Thursday, Smithsonian

Us on the train

The girls' hands next to a koala's hand

Hannah touching the Indian caves carvings. I really like this picture.

Hannah saying "Stop touching me!!!" in front of the giant whale on the ceiling.

Discovery room

Discovery room

Giant grasshoppers - half the size of my hand!

Hannah saying STOP TOUCHING ME while they sat on the bench

The pretty girls smelling the pretty flowers just outside the museum

After Hannah said the other day she'd never been on a train before, I decided it was time to fix that! My mom and I took Kara and Hannah to DC today. We took the metro (which is mostly underground) to the mall and walked to the Smithsonian - the Natural History Museum. We saw the mammal exhibit, the ocean exhibit, the dinosaur bones, the discovery room (for hands on-kids stuff), spent a TON of money on lunch, then went to see the butterflies, bugs, and the hope diamond. After that, we went home on the train. I asked the girls what their favorite part of the day was. Kara said the bench and Hannah said the escalator! Typical kid stuff, but I am done taking them places, just the same. Lol.

Hannah spent the day GLUED to my mom, who she now calls "Mom-maw". Kara spent the day glued to me since I haven't spent as much time with her this week. :-)

They both agreed to skip a nap and go to bed early, which is fine with me. They bickered a bit today (mostly because Hannah REFUSES to hold Kara's hand ANY MORE and she needs to stop touching her!), they played really well together at home in the play room. I told them I was going to rest on my bed for a while so they could play, and it's just what we all needed. A little space, a little time, and we're all refreshed. Today we're having dinner in my room while we watch Spongebob and it'll be bath time soon.

The behavior has gotten a lot better. I just explained to the girls that I know they are very good girls and they must not realize it when Kara is sassy and Hannah is arguing. So, I would just let them know when they were doing that and they could stop. Hannah would stop short when I told her that's what she was doing and she'd get a sort of embarrassed look. Kara would say, "oh, sorry". It's working very well and I don't have to yell or be frustrated!! I want this to be a fun time, not a time of discipline.

I'm still having an amazing time, but am starting to feel tired. Of course, that could be because we've had such a busy, action packed week. Tomorrow we're going to plan Kara's party (grocery shop, buy balloons and party favors, bake the cake, make frosting, and decorate the cake). Saturday we're having Kara's party at my mom's house and I've already told Michael he'll be on pool duty while I run the party. Sunday will be church and packing and Monday will be the road trip.

This is just so much fun and I know I'll remember this forever. I plan to make the girls one of those books you can make on Snapfish - know what I mean? I'm going to give it to them for Christmas so they can always remember this visit. (Don't worry, I have other toys in mind too - that won't be such a cool present for a little kid, but something they'll be glad they have ten years from now.) :-)

So, as the week is winding down, I am still feeling happy, tired, and my camera is full of pictures and my mind is full of memories. All in all, it's been AWESOME!