Our March got a lot more fun when the Thompson 5 showed up at our doorstep! I'm going to finish this blogpost in lightening speed so I get it out there before Mel. :) The Thompsons arrived Wednesday evening and left Monday around 4 (well exactly at 4 because they had a scheduled uber and Mel wasn't going to get a waiting charge...again.)
Hosting the Thompsons really forced us to actually explore the DC area, which we haven't done much of since we moved here almost a year ago. Of course, COVID can partially be blamed for that, but not entirely. Getting out of the house for hours multiple days in a row was definitely a change from our quarantine lifestyle. To get Riley excited about our trips each day I'd tell her we were going on an adventure. Her response was to say, "Going on an adventure like Rapunzel!" One of Riley's favorite things to listen to is music from a show called Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures, (inspiring the title of this post) and I thought it was adorable that she made that connection.
Thursday started off with Mel and I doing a GRIT workout together. GRIT is one of my least favorite workouts, but I know it's good for me because it pushes me to do more than I'd ever push myself to do alone. This specific round was extra fun because they had this move that was super weird and hard to do correctly. Mel would often ask Ty if she was doing it correctly and he would very gently say no. At the end of the workout Mel and I compared calorie counts and we found that mine was way higher. I looked at my heart rate is way higher than Mel's, so I thought maybe that was why. When I told Mel my heart rate she looked at me like she expected me to drop dead any moment. I've always had a really high heart rate when working out. Whenever I use an elliptical my heart rate is always in the maximum zone even in a casual workout. After our workout I put Riley down for an early nap and Britt, Mel, and I escaped for a sister's lunch. We tried out a really yummy greek cafe that I'd seen recommended on a facebook group I joined about good restaurants in this area. It was delicious and we had a great time chatting! Although, after seeing the sign painted on the wall and every employees shirt we realized we missed the half-off gyros on Wednesdays! Mel made us promise to come back on a Wednesday to take advantage!
 |
| Just your typical workout break. Read a quick book and back to burpees. |
After lunch, Ben showed up (he occasionally only works a half day and it happened to fall on the perfect day). We all hopped in the car and drove to a place Mel had read about called Great Falls Parks. This place is only like 20 minutes away from us, but we'd never checked it out. It was so beautiful and now I'm really excited to go there again when it's greener. Mel was more excited by the drive to the park than the actual park I'm pretty sure. The park is near Potomac, Maryland which is where the richest of the rich live. We passed some pretty impressive houses on our way there and Mel was equally amazed and appalled that people think they need houses that big.
Britt always says that Riley should have grown up in a little house in the prairie environment. She is such a little wild child she seems like she belongs outside. This pic felt like a good representation of that.
Another example of her wild-childness. She was absolutely soaked after discovering these puddles.
Friday was a pretty ambitious day. It was just Riley and me and the Thompsons so the kids outnumbered the adults. We started off at the Spy Museum, one of the few museums that is open right now. I'm super glad Mel suggested it because it was a super cool place! Although, I didn't really get to enjoy it because Riley decided immediately that she was done with her stroller. I was sure I'd at least get a little bit of time, but she was done with me right from the beginning. She wanted to walk on her own and any type of herding by me was met by great resistance.
Literally the only cousin picture that was taken. :( We were so focused on family photos we didn't use any of our kids smiles for a cute pic together! When you have someone to take pictures of your family you just have to take advantage.
 |
| This room had a sign that it was the most "instagrammed backdrop in DC"...we must have not done it right... |
After a pretty exhausting few hours in the museum Riley and I made an early exit and headed to the gift shop. When I saw this puppy dog I didn't even flinch at the $15 price tag with the hope that it would make the rest of the day better. Other than having to pick it up every 5 minutes, it definitely did help.
 |
| While we were waiting outside for the Thompsons to finish we found out why the weather report showed wind gusts. |
 |
| Fully incognito. I feel for you glasses wearers. |
A few weeks before her arrival Mel sent me a picture of this exhibit, saying we needed to find it when she was here. Luckily, it was right by where I was planning for us to have lunch. I thought it was something painted on a wall, but as we got closer we could see it is a giant blanket! It's been knit by a bunch of volunteers.
