Mr. Barrett Goes to Washington

When we were looking at where to take our vacation this year, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we would already be near Chicago and fly somewhere from there. We found some great prices on tickets to Washington DC, and instantly decided that we would surprise Mason with a trip there. He had been convinced that he was never going to make it to DC. (Insert dramatic sigh sigh the back of the hand to the forehead here). We were able to keep it a surprise for 6 months! We finally told him by letting him read his boarding pass. I think he was a bit excited! 

The boys were excited to be on a flight to somewhere fun.

Walking down the extremely long jetway

On the plane!!!

OK, we had to wake up at 4:30. Everyone was a little tired!

We arrived to hot, muggy DC, along with every 8th grade student and 4H member in the country it seemed! Little did we know, the first afternoon would be the only time we saw sun. The rest of the week was cool and we had rain most mornings and evenings. It didn't get above 65.  Crazy for the first week in June!  We had rented a place on AirBnB (LOVE that site. If you haven't used them before, try them out!) of course we landed at 10:45 and couldn't get in until 12:30, so we spent 2 hours looking (and smelling) like sweaty tourists. We thought we would just find a restaurant and have a sandwich while waiting to get in. Well, things didn't work out that way, but we had fun getting to know the Shaw neighborhood. We did find a great place to eat right across from where we were staying after we dropped our bags off finally!! 

Mason loved his kabob and his mango drink.

After we ate, we went to the Natural History Museum. It was good, but not quite as good as the one in Denver. (Sorry Smithsonian!) 

Sam offering gum to the Easter Island statue.  If you've seen Night at the Museum, you will get it. :) 

A few weeks ago, we asked Mason where he wanted to spend his birthday of he could choose anywhere. He asked for the White House. Of course he didn't say that in the video when we asked him in the airport, but he was happy to see his future home. 

While we were headed to the White House, it started to rain. While we were there, the Downpour/Flood started! We had umbrellas, but they don't do much good when there is a 1/2" of water on the sidewalks and rivers in the streets. By the time we got back to the apartment, we were soaked. 

After this night, we upgraded to 4 umbrellas from 2

Tuesday was our walking tour day. Both of our FitBits were dead, so we have no clue how much we walked, but judging from the days they were working, we were pushing 15 miles. The boys hardly said a thing about sore feet. Here are some pictures from the day of sightseeing: 

One of Sam's favorite parts, the escalators.

Arlington National Cemetery

John F. Kennedy's eternal flame

Sam providing some shelter for Bryan at Arlington

Sam's take on the soldiers

Sam's photo of the Vietnam Memorial

Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool

Mr. Lincoln

Korean War Memorial

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial. All of the yellow coats were individuals there on honor flights.  We decided we would have loved to hear the stories they could tell...

The Wright Brothers' plane at the Air and Space Museum! The real one!!

If you are a Nebraskan and you are in DC, you need to go to the Nebraska breakfast. Since 1938, it has been the place where the state Representatives and Senators come each week during session to update constituents on what's happening in their worlds. Of course we were there with all the 4h and close-up groups, so the crowd was very big. We had told Sen. Fisher that we were there for Mason's birthday and she led the group in singing Happy Birthday to Mason. One of the 4h leaders even gave up her seat so he could sit up front. He was in heaven. 

Mason watching the presentation after everyone sang to him.

We went on a Capitol tour with Congressman Smith's aide. 

Checking out the dome

Andrew Jackson

William Jennings Bryan, one of Nebraska's 2 statues in the capitol

Of course, the capitol would be under renovation!  

We were able to visit the Senate gallery when there were 2 senators still debating the Patriot Act Section 215. If we would have been able to take a picture in thee, you would have seen 3 of us enjoying the spirited debate. The fourth was zonked out for a quick nap. Everyone was happy. 

We also visited the National Archives. There were some cool interactive exhibits, but the best was seeing the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declration of Independence. 

We ventured out in our neighborhood for some Ethiopian food. There is a large Ethiopian population in DC, so it is a great place to get the experience. 

Yum!!

After walking by several times, we decided to stop in and see the Library of Congress. After walking in, we wished that we had more time! We were all impressed with Thomas Jefferson's 4,700+ collection of books stored there. 

Just a little fancier than your typical library

Once he knew where we were going, Mason wanted to go to Ford's Theater. We toured the Museum and listened to the park ranger's interpretation of the events that night. 

The balcony where President Lincoln was shot

We also went to the Museum of American History. It was a great stop! We were in awe of the size of the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. We also loved all the American Pop Culture memorabilia. 

Apollo Ono's skates and Ali's boxing gloves

We had some time to kill so we visited the Smithsonian sculpture garden. As was common on our trip, it rained while we were there. That didn't dampen our experience. 

Beware!  A giant spider!!!

Knock, Knock!

Amor

After getting soaked, we had a little more time to spend before we needed to be at dinner, but we wanted to relax. Thank Goodness for public libraries. We went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. The boys loved exploring a new library. 

