D.C. Part II

Trying to stay warm.

Besides visiting the NIH, we also had the opportunity to go out a bit and see the sites. On Monday night we tested the metro rail and rode into Bethesda. We grabbed a bite to eat and went to the grocery store for the necessary toddler supplies. We were pretty unsure at first how to ride the metro but by the end of the week we were pros.

WWII Memorial. Lincoln Memorial.

On Tuesday we bundled up in our warmest clothes and headed out into the cold. We spent the afternoon checking out all the monuments. First we saw the Washington Monument, then we walked by the Vietnam and Korean Memorials. After that we headed passed the WWII Memorial over to the Lincoln Monument (which was my favorite) and then walked from the Lincoln to the Jefferson Monument (Aaron's favorite). All in all, it was about a 4 hour loop in the bitter cold. We hopped back on the metro and rode to Alexandria, VA to have dinner with my friend Susan. It took 2 transfers on the metro to get back to the NIH and we finally made it back to our room around 10pm. It was definitely a long day.

Eli hates his ski hat.

We were really worried that the boys were too cold since it was so cold and windy out. The hardest part was keeping their hands warm. They hate wearing mittens and are constantly pulling them off (especially Eli because he is always sucking his thumb). After some trial and error, Aaron came up with a perfect solution that looked pretty silly. We put their mittens on and tucked them under their jacket sleeve. Then we took some extra pairs of socks and put them on over the mittens and pulled them up over their sleeve. They looked so cute with their little nubby hands :) And if that wasn't bad enough, they really hated it when we went from their normal hats (think Elmer Fudd) to ski masks (think knight in shining armor). They survived...

Walking from the Lincoln to the Jefferson Memorial. The Washington Monument is in the background.

On Wednesday we wrapped everything up with the study and headed out on the metro again. We met me cousin Fred outside the Smithsonian (one of them). He gave us our own private tour through the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. We then headed over to the National Archives and saw the actual Declaration of Independence. After that we walked to China Town and had dinner right next to the metro station. We ended dinner with Noah pooping out the top of his diaper and up his back (luckily for me, it was Aaron's turn...apparently it was all the way up to his shoulder blades: yuck!) It was another really long day but we had a great time with Freddie.

The whole family in front of the Wright Brother's plane.

We laid low on Thursday. Did some laundry and took naps. Uneventful. On Friday we packed everything up and checked out. We had to take an early shuttle so we were at the airport 4 hours early. After getting through security I noticed one of the boys smelled sour so I wheeled them into the bathroom to change their diapers. As I lifted Eli out of the stroller I realized disaster had struck. Diarrhea out his diaper and all over the stroller. I hurried up and started cleaning up Eli while unsuccessfully trying to keep Noah from leaning over and playing in the poop on the stroller. It was a mess. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing and we are definitely glad to be home now.

2 superheros ready for bed.