Tagging Along to DC

Tim had an Econ conference in Washington DC and we found some super cheap tickets, so the whole family packed up and tagged along! Ty and Lucy were very good on our late flight, but the excitement definitely helped. Tim had a hotel room right downtown, so we were able to walk or ride the Metro everywhere. It was fun to be right downtown (but also a little claustrophobic being in this busy city with two kids!)

We arrived late Thursday night, so Friday morning we headed to the Air and Space Museum.  A few days earlier, we had borrowed the movie Night at the Muesum: Battle of the Smithsonians from the library, so Ty was pretty excited! 

We are lucky to have both of Tim's siblings live near DC, so Aubrey met up with us to help. She was a lifesaver! It has been a LONG time since Aubrey has seen the kids. Luckily, everyone warmed up to each other quickly and Lucy was her fast friend.

After the museum, we wandered around the National Mall, rode the carousel, and played near the Washington Monument. It was a beautiful day.

 

Friday night we just ate burgers at Shake Shack and got to bed early. I woke up early on Saturday morning to take a sight-seeing run at sunrise. It was just beautiful. 

 

The temperature dropped about 20 degrees by sunset and rain and wind set in, but the trees were absolutely perfect for my run.

 

We moved away from the area before the Martin Luther King Jr Monument opened, so I made a point to check it out. It's pretty cool. There is a big mountain with the middle pulled forward and MLK carved into the middle section. On the side, it reads: "Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope." There are also several walls with other quotes from MLK.

 

The run would have been perfect except for the fact that I realized I lost my credit card, had to re-trace my steps, and didn't find it. We quickly got things taken care of once I got back, but it made the morning and getting to the National Zoo to meet cousins a little more stressful. Nevertheless, we got everyone together, even Tim and Aubrey, at the zoo for some fun times!

Cute cousins:

 

Mackenzie and Lucy had to get their girl cousin time in too.

 This woman in the picture below has what I can only imagine would be Aubrey's dream job: the Panda surveillance. She watches pandas and only pandas. All. Day. Long.

We spotted some wild animals!

 

I got to meet little Jonathan for the first time. He's a little bowling ball, but he's a cutie. Lucy liked him too.

Tim and Aubrey had to work on Sunday, so I took the kids on the Metro up as far as it would go and Scott picked us up and drove us to their house. The cousins just played all day, except for some quick "calls" Lucy had to make to Tim and "Gama and Papa."

Monday was our last day in DC. Aubrey met us for breakfast, then we started toward the Building Museum. It was a cold day, and Lucy loved wearing her pink hat!

There were a bunch of canned food sculptures in the lobby of the museum, all with a movie theme. Above is Ty at the Box Office and below are our favorites. There is the house from UP, an alien toy from Toy Story, Snoopy on his doghouse, and a shark eating Minnions. So creative!

The Building Museum has not one, but TWO fun play rooms for the kids (the reason we went)! We pretty much just spent the day letting the kids play.

 

 

 

 

 

Ty finished the day building this awesome car (above) while Lucy had other plans (below). We got dinner in the city then headed back to the airport to complete our fun tag-along trip!

Around Town

 We made the paper!!! Lucy and I go to Story Time at the library on Tuesday mornings. One morning, a guy just took a few pictures and I didn't think much of it...until several people told me the next day that we were on the front! It's funny because there wasn't even an article or anything about Story Time, it was just a collection of pictures. It was a great surprise, though.

 Occasionally, my friend Caroline and I like to meet up after Ty's school. One day we got frozen yogurt downtown and these kids just made themselves right at home.

 A few days ago, we took advantage of the great weather and started off on a hike right in the middle of Rome. It lead to this pretty bridge, so we stopped to play for a bit. Ty took my phone and took a few pictures of Lucy which were pretty cute as well!

The night of the elections, Tim had left the computer on this page. At one point in the night, I walked in to this. Ty had put the headphones on and started listening. He then went to get paper and red and blue pens to make a "map" of the country. It was pretty cute!

Cloudland Canyon

 To celebrate Tim's birthday, we spent a relaxing Saturday at the cabin, then explored Cloudland Canyon, which is only about ten minutes away. We didn't hike far, but Ty started out complaining the entire time. I wouldn't let him quit, and by the way back (which was all uphill and up LOTS of stairs), Ty was a great sport and had a blast! Hoping to do more hikes for this family!

Lucy got to wear her new boots for the first time too. She and Ty just love the "tabin."

Halloween x4

 

 Our October was filled with Halloween Festivities. It doesn't help that I love holiday festivities and want to be a part of EVERYTHING. We managed to keep things manageable and only go to FOUR Halloween events. It worked well because Ty switched costumes for almost all of them.

 The first was a huge Boo-Fest put on by the YMCA. Because I work for the Y, I volunteered there and didn't get a chance to take pictures. It's too bad, though, because it was the only time Ty wore his cute Transformer's costume. At least we know what he'll be next year! 

