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October sure was a month. It started out at a run with CG's birthday and then didn't stop until we'd sprinted through Halloween. A week to plan a kid's birthday party, a week in Michigan for work, a week in DC for a funeral, and then a week to get ready for Halloween.
There were maybe one or two breathing days in there, but it's no surprise all of my good habits have fallen by the wayside. This morning was the first day in weeks that I had a chance to do my morning reading and next week will be the first week I've done Crossfit 3x since that first week of October.
The trip to DC went as well as could be expected with two littles. The train ride up started out great--until the Toddler became too excited/tired to sleep. I finally got him to sleep at 1am after we went into the walkway between cars and he screamed it out. At least I'd anticipated that this would happen, as every time we go somewhere new, the first night is always terrible.
We arrived in DC at 7am the next day and successfully navigated to our hotel to drop off our luggage. Then we just had to burn 5-6 hours before we could check in. Again: I'd planned for this but boy, it sure wasn't fun. CG kept asking how many hours until we could go to the hotel, even though she probably got the most sleep. I dragged out breakfast as long as I could and then we headed to the National Mall, where I let the kids wander as they wanted until the museums opened at 10am. Then we lived in the Natural History Museum until it was safe to head back and ask to check in. Toddler was exhausted and a bit of a nightmare but even though we had a stroller for him, refused to just lie down and sleep.
Still, we somehow made it to the hotel without losing our shit on the metro and there was a room ready, thank the gods, and we stumbled upstairs, took showers, and turned the TV on for the kids while we took turns napping. I have no idea how neither of them fell asleep, but that saved us enough that we could rally to meet family for dinner that evening.
Then it was a few days of touring DC with my brother and his family and the two kids. The second day I was on my own, though, because Dr Lady was just wrecked from the day before. I keep forgetting she pays for pushing herself like that; I can take a lot more punishment than she can and push myself through exhaustion and just need a good night's sleep, but she needs a second day to recover. I need to remember that when I plan this kind of nonsense in the future. Thankfully, having family around helped a lot so it wasn't just me and two kids in a big city.
We did the Natural History Museum again, because that first day we'd hardly gotten through the mammal section. Then we walked around the Mall until the girls began grumbling about their tired legs. I tried to explain the significance of what we were seeing to CG, but it's hard to explain the Capitol Building et al when kiddo hasn't had much in the way of civics, hah.
Wednesday was the Zoo, which was only half open and a bit of a fiasco. Again, I forgot about other peoples' limitations in my planning. This time it was the kids, who had just spent two days walking much further than they were used to and were both complaining about it before we reached the first animal enclosure. Plus, poor Toddler kept excitedly running up to closed enclosures only to be disappointed when there were no animals. I guess we visited when they were gearing up for their Panda Opening in January, which would explain half the renovations. We did find animals eventually, but only after CG put on a dramatic display of not being able to walk anymore and they fought over the stroller.
Thursday was the funeral, and I wisely decided we'd all stay near the hotel that day. We took the kids to a playground because I thought they'd need to get some energy out beforehand, but the walk was further than anticipated and they were still tired from all the walking the previous days. Despite some complaining, there were cronchy leaves and big fields to run through, so I think it worked out. And they weren't super squirrely later that afternoon, so maybe success?
The funeral was... well, a funeral. Surreal, shorter than expected, a goodbye. Almost exactly 30 years ago, I'd been in CG's shoes for my grandfather's funeral in Arlington, so I was able to at least anticipate her questions and concerns and prepare her for what to expect: the casket, the words, the silence. She did great. Toddler started melting down halfway through and thankfully Lady walked him away for a bit. And maybe I finally realized that grandmum is gone, even though it doesn't feel real and it still takes me by surprise. I will continue to be grateful she got to meet all of her great grandchildren, and they got to meet her.
Friday was our travel day, but not until 7pm, so I had to figure out how to keep two tired kids and two tired adults busy all day. We lingered in the hotel until the check-out cut-off and then went to the National Archives, which wasn't quite a disaster, but almost. I kept thinking the interesting buildings would be enough for the kids, but neither of them wanted anything to do with cool decor or murals. I managed to see the constitution, which was cool, but just barely, and then I made the mistake of thinking they'd like the Sculpture Garden.
IDK, maybe they were just too tired to appreciate anything, because even the bus ride around the Mall had them fighting and falling apart. Toddler melted down completely and we got off with a screaming, writhing, shoeless child at the Lincoln Memorial, which is when I gave up on doing anything else that day. So we just walked and looked at ducks and then sat on a bench and looked at cranes (the construction kind) and had snacks. Eventually I bribed them back to the Natural History Museum one last time to pick out One Toy Each, and then we headed back to the hotel to get our suitcases, have dinner, and go to the train.
Even though the train was half an hour late, everyone had a much better ride than on our way up. Toddler fell asleep at 10pm instead of 1, CG watched some videos on her tablet before falling asleep, and I took two melatonins and only woke up 3 times instead of the 8-12 the last trip. The train made up the delay and we were even 20min early arriving in Jacksonville. A little over an hour later, and we were finally home.