 |
| Girl power! |
After a delicious lunch at Shake Shack on the Wharf we headed to the Thomas Jefferson memorial. I'd never seen this memorial because it's a bit out of the way of the National Mall, but we were near the tidal basin so we went to check it out. It was really pretty, even though it was undergoing some construction outside. The inside was beautiful, and huge as you can see with Riley as the comparison. As we were entering the memorial I saw a sign that said to be quiet and considerate in the memorial. Well, that didn't bode well. I talked to Riley about being reverent and it sort of worked until she found a puddle. I've got to talk to who ever is in charge of checking for leaks because that really ruined my chances of an obedient toddler.
After Jefferson we were all pretty exhausted so we decided to head home. Other than a little bit of traffic we made it home okay. Then came Saturday. Oh Saturday. Saturday had a lot that we were expecting from it. See, while Mel and I were adventuring around on Friday we were getting constant updates from Britt about the cherry blossom status. The cherry blossom season is a very popular one around here. It's the most popular time to visit DC. I'm guessing...just making that up really, but people really do come from all around to see the amazing display of cherry blossoms around DC and especially around the Tidal Basin. Britt had started following an instagram account called DCcherryblossomwatch, and she was checking it religiously. Mel and fam were arriving at the very early side of the dates they could possibly blossom, but it had been a pretty early spring here and it was looking possible. On Friday Britt said she'd seen certain areas that had bloomed enough that she should be able to get a good picture, but also that the police were threatening to shut down the Tidal Basin the second they decided there were too many people gathering. (And they weren't kidding there were police everywhere!) So, there we were. Saturday morning. Britt with the goal of finding the perfect picture in a few specific spots. Mel with the goal of seeing as many sites as possible, and getting her boys to smile for the camera. Kip with the goal of not having to carry all his children back to the car. Me with the goal of making it all happen! We headed out around 9 am to try and beat the biggest rush of people and hopefully get our pictures before anything was shut down. We first stopped by the garden by the Smithsonian castle that had plenty of flowers in bloom! These trees aren't the desired cherry blossoms, but a beautiful type of Magnolia tree. We were definitely not the first there, but this place had so many beautiful trees we found a cute picture spot. At first, Britt thought we were going to wear our masks during the photos. When I was taking a picture of Britt with a mask on a woman literally watched us for a bit and told her, "Take off your mask." She then waited until Britt did and gave a nod of approval. And let me tell you...it was a good move, but here is a taste of what all the pictures that would have been.
This is the face of an ecstatic baby who just got to play with a puppy. There were dogs all over the place. Britt always says I'm so cruel for not getting this puppy loving girl a dog, but I say if she had a dog at home maybe all these other dogs she sees on outings would be less exciting and we'd lose an easy distraction!
After the castle gardens we headed to the Washington monument. We learned later that Mel thought the Washington monument was so named for the city it was in, not the President the city is named after.
And then the time had come...we hit...the cherry blossoms!! We thought they were beautiful and we were SO lucky that they started blooming so early! #thanksclimatecrisis Although, they apparently reached peak bloom a few days later and when we saw pictures of that ours were clearly a little wimpy, but hey we thought it was awesome and I still call it a win. The whole city was in bloom and it was so fun to walk around surrounded by beautiful views.
