Ice Cream or French Fries - that is the question??

Daddy and the girls getting in a little snuggle time after the zoo. The kids were really excited about going to the zoo but after my second presentation today I was exhausted and feeling terrible so we all went to lunch and then Bob headed to the zoo with the kids. Annie and I took a little nap and started packing up. Annie is deinfitely waving goodbye and we think she may have learned her first word - HI! with the exclamation point and in a very high pitched voice. If we tell Ann to say HI to someone she waves enthusiastically and says her little hi very softly but with emphasis. What a cutie pie!
So we all know that Annie looks like Bob and has his laid back personality but we have now learned another interesting quirk that makes her all Daddy's girl. I decided to give Ann a little ice cream at Johnny Rocket's tonight - the kids were very excited and we all sat poised for Annie's response expecting it to be excitement, enthusiasm or something along those lines. What we got was a high pitched squeal and a lurch of the little ones body toward the french fries that she had been chewing on earlier. She had NO reaction to ice cream - that's right - nothing - zippo! If I hadn't carried that amazing little creature for 10 months I would never believe that she belonged in our family - she chose french fries over ice cream!~ The crosses I have to bear in life are endless!
And here is the little cherub sucking on a french fry and happy as a pig in you-know-what! Is there even one tiny cell in that body that is mine - Oh yeah - the eczema that she inherited from me - lovely!

These are just a few pictures that I took of the Capital - Molly thought this building was pretty incredible and kept telling me to take more pictures.
A flag over Union Station! Just another thing I love about DC - so much patriotism and flags everywhere!
These are obviously not in order but I thought it was cute how we found Peter sleeping this morning - good thing Molly had her princess couch to sleep on so she didn't have to share. Both kids got their teachers a present at the zoo - they were really missing them by today and are excited to get back to school on Tuesday!
Molly, Peter and Ann on a walk around Dupont Circle - my training ended at 1 p.m. today so we had some time to spend together until they all left for the zoo and Annie and I crashed.

Peter on the Dupont Circle sign. We had no pool in the hotel but it was centrally located and in a great section of Dc. The only issue was that no one is all that fond of kids in this section of town. Every place we went had NO kids menus or highchairs and were very unfriendly when we walked in for a meal. Even the bookstore was a little snotty about the kids! At the grant meeting this morning everyone voted to come back to this hotel rather then the one in Baltimore when we all come back in October - I was clearly the only one who brought kids! If they do hold it in this area we will probably switch to a different hotel with a pool and a bit more for the kids to do - poor Bob won't stand a chance otherwise. The cherry blossoms are 4 days away from full bloom so we are going to just miss them but we did catch the UCONN game this afternoon. Bob and I were commenting that if we were home and they had lost like that they would have interrupted the evening news to tell us but here the other games were bigger news!

The kids are sleeping soundly and can't wait to get home and see everyone - Grammy and Papa were missed greatly by everyone but most especially by their daughter - I hope that someday we can convince them to come on one of these trips with us! KK is home from Boston (Yippeee- to quote her godson) and agreed to meet us at our house when we get home tomorrow night - yeah for brave cousins willing to help play Easter Bunny. I can't wait until Sunday to get my hands on Katie - they change so much when they're newborns and I'm a little afraid that she has forgotten me! Laugh at me if you will but she loves me already!

Moonlight Trolley Tour of Washington

Everyone standing in front of the Washington Monument on our Moonlight Trolley Tour. It was pretty cold but we all had winter hats and mittens and it was a bright beautiful night to see all the sights in DC> The kids had a blast. These are just some highlights of the 3 hour tour.

I never take pictures without people in them but this was too beautiful to pass up. We had a full moon to view all the sights by. You can't really see it but there is a Marine Corp troop on the steps doing drills. Very cool!

Peter and Molly got matching rings in Union Station!

Everyone getting ready to leave on the Trolley Tour - the kids were SO excited and had a great time. As usual, Ann was amazing. She got loaded and unloaded onto the trolley and into her stroller ten times and never made a peep even though it was threee hours past her bedtime!

The Lincoln Memorial - the kids loved running up and down all the steps!

Outside the Lincoln Memorial! If you ever get the chance to do the moonlight trolley tours it is really worth it.

Peter was very touched by the Vietnam Memorial. He kept saying that he was happy that Papa didn't die when he was a soldier. When we got to the top of the Vietnam Memorial we said a prayer thanking God for keeping Papa and all of our soldiers safe. Pete said this was the best part of the tour if it wasn't a little bit sad!

Peter looking at the list of names of people who died in the Vietnam War. Seeing the size of those books is pretty incredible. He said when he was older he was going to brig Papa here so they could talk about it together!

