We're Home!

Well, there's no doubt about it. Collin is truly a seasoned traveler at this point. Our D.C. trip this weekend is his third time away from home since he was born. He has taken to hotel life and actually seemed a bit diappointed to be home tonight! Anyway, there's a lot to say about our road trip, so I'll probably break this down into a couple of posts. We had a great time, but we were struggling...all three of us being under the weather (Daddy was a real trooper). As I said previously, we took a drive down to our nation's capital this weekend for the National Book Festival. I'll post about book stuff over at The Written Word and keep the Chronicles focused on our little kumkquat (latest nickname for the boy).

Day 1 started out pretty hairy. About an hour into the trip I heard a funny flapping sound and smelled burning rubber. Yup, we had a flat. Here is poor CJ changing our tire on a VERY busy highway, with very BIG trucks zooming by.

The tyrant thankfully slept through this part of the trip. The end result of this debacle was about a 2 hour detour to Pep Boys in Newark, Delaware where we secured a new tire. This turned our hopefully less than 4 hour trip into a 6 hour trip. Oh well...we rebounded nicely by the time we got to our friend's home in Bethesda. What a great time! Collin was manic from being in the carseat so long and the second we put him down on their living room floor he was off and running. It was actually pretty funny to see him acting like he owned the place! Our friend's have 4 kids ages 7 down to 7 months. Another couple we're friend's with as well were there with their 2 year old daughter. Six kids all under 7! Total chaos and lots of fun!

It was great for CJ and I to see other parents of little ones in action. This is something we don't get a lot of. Both sets of parents really seemed to have it together and I felt like taking notes on their techniques. It was so reassuring for me to hear from other moms that yes, other babies are breastfed down to sleep at night and yes, the whole parenthood thing can make you want to run for the hills sometimes!

After a great time we headed out for another half an hour of driving to Old Town, Alexandria and our hotel. The Embassey Suites turned out to be a great hotel that we enjoyed staying at. The location directly across from the train station was key. The first night was ROUGH. We packed the travel crib and after exploring his new territory Collin went to sleep without a problem, but this was not until about 11:00...3 or 4 hours after his normal bed time. I think it really through him off because he was up 2 hours later and wound up in our bed. Bad, bad night! Lots more on the trip to come the next few days!