Well, it's been real

This has been a very interesting week.

Before we left,

Steven and I were talking about

the kinds of trips where you get to your destination,

you stay there,

you play and eat and relax...

you know,

the all inclusive resort style trips?

Yeah...those kinds of trips sound good.

Heck, they sound great.

We don't take trips like that so much.

We should really start.

A lot has happened since my last post.

Here's a the run down:
(Caution! Long post ahead!)

On Monday afternoon,

the cold that had been plaguing Steven

since mid-week last week

worsened instead of getting better.
When he was struggling through class
due to lack of sleep and a stuffed head,

he decided to go to a clinic

where they diagnosed him with acute bronchitis.

He got some much needed antibiotics

and has gotten progressively better

throughout the week.

On Tuesday,

we ditched our plans of going back into D.C.

due to a storm that blew in Monday night.

There was only about an inch of snow,

but the temps were frigid 

and the roads were very icy.

Fortunately for us, there is an enormous mall

right near our hotel.

It's called Arundel Mills Mall

and it's the biggest mall I've ever seen in my entire life.

We did some shopping...

Maya bought a great pair of jeans and a t-shirt,

and Scott got a punching bag and some gloves.

These are things that have been on Scott's list for a while

so he was very happy.

They also took a 'ride' on a roller coaster simulator.

They were tilted and shaken

throughout their virtual journey

of a haunted mine

and they giggled and had a great time.

Then it was time for some Dippin' Dots.

We stopped off at the book store

and found this very hungry fish

who thought Scotty looked quite tasty.

This chicken laid a Scott shaped egg...

and for this, there really are no words. :)

Steven met us at the theater in the mall
after his class ended for the day

and together we saw Tron.

It was a pretty good movie.

On Wednesday,

the weather was gorgeous

and the kids and I took off for the city.

We'd mastered the metro

and it didn't take us long to get to our first stop

which was Ford's Theater.

This is where President Lincoln was shot

by John Wilkes Booth

on the night of April 14, 1865.

This is the gun that Booth used.

This is the box in which President Lincoln,

his wife and two other guests were sitting

when he was shot.

The theater is still open

and they perform all sorts of plays

throughout the year.

The basement contains

a beautifully put together museum

about Lincoln's early life,

his presidency and his assassination. 

The theater box has been preserved

and looks just as it did

that fateful night.

After we saw the theater,

the kids and I took a walk toward

the White House.

The temps were in the 50's and the skies were blue.

It was a welcome change from earlier in the week.

Here's Maya in front of the Ronald Reagan/

International Trade Center Building.

The White House 

with the National Monument behind it.

As I took this,

the staff in the White House was busying itself

preparing a state dinner scheduled later that evening

 for the president of China,

Hu Jinto. 

Jackson in Lafayette Square

near the White House.

We chose to head back toward the Mall for a late lunch.

The kids were dragging at this point,

(as shown in this picture of Scotty,)

so we strolled past the Monument

on our way to the National American History Museum

where we ate in the Stars and Stripes Cafe.

(Since we'd already been to this museum on Monday,

I didn't force the kids to walk through it with me again.

I did, however, take this picture on our way to the cafe.

When I saw the statue

I was curious as to who it was.

When I realized it was George Washington,

I decided to take a photo.

I don't know about anyone else,

but when I think of G.W.,

this is really not what comes to mind.

After the kids ate, 

we caught a metro from the Smithsonian station

back into Maryland

and made the long trek back to the hotel

in rush hour traffic.

It's bigger here.

There are a lot more people,

a lot more traffic

and things move at a brisker pace.

I had to work a bit to keep up.

At dinner,

Scott was dragging. and had no appetite.

 Maya's cough had come back

but it seemed much worse

and both of them were incredibly stuffy.

I thought maybe they were just tired 

and needed a good night's sleep

but by the time we got back to the hotel,

Scott had a fever 

and Maya was feeling awful.

I thought Scotty was over his cold

and that Maya was on the mend.

Turns out that I was wrong.

On Thursday morning,

I got the kids ready to go

to Walmart for another round

of cold meds.

My left contact had been feeling

a bit uncomfortable the day before

and I knew I might have a problem with it,

but I was hoping to get through

the rest of the trip without an issue.

It was not to be.

It split in half while in my eye.

The first half came out without a fight.

After about thirty minutes of flushing and probing,

I was able to get the other half out.

Life has been unique this afternoon

with out of date glasses and only one contact.

Bless our friend and neighbor

who overnighted a new pair to me today.

I'm thinking that driving from Maryland

to North Carolina might require sight in both eyes.

I was really hoping to get back into the city tomorrow.

There is still so much I want to see.

After another trip to the clinic this evening, however,

and the fact that my vision is decidedly lopsided,

it has been decided that our trip to D.C.

has officially come to an end.

Perhaps sometime in the near future,

we can plan a weekend excursion

where we can all hit the rest of highlights

we missed on this go around.

Between the four of us

we have two cases of bronchitis,

three ear infections

and blindness in one eye.

We may not have our health,

but at least we still have each other. :)

So,

in some ways,

it was really a pretty rotten week.

Do I think it was a failure?

Absolutely not!

I put off visiting some of the main attractions

so that we could see them all together

this weekend.

D.C. is expecting a huge cold snap

Saturday and Sunday

and Steven and I have decided to leave Friday

after his class is over to avoid the bad weather.

We missed out on some of the big hitters

I was very excited to see,

specifically the Lincoln Memorial

and the Archive Museum.

That bums me out big time...

BUT

we saw a ton in the two days

we spent in D.C.

We saw three Smithsonian Museums,

the Capitol,

the National Monument,

Ford's Theater,

the White House,

the Old Post Office Pavilion

and Lafayette Square.

I got to see my friend Beth again

after 22 years

and I successfully drove through Maryland,

navigated the WMATA Metro System

and toured D.C. with the kids

and had a blast doing it.

Not to mention the fact

that we got to stay in a super nice hotel,

and ate tons of yummy food every day.

I hardly feel right

complaining about what ails us

after all of that.

In my opinion, this trip was definitely a success

and I am happy and grateful

that we got the opportunity to experience it.

With that said, however...

I would still love to take one of those 

all inclusive trips...

the ones that actually feel like vacations;

the ones where when you come home

you aren't more tired and more in need of a break

than you were when you left.

Oh,

and I'd be willing to bet

that when Steven has another business trip

that requires him to leave the state,

we won't be invited to tag along.