Day 785 | Packing

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Chris and I promised a year ago that we were going to hire movers to pack our house up if we actually ended up deciding to move back to Wisconsin. We've tackled that challenge five times in 10 years and decided we were done. Twelve months later and about 40 boxes in, that decision was thrown out the window. Why, you might ask? I decided I wanted to save the money to splurge on nice patio furniture for our new, amazing three-season room. That's a fair trade-off, right?!? And, you know what dawned on me, I don't actually mind packing. And here's why:

Top five reasons I don't mind packing:
  1. There's nothing more satisfying that the perfectly packed box. Man, I've had some really impressive ones this time around. If only photos could do them justice, maybe I'd create some sort of calendar out of all my favorites.
  2. It makes the move seem real. I didn't like the idea of living a totally normal life right up to the day before our move. I don't think it would have been great for my emotional state and definitely would have been harder for the boys to understand. Now, they see the boxes every day and me packing every day and we're talking about the move nearly constantly.
  3. The money saved. This one is obvious, I know, but have you ever received a quote to have boxes packed? It's no joke. To satisfy your curiosity, in DC it's about $12 to pack a normal box (clothes, books, etc.) and then the price jumps to about $40 per box for fragile items (i.e. your entire kitchen). Of course there are some in between prices as well. That's no joke. We figure it'll save us about $2000 to pack everything. You're all going to love the patio furniture so much more now!
  4. The purging. If someone else packs your stuff, how do you go through everything so that you're not packing an old basketball jersey from high school (ok, to be fair, that one actually did make the cut, but I threw a lot of other stuff...). I don't want to bring all my old junk to my beautiful new house. 
  5. Ease in unpacking. I'm fully aware that the unpacking process is no picnic either. But, if I pack my own boxes and have a general idea of where stuff is and how much I still need to find homes for, I'm confident I'll be in a better place after the movers unload the truck.

Keep in mind, we're still hiring professionals to load and unload the truck and drive everything cross country. That, we will pay the crazy expensive fee for. Neither Chris nor I have the friends willing to help us move (we're not 20 anymore) or the stamina for a 16+ hour trek in a Uhaul. Bring on the movers!

Day 784 | Powering Through

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poweringthrough.jpg

If you haven't been able to tell through all the super fun and positive "bucket list" blog posts, things have actually been a bit rough around here. After our bout with hand, food, and mouth disease, I've been struggling with my back pain creeping in and some crazy wrist pain (to the point I couldn't pick anything up). On top of that, fireworks hit our house on the 4th of July (how does that happen?!?) and we woke up to $600 worth of damage to our siding (one week before we close on the house). Sheesh.

Instead of spending the rest of this post ranting about everything else that could be bumming me out these days (did I mention I lost my keys for 1.5 hours on Tuesday and was totally housebound because of this...not cool with only eight days left here!), I'm going to focus it on what helped me shift my mood: this little weed in our back alley.

Is that the most impressive thing ever? I don't know why but every time I look at it, it's a reminder that if you stay focused, keep trying, and power through the hard stuff, you can do it. Seem a little deep? Probably, it is only a little weed after all, but I appreciate the reminder and thought you might, too.

The last few weeks have been my concrete layer. I just need to keep pushing forward and someday, some day, there will be reward + relief.

Day 783 | A Final Museum

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If you're keeping track, we are one (1!) activity away from finishing our bucket list. Today we ventured down to the Mall for a trip to a museum. It wasn't the museum previously mentioned on our lists, you might notice. Chase decided to call an audible and select the National Museum of the American Indian instead, for two reasons. One, he could feed the ducks at the Capitol reflecting pool. Two, he wanted to play with the igloo. 

The American History Museum is always a crazy mess so I completely grabbed hold of this shift in plans and we went with it. There was a moment of panic when we found out the igloo wasn't going to open until later in the day, but luckily we befriended a sweet employee who made an exception for the cute kid who wanted this to be his last museum trip before he moves. Yeah, I laid it on a *little* thick, but super-sensitive Chase wasn't going to handle this turn of events well. In the end, good fortune won out and we were allowed ten minutes to build it up. Whew.

