Spring Break Road Trip – Day 6

This morning before we left Reynoldsburg, my college friend Jennifer and her husband Jeff came to visit us at our hotel.  We hung out in the breakfast room to catch up on each other’s lives over the past few years since we last saw each other — about 5 years ago at their wedding!

Bubba insisted that Jeff do a hand slapping sequence with him, which ended with Bubba making two circles with his forefingers and thumbs, telling Jeff to “put your fingers in the holes”, making farting noises when he did, and then exclaiming “Ew!  Wash your britches!”  A lasting impression, I’m sure…

After checking out of the hotel, we headed across the street to Walmart to find a replacement stylus for Moco’s Nintendo DS, and we left with a pack of three plus two new games.  (Why didn’t I think of getting them new games earlier?!?!  Seriously — the ~6 hour drive from Reynoldsburg to our house was incredibly quiet as both kids were consumed with the challenge of new games!)

Day 6 randoms:

• I still hate I-465 in Indianapolis.  Grrrrrr…
• I had a random craving for my mom’s egg rolls… and when that happens, there isn’t really anything I can do unless my mom (or grandma or one of my aunts) makes them!  Instead I ate a drive-thru burger, and my stomach hurt the rest of the trip!  :(
• Radio guy: “It’s like butt crack city around here!”  As you can imagine, the giggles that ensued were loud and lengthy…
• We saw a guy in an argyle sweater riding a pink Schwinn bicycle on the shoulder of the interstate near the IL/IN border.  Definitely random.

We were sad to have our spring break road trip end, but we were definitely thrilled to be home.  Auntie Mariah and Deacon were glad to have us home, too!  Deacon was so happy to see us, he didn’t even mind posing for a picture wearing an American Girl doll helmet:

Spring Break Road Trip – Day 5

Day 5 was a travel day.  Nothing to tell, really.  Starbucks, gas, a late start, rain, pit stops, and an overnight stop in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

The kids insisted that they get a picture with Auntie Nam, Shiro and Pinkie before we left:

Many thanks to Auntie Nam and Uncle James and the dogs for letting us crash at their beautiful house!

Spring Break Road Trip – Day 4

Day 4 was a tourist-y kind of day!  We headed to the Franconia-Springfield metro station, parked, and hopped onto the blue line into the city.

The kids thought it was pretty cool that we rode outside and underground and past the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Arlington National Cemetery.  We got off at the Smithsonian stop on the National Mall, and the kids were so excited to see the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol Building.

Sticking with the theme for our trip, we really didn’t have a plan for sightseeing in D.C.  Uncle Chris mentioned that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in town, and as is tradition, the elephants would be on parade on the National Mall at 3rd St, near the Capitol Building.  Because we had a couple extra hours before we met Uncle Chris and Lexy, we found our way to the White House.  Bubba tried to convince me that we needed to visit President Obama.  (He has been a little obsessed with presidents’ houses lately — he keeps asking to go to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln’s houses.  Not really sure where the discussion of presidential homes comes from, but at least he’s interested in some American history?!)  I told  him that we need special permission to go into the White House and, besides that, the Obamas were in South America while we were in D.C. (but Bubba keeps telling everyone “President Obama was in South Carolina!”)  A few minutes later, we saw a woman handing out some kind of pamphlet, and Bubba exclaimed, “Mommy!  Is dat da special permission?!”  If only it were as easy as that… we would have open access to just about anywhere we wanted!

We were a week early for the Cherry Blossom Festival, but we still got to see some gorgeous trees.  This one is outside St. John’s Church in Lafayette Square:

Moco and Bubba insisted that we snap a picture in front of this statue, outside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection building:

And this one in Lafayette Square:

We met up with Uncle Chris and Lexy, then headed to 3rd St to find a spot to view the elephant parade.  We chose the “sunny side” of the street with our backs to the Capitol Building and facing the National Monument.  We learned that we would be very close to the elephants, but they would have their backs to us because they were going to pose with the Capitol Building in the background!

Our view:

The kids got free circus celebration hats and clown noses from circus staffers:

The departing elephant train:

Here are some professional photographs from the event:

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_northamerica/2011-03-24/roll-up-the-circus-is-in-washington-dc.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pachyderms-on-parade/2011/03/22/AB0deAFB_gallery.html#photo=1

http://www.nbcwashington.com/the-scene/events/Pachyderms-on-Parade-118471924.html (In image 6, if you look behind the Segway in the background, you can see Moco standing behind Bubba and a tiny bit of Lexy’s orange stroller!)

Moments from the elephant parade:

• A woman walked by and handed me a flyer about the circus… or, rather, the cruelest show on earth.  Moco read it and was absolutely disgusted and declared she no longer likes the circus because baby elephants are torn away from their mothers to be trained for the circus.  She has never actually been to a circus with animals, so she is curious to know what it is like… but she was not thrilled at how the animals are treated — oh, the power of one piece of paper!