Second, we attended a cute Trunk-Or-Treat put on by Berry College students. Each club or group had a trunk with candy AND a game. It was probably my favorite event of all, even with Lucy's random vomiting in the middle of it (from eating too much candy from Boo-Fest the previous night while I was there and not at home monitoring her sugar intake).

 Next, we had a blast at our ward Chili Cook Off and Fall Festival. We invited Lucy's friend Ella (and my running friend Jennifer), so they had fun doing all of the games together.

 Lucy is VERY in to Pumpkins this year.

 

 And finally, on Halloween, we picked Ty up from school and headed downtown for the business trick-or-treat. It was pretty crowded and really hot, so we only did about half of it, but we had to save some energy for our real trick-or-treating.

 Later that evening, we went around our neighborhood with friends and got lots of candy. The rest of Rome seemed to have also come to our neighborhood to join us. It was packed and the empty lot at the front of our two-street/five-col de sac neighborhood had cars parked in straight lines like it was a county fair or something! I'm glad to say we got the most out of the season, though.

A Bike and A Broken Arm

 We had been planning to get Ty a bike for months. I'd searched Craigslist and several stores online, and finally decided on a good deal for a bike at Walmart. I had promised Ty we could go get it after preschool on Wednesday, so we headed there. Wednesday had already been kind of an off day because I got caught up vacuuming and started the day late, then Lucy wouldn't go down for a nap. Once we made it to Walmart (after having tried earlier until Lucy had finally fallen asleep in the car), I realized I forgot my wallet, so we headed home and back for a third time. The kids were wild and ornery as I grabbed a few groceries, but we made it home, bike in tow. 

Once home, I took Ty for a quick ride around the driveway showing him how to pedal, then I parked the bike in the garage to unload groceries. Before I even got the last bag inside, I heard Ty crash. I ran to him and immediately could see his arm was not right. I panicked and called Tim. I didn't know if I should go to the ER, and Instant Care facility, or just call his Pediatrician! I founded the insurance card and called as I headed to the only ER I knew of (turns out, Rome has no Instant Care facilities, but elbow injuries are fairly complicated and should probably always go straight to the ER). 

We got in fairly quickly at the ER. Ty was very brave, and just kept just saying he wanted a band-aid on his arm. He had to wait quite a while, and even get x-rays and his IV, before they gave him any medication. The X-rays showed a fracture on his ulnar and a dislocated elbow. Luckily, he wouldn't need surgery. The Orthopedist was able to come in, and with seven people monitoring and working on Ty, they got his elbow back into place and a soft cast set. During the process, Ty had a medication that kept his eyes awake, but he was pretty out, so he didn't feel anything.

As Ty was coming to, Tim finished his evening class and made it. He took Lucy and Ty and I waited for more X-rays. Once we got the clear, we stopped at the pharmacy and then Chick Fil A before heading home for a good night of sleep.

It's kind of funny because I had been having such a bad day, but once in the ER, I just felt so grateful. I was grateful I was only there for a broken arm. That otherwise, my kids are both healthy. Grateful for modern medicine so Ty wouldn't have to deal with intense pain or lasting problems. Grateful that I knew I could walk out of the ER with my son, when I know others aren't so lucky. It actually helped my day go much better.

You can see in the left picture above the bone poking out. The bend is NOT his elbow, but the side of his arm.

  Lucy thought the whole thing was pretty exciting.

 Ty will see a doctor next Wednesday, but will most likely have a cast on for 4 weeks.

The next day, he had very little pain, and even got on his bike while I pushed him around. He's doing very well.

Rock Gardens

If you can't already tell, I enjoy knowing about and/or attending any and all fun family events. Being new to Rome, I had a hard time finding any place where parent's could learn about what Rome has to offer for families, so I went ahead and started my own website. It's called Rome Georgia With Kids and we have a website (romegawithkids.com), Facebook page, Facebook group, and Instagram. I've been telling all my friends as well as other moms I meet about the site in hopes of creating a community for Rome parents. 

It's pretty fun because now people tell me about events or kid-friendly places when they hear about them. One of these places is a Rock Garden in Calhoun. It was built by volunteers from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and is just beautiful. I would have liked to take more and better pictures, but the caretakers were there spraying and watering everything.

A Busy Saturday

 It was a busy Saturday for the Larsen family. It started with a Hero Run 5k that I ran with my friend Caroline. With a time of 22:12, I ran my second fastest 5k time ever and was the second female runner (7th overall). It was pretty fun. Afterward, the kids and I headed to a safety fair at the Home Depot. There was a Jaws of Life demo, helecopter, and tons of free food!

 Jaws of Life Demo

 After naps, we headed back to Broad Street for the Fiddlin Fest and Cars on Broad event. There were a few bands and LOTS of cool cars. We ate dinner at the Mellow Mushroom then just let the kids play.