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks
  • Feed the ducks at the Capitol
  • Build an igloo at the National Museum of the American Indian

Day 782 | Wheaton Miniature Train

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The heat couldn't keep us down today. To Wheaton we went for one last ride on the infamous (to us, anyway) miniature train and carousel. We've been here a handful of times over the past two years and it never disappoints. It just might be one of my favorite outdoor activities in the area. I think the boys would agree.

And, to keep with the focus on nostalgia, here are some past miniature train posts:

Day 50
Day 150
Day 746


 DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 781 | Snack on the Track

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It was a rough morning. Lots of factors collided to challenge my ability to keep it together. By around 10:30am (yep, this all happened before then), I had pulled myself together enough to take the boys on an outing across the street to have a snack and watch the trains. It was as enjoyable (if not more) than I remember it being. Are you getting tired of me mentioning how much I'm going to miss this place, yet?

For the sake of nostalgia:
Snack on the track: Spring 2015
Snack on the track: Fall 2014

And for those keeping track:

 DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 779 | Pizza

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The sounds of exploding fireworks fills the air as I type. I'm reflecting back to Chase's first 4th and how nervous I was about him being woken up by all the loud pops. I've come so far in this journey of parenthood...but it's funny how new little anxieties still manage to creep in (but not about fireworks anymore) even though I'm experiened enough to know I shouldn't let such things get to me. It's a never ending journey, I guess.

With that said, the main subject of tonight's post: pizza. Another check on the bucket list! We ate our final &pizza meal. It's been awhile since we've enjoyed it's deliciousness (it's harder to visit since we moved off the Hill). I have to say, it didn't disappoint. We'll miss you, yummy pizza!

Day 778 | Errands

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We didn't pack a single box today. Don't worry, though, we crossed off a lot of other important things: a trip to the dump (Chris was really impressed with their efficiency), a trip to drop off donations, some much needed tidying around the house, some much needed rest for my back (yeah, it's acting up again), plus two pretty fantastic belly super hero tattoos.

So, all in all, a pretty productive day after all. Here's hoping we can get to a couple of boxes tomorrow.

Day 777 | Metro + Building Zone

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We buckled down to cross two more bucket list items off the list: a metro train ride and the National Building Museum.

It was a highly successful outing full of lots of playtime and giggles along the way.


DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 775 | Bad Guys

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Chase convinced me to watch the movie Fern Gully this afternoon. He's been suggesting that he's "old enough" to watch real Disney-type movies now. I decided to give Fern Gully a go.

How did it work out, you might ask? Not great. We watched about 20 minutes before he willingly agreed to turn it off because he was basically watching from behind me. He didn't cry during the movie itself (which has happened in the past during mild Thomas the Train movies), so that was a step in the right direction.

It went downhill from there, however. About an hour later, he started having a lot of questions about bad guys, both pretend and in real life (there is a black blob of a bad guy in Fern Gully that he was not a fan of). The sniffling and tears started soon after.

We tried several attempts at easing his mind and finally Chris came up with the idea to draw a picture of the bad guy from the movie (he read about it helping with fears) and Chase latched onto the idea whole-heartedly.

First he requested my drawing. I'm the one who watched the movie, after all. Once I finished mine (the top picture above: a pretty good representation of the black blob and the tree it was housed in, in my opinion), he ran it upstairs to have Chris draw the same image (the bottom picture). When Chris finished, Chase came back downstairs to inform me that "Dad's is gooder" than mine. Can you believe that?!? He didn't even know what he was drawing! Chase did clarify shortly after that mine was still "really good", so that was a small consolation.

