Hanging out at the Capitol

Our big trip has come and gone.

While we didn't head out to England, or someplace tropical, we still had a great time hanging out around Capitol Hill in our nation's capital, Washington, DC.

We really went back and forth about where we wanted to go.  England was out because it was way out of our budget, for both money and time.  All inclusive resorts were out because of budget - mostly because of the having to fly there first.  Flights are expensive.  We went back and forth between a cruise and this DC trip quite a few times, but in the end decided we wanted to save a cruise for when I would be able to do all the stuff we would want to do.  The one cruise we were looking at had some really cool excursions to ruins, but they deemed them as pretty physically intense, and that probably wouldn't be the best for the pregnant lady.  Plus there were the plane tickets, which most of the time actually cost more than the base price of the cruise...  So we decided to go off to DC.

We had a great time.  The great thing about going to DC is that every museum and site we went to was free.  We visited the Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, The American History Museum, Museum of Art (which had an exhibit, The Art of Video Games, which was fun.), The Botanical Gardens - all free.  We didn't hit up a whole lot of the monuments as we had been there before.  We did check out the World War II memorial, as it was new since we had been there in 2000.  We did pay to see an IMAX movie at the Air and Space Museum.

Another thing I did for this vacation was to leave my camera at home.  These are all from my camera on my phone.  I just didn't want to have to worry about my camera.

We were kind of surprised because we didn't think the prices for food were all that outrageous, especially for a big city.

We chose to stay at a hotel close to the Capitol building with the idea that we would be able to walk everywhere.  And we did the first night and day, but then we decided to try out the metro system, and we are glad we did.  We both got a pass and rode the subway a few times.  It was super easy, and saved our feet and backs.  I think if we went again, we might stay a little further away from things, and use the subway more. I would think it would save a little on the cost of lodging.

We also checked out two movies while we were there. The Hunger Games and Wrath of the Titans.  I enjoyed them, but I'm really not that picky with movies.  We learned that one should never order concessions before knowing the price.  Lol.  We didn't have time for lunch before the one movie, so we got something to tide us over... cheap it was not.

Our last morning there we left and headed to my best friend's place in Lancaster, PA.  We got to visit with her and she gave us a place to sleep for our last night out.  It was so great. Plus I got to visit the Colombian bakery there for some Passion fruit juice, and it was wonderful.

Another thing we did for this trip was rent a car.  We only have a mini van and an suv, neither of which gets good gas mileage.  Plus, we really didn't want to put that much wear and tear on either of them, as they both have quite a few miles on them already.  When it was all said and done, we probably spent just about as much renting as we would have driving our own cars because of the crazy difference in gas mileage.  Definitely worth it for us.

I definitely would recommend our hotel if you ever want to stay close to Smithsonian Museums and the Capitol building.  We stayed at the Capitol Hill Suites.  When I was looking for a place there were very few options that close that also had a free breakfast and free wifi. They had both, and it was great.  The staff was very friendly.   Our room also had a small (empty) fridge, kitchen sink, and microwave.  The one drawback is that there was a fee for having our car parked there.

All in all it was a great trip for us.  We were able to have long conversations before 8pm that weren't interrupted.  I didn't have to worry about feeding anyone but myself, and there were no diapers to change.  We were able to sleep in past 7am! It was a great, relaxing extended weekend.

The kids had a great time too, hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma.  They all, apparently, slept really well, which is such a blessing, to have kids that can and will sleep anywhere.

OH - and especially fun is that I actually felt baby moving on the outside. (As in, I felt some movement, and put my hand where I was feeling it, and actually felt it on my hand.)  So that was great too, and I have really been having an increase in feeling movement.  Our ultrasound is next Tuesday, so hopefully I will be blogging about that soon.  As well as a new adventure we are possibly diving into.  (Ok, adventure might be too strong of a word... but it involves animals.)

Second Honeymoon Dreaming

So every once in a while I think about the second honeymoon trip my husband and I are hoping to go on next year.

I say "hoping to" because, well, you never know what life will toss you. (I try not to make statements about things we are going to definitely do anymore, because I sometimes end up eating my words, because life is just crazy that way)

It is such a gargantuan task!

Our general idea for our trip is tropical beach bum vacation.  Sounds great right?  Our actual honeymoon was at a city close to home for only a couple nights.  We got married in the middle of college and were pretty broke.  We came home the Tuesday after we were married and started working pretty much right away at our crazy factory summer jobs.  Next year will be our 10 year (10??  where has time gone??) anniversary and so we want to go on a nice vacation all by ourselves.