The Vietnam War Memorial statue.

The kids expending some energy climbing a tree - in the background you can see the Washington Monument and the Capital.
The kids sitting on FDR's lap at the FDR Memorial.

Hamming it up with Daddy at the FDR Memorial.

My beautiful kids with Eleanor Roosevelt.

Molly-girl saw the White House lights on and commented that President Bush was home and probably reading before bed like Mommy does. Then she konked out to the point where we could not wake her to get her in the cab for the trip home.

The Museum of Natural History is closed for renovations right now so we are deciding on the zoo or another museum for tomorrow afternoon and then a colleague gave us some tickets for free stuff at the ESPN Zone so we might head there for dinner. Saturday we are going to get back in the car and pray for less traffic and lots of patience as we head home to help the Easter Bunny prepare for Easter morning. At least I get to dress the kids up for a day!

I did my presentation this morning and got rave reviews. After being up all night with Molly throwing up I suddenly didn't really care all that much about the presentation so I was very relaxed and probably gave my best one yet! At least that's over and I can relax until the next time! Bob and I love being in Washington - what a great city to be in with the kids - every few feet there is something to see and everything seems to have some special signifigance.

Fun with the Troiano's

The kids actually sharing a chair and playing together in the hotel room this morning - I had to get a picture of that just to document it!
Molly took a picture of Bob and I resting in bed while we waited for Ann to wake up from her nap!

One of my closest friends, Courtney and her kids live in Virginia and at ten this morning she called to say that she was leaving the Virginia mountains where they were on vacation to come back home so that they could see us. I miss Courtney desperately since she moved to Virginis a few years ago so I was thrilled that even though I didn't ask her to she was coming home for the night to spend some time with us! Peter and MOlly were beside themselves with excitement and my training ended at 2 so we left the hotel and headed to Leesburg!

Annie playing with Ryan's parachute at Auntie Court's house.

Molly and Claire remind me a bit of Courtney and I - there was not even one moment of awkwardness after not seeing each other for so long. They went right back to talking and playing like they had seen each other last week. I think Molly and Claire are kindred spirits - they have so much fun together and just laugh hysterically!

Molly and Claire-bear eating Chinese food!

Ryan is a doll. He is definitely a handful but in the very best way - he is sweet and loveable and I LOVE his little laugh!He keeps Court on her toes!
Claire is the sweetest kid I have ever met. She goes with the flow and just has fun at whatever she is doing. She is such a sweetheart and I would have stuffed her in my bag and taken her home if I thought it would work. I am trying to convince Court to come to CT and leave the kids with us for a weekend and go away with Gary. Not sure she was sold on the idea but I now have Claire and Aidan working on it!
Pig pile on Uncle Bob!

Auntie Court getting to know Annie. Courtney loved Annie - this is actually the first time she has met her. She held her the whole time we were there - when Aidan wasn't holding her, of course.

The kids all under the parachute with Annie - she didn't quite know what to make of it!

Peter and Aidan wrestling. These two have been friends since they were born - literally! When Court was pregnant with Aidan she used to come over and hold Peter until late into the night. He would get Aidan kicking away inside her belly and they have been friends ever since. Aidan was born on Thanksgiving day 7 years ago - my handsome godson. He is so smart and kind and wonderful . I love getting to spend time with him - however short it is! The two boys played video games and army men and anything else they could think of!

Uncle Sponge Bob and Ryan playing with Playdough!

Aidan LOVED holding Ann. She was very smiley for the kids and felt instantly at ease at Court's house!

Annie is not loving the seven thousand pictures that Mommy was taking.

All the kids except Ryan - he refused to leave his Playdough!

The one problem with visiting with Courtney and the kids is that I realize how much I miss them. Courtney and I have been friends since Peter was a baby. Two years after Peter came home with me Court decorated and cleaned my house when I brought Molly home from the hospital. When her husband Gary left for Iraq a few months later Claire was just a month old and we were both single mothers for a year. We kept each other sane with lots of pizza nights, outings and emotional support. When Court and I get together it doesn't matter how long it has been since we have seen each other we just start gabbing away and its like we never left each other! The last time we came to DC Bob sent us out to the hotel lobby for a half hour of girl time and a cup of coffee while he took care of all the kids in the hotel room. An hour and a half later he loaded kids into the elvator and came searching for us - it felt like we had been down there for 5 minutes and we had talked through dinner time! So I had a blast tonight despite the screaming, running chaos of 6 kids in one house. I always look forward to these trips and getting to see Courtney and the kids - especially my godson - is one of the major reasons why!