Washington, D.C.

My rock star of a husband won a huge award at work, and his company invited us to attend a fancy reception in Washington, D.C. to celebrate! We worked it out so the kids could join us, and my parents offered to tag along, too, so that we could enjoy the evening and then sight-see together. So in mid-January, we headed off to our nation's capitol!

Marshall's second trip requiring a plane (the first was Hawaii last year)! He was more excited about the shuttle bus to the airport than the flight itself... But he did great on the flight. He didn't nap, which was a bummer, but he handled sitting for five hours really well!

After a great night of sleep (and room service! so fun!), we met up with my parents for a fun day in the city!

Natural History Museum

Showing us how giraffes drink

Air and Space Museum

That night we got all dressed up and headed downstairs at the Willard Hotel to attend the awards dinner. So fancy!

Dinner was amazing: salmon topped with crab for me, filet for Terry

And here's more of the gorgeous hotel, where we will likely never be able to afford to stay again :-)

The next day was all about monuments and historical sites!

We brought our umbrella stroller for Marshall for the trip but chose to just carry Declan in the Ergo/K'tan. It was definitely smart to have the stroller for Marshall (that's a LOT of walking for a little guy), and it ended up working out well to be so portable. If we hit a staircase or area without easy stroller access we could easily fold up the little stroller, which would have been much harder with our giant BOB jogging stroller. Also, we didn't rent a car (just rode Metro and walked), so we skipped bringing car seats, though I do wish we had had a car seat for Marshall for the flight, just for peace of mind.

My favorite monument :-) 

One of my favorite moments of the trip was letting Marshall try his first hot chocolate! We asked the coffee shop to make it cooler for him, and they made it perfectly. This sweet boy loved it!

If I look tired, it's because I am. Traveling with a toddler and newborn is stressful, even if it's worth it and super fun! Keeping it real, folks.

Since we traveled east, we mostly kept the boys on West Coast time, so they were going to bed around 9:30 pm or so each night. It worked out great that we didn't have to hide out in a dark hotel room after the boys went to bed, because we were ready for bed ourselves at that point.

Also, we had hoped Marshall would enjoy sleeping in his own big bed, but I think it was a little upsetting for him. He did okay the first night, but for the third day's naps we offered him the crib (where Declan had been sleeping) and he eagerly accepted--and slept MUCH better. So then we just put Declan with me, Daddy got his own bed, and Marshall took the crib. Whatever works!

Another highlight of the trip (unpictured) was a fun dinner out with my parents on the last night. We all enjoyed a delicious meal, Terry felt especially proud of himself for getting an overtired Declan to sleep, and we all had a fun time chatting.

On the way home: SO MUCH TEA, and I'm loving these Biscoff cookies they give out on planes now!

The boys dozed off for an hour or so during the flight. Again, five-hour flights with little ones are stressful, but worth it.

Special thanks to Terry's company for treating us to most of our trip and for a fun excuse to visit D.C. It also made us feel a little more brave about potentially visiting the East Coast again soon! Plus, huge thanks to my parents for coming with us to watch the boys on our big night. It was a great trip!