And now we are staying home for the foreseeable future. At least. Until Christmas. 😬
There were maybe one or two breathing days in there, but it's no surprise all of my good habits have fallen by the wayside. This morning was the first day in weeks that I had a chance to do my morning reading and next week will be the first week I've done Crossfit 3x since that first week of October.
The trip to DC went as well as could be expected with two littles. The train ride up started out great--until the Toddler became too excited/tired to sleep. I finally got him to sleep at 1am after we went into the walkway between cars and he screamed it out. At least I'd anticipated that this would happen, as every time we go somewhere new, the first night is always terrible.
We arrived in DC at 7am the next day and successfully navigated to our hotel to drop off our luggage. Then we just had to burn 5-6 hours before we could check in. Again: I'd planned for this but boy, it sure wasn't fun. CG kept asking how many hours until we could go to the hotel, even though she probably got the most sleep. I dragged out breakfast as long as I could and then we headed to the National Mall, where I let the kids wander as they wanted until the museums opened at 10am. Then we lived in the Natural History Museum until it was safe to head back and ask to check in. Toddler was exhausted and a bit of a nightmare but even though we had a stroller for him, refused to just lie down and sleep.
Still, we somehow made it to the hotel without losing our shit on the metro and there was a room ready, thank the gods, and we stumbled upstairs, took showers, and turned the TV on for the kids while we took turns napping. I have no idea how neither of them fell asleep, but that saved us enough that we could rally to meet family for dinner that evening.
Then it was a few days of touring DC with my brother and his family and the two kids. The second day I was on my own, though, because Dr Lady was just wrecked from the day before. I keep forgetting she pays for pushing herself like that; I can take a lot more punishment than she can and push myself through exhaustion and just need a good night's sleep, but she needs a second day to recover. I need to remember that when I plan this kind of nonsense in the future. Thankfully, having family around helped a lot so it wasn't just me and two kids in a big city.
We did the Natural History Museum again, because that first day we'd hardly gotten through the mammal section. Then we walked around the Mall until the girls began grumbling about their tired legs. I tried to explain the significance of what we were seeing to CG, but it's hard to explain the Capitol Building et al when kiddo hasn't had much in the way of civics, hah.
Wednesday was the Zoo, which was only half open and a bit of a fiasco. Again, I forgot about other peoples' limitations in my planning. This time it was the kids, who had just spent two days walking much further than they were used to and were both complaining about it before we reached the first animal enclosure. Plus, poor Toddler kept excitedly running up to closed enclosures only to be disappointed when there were no animals. I guess we visited when they were gearing up for their Panda Opening in January, which would explain half the renovations. We did find animals eventually, but only after CG put on a dramatic display of not being able to walk anymore and they fought over the stroller.
Thursday was the funeral, and I wisely decided we'd all stay near the hotel that day. We took the kids to a playground because I thought they'd need to get some energy out beforehand, but the walk was further than anticipated and they were still tired from all the walking the previous days. Despite some complaining, there were cronchy leaves and big fields to run through, so I think it worked out. And they weren't super squirrely later that afternoon, so maybe success?
The funeral was... well, a funeral. Surreal, shorter than expected, a goodbye. Almost exactly 30 years ago, I'd been in CG's shoes for my grandfather's funeral in Arlington, so I was able to at least anticipate her questions and concerns and prepare her for what to expect: the casket, the words, the silence. She did great. Toddler started melting down halfway through and thankfully Lady walked him away for a bit. And maybe I finally realized that grandmum is gone, even though it doesn't feel real and it still takes me by surprise. I will continue to be grateful she got to meet all of her great grandchildren, and they got to meet her.
Friday was our travel day, but not until 7pm, so I had to figure out how to keep two tired kids and two tired adults busy all day. We lingered in the hotel until the check-out cut-off and then went to the National Archives, which wasn't quite a disaster, but almost. I kept thinking the interesting buildings would be enough for the kids, but neither of them wanted anything to do with cool decor or murals. I managed to see the constitution, which was cool, but just barely, and then I made the mistake of thinking they'd like the Sculpture Garden.
IDK, maybe they were just too tired to appreciate anything, because even the bus ride around the Mall had them fighting and falling apart. Toddler melted down completely and we got off with a screaming, writhing, shoeless child at the Lincoln Memorial, which is when I gave up on doing anything else that day. So we just walked and looked at ducks and then sat on a bench and looked at cranes (the construction kind) and had snacks. Eventually I bribed them back to the Natural History Museum one last time to pick out One Toy Each, and then we headed back to the hotel to get our suitcases, have dinner, and go to the train.
Even though the train was half an hour late, everyone had a much better ride than on our way up. Toddler fell asleep at 10pm instead of 1, CG watched some videos on her tablet before falling asleep, and I took two melatonins and only woke up 3 times instead of the 8-12 the last trip. The train made up the delay and we were even 20min early arriving in Jacksonville. A little over an hour later, and we were finally home.
And now we are staying home for the foreseeable future. At least. Until Christmas. 😬
