DC 5 - Exhaustion & Joy

We’re headed home. The four or five days have gone by really quickly and yet been really long at times too! I’m so glad that I got to come with these guys to DC. It has been so much fun to spend time with them and watch them laugh and play. Again, I will state what a task I think it must be to be a mom. To worry about so many people all the time and try to let them be themselves and stretch and grow, but also try to get them to learn or do anything in any kind of order or semblance thereof… I was surprised at how many times I sat there watching Cameron and Karsen (and it could have been much more) and I was just entralled in their movements, their words, and their actions. Kids are so cool - little versions of who they're going to be someday and only that way for a little while.

Anyway, I’m pretty confident that we’ll all get a good nap on the flights back home and we’re not as lucky as on the way here… we have a layover in Atlanta. Today was not as full as yesterday, but I am whipped out. I need a vacation after this vacation.

Today after crashing like a ton of bricks last night and waking up a little late this morning we finally got down town around 1130. We headed straight to the archives to make sure we could get in before we left town. We got lucky and the line was moving fairly quickly. We got in and the boys had a million questions as usual, but at least they’re interested. It’s always tricky waiting in line and making sure they don’t: bump someone, run into someone, annoy everyone around us with questions, or even hit someone while attempting to hit one another. We saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I think Lexi thought it was pretty cool, but the significance was a little lost on Kars and Cam – maybe they’ll appreciate it more later.

As we left the museum we decided the other “must see” for the day was the White House. We considered taking the subway again so Cam didn’t have a relapse of his new illness, but decided we could make the walk up Pennsylvania Ave. We survived a little more of the “concrete jungle” as they loved to say (thanks Madagascar 2). Saw the White House and the grounds. Cam was disappointed that we couldn’t go in. I think he really thought he could just walk in and say hi to Pres. Obama.
For lunch we had….. yeah, wait for it… hot dogs! Yes, day 4 of hotdogs for lunch. After that many hotdogs I think I’m officially done with hotdogs for a while. That is of course, unless I find a really good corndog somewhere – then Im totally in! Tummies full and a little time in the shade and we were down to our last adventure – The National Aquarium. It was actually a really fun stop! The displays are kind of small, but they have lots of cool fish, turtles, snakes, and frogs. We all enjoyed the stroll through the aquarium and the boys were running back and forth and pointing out the cool things to each other. We took our final taxi ride back to the hotel and our favorite driver, Abdul was waiting to take us back to the airport. After a minor struggle to find our bags we loaded up and headed out to Dulles. Mom and Lex fell asleep on the ride in and I listened to a game of imagination form the boys in back. Made it to the airport and we’re on our way out. So much fun!

I must really love these guys if I was willing to be woken up and move from first class to literally the very last row on the plane just because Karsen wanted to sit by me (awh). It was worth it when he snuggled up and fell asleep in my lap. **just a note here, I gave my mom first class on the way out and offered it to Lexi on this flight, but she didnt want it. I even gave him my blanket and I'm ALWAYS cold! I love these guys! I already want more of these moments!