#72 Washington Wizards Game

 I took the car in to get an oil change and some routine maintenance at the dealership on Wednesday and they happened to be giving out tickets for the Washington Wizard's game on Saturday. I took three in hopes that Jason could come. Thankfully he made it! We met at the Verizon Center and enjoyed a good chunk of the game. Our seats were higher up but not at the very top, so that was nice.

 Calder loved getting a giant pretzel and the mascot. He laughed every time the mascot came out.

 At first, Calder was a little scared because it was loud and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be watching. He caught on pretty quickly.

This was the first time I have taken Calder on the Metro without his stroller. He was so excited and felt like a big boy. Oh and we picked up this brand new backpack at the thrift store this week. He has wanted to take it everywhere.

#67 Visit the Audubon Naturalist Society

On Saturday we went to the Audubon Society for a hike. It was a lot of fun although, it was a rather quick trip. I think it will be much more beautiful in the Spring and Fall. We'll be going back for sure. Calder loved having the place to himself and hitting leaves with various sticks he found. We tried to find the turtles they told us to watch out for but couldn't seem to locate any of them. Maybe in a few months we will.

#51 Ice Skating

There is an indoor skating rink about 3 miles from our house and on Fridays they do toddler and parent time for $3.50! That includes skate rental for both of us. It was awesome. I haven't been ice skating in about 10 years and it was Calder's first time. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be much help but it was fine and Calder didn't really need much help anyway. 

Many of the other parents were surprised that he was so good and so little. They almost didn't believe it was his first time. He is dying to go back and keeps asking if we can take daddy or some friends next time.

He liked to chase the other kids around the rink. Some of them thought it was fun and some weren't too thrilled. As you'll see in the video below. 

#14 The Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Calder and I had an awesome tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on Monday. I honestly think this is one of the best things we've done in DC. It was short (30 minutes start to finish) and Calder loved it. He was fascinated the whole way through and wants to do it again. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures on the tour so this is the one picture we got in the lobby. The sign says One Million Dollars in ten dollar notes. During the tour we saw a sign in the printing area that said "How do you think I feel, I print my lifetime salary in just a few minutes".  I thought it was clever.

A few interesting facts, in case you don't get to take the tour yourself. 95% of the money printed is to replace worn out money. 4% of the money they print is a mistake and gets incinerated in the basement. And if you happen to have a bill with a star at the end of the serial number instead of a letter, it means there was a mistake while printing a sheet of bills and they had to substitute it with star notes.

#46 Brookside Gardens

 Since we've been having beautiful weather Calder and I took an evening trip to Brookside Gardens. It is a huge garden about three miles from our house. This is the Children's Garden area. They have tables and stools made out of logs, a tree house and a gnome house.

 Calder loved the gnome house and was frustrated the door doesn't close.

 And he took a pretty decent picture of me.

 I can't wait to go back when we have a few hours to explore and I can only imagine it will be amazing come spring.

#69 Gravelly Point

 After our "hike" around Roosevelt Island we went to Gravelly Point. This is a great park where you can see the airplanes taking off and landing at Ronald Regan National Airport. Calder LOVED this and can't wait to take daddy. We brought a picnic and just had a great time. You can sort of see the flag Calder is holding. It is an American flag he insisted on having from the thrift store. It has been well loved and he wanted to bring it to wave at the airplanes. I think he was thinking it was going to guide them like the workers who direct planes with small orange flags or sticks, but I'm not sure. Either way he waved his American flag for the airplanes.

 I had a hard time getting this picture because Calder kept wanting to watch the airplanes.

This is my friend Liz and her son Henry. We always have a great time with them!

