Girls + Party + DC = ...

On Monday I returned from the ultimate girls getaway - the location of which probably will never be repeated. With two sisters living in Arlington, VA and working or studying in Washington DC, it was the perfect opportunity for a visit to the east coast. The opportunity became a girls getaway when my mom, aunt, sister, and sister in law decided to go also! So away we went, no kids, no husbands - seven woman on the loose in Washington DC. We stayed in this darling town-home on T street NW in Ledroit Park. The weather prior to our arrival had been rainy and cold, but the sunshine arrived when we did and the blossoms started to emerge during our visit.


As we all had visited DC before, there wasn't pressure to see EVERYTHING so we picked a few favorites and just enjoyed spending time together. My close friend Jill works at the Red Cross and gave us a behind the scenes tour. She also joined us for several outings. My cousins Elsie and Nikki also live in Virginia and joined in on the fun.

Beautiful, original Tiffany windows in Red Cross building

My sister and cousin both work for work for Congressman Herger (CA) and so we went to watch the house in session. We chose a very busy day, the Saturday before the historic Health Care vote. We never made into to watch congress, but we did observe a lot of protesting outside the capitol. It was exciting to see freedom of speech in action...though it didn't actually produce the results the protesters were after.


We also visited the American History Museum, Eastern Market, the Portrait Gallery, and FDR memorial. I think Washington DC is a beautiful city and loved walking its streets and seeing so many symbolic memorials. It felt surreal to be there with so many of my favorite people.

During our visit, my youngest sister turned 20! We celebrated by eating lots of good food (all week). We ate out at some yummy restaurants and ate in with some gourmet chefs (namely Aunt Pika and my mom)

Birthday dinner of delicious German food

I think this picture is funny. My sisters gave my SIL and I late/early b-day/valentine's gifts... I think they just wanted an excuse to buy cute little baby shirts which won't fit either of our children... or they are sending a very direct hint.
On Sunday we enjoyed lunch outside at my sisters house and a barbecue dinner with all our friends and family at the town-home. It was a memorable last evening to a memorable trip that flew by all too quickly.

Monday morning dawned cold and rainy, no doubt the city weeping to see us leave. Spring Break was over. I was able to sit in on my sister's class (she is in the same grad program I did) before leaving for the airport. It was sad to say goodbye too my friend, cousins, aunt, sisters and mom. Lucky for me I had these two and Fisher waiting for me at home.

Pika Party

Life has been crazy around here but I didn't want to miss blogging about the fun visit we had from my Aunt Pika (the fairy godmother from Disneyland trip). We were her first stop on her 6 week world tour (Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington DC, Germany). We had a lot of fun with her and fortunately she remembered to take pictures. She also posted on her blog and it is a great summary of our visit with her. She had great timing (for us) in that she was able to babysit several times while were at various meetings...oh an a movie one night. Curly and Lou had so much fun playing with her! Here are a few pictures of us having fun at the zoo.

You so proud of me!

The other day, I helped Lou tie her shoes. When finished, she smiled at me and said "Thanks mom!" Then added, "You so proud of me." This has happened several times since whenever I help her do or get something... I think she means to say is, "I'm so proud of you," but either way, its very cute.

A Happy Birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth

We weren't planning a trip to Disneyland this year... but when my Aunt Pika (aka "Our Fairy Godmother") invited us to join her and Uncle Paul for a three day visit that happened to coincide with a conference Fisher needed to attend - the opportunity was perfect. So, we celebrated my birthday in Disneyland, a place I haven't been for 17 years.

Curly and Lou were in Princess Heaven...discovering gifts from their "Fairy Godmother" every day... including the pink mouse ears that Curly is sporting below.


Pika is a master planner and thanks to her research, we had a very productive visit - riding every ride that we wanted at least once, and our favorites several times. Curly loved the roller coasters, Lou probably would have loved them as well if she was big enough to ride.... she got used to waiting patiently, but that doesn't mean she liked it...

Curly right after her second time on "Splash Mountain" and right before she said, "Can we go again?" which is what she said after every ride.Lou did get to ride the Toon Town rollercoaster, and like her sister, she has no fear.
Lou takes a picture of "It's a Small World"... which is still running through our heads and now is stuck in yours...

During Muppet 3-D, Lou fell over backward in her seat and laughed out loud when "Fozzie" blew a snake party favor toward the audience.
Sporting more 3-D glasses on "Toy Story Mania"

And here we are with the famous mouses...

I wasn't expecting any birthday gifts, but my Grandpa and Grandma Woodbury surprised me with a character breakfast at "Storyteller Cafe" in the Grand California hotel. It was delicious food for me and lots of fun for all of us to see so many "stuffed animals" as Lou called them.
After breakfast we hightailed it to "California Adventure" and spent much of the morning in "Bug's Life land" which had some great rides for preschoolers.
... and adults

Pika scheduled time for lunch and a nap in our room every afternoon - which was so nice for ALL of us. She brought a few crafts for the girls to do during this down time. We took a cold swim one day and usually ate an early dinner before heading back to the parks for the evening.
Ready to spin on the classic eacups. My memory of these is my sister vomiting in the bushes as soon as we got off...my dad was the master teacup spinner. Fortunately no vomiting this time.



If it weren't for our amazing Aunt Pika and Uncle Paul, this vacation would not have happened. We are very grateful!!

The finale of our vacation was a princess dinner at Ariel's grotto. The Fairy Godmother came through again with Ariel and Cinderella wedding dresses for the girls.

Delicious food, good company and plenty of attention from the princesses - what a happy ending!

The Valentine that keeps on giving...

Holidays are more fun with children, and Valentine's Day is no exception. After catching on to the idea of giving Valentines, Curly began making them with gusto. I don't think a day went by this week that she didn't make a valentine for someone. Even this afternoon I found a Valentine had been slid under my bedroom door, along with a ziploc bag of 4 green sweetart hearts labeled "MOM" in 4 year old scrawl. The Valentine looked similar to the one above, but read "MOM, I (heart) U, Curly" I love you too!