I was an amazing tour guide through all of this, if I do say so myself. I seamlessly guided us to all the monuments of note and arrived us at our brunch location right on time. Did I wake up for days prior in a cold sweat? Well lets not talk about that...everything turned out according to plan! Although, I should give a shout out to Ben. The only way I could play tour guide for the group and photographer for Britt was because he was 100% on Riley duty.
 |
| I loved seeing Riley play with her cousins. She loved having them around! |
 |
| Don't worry people, we got the shot. In fact, we got two, but that hasn't been posted on insta yet so.... |
 |
| Another first monument for us, MLK Jr. An absolutely beautiful location for an amazing monument. You can't see, but it's surrounded by beautiful trees and the basin. |
After we saw all the monuments on our list we walked 15 minutes to a hopping brunch location called Founding Farmers. It brags about it's farm to table food and has an amazing brunch menu. We had made two different reservations because a group of our size couldn't make a reservation during COVID times. So, we decided we'd do a table for 6 and a table for 3. Ben, Kip, and the kids, and the three sisters of course. :) Well when we checked in for our reservation they caught wind that we were together and they said if our whole party was here they could seat us together. I said we're here let's do this! We broke down our strollers and strode into that place like we owned it. The tables were six feet apart, but right by each other. Kip, Brady and Cal, took one table and the rest of us sat at the other. Britt and I had been eyeing the menu since the day we set the reservation. We noted that they had beignets for appetizers and we new that was a must get. They said they were recommended for 2-3, so we decided to get two orders. When we told the server that we'd like two he asked, "One for each table?" After a beat, Britt and I looked at each other and said, "No, both for this table." Riley was a big fan of the jam and caramel sauce that came with the beignets and basically only had that for lunch. We were in vacation mode, sometimes you just have to let it fly.
After our days of adventure Sunday and Monday were spent pretty much at home, but we still had a few adventures. At some point the boys were playing in Ben and my room and accidentally locked the door. The problem is we don't have a key to our door, we just never lock it. Luckily, Riley wasn't sleeping in our room at the time we noticed this or I would've been a whole lot more anxious. (We had made a make shift bed for Riley in our closet so that Calvin could sleep in her room. The first night she was so heart broken that we were just abandoning her in a new place, but she fell in love with her new set up. For days after they left she would ask for her "new crib".) As it was, Ben and I were just locked out of all of our belongings. I tried to pick the lock with a bobby-pin at first, but got nowhere. I gave Ben a target gift card from my wallet and after a few tries he unlocked the door! We may have to look into changing our door handle...especially since Riley will be able to pull this trick on us pretty soon. Until then, we have the target card sitting above our door.
The best part of the trip for Riley was no doubt the toys Calvin brought with him. Cal has an amazing collection of Paw Patrol puppies and Riley has recently fallen in love with them. She was obsessed with the puppies. At one point I heard Calvin ask, "When will Riley give my Paw Patrol back?" Haha poor kid. She really did act like they were hers, constantly wanting to know where they were. I totally encouraged it too because it was something she would play with on her own while we had sister time.
This piano was a favorite of Brady and Ty's. It was less of a favorite for most others in the house, but eventually we got them some headphones and we were able to have a bit of peace.
Sadly, but also happily, Britt got a job a few weeks before the Thompson's visit. So she wasn't as available as we'd have hoped, but obviously we are happy she has an awesome new job! I basically feel like getting Britt to take this job was as big of an accomplishment for myself as it was for her! I was fully on that journey with her.
Uncle Ben is always a favorite. He plays way more fun games than I will so he likes to steal my nephew's love!
While our house was very full for those 6 days we loved having the Thompson's visit. We loved acting like we know our city and hope they enjoyed seeing the unique sites DC has to offer. I also enjoyed showing off a bit of my cooking skills for them. 3 out of the 4 meals I made for them were liked by all the kids....so I'd say that was a pretty big win. I hope this blog post has convinced all of you to come visit, but if you need more enticing just ask them about the liege waffles I made them for dessert. :)
I was just looking through my notes app and found a quote I'd written down from this trip I forgot about. On Saturday night the boys earned ice cream as a treat for smiling so well during the day. (I was impressed that they are willing to wait that long to get the reward. That's pretty good patience!) So Kip went out and brought back some ice cream and cones. Of course, the boys request Kip dished up their ice cream because Mel doesn't give them as big of scoops as he does. After the boys had their ice cream Mel kindly asked if anyone else wanted ice cream and Britt replied, "I don't know...I've heard you skimp." Oh Britty, always good for the one liners.
