Well Spring Break was a little while ago, but I have literally not. had.time. to sit down and post about our trip to DC. I know summer break is here and all, but just roll with me on this one. :)
We have some good friends in the DC area we wanted to see and we decided it would be super fun to take a toddler on a 10 hour road trip for Spring Break. I mean, if that's not your definition of fun, I don't know what is! We armed ourselves with a bucket of toys, books, snacks, and the I-Pad. We worked hard to entertain him and we prayed. A lot. Up until this point we'd been the no TV kind of parents and had decided no matter how rough things got in the car we would not break out the TV. We wanted him to learn how to entertain himself while he was in the car. In preparation for this loooonnggg drive, we flipped his seat around to face forward and put him in the middle of the backseat so he would be close to us and he could see everything. And we brought the IPad. Just in case of an emergency.
We left Easter Sunday around 8 PM and drove for several hours. We made it to Fayetteville, NC and stopped for the night. For the most part, Cason did pretty well in the car. We got up Monday morning and set out on the road again, next stop: DC! We planned to see Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall in one day if we could swing it, The weather was supposed to be pretty bad the rest of the week so we reserved museums for those days. But as we all know, you just can't move as fast with a little one in tow. That didn't stop us from having our grand ambitions, though! We had to drive about 5 and 1/2 hours to get to Arlington from NC and we hit some pretty heavy traffic as we got into the city. Cason did pretty well. He slept some, and ate lots of goldfish and cheerios, but as we got closer to the city and into the traffic he started to get.....annoyed. So in a moment of desperation we broke out Curious George. Anything to get us to DC in one piece and with all our nerves in tact. George did the trick and Cason was a happy little guy the last hour of the drive. We made it to Arlington and were pulling INTO the parking garage when all of a sudden we hear the noise every parent dreads: the sound of the upchuck. Projectile. All over the car. And did I mention it was like a 100 degrees that day?! What was actually worse than the throw up was the realization that our child gets carsick and watching TV in the car-the one thing that was keeping everyone sane- would not be an option any longer. And all we could think about was the 10 hour drive we had back home at the end of the week. After seriously contemplating flying home and just buying a new car when we got back or simply relocating to DC without our belongings, we decided to try our best to forget the impending reality of the ride home and just enjoy our trip. Arlington was enjoyable and Cason loved being outside. However, after being strapped in the car seat for two days, guess who flat out refused to sit in the stroller? We even tried to tell him he could sit in it without being strapped down, but he didn't believe us. So, we were the crazy couple toting the toddler and pushing an empty stroller all over DC.
After Arlington it was late, the car smelled, and we were tired and hungry, so we skipped the National Mall and checked into our hotel. We rode a little shuttle bus to a nearby mall (which was awesome because car seats aren't required on the shuttle) and had dinner in the food court. O'Neal then decided our next vehicle purchase will be a 25 passenger van. Because hey, if it makes the kid happy, it must be good, right?!
Tuesday morning we got up and drove into the city but after about an hour, couldn't find a place to park (Hello Cherry Blossom Festival!). We drove out of the city and to our friends' house- they were our whole reason for going to DC in the first place. We were staying with them the rest of the week and spending time with them was the highlight of our trip! We hung out there for a while to rest and recover, then we went to the metro station and hopped a train back into DC. Too bad we can't just use a train to get everywhere because Cason LOVED riding that thing! We walked the National Mall and saw all the cool monuments but again, Cason flat out refused to sit in that stroller, and sometimes flat out refused to walk, so we (and when I say we I mean mostly O'Neal) carried him everywhere. (I know what you're thinking: the baby leash didn't work either. It has buckles and in his mind buckles equal restraint and that's a big fat no). We also walked over to the White House and took pictures in front of it. (Side note: we tried getting tickets for a tour but got denied. Unbelievable.) After walking 457 miles with a pretty cranky toddler who threw intermittent tantrums, we hopped back on the metro and went back to Ben and Faith's for a relaxing and fun evening.
Wednesday we went into DC again to see some museums. This time we ditched the stroller and loaded ourselves down like pack mules with the basic necessities for a day in the city with a toddler (translation: everything but the kitchen sink). We visited the Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space Museum. Those were pretty cool, but super crowded. It was overcast and damp so I'm assuming everyone else had the same idea we did: get inside. Visiting the Holocaust Museum was really powerful. I teach a unit on this every year and I've always wanted to visit the museum. Third time in DC and I finally had the opportunity.
Thursday we went to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. That was probably the coolest thing we saw on the trip.We visited the distillery and the mill and then walked his plantation, which was beautiful. That night, Ben and Faith were super gracious and watched Cason for us for a little while so we could go out on a date. We walked their two-story Target (which had an escalator for buggies!) and then drove to downtown Alexandria which was really beautiful. It reminded me of a cross between Savannah and Charleston and is now definitely on our list of places to go and stay for a while.
Friday was the dreaded drive home. We left that morning around 11AM and I am telling you, we prayed like never before. And had many others praying for us as well. I was a bundle of nerves and felt like we were riding with a ticking time bomb in the back seat. I wasn't sure if he was going to barf everywhere (we'd purposefully been doing very short distances in the car throughout the week just in case it wasn't the TV after all but facing forward that made him sick) or come completely unglued. I'm pretty sure we could go on the road as child entertainers because we pulled out all the stops that day to keep the little guy happy. We tried to stop every 2-3 hours to give him a break and let him run around a bit and each time he got back in the car seat without too much of a protest. Maybe it was because Faith told him that Curious George gets in his car seat when he goes places. That worked the first time he went in the car that day and we've been using it ever since. (Thanks Faith!) Around 9 PM we were about 45 minutes from home. Cason did well all day long and the end was finally in sight so I began to breathe...just a little. I was driving about 80 miles an hour down 95 in the left lane and all of a sudden our front right right tire blew. Praise the Lord we were able to pull over and I never lost control of the car. But it was very scary being on the side of 95 and O'Neal changing a tire on the traffic side of the road with it being pitch black outside. We were out there for about an hour and a half but with the help of his parents who kindly drove out there to meet us, O'Neal got the spare on and we were off again.
(On the side of I-95!)
I don't think I have ever been so happy to see home in my life! We were basically comatose for two days trying to recover from just the ride home I think! Overall, we had a really fun time. Our fellowship with our friends was wonderfully refreshing and we enjoyed spending time together as a family. We saw some cool things and made some good memories and God reminded us of His provision, protection, and faithfulness in all things.
People keep asking up what we're doing this summer and our answer is always the same: staying home! :)
