Summer Adventures 2015

A few times this summer I've had second thoughts about staying home with the kids.  Maybe if I had a full-time job and put the kids in day care or in full-time camps, they'd (and me!) would be better off.  I can't help but think the reason Sam and I butt heads so much is because we are around each other 24/7.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?  There is no absence to be had here.

Being a mom isn't easy, especially when you have a challenging and spirited kid who sometimes sucks the life out of you.  Please know that not all of our days during this summer break have been horrific.  We've had more than our share of fun adventures.  The scale is definitely tipped in favor of staying home with the kids and juggling 3 part-time jobs around their schedule. It IS still a good thing.

With that said, the fighting/bickering/annoying each other 'just because' between Ian and Sam is out of control.  I've gotten creative and assigned them even and odd days.  If it is an even date (July 2, 4, 6, 8, etc), then Ian gets to go first in everything.  This includes but not limited to taking a shower, getting sunscreen on, etc.  If its an odd date (July 1, 3, 5, 7, etc), then it's Sam's turn to go first.  This new system has helped, but only so much.  There is still so much for them fight about that I don't even have a strategy figured out.  Let them work it out between themselves; just as long as there is no blood.

Additionally Samantha marches to the beat of her own drum.  She is feisty and definitely pushing all my buttons.  I can only pray at the start of each day that today is a day she will be cooperative and a team player.  All too often, Ian gets the short end of the stick when it takes a good percentage of my energy and attention to interact with his sister.

I think I found I am most happiest making plans.  Researching different options (where to stay, how to get there, what to do, who to go with, etc) makes me happy.  The optimistic girl in me thinks the whole day will be picture perfect and everything will go swimmingly.  Ha!  That rarely happens, but for the most part, I am still glad we attempted whatever it is we did.

The kids and I spent the day at National Harbor.  We didn't have a plan and it worked out great.  We wanted to do the Ferris Wheel (they call it the Capital Wheel).  Originally we were going to go last Monday, but that day looked like rain.  At the last minute (really, it was the day before, but for those who know me, plans made for outings with the kids are weeks in advance!), we decided to try again on a Thursday.  The weather looked amazing....low humidity and a high of 83 degrees. 

All we had in place was to meet at the Ferris Wheel with our friends at 10:00am when they opened.  The rest of the day was going with the flow.  It turned out to be a perfect day.  Again there were 5 kids with us, but for some reason, looking back, I don't recall any of the kids having any sort of issues for the time we were together, jumping from one activity to the next.  The day hummed along nicely.

Selfie in the Ferris Wheel.

Playing at The Awakening Statue.

Swan Paddleboat!

We wrapped up the day with a stop in the Peeps Store and lunch at Rosa Mexicana.  It was a bit more upscale place to eat than planned, but Baja Fresh at National Harbor had closed.  We didn't find this out until it was too late.  The kids, Kelly and I all enjoyed our lunch very much.

A couple of days later, I decided to take the kids to The National Building Museum in D.C.   There is a Beach exhibit that I had been hearing about from my friends.  It's basically a GIANT ball pit -- to the tune of 1 million balls.  The whole thing is in the theme of a beach, complete with chairs and umbrellas.  It's all indoors.  We had a very rough start to our day before even leaving our house and many times I contemplated not going.  I took a bunch of deep breaths and persevered.  By the time we made it downtown (about a 30 minute drive), we were all in better moods and getting a rock star parking spot certainly helped the situation.

The kids LOVED the exhibit.  It was just what we needed and a lot of fun.  After a few hours, we headed out of the museum for lunch.  Again, as with the National Harbor, my go to restaurant (Green Turtle) was closed for renovations and we had to improvise at the last minute with something else.  We ended up at Clyde's for lunch.  Hahahaha.  Not our usual type of restaurants I take the kids to for lunch.  Being surrounded by women and men in business suits having lunch meetings made us a feel only a little out of place.  Both kids behaved beautifully.  Clyde's does have a kid's menu so we couldn't have been that much out of our element.

Oh my gosh!  Every time I tried to get up, I'd sink further and further.

I thought I was going to have to live among the balls forever. :)

We ended up going back in The National Building Museum after lunch and seeing the other exhibits.  It was a very enjoyable day.  Who would've thought that with how our morning had been?