The drawing strategy worked for a bit and our nightly routine ensued until bedtime (no surprise). He started to get worried about real life bad guys again and after a pretty lengthy Q+A, he fell asleep feeling comforted by the fact that we have a neighbor police officer (true) who is working tonight (maybe true?) and offered to drive by the house as many times as Chase wanted (definitely not-so-true). Chase requested "um, like...900 maybe," so Lieutenant OZ will be driving by 900 times tonight if he asks any of you.

Whatever works.

Day 774 | Friends

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Adorable photo of Chase, Robbe, Robert, and Caroline captured by Susan. Can you believe how good it is?!?
To make up for two weeks without any socializing (thanks, hand, foot and mouth disease), we're making the rounds this week...and we couldn't be happier.

We have the best friends ever. The boys have cried every time we've departed a friends' company this week. I think the departure is actually starting to sink in.

In case you're in the mood for a blast from the past, here are some of the past blog posts featuring Caroline (Chase's twinsie):

Day 773 | Berry Delicious

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What do you do with a surplus of berries in your fridge? Find as many delicious ways as possible to enjoy them. After all, what's more motivating to make you try new recipes than buckets of tempting blueberries and black raspberries?

  1. We had a delicious fresh berry yogurt parfait for breakfast.

  2. We enjoyed these yummy popsicles (sans sugar) for snack this afternoon.

  3. And I attempted my first-ever pound cake (this recipe) with berries + whipped cream for dessert tonight. Simply amazing.

Yeah, it was a good day.

Day 772 | Berries Galore

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It turns out that June 26 is our annual blueberry picking day. Amazing coincidence, right?

Two pounds of blueberries + two pounds of black raspberries + two small children with full bellies = a successful outing. We even had enough time to enjoy the play structures, mini tractors, and giant slides. Thank you, Butlers Orchard. We'll miss our frequent visits.

In case you're curious about what our visit from June 26, 2015 looked like, here you go. And here's the trip from 2014. So cute!

One more check off the list:

 DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park

Day 770 | A Baby Quilt

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It's been six years since I've attempted a quilting project. Now I remember why I needed such a serious hiatus. Quilting is no joke. But it's totally worth it.

This is the final baby quilt I made for my good friend, Mary Catherine. There's nothing more satisfying than completing a project like this. Was it perfect? Far far from it. Was it made with love for an incredibly special baby who I can't wait to meet? More than I can say. 

I hope that sweet little one enjoys her new quilt as much as I'll enjoy it being a part of her nursery.

Oh, and here's the pattern I followed, if you're feeling inspired.

Day 769 | Trampoline Park

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Man, we are rocking this bucket list. Today's adventure? The trampoline park. Again, ages two and four for this outing are much more enjoyable than 8 months and 2.5 years.

Check!

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park

Day 768 | Gravelly Point

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Another check mark on the bucket list. Today's adventure? Gravelly Point in Virginia. We watched airplanes take off right over our heads. It's been on my personal to-do list since moving to DC. Ten years later: check!

A double-the-time commute and grumpy Robbe couldn't even sour the experience. We'll call it a success.

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point

Day 767 | Take a Break Chair

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Chase might be the only four year old [ever] to not have to sit in the Take a Break Chair (where you go if you can't calm yourself down) for the entire school year. Yeah, that's a big deal.

As a joke, his teacher sent me this photo of him on the last day with the caption, "He made it all the way to the last day..." She quickly followed up with the smiling photo and said it was a joke. She said Chase was so excited to trick me. Hahahaha. 

They got me good. 

Day 766 | Yards Park

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It was the perfect day for an outing to Yards Park: hot and sunny.

We've spent four summers visiting this gem with kids that were not quite the right ages to fully appreciate it. Not this year. Turns out two and four are the ideal ages for two kiddos to play and entertain themselves with very little intervention from me. Woohoo!!

The downside? Chase insists that we need to make the trip down to the Yards Park wading pool one more time before we move. That means I'm not supposed to cross it off our bucket list yet...but I'm going to anyway. Don't tell him!

I'll include the updated bucket list when we cross something off:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point