Saw lots of monuments...from the car.
We got back home late last night from DC. Mac was there for a career workshop, but his sister Ann lives there with her family so we spent a night at her house and Ansel got to meet and spend time with cousins, Sara (5) and Rehan (7).
There was still a ton of snow all over the place from their recent snowstorm. It was cold out, but not so bad. In fact, it was just as cold in San Antonio on Tuesday.
It's hard traveling with a 20 month old. In many ways it is easier than it was when he was 2 months old, or even 14 months. But it is still exhausting. I decided to leave the stroller at home because we already had so much luggage, and I had the Ergo. But I've not been using the Ergo much since Ansel likes to walk on his own now, and my legs were not so up to the job. Also, I had all of this other stuff to lug around, so I was probably carrying about 30 pounds extra? That's how much I gained when I was pregnant, hah. Oy, it hurt.
He did extremely well, even when it was clear that he was tired of being stuck in one spot in our laps. There were some bad moments when his ears hurt and he refused to chew on a snack or nurse or drink water or any of the things that might have helped. But once his ears stopped hurting he did great again.
It was nice meeting Mac's sister, and that whole experience was very interesting because she married into a Pakistani family and she's adopted much of their culture. She cooked us some amazing Pakistani food. It was wonderful. She and her husband and their two kids live with her husband's parents and I think his brother as well, and her sister in law and her husband live nearby with their two kids who are close in age to Sara and Rehan, so there was almost constantly the hustle and bustle of family all around. The kids loved Ansel and had a super great time playing with him.
He got to spend a little time out in the snow, which unfortunately had the crustiness of several days upon it, and he didn't seem so terribly interested. I think he was frustrated because it was hard to walk in (still a couple of feet deep). But he did get to go down a slide into a pile of it and that was kind of fun.
For two nights we stayed in a pretty nice hotel because that's where the workshop was located, and I took Ansel for a few walks outside in search of meals and coffee while Mac was busy. But I wasn't brave enough to try getting us to any of the sights. Which is too bad, because we were really close to the Mall and could have seen all sorts of cool things. But it was cold outside, and Ansel was heavy, and prone to unexpected meltdowns whenever I took him out. So I stayed within about a half mile from the hotel. One of my walks was actually too long and I felt like my legs were going to buckle from fatigue. I had gone to a lunch place that had lots of vegan options. But I preferred the Thai place that was just around the corner from the hotel.
So I saw the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial and probably some other things, but all from the windows of the cars we were in. Still pretty neat. It felt good to be in a cosmopolitan area. Very refreshing, actually, after being in San Antonio since August.
There was still a ton of snow all over the place from their recent snowstorm. It was cold out, but not so bad. In fact, it was just as cold in San Antonio on Tuesday.
It's hard traveling with a 20 month old. In many ways it is easier than it was when he was 2 months old, or even 14 months. But it is still exhausting. I decided to leave the stroller at home because we already had so much luggage, and I had the Ergo. But I've not been using the Ergo much since Ansel likes to walk on his own now, and my legs were not so up to the job. Also, I had all of this other stuff to lug around, so I was probably carrying about 30 pounds extra? That's how much I gained when I was pregnant, hah. Oy, it hurt.
He did extremely well, even when it was clear that he was tired of being stuck in one spot in our laps. There were some bad moments when his ears hurt and he refused to chew on a snack or nurse or drink water or any of the things that might have helped. But once his ears stopped hurting he did great again.
It was nice meeting Mac's sister, and that whole experience was very interesting because she married into a Pakistani family and she's adopted much of their culture. She cooked us some amazing Pakistani food. It was wonderful. She and her husband and their two kids live with her husband's parents and I think his brother as well, and her sister in law and her husband live nearby with their two kids who are close in age to Sara and Rehan, so there was almost constantly the hustle and bustle of family all around. The kids loved Ansel and had a super great time playing with him.
He got to spend a little time out in the snow, which unfortunately had the crustiness of several days upon it, and he didn't seem so terribly interested. I think he was frustrated because it was hard to walk in (still a couple of feet deep). But he did get to go down a slide into a pile of it and that was kind of fun.
For two nights we stayed in a pretty nice hotel because that's where the workshop was located, and I took Ansel for a few walks outside in search of meals and coffee while Mac was busy. But I wasn't brave enough to try getting us to any of the sights. Which is too bad, because we were really close to the Mall and could have seen all sorts of cool things. But it was cold outside, and Ansel was heavy, and prone to unexpected meltdowns whenever I took him out. So I stayed within about a half mile from the hotel. One of my walks was actually too long and I felt like my legs were going to buckle from fatigue. I had gone to a lunch place that had lots of vegan options. But I preferred the Thai place that was just around the corner from the hotel.
So I saw the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial and probably some other things, but all from the windows of the cars we were in. Still pretty neat. It felt good to be in a cosmopolitan area. Very refreshing, actually, after being in San Antonio since August.