DC: A bipolar tale

Day One: We intended to meet a friend of Melydia's at the National Zoo metro stop around 9:30. Cookie has a 3 year old son, and we figured they would have fun playing together. T was a bit of a chore all morning and so we were running late. Then, I couldn't find the elevator entrance to the metro stop. Once we finally made it into the metro station, the handicapped gate was closed and I couldn't get the stroller through the regular ones. I had to alert the attendant, and we ended up missing the train by about 30 seconds. We had to wait another 15 for the next one. We did finally make it to the Zoo about 30 minutes late.

We hooked up with our new friends and wandered around for a while, where I managed to get this one cute picture of T and his new friend, lilgrovers. Aren't they cute? They got along pretty well and it seemed that our day could be salvaged. That is, until T had a total meltdown about riding the wagon, eating his lunch, getting back in the stroller. You name, he cried about it.

We ended up leaving the Zoo less than 2 hours after we got there. I was hot, cranky and tired by the time we finally got back to the hotel. I'm more than a bit embarrassed by T's behavior and can only hope that Cookie can forgive us.

The day ended pretty well, since both boys took a 3 hour nap and we had dinner with an old friend of mine and Ry's. She lives in the DC area, and the last time I traveled with Ry we got together for dinner as well. We finally got to meet her husband, who was sick the last time we were in town. It was a really nice time. In addition to being a really old friend, I feel as though she would be one of my current friends, if only we lived in the same area. As my dad would say, they definitely pass the beer test.

Day Two: I thought it was going to be a deja vu kind of day, when T and I had a little come to before we left the hotel. It seems the corner time did him some good though, because he was good for the rest of the morning.

We headed off for the metro, intending to spend the day wandering the mall, visiting the museums and generally running off some energy.
Look how happy Little Bit is in the stroller! That lasted about 15 minutes, but hey, it's a start. As he's getting heavier, I'm trying to wean him out of the baby wrap. Carting 18 pounds of baby up hills in 88 degree heat is not my idea of a par-tay. F could care less how I want to par-tay. He wants to be slung. Sigh.

We went to the carousel on the mall. We got the first ride of the day. As many times as I've been to DC, I have never ridden the carousel. T got a big kick out of it, since it gets whipping around pretty good. Here he is telling me that his horse is sad. I'm not sure why.

And here's the cutest ever picture of a baby riding a carousel. Well, he wasn't riding so much as being propped up, but look at that face!

Next we went to the Natural History Museum, where T was disappointed that the dinosaurs were "just skeletons." Here he is counting the skeletons, which is kind of how the day went. He was pretty unimpressed by the exhibits unless they had TV or computer components. We had lunch, chatted with some nice folks who were blown away by the food prices in the cafe (which is why I packed a lunch) and headed off for the Air and Space Museum.

T was really excited by this museum until he realized that he didn't get to actually ride the airplanes. After 45 minutes or so, he was done, Little Bit was tired, and I was ready for the boys to nap. We took the metro (perhaps T's favorite part of our adventures the last 2 days) back to our hotel. Mercifully, the boys are once again taking a good nap and I'm surfing the web.

I think Mount Vernon may be on tap for tomorrow if it doesn't rain. We're planning on the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore on our way home Friday. The score so far? 1-1. Here's hoping for a winning record for DC Adventure.