Maybe the train ride to downtown DC is the best place to begin. Trixie and I had planned a trip to The Museum of Natural History to see an IMAX film, dinosaur fossils, and the Hope Diamond. The train ride was 23 minutes long and took us from being above ground riding in between the lanes of I-66 to underground. We had a great back and forth with Inwe regarding the fact that we were also going to travel under a river (the Potomac). Imagine lots of "no way" "way" "no way" "way", and you have the gist of that conversation. Trixie was worried initially that the girls would be scared that they were in a tunnel. I explained that being upfront about what is going on is best with my girls or else their imagination would run rampant. For me the stressful part was getting up the three escalators with the girls. (Finwe was in the infant carrier, so no problems there.) We managed it without pulling their arms out of their sockets or getting any fingers or feet stuck in the machinery.
A short two block walk got us to the museum where we bought tickets, ate lunch, and then looked at the dinosaurs while waiting for the film to begin. Inwe kept complaining, but Larien was really excited about the dinosaurs. We didn't linger too long as we didn't want the girls to get bored. The IMAX was in 3D. It wasn't terribly memorable, but the girls' behavior was. Larien took her glasses on and off to see the difference. She would lean back from the images and constantly asked questions about the sea star called a sunstar. "It has no head, Mommy. Where is its head?" Inwe was fun to watch as well because the would reach out to touch the images in front of her. I don't remember what she said because she was closer to Trixie and the film was loud.
When we exited the theater we were on the floor where the gemstones are housed, including the Hope Diamond and other lovely pieces of jewlery. As were were leaving Larien said, "We have to shopping for diamonds." Inwe at this point was just ready to shop so she could go home. She was really tired and wanted to stop walking. We bought a t-shirt for both of them and some books.
The walk back to the Metro station was full of strife. Finwe needed to sleep, but Inwe's pace wasn't quick enough for the proper jiggling. Inwe kept complaining of her legs hurting, and Larien decided that she couldn't walk at all. Trixie ended up carrying her to the station.
We made a successful dash to the train. Inwe was a constant whining machine. Larien was in her own world of wonder being on a train again. Finwe demanded that I stand up to get him to sleep, so Trixie pulled out the books and began reading. Inwe ended up on Trixie's lap, Finwe fell asleep, and Larien continued to be mesmerized by the movement of the train.
The walk from the train station to the van was cold and windy, which further increased Inwe's whining. Larien lost a shoe on the way, but we retrieved it. The drive back to Trixie's and WaWa's apartment was short, but Larien managed to catch a power nap. When we made the trip up the scary stairs (you could see through the stairs, and we climbed four flights), I attempted to get the girls to take a nap, but they didn't buy it.
We waited on WaWa and played around with Mama Dog and Nino (hence forth named Nemo Nino by Larien). Larien was really fascinated with the cat. The cat quickly took refuge under the bed.
The girls were quickly getting ridiculously tired, so we sat them in front of The Incredibles until WaWa could get home from work with the pizza. When he arrived with the pizza, the girls ate while we waited for two other friends to arrive. The best part of the pizza episode was watching the patience of Mama Dog as she sat by Larien, waiting, just waiting for the pizza to get close enough and steady enough so she could take a bite.
When Tara and Tallent arrived, Inwe darted to the bedroom and never came out. To her credit, she knew she was tired and didn't feel good. She felt the best option was to hole up in her room and watch TV until I made her go to sleep. After a tearful phone call to Phill, she snuggled into the covers.
My party girl, Larien, stayed awake to finish the movie and finally relented at 9pm. That was a full hour after her older sister turned in for the day.
Saturday morning found us watching cartoons and more importantly, drinking coffee. Both girls wrestled with, talked to, and cuddled with WaWa. He's going to make a great dad when the adoption goes through. Trixie missed out on the wild and crazy fun; she had to work. The coffee was the key to my morning. That's how I made the drive home. I needed it after stay up until midnight talking with WaWa and waking up at 5:40am with Finwe.
Check out Trixie's Blog for more insight and many more pictures.
1 comment:
Great photo of Mama Dog and the pizza dangler.
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