Found on flickr
Maldives - definitely out of the price range - but so incredibly beautiful

But it is not easy.  Do you know how many tropical beach bum vacation options there are?  And how many options within each option.  Makes my head spin.  Do we want to go to an all inclusive place, and not leave the place the entire time we are there.  Do we want to rent a car to do some touring? Do we just want to go on a cruise instead?  Do we want to just get a regular hotel? A resort?  A private rental property?  Do we want to go to Mexico, somewhere in the Caribbean, Hawaii? How much do we want to spend?

Found on Flickr
Kauai Hawaiian Island - probably the island I would want most to visit there.  Although, I would love to geek out at all the Lost filming locations on Oahu.

Really, we wanted to go to England.  That would have been amazing.  The more we thought about it, the more we realized that we would want to go for at least 2 weeks.  And that is completely out of the budget for the trip next year.  And we wouldn't want to leave the kids for that long.  So that trip is a dream for another year.  Maybe for the 20 year anniversary. :)

Found on Flickr
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico  Some friends where here last year and loved it.

My thoughts right now are all inclusive with no rental car.  I would love to go to Hawaii, but I think that is someplace I would definitely want to explore - and will probably be out of our budget, unless we got a pretty great deal.

Found on Flickr
St. Lucia

Cruises intrigue me.  I have heard really great things about them.  However, I'm not sure how I would do confined with a large crowd.  I think I do really well traveling in general - but I'm not great with huge crowds (think amusement park situations)  Stresses me out for whatever reason.  But cruises seem to be pretty economical, which will be a big part of the final decision.

Found on Flickr
Punta Cana

In any event, I'm not even sure what time of year we are going to go.  Probably spring or fall of next year.  Who knows, maybe we will just say heck with it and head to Anna Maria Island again.  Although, I really do want to go some place different.  So maybe Sarasota. :)  (It's not too far from Anna Maria.)

Found on Flickr
Anna Maria Island

Any suggestions?  Would love to hear about any and all experiences with cruises and all inclusives. Pros - cons.

Click on through to any of the links below the pictures to find some more wonderfully inviting beach pictures.

Disney World Part 2 : The Parks

I really didn't sit down thinking I was going to write so much about our trip - but I hope someone can glean something out of it all. :)  And it is hard not to share, it was such a fun time.

Today I want to focus on the two parks that we chose to go to.  This part, for me, was a little difficult before we left.  I had only ever been to Epcot and MGM (which is now called Disney Hollywood Studios - DHS for my blogging purposes).  I went when I was a teenager - and I enjoyed it, so I went in thinking that those places probably weren't the best places to take the little ones.  So I was thinking we would head to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.  They seemed the most little kid friendly.  However, I then did some research and discovered that there really is alot for the little ones to do at each park.  Magic Kingdom, though, was on the top of the list.  It is just the quintessential Disney Park.  I didn't want to miss out on that.  So that was staying on the list.  At this point (the planning stage), I really wasn't sure about what Noah was going to be able to do, so I was still leaning towards the Animal Kingdom, because I knew that he would LOVE to see animals.  And that is what we ended up doing.

Magic Kingdom

This place was great.  I suggest getting there first thing in the morning when the open.  The ride times are the lowest then.  And if there are rides you absolutely want the kids to ride - go to those first.  Especially those without a FastPass option.  Notably the flying Dumbo ride.  We never made it to this ride.  The wait time was always over 35 minutes when we were there, and it really didn't seem like a great idea to wait that long in the heat with fidgety little ones.  The first ride we went on was a Buzz Lightyear ride.  It can be ridden by all ages!  I was so impressed by all the rides that were accessible to Noah.  They really do cater to all kids.  This ride was great.  There was place to sit and in front of you was a laser gun.  In the middle of the console was a lever that would spin the car.  There were targets to shoot at and it kept track of all the points you got.  Ohlen loved it - and to be honest so did the rest of us.  Noah loved making the car spin. :)  We had about a 5 minute wait when we first got there.  We came back later and it was up to about 25 minutes, so we grabbed a FastPass.  The FastPass gives you an hour time slot to come back and get in a quicker line.  I think the longest we waited in the Fast lines was about 10-15 minutes.  We rode several other rides.  Another that stuck out to me as really great was the 3D show we saw there.  I think it was called Philharmagic.  It had lots of the favorite Disney characters and music in it.  You did have to wear the 3D glasses, which Noah refused to wear - so I'm not sure how much he really got out of it - but Ohlen LOVED it.  Well, except for the occasional blast of air or spritz of water they added for some realism.  It was hilarious watching him try to reach out and grab the 3D objects.  It was really well done - appreciated by us adults as well.

We are ON a Choo-choo!!