We finished our trip with a great dinner with our family that lives in the DC area. It was so much fun to see the Connors and Liz and catch up. 

Love our DC family!

I think I need a nap after typing all of that! 

Our favorite restaurants while we were there:

Red Toque Cafe

Old Ebbit Grill

White Apron Specialty Sandwiches

Dolci Gelati Cafe

Zenebech Injera

Matchbox Pizza

We had a wonderful trip and definitely didn't see everything there is to see in DC. We will be back! 

Since it was soooo cold, the boys picked up some new gear

What an adventure!!!  The boys were wonderful travelers and got along (mostly) the whole time. We couldn't have asked for more.

Watching science experiments

Celebrate Good Times

A For my birthday, my mom got me a great sign that said "We didn't realize we were making memories. We were too busy having fun." I think it is a fair statement to how things work in this family. Traveling is our favorite way to have fun. Whether it is across the state or across the nation, we're always up for an adventure! 

With a family wedding in Sycamore, IL, we packed up the car and headed out for an adventure. 

Hey, they're not fighting!

In Lincoln, we picked up some hitchhikers who looked nice enough. We had some fun traveling as a caravan. The older kids watched 4 movies and the little ones just enjoyed chatting and playing on their iPads. 

We found cousins! 

During a fuel stop somewhere in Iowa, we ran into Mary Pollmiller, a Husker Volleyball player. Luckily for all of us, we had Carly with us and she isn't scared to do anything, so she got an autograph. I think Mary might have been caught off guard that we recognized her! 

Note the number of texts. That was just from about 2 hours of the drive.  This is why Bryan drives everywhere...he is a very ancy passenger.  He was responsible for the majority of these texts!

When we got to town, we were hungry, so upon recommendation of the locals, we went to eat at Portillo's hot dogs, Italian beef and chocolate cake. All of our food was great. 

Being the out of towers, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner. It was great to see family there. Sam made a new best friend in his second cousin Oliver. They were quite the match!! 

Cousins (+Bryan)

Maybe this is how we contain him

Cousin Carly convinced Mason to say the presidents forwards and backwards...and even earned him some money.

Meeting Ellie

We had fun swimming with cousins

Great kids!

You can imagine the noise level of this. 

After a hard workout in the pool, we decided to recover with lunch at the Colonial Cafe and had the kitchen sink full of ice cream. 

Yum. Just yum.

Dig in!!!!

Can't leave any in the bottom!!

The real reason we were there was to celebrate adding another member to the family. Katie and Dave had a wonderful wedding and everyone had a great time!! 

Cousins!

Smile!!

Sam being Sam

Sam with Michael...

Purple was the color of the day

Grandma Linda with two of her grandkids

Mint Juleps!!

I came to dance, dance, dance

Selfie!

Since we were so close to Chicago, and we have some big Royals fans in the family, we decided to go to the Royals/Cubs game at Wrigley Field.  For the end of May, it was COLD. We didn't make it the whole game, but we made great memories. 

This picture doesn't do justice to how cold it was!!!

Bryan in his shorts at the cold game.  Oops!

We rounded out our time in Chicago with one of our favorite Windy City treats: Gino's East pizza. 

Jealous, aren't you?

Easter Adventures

We have been wanting to get back to Phoenix for quite a while. When Southwest Airlines had one of their sales, we decided to take advantage of it and spend Easter in our favorite Southwestern vacation spot...the Hanson home near Cave Creek. As we flew out, there was snow on the ground in Denver, and we arrived to 80 degrees in Phoenix.

The pool view

We started with a little shopping at the Anthem Outlets. 

What a way to cool off! 

Sam really wanted to see some dinosaurs, so we went to the Arizona Museum of Natural History for a Dinosaur Easter Egg Hunt. It was a hit, and so were the activities in the museum. 

Saturday morning, Laura decided to run in the Cave Creek 5k Trail Run. It was an adventure, and other than a not-so-graceful fall, it was a success. It was fun to see race traditions in other areas, including the fry bread with raw honey for the post-race snack. (LOVE!!)

It was Easter Weekend, so we did take some time for Easter service and the obligatory family pictures. 

That afternoon we ventured down to Mesa to the i.d.e.a. Museum. It is a space where kids can create a variety of projects. The first Sunday of every month is free (courtesy of Target) and since it was Easter, it wasn't very busy. We had a blast!

Mason's request was to go putt putt golfing. We did that at Golfland. As for the score, well no one really knows, but it was a great time! 

For their surprise on the trip, we went to a trampoline park. On Mondays and Wednesday's, you get 2 hours for the price of one and parents jump for free!  I don't know who has more fun, the kids or parents, but it wore us all out! 

We had a great time just enjoying life in Phoenix. 

