Washington D.C. Trip

While we were living in Singapore, we made some really wonderful friends whom we have not been able to see since we moved back.  With everything settled down from the move and starting our new roles at work, we decided to take a trip to D.C. to see some of the sites and visit with our friends.  John and Kathy were kind enough to host us for the long weekend.  We also had the opportunity to have a meal with Mike and Shelly while they were in town as well as Sonia and Alok before they move to Houston.

Lucky for us, the cherry blossoms had just come to bloom which is something we have always wanted to see.  We had hoped to make it to Japan for their cherry blossom festival but since we missed that one, D.C. would have to do.  We went out on an overcast and chilly Friday morning to take in the beauty of the blossoms.  It was relatively busy but nothing compared to what it would be the following day.  We are so thankful we went on Friday.

Learning about Roosevelt

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

John and Kathy with Caroline

Outside of the Library of Congress 

Inside the Library of Congress. We loved the old carvings, painting, and architecture. 

Books from Thomas Jefferson's collection

 On Saturday, we decided to check out a couple more tourist attractions.  Caroline is more and more interested in animals so we thought the National Museum of Natural History would be a good one for her.  We went relatively early so we beat most of the crowds.  By the time we finished, we could barely breath so we headed outside to enjoy the wonderful weather.  It was the most crowded our friends have ever seen D.C. to be.  Beautiful weather, cherry blossoms blooming, and the last weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival and parade made for some enormous crowds.  We had to take advantage of being in D.C. while we were there so we continued on.

Washington Monument early before too many people descended upon it.

Caroline loved seeing all the animals and exhibits 

The Washington Monument 

We wanted to go see the White House but were kept far away by the Secret Service.  Turns our we were there when some guy committed suicide at the Capital Building.  Everything was on lockdown for a bit so they made us go much further out to watch.  There was a protest going on at the only place where we could see the White House so I had to take pictures holding the camera over my head and just praying for a decent shot.

We wanted to visit the Lincoln Memorial but when we got there we saw this:

Where did all these people come from?!?! 

So we decided to skip the Lincoln Memorial this trip and headed back to the house.

We found a peaceful park a few blocks away.

 We wanted to go to the Kennedy Center and listen to a Youth Jazz Ensemble so we went over to the Pentagon Memorial to burn a little time.

Each bench represents a person who died.

On our last day with John and Kathy, we had to do one of our favorite activities together: a morning walk and breakfast.  There was a wonderful walking path through a park near their house that we went.  These little yellow flowers happened to be blooming the weekend we were there as well so it was absolutely gorgeous.

Derek and Caroline playing piano at John and Kathy's.  We need a piano!

We had a wonderful trip and cannot thank John and Kathy enough for being great hosts.  We really enjoyed our trip and look forward to seeing them again! 

Caroline's 1st Birthday

It is hard to believe that it has already been over a year since Caroline entered this world.  It sometimes feels like it was a lifetime ago since so much has happened for us in the last year.  We were living in Singapore and enjoying Asian life and culture.  Half way through her first year we moved back to the US but to a new city for our family.  With these big changes, it can feel like a long time but she has grown so fast and we just want to savor every moment with her.

She is still our little lady and weighed in at 18lbs, 11oz and 28.5in long.  She still fits well in her 9 month clothing but we are starting to move into the 12 month stuff.  We are certainly getting our full wear out of everything.  She has not started walking but will cruise on furniture and is really good at crawling and climbing.  She just does not seem interested in walking right now and thats okay as we know she will when she is ready.

She is really learning to communicate and we have been teaching her some sign language to go along with the few words she knows.  She says "what's that (wassat while pointing)", "mama", and "dada" when she wants to.  She has been signing for "milk" for a while and has now added "more", "please", "thank you", and "all done" to the vocabulary. "Milk" has also become her universal sign for wanting something, especially something to drink. It is so fun being able to communicate with her and she is so proud of herself when she says something and we understand.

She loves reading books, swinging, baths, walks around the lake and to the park, watching Maddie, and music. Her favorite song is definitely Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride from Lilo and Stitch and just about anything by Phil Collins.  She still does not get to watch any TV so she listens to lots of music while she plays.  She is staying at home with the nanny and her activities currently include Gymboree, Mommy and Me Spanish Class, and story time at the Library.  We are looking forward to swim lessons in July because she loves water!

Despite her small size, she eats a lot of food!  She loves to eat berries, peppers, spinach, cheese, yogurt, and almost all meats. She does not like cows milk or any of the other milks we have tried yet so she is still getting mama's milk.  She loves healthy food and I hope she always will!

We celebrated her birthday at home, just the three of us.  We let her try a cupcake at lunchtime to make sure she would not be hyped up on sugar at bedtime and she was not very interested in it.  She liked the cake okay but wasn't really into the icing (just like mom).  We ate sea bass veracruz and mac and cheese for her birthday dinner.  I know sea bass is a strange choice but the first time I made it I split the fish into 3 equal pieces, one for each of us.  I expected her to eat half of her piece for dinner and half for lunch the next day.  Well she ate the whole piece for dinner so it is certainly one of her favorites and I wanted to make it for her again.  After dinner we opened her presents and reminisced about her birth back in Singapore.  We love that little girl so much!

I don't know about the icing Daddy 

Oh my goodness, sugar!

Getting to the good part, the cake

We traveled back to South Carolina a week later to celebrate her birthday with both of our families and attend the Aiken Steeplechase.  It had been years since we had been and it is a fun tradition for my family.  We attend the races and then have an oyster roast and birthday party after.  Caroline's cousin, William, has a birthday very close to hers so we celebrated both of their birthdays together.  I also went out to Hopeland Gardens and did a smash cake photoshoot for Carolina.  As always, my mom did an amazing job on the cake.

Beautiful cake by Patti Cakes!  You can find her on Facebook: PattiCakes Custom Cake Design

Wassat?

Giggling as Derek tickled her

 And then Steeplechase and the oyster roast:

Thanks to Aunt Katie and Uncle Adam for coming to see us!  My friend Teresa also came but I can't find a picture of us.

9th Annual Family Oyster Roast!

Looking forward to many more birthdays celebrating Caroline!