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.

Giveaway

I'm hosting my first giveaway over at my other blog, Candied Apples. Head over there to enter! You have until next Thursday. Seriously, it's good stuff.

Snow

 We finally had a big snow! Calder was so excited to go out and help shovel. The guys he's standing buy is David. David is king in Calder's mind. He is the maintenance manager of the building. When we first moved in he was the guy who walked the dumpsters out to the garbage truck. Since then he has been the bee's knees. Calder wants to show him all his new toys and runs over to give a high five whenever he sees him. This is a big deal because Calder is generally shy.

 We built this snowman in the area in front of our building. Calder likes to look outside the window and say "I see the snowman we built in my backyard".

Savage Mills

 Last week we went with my cousin's wife and their kids to Savage Mills. It's this old fabric milled that was turned into an artsy shopping center. It was lots of fun to watch the kids run around and look at everything. The shopping center was basically dead. There weren't any other shoppers as far as the eye could see. It snowed that morning but seriously, it wasn't that bad out.

 Check out this clock. It was WAY more than I ever want to spend on anything for my house but it was pretty cool.

 Three happy kids.

100 Things To Do In DC

 This is how Calder spends a lot of his time. If I am busy and can't read to him he gets one of his "easy books" to read to himself. I'm surprised how many books he has memorized. Oh and I made those pants. I love them a lot. So does he.

 This is Calder pretending to be a doctor. Of course doctors check their own hearts and pants are totally optional. Shoes are not.

Just FYI, up at the top of the blog you should now see a link that says 100 Things To Do In DC. I found this list right before we moved here of things to do in DC and set out to do all of them. So far I am at 28 of the 100. Not too bad. Many of them are things we have to do in better weather but for now we are trying to get as many as we can. Ideally I would like to get it done before the end of 2011. That would give us a total of 18 months to do everything on the list. We'll see how it goes.

National Zoo

 We went to the zoo last Wednesday. It was in the 40s and I thought it would be a great, if not fast activity. We went in the afternoon and didn't get to see as much as we would have liked, but next time we have warmish weather we'll go back. Calder loves the zoo. If you look very closely in the above picture you can see an elephant in the background.

 The red pandas were so cute. Calder and I got to feed them some bamboo. I wish I had pictures of Calder feeding them but I had to hold him over the railing. They reach up and grab it from you. It was adorable. There weren't very many people there (as I'm sure you can imagine, it wasn't that warm) so Calder enjoyed running all over.

Calder at 26 months

I am loving this stage! It is like I have a little sidekick and we go everywhere together. Calder is so mild mannered. He doesn't really throw fits and if he starts to cry all I have to say is "listen..." and he'll say "yeah mommy?" It is so nice. 

We reason and negotiate like an old married couple. 

He is beginning to understand how the world works and is such a sweet kid. I have found if I explain why or why not to him he understand and accepts the answer. So if he wants to buy a toy and I tell him it is just too big for our house he understands.

He is convinced everything can be fixed by a trip to Target. If something breaks he just throws it away and says "next time I go to Target I get another one". This year of nothing new might be hard but good for him. He is starting to LOVE the thrift store though. 

He loves to pretend to be other people. We are often Thomas and Percy, his nursery song leader and her daughter and characters from various books. He also likes to pretend to be his friends. Although I enjoy it for the most part, it is a little annoying when I keep getting corrected when I call him by his name. And it is a bit embarrassing when I have to call him Zoe  or Cheyenne at the grocery store to get him to listen. I'm sure people think that is his name and I am a terrible parent.

He thinks jello is the cure-all. If you're sick, you need jello. 

Building Museum

Are you tired of seeing pictures of the building museum? See, we go there all the time because it is right off the metro so we don't have to walk very far in the cold. And it is Calder's favorite. We spent more time exploring parts of the building other than the toddler room this week. 

 Calder loves reading the books all about buildings and construction in the toddler room. In this picture I was chatting with another mom and he walked over, picked a book, found a comfortable chair and was reading it out loud to himself.

 They have awesome brick staircases all over the building. Calder loves to climb to the top and see how high he can see.

 Calder and I always eat lunch by the fountain in the middle of the great room. And he gets to throw a penny in to the fountain each time we visit.

 This is the view from the 2nd floor bathroom looking outside on the metro entrance. See, I told you it was close.

 This is the outside of the building museum looking from the metro entrance.

Spending Fast 2011

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just like it.

You may remember the spending fast I did this last March. I'm planning on doing it again for 2011 in February. If you want to join in, please do and start planning for it. Here is how it works.

You can buy:

• Groceries (no fast food or eating out)
• Gas / public transportation
• Rent/Utilities (please pay your bills)

 Not Okay to Buy:

• ANYTHING ELSE

See, it's pretty simple. I also limit my food budget to $50 a week. This is a challenge but I like it. If you were on the fence last year, this is your year! Please join us. February is short. I know you can do it!

I also want to point out that I don't do this just to save money. I do it for the challenge, the decreased consumerism and the increased creativity I get from it. Jason likes that I do it, probably for the money. 

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.

Christmas Eve 2010

On Christmas Eve we went to Jeff & LuAnn's house for a German Christmas eve. It was fantastic. LuAnn and her cousin made German pancakes and Rouladen. It was delicious!

After dinner the kids (and some adults) performed a live nativity. Calder had been looking forward to being the shepherd for a few days. He even got to hold a sheep that the Oliver's had. He was in heaven. Jason read the story from the Bible and I did my best to herd the shepherd. We all had a great time and Calder still talks about being a shepherd.

I forgot my camera so I had to steal these from LuAnn's blog. Thanks for taking pictures LuAnn and thanks for the awesome evening.