• If you ask Bubba about the elephants, he will start laughing and tell you that they peed and pooped — and the poops are as big as your head!  It’s true, they peed and pooped A LOT, and most of us couldn’t help but chuckle about this occurring right in front of us.  Bubba, being a typical 5-year-old boy, thinks this is absolutely hilarious… BOYS!

After the elephants, we took advantage of the free museums and took quick spins through the Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History.  I remember these being so much bigger when I was a kid… it’s so different as an adult!!!  We enjoyed a mid-afternoon snack on the Mall — astronaut ice cream (Neapolitan, so they could try a little of each flavor) — between museums.  We didn’t get much time in the Museum of Natural History, so Moco didn’t get to see the rocks & gems exhibit.  I owe her big time.

We ended the day with Auntie Nam and Uncle James for supper at their place, and then just hanging out in the bedroom talking while Bubba played his Nintendo DS and Moco worked on her owl sewing craft from Auntie Li.  Days like these make me miss living close to family, especially my cousins, and I cherish the moments we have to spend time together and enjoy each other’s company!  I’m telling you — we are getting more and more excited for our trip to the Outer Banks — one week straight of cousin time for all of us!!!

Spring Break Road Trip – Day 3

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the windows and the roof, but fell back asleep quickly.  We slept until about 8:30am EST, only about an hour or so later than we would normally sleep on a Monday morning in CST!  We got up and going… ate breakfast (peanut butter toast and oranges and some of Nam’s avocado banana kale smoothie), then headed to visit Ong Ba Co.

Ong Ba Co were excited, as this was a big surprise for them to see us!  This was the #1 reason we made the trek east — Bubba and Ong Co met for the first time.  Ong Co kissed both kids on the forehead and stayed in the living room with us during the whole visit (that’s a big deal)!  Ong Co turned 90 on March 19th, and he loved that the kids sang “Happy Birthday” to him.  Bubba was the official photographer for the visit:

From there, we headed to Auntie Li & Uncle Chris’ house in Columbia for lunch.  We met Alexis for the first time — and she greeted us in her sweet 20-month-old voice “Grayson and Memphis coming to visit!”  She knew who they were immediately — Auntie Li showed Lexy pictures of the kids leading up to our visit.  She would point right at Bubba and say “Grayson!”, and she absolutely adores Moco — hugging on her, sitting in her lap, bringing stories over to read.  Moco didn’t know what to do with all the love and attention she was getting from Lexy — but she thought it was really cool!

After lunch, we played a pickup game of soccer in the backyard — first team to 8 goals wins.  It was Auntie Li, Uncle Chris and Bubba against Auntie Nam, Moco and me.  Li, Chris & Bubba won, but Li turned her ankle on the winning play — so our fun game ended on a low note!  Poor Li was hobbling the rest of the time with a swollen foot!

After Lexy woke up from her nap, we headed to Cau Hung and Aunt Melissa’s house in Potomac.  They just put their house up for sale, as they’ll be moving to Baltimore to work on starting up their new company.  The house is amazing… I need to have them come in and do the decor in our place!  Moco loves Cau Hung’s antique camera collection, and Bubba wanted to know if Cau Hung is “that famous soccer player”.  Lexy loved the Mickey Mouse phone and entertained us with her repertoire of musical melodies.  We love her rendition of “Home on the Range”!  The kids also played hide & seek with Cau Hung.

Supper was marinated portabello mushrooms, caprese salad, and a mixed greens salad with strawberries and red wine vinaigrette, followed by tiramisu and ice cream!  Delicious!!!

Tomorrow: The National Mall for the circus animal parade with Chris and Lexy!

Spring Break Road Trip – Day 2

I had a terrible time sleeping in the St. Clairsville hotel… probably a combination of being beyond exhausted and over-caffeinated.  So, I woke up the kids early, packed up the car, checked out, and took advantage of the fact that a very kind employee who had just set up the weekend free continental breakfast over an hour early for guests.  The kids each had a Belgian waffle with butter & syrup and juice, and I warmed up one of their pre-packaged breakfast burritos with a cup o’ joe.

It was still dark when we got on the road, which made me a little nervous as I really don’t like driving in the dark, but I knew the sun would be rising before too long.  Moco fell asleep again while Bubba played on the iPad for a short while.  Before long, he was asleep as well.  We crossed quickly into West Virginia, then in Pennsylvania, then back into WV.

There came a point when I absolutely felt at peace with our trip.  The road was twisting and turning, the sun was rising, the views of the rolling hills were spectacular, and both kids were sleeping peacefully in the backseat, while I listened to Jake Shimbukuro’s interview and studio session on NPR.  It was a moment of tranquility… I just felt calm and happy and lucky, and in that moment, I knew I made the right decision to pack up the kids during spring break and drive to Virginia, despite the naysayers on my decision to make the trip solo with the kids.  All my stress from juggling life the past six weeks just dissipated, and I felt like I could breathe again.  There is a part of me that was fixated on the stillness of the moment, the hum of the road under me as we wound through WV and PA… and another part of me was fixated on the music and the artist’s gentle, happy voice.  I have always loved the sound of classical guitars, and now I’ll be downloading a lot of Shimbukuro, Andrés Segovia, José Feliciano, and Rodrigo y Gabriela to help me get centered in the future!

