Day 36

Let me finish up recapping my weekend in DC before this turns out like my Disney blog posts.
You know, in which I detail every ride, meal, and bathroom break for the first two days, and then wrap up the remaining 5 days with a sentence like: "Mickey, Princesses, Funnel Cake, Yea!"

I believe I left off with some pictures of our time on the Mall. Here are a few more taken in the Natural History Museum:

 

They had a "Discovery Room" with a lot of hands-on things for the kids to do. 

Of course I only took a picture of one thing, because I was busy not losing my children who like to run in opposite directions.

Alex ogling the Hope Diamond. She is a princess, after all, you know.

This isn't a good picture, but we had made it a point to stop by the mummy exhibit. Alex has been learning about ancient Egypt in her schooling, and it was neat for her to see a real mummy.
Well neat, and kind of gross.

When we were too tired to explore any more, we took the Metro back to the van and drove a few miles to my friend Melissa's house. She and her husband Mike had so kindly offered to host our little reunion at their home. They live in a beautiful neighborhood in Virginia, and the fall colors were really starting to turn.

We spent the next two days catching up, eating, watching football, and playing Words with Friends online while sitting next to each other.

We always were a little strange.

Here's the crew:

Left to Right: Mike, Melissa, Nicole, Me, Dana (holding Stella), and Karen.

We were smiling because it was still halftime when we took the picture and we hadn't lost the game yet.
It was not a good weekend for Michigan sports. First our beloved Wolverines lost, then the Tigers, then the Lions.

Lions and tigers and wolverines. Oh my.

Poor Mike was surrounded by a bunch of gals for the weekend, but he was a great sport. And Alex took to him right away. Maybe a little too much; she wouldn't leave him alone.

We had fun getting away for a little bit, and it was a good practice run for our drive up to Michigan next month.

In other news, Derek has regressed in going through the appropriate steps to a pleasant bathroom experience.
Thrice since Josh has left, my sweet son has forgotten the final stage of preparation, in which he must rectify any sticking of penis to scrotum. Thrice he has peed down his pants and onto the floor directly in front of the potty.
I'm getting a little tired of it.

So now we're back to the rather undignified reminder as he runs to the bathroom. "Please make sure your penis isn't stuck to your balls."

It just doesn't feel right to yell that across the house as he jets past, but it seems it cannot be helped.
I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Tonight was Awanas night again. I had to forgo my usual dinner date with the other temporarily single ladies in favor of running a few errands sans children.
Funny thing about those kids-- they never go away. I must carefully ration my 1.5 hours a week of kidlessness to get the optimal amount of errands accomplished.

Do you live near your family? Does said family ever watch your children for you? This is just a friendly reminder to appreciate that. Because it really kind of stinks to have to get a babysitter so you can get a haircut, or go to a baby shower, or even worse, go to the dentist.

This post is really getting away from me.

I'll leave you with my moment of awakening that I had tonight while in the dressing room of The Targets:

I am going back on Colorfuel.
Like, tomorrow.


That is all.