We have a visitor!

I'm kind of looking at the past 10 days like a mini-bootcamp for parenting. :) Granted I got to be the "cool aunt" and let him stay up, drink soda, say "yes" to a lot of cool things, but I also learned the more you say yes, the more you have to say no! We did LOTS of fun things and I took TONS of pictures, so prepare yourself. :)

Smithsonian National Zoo

Cost: Free! (Map $2.00)
Outside Food & Drink: Yes!
Hours: 10am to 6pm
Metro: Woodley Park or Cleveland Park Stops






We decided this was the lion version of Moshe!

On the way home we stopped at a frozen yogurt place, this is what Ezra got...

Yum?

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
Cost: Free!
Outside Food/Drink: We brought our own lunch and ate in the cafe
Hours: 10am to 5:30pm (was open late our day until 7:00)
Metro: Smithsonian Metro Stop
Tips: Butterfly house is FREE on Tuesdays!







Tyrannasaurus Cafe Lunch



Big Bugs



The Butterfly House was free on Tuesdays so we checked it out, it was truly amazing!

I even made a friend. :)

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

There are two buildings for the Air & Space museum, one on the National Mall and one by Dulles Airport. We were told that the one by Dulles was much better so we trekked out there.

Cost: "Free" ($15 to park!)
Outside Food & Drink: No, McDonalds
Metro: No
Tips: Flight simulator $8/pp and other VR machines $7/pp



We were greeted by this:

Awesome Planes


And the "coup de gras" the test space shuttle!


Baltimore National Aquarium

Cost: $25/adult regular admission $20/child regular admission (you can add dolphin show and 4D immersion for extra.) Parking garage $20 - $3 coupon=$17.
Outside Food or Drink: No, Cafe
Metro: No
Tips: Buy your ticket online and go on weekdays!

I love these guys...

Check out these fish!! They "spit" their prey off of low hanging branches!

After this we went for a paddle boat ride on the inner harbor, Ezra gave up paddling after about.....5 minutes. :)

WHEW!! Alright, and WWL this week:

1. All nine year olds should try out for Jeopordy because they KNOW everything. Duh.
   
2. Bedtime is very exciting.
   
3. When I was referred to as "mom" I felt old but when the waiter called us "family" it made me feel warm and fuzzy.
   
4. According to Micheal my purse is simply an extension of his pocket.
   
5. Never take a 9 year old to a thrift store when he has money to burn, the have LOTS of CHEAP junk!
   
6. Re-reading a chapter book from childhood with a kiddo is super cool.
   
7. Having my mom come was the BEST idea ever!
   
8. My sister Jolene is SUPER WOMAN! How she does this with four kids under 10 on a regular basis I'll never know (really, no more than 2 for me people!)
   
9. When your alternator fries it can mess up the rest of the systems on your car.
   
10. The more you say yes the more you have to say no! (Ah positive reinforcement at it's best!)
    
11. If you don't plan on buying anything either avoid the gift shop altogether or go first so you get the disappointment out of the way early.
    
12. Ezra's favorite part of the Air and Space museum was getting bacon on his cheeseburger.
    
13. The word "technically" should be removed from the English dictionary.
    
14. None of those little annoyances really matter, because man we had a good time!

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone is having a good Monday! Micheal and I are recovering after hosting my 9-year-old nephew for the past 10 days. We had a BLAST but man, this surrogate parenting stuff is exhausting!

I'm working on a post with pics of all the fun things we did in DC, but here's a sneak pic at some pics:


My mom came out the last few days too!

Natural History Museum

I also took my mom to my local thrift store, just so she could have a "visual" when I called her while I was roaming the aisles. And just our luck, all furniture was 50% off! So I picked up this little guy for a reasonable $4.50 and plan on painting it black and might even put a funky pattern on the top!



More to come this week - Ciao for now!

F2F in Rome!

Micheal and I were blessed with the opportunity to travel to Rome last week and we had an amazing time. This was our second visit to Rome, the first occured in 2003, in stifling heat, with my parents. That summer we practically sprinted through outdoor sights like the Colosseum due to the heat, so we were very excited to get back and spend a little more time re-acquainting ourselves with Roma.

We stayed at a very quiant Bed and Breakfast, Cernaia Suites that was in the northern area of Rome and close to the University where Micheal's conference was. It's a very affordable option for those looking for a clean, quiet, friendly place to stay. The owner/operator, Renato, is fabulous!

It's right off of the Piazza della Repubblica which has a few places to eat, a bookstore, and some small vendors.


Daytime

At Night

The first day we walked to...

Piazza Barberini

The Spanish Steps

The Trevi Fountain

Stopped to get gelato...



That night we went back to the Trevi Fountain area to have dinner and went to a small bar near our hotel that served free popcorn with their alcohol and made friends with a group of Japanese tourists. I look like a spazz in all these pictures so..you get none. :)

Day 2 we went and registered Micheal for the conference, sat in on a few talks about boring math stuff and then headed into town. Crazy enough, the first store we stopped in had this fab Eames chair as part of the decor!



Then we headed over to the Piazza del Popolo




A story about that pretty rose. So these guys wander around major European cities (they were in Paris too) and try to get you to buy a rose for your significant other. We're pretty good at saying no but this guy had a good trick figured out. He asked you to listen to his story, he started to talk about having no work, his family, and as he was doing this he asked me to hold a rose...then he wouldn't take it back!! But would badger you to pay for it. So we paid a Euro, and I had a rose. Sneaky...

We stopped and got some more gelato...



Then we must have wandered for the rest of the day because I don't have any more pictures.

Day 3 we headed out to the Mercato via Sannio (near the San Giovanni metro) - a clothing market. It was HUGE. I forgot to take photos so here are a few from the web.

(Source: TurkeyArena.net and Romatoday.it)

It was very neat, I almost bought some pink Carhart pants as my new work pants! Regret that missed purchase...

Then we headed over to Vatican City.

Vatican City

We headed back to change and went out to dinner at a fabulous pizza place, "al Forno della Soffitta" via Piave 62-64 near the Piazza della Repubblica. This is me posing by my new dream car, a vintage Fiat 500 on the way to dinner.


Day 4 was a slow day, we were tired...

Day 5 was probably one of the most fabulous days of my life. We rented a VESPA and scooted around the beautiful city of Rome. Ah-mazing.

First we went to the Colosseum.



I took this photo because I have one of my mom and I in a very similar spot in the Colosseum in 2003

We hopped back on the scooter...



Saw some sights

And ended our day/trip in Piazza Navona, just the same as the last trip.



It was truly a wonderful trip! If you made it through all these photos, way to go!