfast table:

"Ollie, are you going to see Grandma today?"

To which Oliver bellowed,

"NO! I NOT FLY ON A AIRPLANE!"

Which confirmed my suspicions...I was in for a long day.

However, I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised!

Jesse left us at the security gate where the line was short. We walked through the Southwest terminal and found a great big window lined with rocking chairs. We snagged one and watched a plane take off...

My little friend Oliver J. was fascinated, as I knew he would be. His no flying resolve seemed to be waning, and the deal was sealed when the pilots waved goodbye to Oliver from the cockpit as they pulled away.

"I want to fly on a plane, Mommy"

And we did.

The first few hours were great, the last two were a little rough, and at the end of hour five, we were both ecstatic to finally be landing.  But we made it! And that's what matters.

Salt Lake City greeted us with snow flurries, and loving family members. They even held a sign! (Which I should have snapped a picture of, but I was so sick of juggling my carry ons and rummaging to find things).

We are so happy to be home!

The Mountains are Calling...

photo credit
 

The laundry is done and the dishes are clean. I feel good about that.

Tomorrow I will feed my boys a hearty breakfast of waffles, vacuum the floors, hop on an airplane, wrestle a two year old read some engaging literature, and in five short hours all will be right with the world.

Well, all except for the part where I leave Jesse in Maryland to fend for himself...but at least I am leaving him with clean clothes and a well stocked freezer full of homemade meals. I am a domestic goddess, after all.

I can't wait to see some mountains again!

Oh yeah...and my mom.

Must not forget:

puppets, fabric for Bryan's gift (grandma can I use your sewing machine?), string cheese, Ollie's fancy shmancy new octopus lunch box,  cell phone, mail that bill.

National Air and Space Part II: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Ollie and I accompanied our friend Lindsay to the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles airport in Chantilly, Virginia this week.

That place is AWESOME.

We saw airplanes, helicopters, missiles, rockets, and other various air and space type national treasures.

Funny story of the day...

Lindsay, Ollie, and I were walking through the space shuttle exhibit and Lindsay was in awe. I was too, but Lindsay was really, REALLY excited about it.

Which is completely understandable, because it was kind of amazing.

But it was a little bit hilarious when we rounded a corner and came across this R2D2 USPS mailbox and satellite phone booth, because that's when I got really, REALLY excited.

We took about 37 and 1/2 gazillion photos of the Enola Gay to send to my grandpa

Oliver J's pronunciation of Enola Gay: "NOAH - gay"

We also spent a significant amount of time growling at this lion and playing with these "drums" because that's what our short friend Oliver was really, REALLY excited about.