DC Day 1

 

 

Our first day of adventures was too the National Zoo.

 

Its a free zoo, known for having pandas. After we all got up and ready we headed to Starbucks to get me a chai tea and everyone a little breakfast. Big mistake, HUGE. Well that may be a little dramatic but Starbucks, two blocks from Capitol Hill on the morning of the State of the Union Address was very, very, very packed and not stroller friendly. However, we made it out alive and I had my chai tea in hand which always makes for a good day!
 

We hopped onto our trolley shuttle to the transfer stop. We were the only ones on the trolley and had a VERY talkative driver who gave us the inside scoop on many things. He gave me a heads up that the trolley stop was a bit of a walk up to the zoo. Good to know! We transfered trolleys and off we went! Went made it to our zoo stop and started the walk up to the zoo. The previous driver said about 5 blocks uphill. I would say closer to a MILE UPHILL, but we made it!

 

PANDA!!!

 We caught the zookeeper talk about elephants! He is only a 4 year old elephant and did lots of tricks for us! The girls loved that he danced!

(I have no idea what Georgie is eating)



GIANT ANACONDA. He was eating an rabbit whole! Matt is not a fan of snakes so we had to take a picture and send it to him.

Henry stealing a few minutes in the stroller while Maise was happy to run!

The girls were being very sweet all day so they were rewarded with a carousel ride! I was happy to sit on the bench for a few minutes!!

After our carousel ride we grabbed some lunch, then went back up the Great Apes. The orangutans have this giant rope systems that they can swing on to go between their habitat and the think tank (school) as they please. Pretty incredible to see orangutans swinging above you with no net! We also saw crocodiles, seals, beavers, bald eagle, and more.

Finished our full day at the zoo!



This picture cracks me up because like I said it is about a mile uphill to the zoo, then once in the zoo in's about a mile downhill and back around! We made it to this stoplight and Georgie asked if she could rest! So, here they are resting!

We made it back to our trolley stop and the kids all chowed on crackers and oreos. Then once we got back to the transfer stop we found a Qdoba to go in and get a drink and they girls all rested in the booths. I was planning on having Matt meet us there to go on our night tour together. However, at 4:55 I just double checked our depature location......and it was at Union Station, so we quickly packed up and ran out the door only to have missed the last bus for the day. However, since Trolley Tours is the absolute best sightseeing company the bus driver turned around and picked us up. So, we made it to Union Station and had some dinner and ice cream while waiting for our evening tour.

While we were waiting, Elsie was lying on this bench fluttering her arms about towards the ceiling. I actually kind of got after of her to be still and relax a bit. Little did I know that the next day at the hotel she would see a picture and she instantly knew it was the ceiling of the train station that we were at. It was a very gracious reminder of how her mind words differently than mine, and that often in her fluttering she is learning and discovering and incorporating information in her own way. When I thought about the night before I realized she was counting the pattern of the ceiling. No one but her would have even know that the picture was of Union Station.

I'll try and post again soon about our night tour! That was quite a little adventure itself!

Traveling to DC

We found out late January, early February, that Matt would be traveling to Washington, DC for his work on Rural Water Systems. We kind of debated going as a family, but also knew Matt would be pretty busy with meetings so we wouldn't be able to sightsee together much. We had mostly decided not to go, but then kind of on a last minute whim we decided to tag along!

We left this past Sunday to get ahead of the icy weather and spend some extra time with my family. We enjoyed dinner together with my Dad to celebrate his birthday. My brother gave the kids great advice to constantly kick the seats in front of them because it was like a massage. Luckily, they all know (Georgie especially) that Uncle Mark doesn't always give the greatest advice.

We got rock and rolling on Monday morning too just to make sure we got to Omaha in plenty of time to check in, eat, and get through security. We decided to travel with just carry-ons. We arrived in pleeeeeeenty of time, but it worked out well because it gave the kids time to run and enjoy a good lunch.

Georgie excited for vacation

Elsie even more excited!



Running the halls of Epply Airfield

 

 

Lunch by the windows watching the planes

Airlaplane!!!!!

 

                                     

 The flight to Minneapolis goes pretty fast. The kids enjoyed watching the take off, pushing buttons, drinks from the flight attendants, snacks, iPads, and more. Here are a few pictures of them enjoying our first stretch of travels.

 

 Our layover in Minneapolis was exciting! Flight delayed, Maise had an accident, gate was changed! Excitement that everyone all weathered well. Actually gave us time to enjoy something to eat since we would be flying over dinner time and plenty of time to run off some steam. Moving walkways are quite exciting for a 6, 4, and 2 year old.

 

 

Matt snoozing with Henry and Els

Kiddos took a nice little snooze on the plane to DC. They were tired from a busy days travel and lots of walking!

Maisie being.....maisie.

And she finally gave up

Georgie crashed out!

 We landed and gathered our bags and headed to get a taxi only discover a line 2 blocks long of people waiting for taxes. Matt headed to get in line while the kids and I waited inside. It was pretty nice out so I decided to join him and as we were walking to catch up to him an airport employee spotted me and took me to the front of the line! Woot! A nice perk of traveling with four kids! So we were off to our hotel and enjoyed seeing several monuments in the night lights! Our hotel was just a few blocks from the capital building so it was very busy with people of various causes! Of course we promised swimming which the kids loved! It was a lovely pool with bathwater warm water. After a little dip the kiddos were of course starving so we enjoyed some late night room service of pizza. Matt and I got a piece - they ate the rest!
 