As always, we enjoyed some great food while we were there. Some of the new places we went were: 

BoSa Doughnuts in Phoenix

Rehab Burger Therapy in Mesa

SanTan Brewery in Chandler

The Good Egg

The old favorites we made sure to enjoy were: 

The Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale

In & Out Burger

Barro's Pizza

And of course, it wouldn't be a trip to the Phoenix house without some pool fun. It was still a bit chilly, but after you got used to the water, it was all fun!

That is until someone spots a lizard! 

As we wrap up another great trip, I am thankful for all the opportunities we have to travel this beautiful country and make great memories. Thanks to Steve and Susan for letting us use the house and Tahoe! 

Scars are tattoos with better stories

In case you missed it: February 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Week.  

As our house is covered hearts for that other heart celebration, I wanted to take some time to share our experience with congenital heart defects.  CHD is something that has impacted our lives in a big way. Here's the story.

Check out my scar!

When we were on vacation a few years ago, there was a great shirt that said "Scars are tattoos with better stories." When we asked if they had it in little kid's sizes, the clerk looked at us like we were crazy.  I guess most people don't take pride in the scars of their 2 year olds!

When I was pregnant with Mason, we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl.  I REALLY wanted to know, but Bryan didn't want to at all.  I told him that he would win that time, but the next time, I got to find out what we were having.  Whenever anyone would ask what we were having, I'm sure we resorted to saying "We are fine either way, as long as it is healthy." (In truth, this was a lie, I really wanted a little boy and I was very nervous that it wouldn't be one) Little did I know how those words would grow to haunt me years later. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Mason was born one week after his due date at a very healthy 8 lbs 11 oz.  He was (and continues to be) the picture of health. This is something that I am thankful for every day.

Mason coming home from the hospital

When I was pregnant with Sam, we decided again to do the first trimester screening. During that screening we were alerted that there was something going on. The level 3 ultrasound showed us that we were having a baby boy!! (Yes, Bryan kept his word and I got to find out what we were having) It also showed that our baby had a heart defect. We were connected with a great cardiologist (Dr. Christensen) at Rocky Mountain Pediatric Cardiology. The day we went in, his technician was out on another case so he actually performed the fetal echocardiogram and was able to walk us through every step of what he was looking for and what he saw. I know know this is not the typical experience and am so thankful for this time we had with him.  He explained that our baby had a atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD). He also explained that this was completely correctable with surgery. It was now time to go back and tell people that we were expecting.  We even got to tell them that we were having a baby boy.  Then the comments started and I didn't exactly know how to respond.  Again, we heard "as long as he's healthy."  Well, we knew he wasn't going to be born a picture of health. We weren't sure what to expect when he was born. Sometimes I would answer letting people know that he has a heart defect and he will need surgery.  More often, I would just smile and say thank you. The pregnancy went on, we made a plan, and had lots of visits with the cardiologist and my OB to make sure that everything stayed as expected. It did.

See, it was even a relaxing day for Sam!

Sam was born 1 week before his due date at 8 lbs 8 oz with his pediatrician and my OB present and the cardiology clinic on call to read his echo. And he looked like the picture of health. In fact, if you hadn't seen his blood pressure results, you wouldn't have known there was anything at all wrong with this beautiful baby boy.  That being said, if we wouldn't have know what was going on, we would have seen the blood pressure results and chaos would have ensued.  I would not be surprised if we would have ended up in Denver to see what was going on. But we knew what was expected, so we didn't have to go anywhere.  Because of this, I am an advocate for prenatal testing. Even though this makes me unpopular in some circles, I firmly believe it made Sam's entry into the world a time of joy instead of a time of worry and fear.

Playing in the cardiologist's office

Sam came home and was a great baby.  He had surgery to correct his AVSD just before he turned 6 months old.  That story is here. Today, he continues to be full of life and energy.  The only way you can prove that he is a heart kid is the large white exclamation point down his chest.  We have decided that it is the perfect punctuation for how he lives life. If we all lived life with the joy that he has, the world would be a much happier place.

Brothers after Surgery

Why do I tell you this? I wanted to tell you that sometimes we get news that we don't expect or we don't want to hear.  Sometimes our babies aren't going to be born healthy. Sometimes our babies are born with things that can be "fixed." Sometimes there aren't fixes.  This is OK. 

Who is looking at a scar with this cute toothy grin?

Sometimes we focus so much on covering up our scars that we don't take the time to think about the lessons we have learned while getting the scars. 

Photoshopped (but you can still see the drain tube scar...just looking like a belly button!)

Un-photoshopped, just as cute!

From Sam's experiences, we've all learned lots.  Most of all, we've learned that life is precious and that we shouldn't take any day for granted. Now when I am talking with an expecting mom, I never say "as long as it's healthy." We didn't love Sam any less because he wasn't perfectly "healthy" on the day he was born. My go-to response is now "he/she will be so loved." Because that is true.  All mothers and fathers will provide so much love to their child whether it is a boy or girl, healthy or needing some additional support.