A. Marie Silver

A. Marie Silver

Memorial Day Memories

About two months ago I lost my website. Two years of writing was completely gone. The whole website had to be rebuilt. On top of that, I was also in the process of trying to get our house ready to sell and keep three small kids from trying to kill each other. And of course, when I have zero time to rebuild a website, write, or pee, my brain picks that time to develop all kinds of blog topics. So, I wrote everything down in a small notebook until the day came when I could get my website going again. Technically that day came last week when I wrote my first blog in a while. Long story short, this is why it’s almost July and I’m writing about Memorial Day weekend. That being said, here it is….or Part 1 anyway.

We put our house up for sale on Memorial day weekend. And like ants attracted to a sticky, crud-covered counter top, the buyers came flocking to our home for showings. Since trying to show a house with three tiny, dirt magnets is insane, my husband and I decided to take several day trips. One of those day trips was to D.C. to see the sites.

via GIPHY
This was the first time in a few years we’d taken the kids into D.C. and because we’re stellar parents, there were a few things we took for granted.

via GIPHY
First thing in the morning, we piled all three kids into the car and drove to the metro station. And that was after the battle over what toys the four-year-old could bring with in the car.

[one_half]

                          via GIPHY

[/one_half][one_half_last]

                                    via GIPHY

[/one_half_last]

Then we drove to the train station. This was very exciting for my six-year-old. He loves, loves, LOVES trains and all things train-like.

We get on the train and have to wait because they depart every 20 minutes. We pick our seats, get settled and prepare for our fun day out.

(15 minutes later)

The four-year-old announced: Mommy! I have to go potty!

via GIPHY

My husband and I Iooked at each other and realized that neither one of us could remember if we had the kids use the potty before we left the house. D.C. is about an hour from the train station. At first, I told her she’d have to wait until we got to our final destination. But within seconds she started doing the dance.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY
Everyone got off the train and I took her to the bathroom. While I was with her, the train left the station, forcing us to wait 20 more minutes before the next departure. Fortunately, we made this train.

Shortly after we arrived in D.C., the infant informed us that she was in dire need of sustenance.

[one_half]

                               via GIPHY

[/one_half][one_half_last]

                                           via GIPHY

[/one_half_last]

Our plan was to eat at one of the over-priced museum cafeterias. We decided to stop at the Air & Space Museum, have some lunch and see a few exhibits.

Fate had other plans. We when arrived at the museum we learned that the cafeteria was closed. One of the employees at the information desk told us that this was the only museum cafeteria closed so we decided to hike our way over to the Natural History Museum.

In case you’ve never been to this museum, the main entrance is at the top of a large stairway. Sooooo if you’re in a wheel chair or have a stroller, you have to walk all the way around the museum (roughly a city a block) to get to the handicapped entrance on the opposite side of the museum.

via GIPHY
We make our way into the museum and find the cafeteria. When we get there, we’re greeted by this.

via GIPHY
As it turns out, this cafeteria is closed for renovations until sometime in 2019.

But there’s a makeshift cafeteria on the second floor and while it doesn’t have the cooked selections the regular cafeteria has, it does have some options that our finicky eaters will consume.

I ate a chicken salad sandwich and the baby – the child who refuses to eat anything that isn’t a liquid – went ape-shit crazy over my chicken, tomatoes, and avocados. I was so thrilled I started daydreaming.

via GIPHY
I was going to be the supermom! The mom who got her baby to eat super-nutritious foods like tomatoes, chicken, and avocado. The mom who got her baby to eat something that wasn’t crap! Sonnets would be written about this huge accomplishment (because anyone who’s ever had a difficult eater knows it’s sonnet worthy.) The crispy-crunchy moms group who kicked me out, because apparently I’m just not that interesting, would stand up and praise me.

via GIPHY
And I would look at that group of women and say:

via GIPHY
Because I’m classy like that.

Alas, that fantasy ended abruptly when I looked down at my feet and found all the chicken, tomatoes, and avocado I thought she’d been eating. She was actually just sucking on them and then spitting them out.

Her built in defense mechanism kicked in when I confronted her about this.

via GIPHY
She smiled and cooed, proud of her mischievousness.

We finished our lunch and then began exploring the exhibits. And that’s where things got exciting.

To Be Continued…
 
I realize this is an odd place to leave a blog but a lot of stuff happened on this trip to D.C., most of which was solely in my head but I didn’t want to cram everything into one blog. That and I’m tired. And I think something might be on fire….so yeah. Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion to Memorial Day Memories. I’ll leave you with a sneak peek.

[one_third]

 

[/one_third][one_third]

 

[/one_third][one_third_last]

 

[/one_third_last]

8 Responses

  1. Love it! Brings back some of my own memories with the kiddos! 💕 Glad to see you have it up again!!

Leave a Reply

POPULAR POSTS
ABOUT ME
A. Marie Smith

Your short bio telling the story of why you are a writer and the things that you think are important.