Our little fish!

Late Night Snack!

With a full day of traveling everyone was out like a light once we got all tucked in!



Christmas Letter 2012

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We hope that this Christmas Season finds you well! Our year has been another adventure for the record books! 

 Elsie also turned 4 in February and celebrated with a Tangled birthday party. She is our theatrical little girl as she loves to float about the house - singing and dancing or pretending to be a puppy or....you name it. She definitely brings a creative flair to our life. When she asks to bless our meal it is often in song, usually doesn't have much to do with the food, but always ends in I love you Jesus - just doesn't get much better than that!

On her birthday, modeling her gift!

Spring was beautiful here in Iowa and the girls spent lots of time enjoying the swingset we installed in 2011. We also broke in our NEW camper by camping at our local campground in March - can you believe that! MARCH! We also spent a weekend together at an indoor waterpark in Okoboji!

Our innagural camping trip

At the waterpark!



April got a little exciting when Maisie fell down and chipped her front tooth, which then cracked top to bottom, which then needed to be pulled. My vanity was a bit saddened by the loss of her tooth so young and her sweet smile being changed. We are quite used to it now, and maybe even fond of it as it seems to just fit her spunky little self.

If you look closely you can see that missing little tooth

May is usually a busy month as the two big girls are finalizing their preparations for the big dance recital. Both girls really love their dance classes and did an excellent job dancing. We choose to put Elsie up a class so that the schedule worked better for our family and we are very proud at how she kept up with girls 3 years older than her. Georgie was very focused and knew her routines inside and out! It always brings tears to my eyes seeing their hardwork on stage!

In their ballet costumes, they also do tap.

June and July were just plain ridiculously hot, especially on this pregnant momma! Luckily, our community has a great pool and you can easily say we were pool rats! I was happy to cool off in the water and the girls were just happy! It was impressive seeing Maisie don her puddlejumper life jacket and swim all around the pool to keep up with her sisters. If you haven't seen a PUDDLE JUMPER it is a MUST have for little swimmers. We did get in a few more camping trips before the most exciting event of our year.....

ITS A BOY!

Yes can you believe it, we welcomed baby boy Henry Joseph on July 30 at 5:30pm. He came out BIG - 9 pounds 9 ounces and 22.25incs LONG! We are thrilled to have the opportunity to learn what it is like to raise a boy. He is about the sweetest, most content baby! (praying this doesn't jinx me as I publicly state this!) He seems to always be eating. He smiles and coos! And now he has started to giggle, especially when his silly sisters come chat with him! He does kind of fit the nick name "Hank the Tank" as he is 17lbs at 4 months old!

One of his cute, cute newborn pictures

He's grown just a bit since the picture above!

We love being a family of 6 - its crazy, its hectic at times, its full of laughter and joy, but it just fits us well!

Maisie turned 2 in September and like I said before she has spunk. The girl gives this family a run for our money. She talks and talks and talks and talks. She nearly had me convinced she was actually turning 3 - I realized my mistake before I bought the number 3 candle! She can scowl like the best of them, a trademark of hers. She asks to rock nearly every night and by golly the girl loves her pacifier. She might actually go to college with it!

Georgie turned 6 this year and headed off to all day, every day kindergarten this fall. She was ready and just thrives! Her teacher is amazing and posts things regularly to her website so I get to keep tabs. She is learning to read and there is just something SO magical about that. She played tball this spring and soccer this fall! She's competitive and a bit of perfectionist. She has such a kind and generous heart!

Elsie also started preschool in the afternoons this fall. She loves it too! I've seen her mature and blossom in her own ways over the past few months! She still likes to wear dresses, especially if the they fluff out when she twirls. Hard to believe next year she will be off to kindergarten and I will back down to just two littles at home all day!

Matt continues to work on water projects in the tristate area, but most in South Dakota. He travels a bit each month, usually just being gone overnight once a month (mom likes that). He seemed to travel alot of the begining of the year, so we are glad its back down to the norm. His office is about 8 blocks from the house so he is usually able to join us for lunch and help get Elsie off to preschool. He also has joined city council! I've enjoyed seeing him trying to make our community even better. I am not sure how he does all that he does, but we are so grateful for how he serves our family. He tends to be the anchor for our family!

As for me, I am still working about one day a week or so at the hospital in the surgery department. I also continue to coordinate our local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Most of my days are filled with cooking, picking up, refereeing, picking up, playing games, refeering, refeering, dishes, puzzles, cooking again, washing clothes, folding clothes, picking up again, MOPS, sight words and letters, AWANA verse memorizing, finding long lost toys, organizing, cooking again, cartoons, picking up again, refeering a few more, dishes, stories, maybe a little TV and relaxing, and finally crashing into bed! And in all those busy moments we are making memories all along the way, trying to focus on "enjoy(ing) the small things for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things" (R. Brault). I try to soak it all in, take a few mommy moments to stay sane, and rejoice in the most important job God has ever called me to! Its not easy, it doesn't pay much, but I know the retirement plan is quite good!

So, another year has flown by! We've shared with you all the especially memorable moments. I hope that yours was blessed as well through the joys and sorrows, or laughter or tears because through it all God is right there too, even as a tender baby in a lowly manger. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS From The OEDEKOVENS