Once it hit about 11 it got really crowded.  There were so many people.  By that point we were pretty much only riding FastPass rides.  Ohlen and I did wait in line for one ride for about 25 minutes, and I think that was about his limit.

Some other highlights from Magic Kingdom were seeing some Toy Story characters in a random parade we stumbled on.  (They do post times for those, but we didn't really pay much attention to it.)  A train ride that takes you around the whole park, Noah was especially fond of this one. Ohlen's first roller coaster ride.(He loved it!  I'm foreseeing a Cedar Point trip in our future - a few years yet - but I can not wait.) There were a few rides there that Ohlen was not tall enough for, but there was plenty to do.

We left the park to rest and swim.  Jonathan, the boys, and I headed back to the park around 7 to catch the big fireworks show.  Again, there were so many people.  But the show was good.  I was amused by all the people attempting to take flash pictures of the fireworks.  I imagine they didn't turn out so well.

Waiting for the fireworks.

We were pretty exhausted after our day there.

Animal Kingdom

The next morning we headed out to Animal Kingdom.  Here we mostly walked and looked at the animals.  There weren't as many rides here. It was a nice change of pace from the day before.  And I was really glad that we went to the parks in this order.  The first thing we did was head to another 3D show, It's Tough to be a Bug.  It was hosted by Flick, from A Bug's Life.  The signs on the way in warned that it might frighten small kids, but I really didn't think much of it.  But then as they announced before hand that if it got too intense we could leave through the side, I got a little nervous.  And yeah, we didn't last too long.  There were lots of air blasts - which Ohlen hadn't really liked the day before either.  And this time the subject was bugs...  And they also did some stinky air for a stink bug... yeah, we had to get out of there.  Not the best start to the day, but the rest was pretty good.  We got to see lots of animals.  They also have a place designated to meet a few Disney characters, which was nice.  Ohlen met Goofy.  He was a little shy. :)

I think our 2 favorite things at this park that we did were the Safari ride and the Finding Nemo show.  The safari ride was one that I was really looking forward to.  I was a little bummed though because the map said that pregnant women should not ride.  I did a little research before hand and really, everything I read said that they were just a little overcautious.  So, I decided to ride it anyways. Really, there were a few bumps, but it really wasn't bad at all.  Certainly not enough to cause any concern.  It was a really neat ride.  They loaded up a huge open truck and drove around (like a safari) and we got to see a bunch of African animals.  Very fun.  The Finding Nemo show was just great.  It was a Broadway type show.  The costumes/props were amazing. The show wasn't all that long - I'm thinking about 30-40 minutes.  The boys seemed to like it too.

I was a little disappointed with the petting zoo part of the park.  When reading it, it made it seem like there would be lots of animals that the kids would get to interact with and touch.  It ended up being mostly just sheep and goats.  They've had more animal interaction here at home at the Truck Patch...  Overall, though, we enjoyed this park.  However, it was much more like a zoo than I thought.  There weren't as many rides as I was expecting.  Or at least we didn't find them.  We also didn't venture into the Dinosaur section, which I think is where the rides were.

I do sort of wish we would have been able to go to DHS simply because they have a big Pixar section and apparently you can meet the Cars characters - and I know that Ohlen would have loved it.  However, I'm not sure how another day full of rides would have went.  It will definitely be on our list for next time.  I'm sure Epcot would have been fun too, but I also think that it has a whole lot of walking.  At this point I don't think the boys would be old enough to appreciate all the different cultures that are represented there.

Has anyone taken little ones to DHS or Epcot?  I would love to know how it went.

I have to say - it was a really fun trip.  I wasn't sure how it would go.  How the boys would like it.  They had so much fun.  I think seeing them enjoy everything was best part.

Disney World Part 1

Last week we took a trip down south to the heat and humidity for our first family trip to Disney World.  My mother-in-law came along as well (well she actually was the driving force behind all of us going, so saying she just came along would be an understatement. :))   I thought I would share our experience, how we did things.  I know that before we left I was concerned a bit about what all there would be for Noah to do - and if there would be enough for Ohlen. (lol)  So, if anyone else out there is hesitant to take their young kids, don't be.  I'll share some of the things I really liked and things they really liked.   And, of course, there will be pictures. :)

Our boys are 4 and almost 2, so we didn't want to completely overwhelm and wear them out.  So we booked a trip for 3 nights.  We got 2 tickets for the parks - the very basic tickets.  No park hopper option or anything like that.  It just didn't seem worth it for us.We did everything through Disney.  I ran the numbers a bit - and it was possibly a little cheaper to stay off resort, rent a car, and all that - but it would have also have been more of a hassle.  And for the time we were going to be there - it really didn't seem like a  huge price difference.