We stopped in Morgantown, WV, home of West Virginia University, to get gas, use the restroom and get Gatorade and bug juice.  There is a part of me that is in love with Morgantown just for the views from the interstate.  Our quick pit stop was nothing spectacular, but that whole drive?  Amazing.

Here is a picture of our eastward trip, from the perspective of Moco and Bubba, riding in the backseat:

Eventually we hit the Beltway… and the number of cars made me nervous.  I sweated up a storm because of the stress of city-driving alone.  So many cars, trying to stay focused… kids fighting in the backseat about rather trivial matters, Bubba asking me to spell word after word so he could play Scribblenauts… not wanting to miss a turn or get in the wrong lane… ugh, it was tiring, to say the least.

Again, thank goodness for Mabel, because we got to Phinam & James’ place just after 11am — exactly what Mabel predicted when we left Ohio (except for the pit stops).  It felt good to get out of the car and move around.  Phinam and James attended a concert that afternoon at the Kennedy Center, so the kids and I laid down to nap.  I was absolutely exhausted — physically and mentally — and I closed my eyes while Moco was reading a book and Bubba playing his DS.  I woke up several hours later, and both kids were out cold!

That evening, we visited Quang and Shana and their kids Nicholas and Talia, for a small family barbecue.  The kids had a blast playing together!  Nicholas took to Moco quickly — he kept plopping himself down in her lap.  The highlight of the night might have been Nicholas’ insistence that we watch “Super Nicholas” — a short video starring him (okay, well, his face on a cartoon character’s body) — and we all had a good laugh!

It felt so good to be with family… something we don’t get often, living so far from everyone!  We’re definitely excited for our OBX trip this summer with the big cousins, the little cousins, and the doggie cousins on the beach!  Can’t wait!!!

Spring Break Road Trip – Day 1

Randoms from Day 1:

Thank goodness for GPS!  We never would have found our way in and out of Indianapolis if it weren’t for our trusty Garmin, Mabel.

Dear Emo Girl:
I know you probably hate your life, but the next time you try to beat an 18-wheeler going 65mph from the on-ramp lane in your crappy Dodge Intrepid at about 45mph, please don’t involve any others in your death wish.
Love, Moco & Bubba’s Mommy

Bubba’s highlight: a caravan of firetrucks and a car transporter with ambulances on the interstate

Moco’s highlight: discovering tiny bundles of joy otherwise known as Cinnamon Bears

Mommy’s highlight: discovering that I have Sisqo’s “Thong Song” on the iPod Touch

Dave Matthews Band + Caramel DeLites (aka Samoas) Girl Scout Cookies = good for the driving soul

My first memory of a family roadtrip (Iowa to Long Island and Virginia) is getting into our old striped conversion van, and my mom had given me a new sticker book.  This is when collecting stickers was a really big deal (scratch’n'sniff and the velour ones were my faves).  The big thing for my kids this morning?  New apps on the iPad!  (And they didn’t cost me anything!)

Plain City Travel America BP/Amoco = SLOWEST. GAS PUMPS. EVER!!!

Old man at rest area: “Is that a Chevy?”
Me: “Yes.”
Him: “Wow!  That is a NICE vehicle.”
Me (silently channeling Lil’ Troy): “Wanna be a balla.  Shot calla.  Twenty inch blades on the Impala!”

I heard Warren G’s “Regulate” and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Jump On It” on the radio within about 15 minutes of each other and was instantly transported to the Puge, 1996-2000.  Regulators, mount up!  What’s up, Tacoma, what’s up?

Things to remember next time:
(1) Get a new portable DVD player!
(2) Invest in an old school Adidas track suit so I can travel in style.
(3) Update and re-sync the iPod Touch.  Currently it has one playlist of tons of songs from my iTunes library (but not all of them) and on shuffle, I got everything from my classic faves to recent faves to songs from Zumba instructor CDs to preschool songs and nursery rhymes to movie sound clips.

Speaking of preschool songs and nursery rhymes… when Moco was little, we subscribed to this monthly mailing club (I can’t remember what it’s called), and we would get books, CDs, and art projects.  It was fun to see what she received each month, and she LOVED the CDs and would insist that we play them.  ALL. THE. TIME.  I was *so* glad when she outgrew the music.  Needless to say, I don’t know where the CDs went, but all the music is all uploaded to my iTunes… and I don’t think I have ever played them for Bubba.  I’ll be honest — I don’t know if he actually knows any preschool songs or nursery rhymes, but he sure knows when to say “YEAH!” throughout Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback”.

Day 1 ended in St. Clairsville, Ohio: swimming, Steak’n'Shake and sleeping!