So, back to the bathroom story from the previous post. We got here and Calder hadn't mentioned needing to go to the bathroom for a while. Then he needed to go poop. They only had porta-potties and so we went in and I told him how it works. He desperately wanted to poop in the urinal part because the other one was "already used". Thankfully he had to go bad enough he didn't argue much when I told him it doesn't work that way. He did make me crouch down so he could see my face the whole time because he was scared, but he did it and was so proud of himself when he was done. So, I guess we can go camping now.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

 Last week we also went to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. It is surprisingly close to our house (15 minutes or so) and was a lot of fun. We met up with friends and the boys had a good time. They spent a long time being "space men".

 Calder loved these puppets. They had helmets that came off and he enjoyed pretending they were gloves.

 This rocket was the test rocket to see if two guys can live in a space this size for 14 days, the length of time it would take to get to the moon and back. I love this picture because it looks like Calder and his friend Jack fell asleep in there. They didn't. Believe me.

 At the end everyone drank their yogurts. We didn't bring spoons, the boys thought it was cool. It's a great "space man" food.

National Archives

We went to the National Archives this last week. It was my first time and I was so glad we went when we did. The above pictures aren't mine. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside the building and it was just too cold to stop to get a good exterior picture, but I thought you should see what it looks like. 

 There weren't any lines. It was awesome. We just walked around, looked at what we wanted and then went to the basement cafeteria for lunch. We packed our own since we're doing the Nothing New and February Spending Fast. Calder loved it. If you ask him about the National Archives he will tell you about the candy room (the cafeteria had a bunch of candy machines) and the men working in a manhole in the sidewalk right outside the building. The Decleration of Independence and Bill of Rights aren't nearly as impressive when you're two.

They had a bunch of previously printed posters all over the cafeteria walls. This was from 1943. I love it.

Building Museum

We've all been sick around here so I haven't posted as much because we haven't been doing as much. Thankfully we're all doing better and are back to our normal outings!

On Friday Calder and I went to the building museum. It was great. We are always happy to go there because it's quick, convenient and it's Calder's favorite. Here are some pictures.

Since the play room was busy, and they kick you out after 30 minutes when it's busy we got to see some other cool parts of the museum. They have an exhibit right now focusing on the Worlds Fairs of the 1930s. It was fascinating. I loved walking through and looking at all the cool things they had. They don't allow photography, so you'll have to come visit if you want to see it.

Santa's Workshop

 On December 23 Calder and I met up with my friend LuAnn and her boys to visit Santa's workshop. Every year Santa comes to visit DC on the Ellipse of the White House. This is also the site of the National Christmas tree, which is not a very attractive tree in my opinion.

 It was a lot of fun for the boys and we were lucky Mrs. Claus was there as well. Calder was pretty excited to sit by Mrs. Claus and have a picture. It was nice to be inside while visiting the Claus family because it was a bit chilly outside.

 Calder weathered it well though.

And in the end it was all worth it to meet the man himself. I have to admit, this is the best looking Santa I've ever seen. The beard is real and even had a little glitter in it. He definitely looked quite comfortable in the suit. Calder was a little nervous but thankfully LuAnn's boys went first so he was okay with it. Although his wish list changed every time we talked about it he told Santa he wanted a train. Santa asked if he wanted a Thomas or a GeoTrax. Calder said GeoTrax even though neither of us have even seen such a train / track system. I love that Santa knows more about the toys available than I do.

Katie's Visit Part 2

We had so much fun with my sister Katie. I'm glad her visit was long enough we could take our sightseeing slower after a few days. We made sure to hit all the highlights on her list while still keeping a happy Calder.

At the White House.

At the Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument.

At the Supreme Court.

This is one of two spiral staircases at the Supreme Court. They both have seven revolutions but there are only 5 floors in the building. It is incredibly unique because it doesn't have any central support. Each stair was cut to fit between the one above and below it perfectly. The staircases aren't open to the public anymore. Our tour guide told us she doesn't like to use it because she's worried it's going to fall.

There is this awesome park about 15 minutes (driving) from our house. It has grills, playgrounds, a train and a carousel. It is just magical. Unfortunately we were only there for a short time but we'll certainly be going back.

Thanks for coming Katie! We had a great time and can't wait for you to come back!