Meals.  I can't say I researched this too well.  We ended up going with the bottom tier meal plan.  Each person over 3 (I think) was given 2 meals and 2 snacks per day.  As well as a souvenir mug that you could refill at the resort with as much pop, coffee, etc as you wanted. So Noah did not get the meals - but we generally had enough to share with him - and he wasn't eating real well the whole trip anyways.  I have no idea if this was cost effective or not.  The food was, generally, pretty good, especially in the resort.  It was also fairly pricey.  It was a little confusing in the parks as to what was and was not included in our plan.  There was supposed to a symbol marking what was included, but many times the main dishes did not have a symbol - but if you asked they said it was included - so it was a little confusing.  But it all worked out in the end.

On one of the shuttles.

The whole Disney package was so nice.  They had a service to take your luggage from the plane directly to your room - no need to go to baggage claim.  They had fairly efficient shuttles that would take you from airport to resort, resort to each of the parks (including the water parks and Downtown Disney)  We had no need to take along a car seat for the boys, which was really nice.  We got there at a low time so check in was a breeze.  Plus they give you a card that you use for everything, meals, park ticket, etc.  The resort was nice.  The rooms were just regular hotel type rooms - but the decor around the facilities were so much fun.  They provide Pack n Plays for free.  We stayed at the All Star Movie resort.  We were in one of the Toy Story buildings. (Completely by chance - I was so happy. :))  They had a complete large mock up of Andy's room.  I think Ohlen's facial expression says it all.  This resort had 10 buildings 2 each per theme - Toy Story, 101 Dalmations, Fantasia, and The Love Bug.  There were also 2 pools, plus a kiddie pool area.  Our building was right next to the main building that housed the food and store and all the shuttles. It was also next to the playground and the pool.   We really lucked out as far as the location of our rooms.  And we had a connecting rooms which was a huge plus.

"That is a really big Buzz"

Probably a good idea to put a fence around Woody.

Army men "guarding" the rooms.

This kid's energy was impressive.

We saw Buzz's rear every time we left our room to go anywhere...

He really, really wanted to climb on to Rex.

The Brrm-brrm was also a big hit.

I could do a whole other post on flying with little ones - but really it went really well.  I would definitely recommend a stroller for ones as little as Noah.  It saved some sanity as we had to wait for a while in the airport on the way home.  We just pushed him around for a while and he loved just looking at everything.  It was also nice to have a light weight stroller along for in the parks - it was easy to fold up and carry onto the shuttles.  Although, renting a stroller there would be another viable option.  The flights themselves went really well.  Ohlen loved it.  He sat by the window and looked out a bit, when he wasn't playing on the GameBoy.  Noah was very sleepy on the way down - explained in next paragraph.  On the way back he was a ball of energy, but still did really well, no crying, screaming, or anything like that.  We had a genius plan to have him watch some Thomas on a laptop while in the air... but the laptop battery was somehow dead.  I do have to say I felt completely defeated at that point, but really it all turned out well.

Waiting for acceptable electronic devices to be allowed. (for some Gameboy play)

Sick little boy.

Enjoying the plane ride.

The biggest issue with the whole trip was with poor Noah.  He started with a fever literally as we were driving to the airport.  Although we didn't really notice until we were already on the plane - with the medicine and thermometer safely in the checked bag.  He held on to the fever until the morning we left.  However, my boys always seem to do really well when they have fevers, and he was in a pretty good mood - especially for not feeling the greatest.  And thanks to Disney for having some infant ibuprofen in their store.

The weather was also great.  Well, ok, it was a little too hot (mid 80s) and humid for Jonathan and I, but the rest of the crew enjoyed it. We even got to go swimming one day.  And it was nice not to have to worry about coats, gloves, and winter hats.  Although we did trade that for sunscreen and caps to keep the sun off of heads.

Tomorrow I'll post about the specific parks we went to.

Has anyone else done Disney with little ones?  Is there anything you found to be a better way than using Disney for mostly everything?  I think there are definitely pros and cons to using their shuttles vs driving yourself.  There is definitely more freedom in having your own car - but it was also nice to not have to drive at the end of the day.  As far as staying in a Disney resort vs an outside hotel.  I remember when we went when I was a teenager we didn't stay at Disney and it was fine.  You definitely don't get completely immersed in the whole "Disney experience"  They do have a whole bunch of little things they will do for the little ones.  We got 1st time Buttons when we first arrived.  One time they gave the boys a balloon with a neat Mickey weight thing to keep from flying away.  They got plenty of stickers wherever we went.  It was definitely a fun experience.