Saturday, June 20, 2009

a lot of mumbo jumbo

So this post is a bunch of posts all wrapped into one. First off I want to start by wishing all the great fathers in my life a HAPPY FATHERS DAY! That includes everyone to my husband, my two dads, my grandpa, all of my brothers, and brother-in-law. You are all great fathers and I think the world of you all. To my husband thank you for everything you do for Porter and I. You work so hard to make our lives better and we appreciate it so much. I love watching you with our little man, you are a great father! The proof is in the pudding, there is no doubt that little boy loves his daddy!!




















To my dad -you have taught me so much throughout my life & and love you more than you know! You are a great man and I look up to you so much! Thank you for everything and thank you for being a great PaPa to Porter. I wish I could be there to give you a hug but know that we all love you so much!


























To my other Dad-I guess you are part of my family now! j/k (You know people only speak the truth two places in prayers and on their blogs) You have always treated me like I was part of the fam. Thanks for raising such a great son, being such a great dad to the both of us, giving good advice, and being a great Grandfather to Porter or should I say 24/7! We appreciate everything you do for us!




















To my Gramps what can I say you are one of kind! I grew up with one Grandpa in my life, I am " Gramps' Girl." I love you so much and love all of our conversations. You always make me laugh with all of your craziness. We all love you and hope you have a good day!























Second on the list, the other day we went on one of our walks to show Porter the ducks. This kid really goes crazy for them. His Grandma Daniels gave him this book for Christmas called " One Duck Stuck." It is his favorite book, I read it to him all the time and every time he laughs and kicks-he loves it! So when Kev took him out in the middle of all the ducks he really, really loved it.







































Third on the list apparently Porter is a huge fan of the newspaper " Politico." I know most of you will think this pictures is posed, but it is not! On our walks Porter likes to lean forward and grab things out of the basket underneath the stroller. Well this time he pulled out his dad's newspaper and held it up, looking at it for the longest time like he was reading it! People would pass by and say, " Hey look that baby is reading Politico!" Kevin and me got a good laugh out of it.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Obama in the House

So the other day we were sight seeing and we decided to take a walk down to see the White House. You will never believe who we saw, you guessed it Pres. Obama! Can you believe it, well if you can't that's because it didn't happen!!! Ha Ha I know I had some of you going! One thing I do know is that this city is crazy for anything and everything Barrack. All of your regular tourist shops are now Barrack Obama shops. Some of the stuff they have really cracks me up! So I decided I would gather pictures of some of my favorite, crazy shirts they have. Here are just a few and I am sure there will be more post like this one:





























































This one is my favorite















Also, Porter & I took a little morning trip up to the Botanic Gardens. It is a Conservatory full of different plant life and it really is the coolest little place. Each little conservatory has plant life from different climates. My favorite was the jungle it was so pretty, I could have stayed in there all day. They also have a part of the building where there are different sculptures and items people have made from plants.
















Porter on the butterfly bench
















These are high heal shoes made from leaves and the heals are made from bark

















This is the Garden Conservatory, it was so pretty


















This is on level two of the Jungle Conservatory















I just thought this flower was so pretty



















The bridge in the Jungle area




































This is a big sculpture of area

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Baseball, Indian Museum, & The Capitol

Tuesday night we took Porter to his first baseball game. Right when we left it started to down pour, so the game got put on rain delay for a couple of hours. But, that was ok with us we had a lot of fun just walking around the stadium and buying Porter his first Nationals cap! The game didn't start until almost 9:00, we were afraid we wouldn't be able to stay that long. But, Porter was so good, he loved it! He would clap, he loved the players, and even sat in his own seat like a big kid and watched the game. Saturday we went and enjoyed the day at the Indian Museum. They have a lot of really cool things there. Also, we took our nightly walk to the Capitol. It is so pretty up there. Here are some pics from the game, the museum, and the Capitol!

















Isn't he cute? Porter watching the game!!










Porter & Dad

















Porter & Mom and my lovely rain poncho













Porter & Me and a rug from the Indian Museum



























The Capitol

















Friday, June 12, 2009

National Mall

Yesterday night we went out to the mall. We have been there a couple of times, but never had our camera, and never went through the whole thing. Yesterday, despite the humidity we decide to give it a go! We both really love the National Mall and all of the wonderful monuments they have there. Our favorite however, is the Vietnam Wall. There is something really touching and personal about that particular monument. It so simple just a wall with names. But seeing all those thousands of names of people who gave their lives is in the name of freedom is very touching. Every time you walk through the mall you come out with a greater appreciation for this great country, for its history, and for the brave men and women who fight for it. This countries history is so rich and so interesting! We had a great night and are really loving our time here!















Us with the White House in the background















Porter and Me by the Vietnam Wall






























Porter and Dad with the Washington Memorial in the background




























Korean War Memorial










































The Capitol we get to look at this everynight coming home

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Future Art Critic

So we live across the street from the National Portrait Gallery. I am not a art person by any means but I thought it might be cool to check out. It is a really cool building and I actually really enjoyed going through it. Porter really loved it too, he loved making sure that his voice was heard by all. He has really discovered echoes, so you have all these art people in deep contemplation about the paintings and their deeper meaning. Then there is Porter screaming and yelling "DADA" over and over again. Here are some pictures from our adventures at the Portrait Gallery!




This picture was my favorite -I just thought it was really pretty!
This picture of Joseph Smith is also in the Gallery along with one of Brigham Young

They have a whole wing dedicated to the Civil War, of course I loved that-here is Porter with a picture of Robert E. Lee
Porter & Ulyess S. Grant
Porter & Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Porter and his sun hat

Sunday, June 7, 2009

God Bless The Crazies

So growing up around my family I have had my share of observing crazies!!! However, DC is chuck full of them and they crack me up! That is my favorite part about this place I could watch them all day!! And mom stop right where your at, NO I DON'T GO UP AND TALK TO THEM OR GET TO CLOSE- AND I KNOW I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL I AM NOT IN AURORA! So with that said here are a few of my favorite moments courtsey of the crazies.

* Second day here me and the fam walking down to the Smithsonian. We stop at a vendor owned by a small Asian man to get a refreshing drink of water. A very old African American homeless man sneaks up behind me and grabs a water and shoves it in his bag! Very sneaky or at least he thought so. The vendor see him and starts yelling at him -nobody can understand anything that is coming out of his mouth. The very old man then starts screaming bad words at him and walks off with the unpaid water! The funniness in this comes from the two people who were fighting - a very skinny Asian and a old as the hills homeless man! Nether could hurt a fly both thought they were going to kick some ass!!
* On Wednesday Porter and I are walking home from a afternoon out! All of the sudden behind me I hear BEEP, BEEP, HONK, HONK--being yelled very loudly. So I get out of the way and see a man who looks like Mckfoley the wrestler! All dressed in black with a crazy hat on he is just singing to himself and loving life. Then he looks at Pdiddy and as he walks away yells " Hey there little dude, Jesus loves the children!" " Yea everyone Jesus loves the children!" Porter loved him and what he had to say.
* Man on the metro keeps yelling every two seconds " I am a Wild Child, God Bless Ya!"
* I saved the best for last! Yesterday we were walking home from the grocery store. When this man started yelling, " Have you ever seen an angel walk?" He just kept talking like somebody was right next to him! Then he walks up to this other homeless man and starts to take the change out of his cup! He said, " Come here let me see that." Sticks his hand right in the cup for some money! The other homeless man has a big problem with this and they proceed to get in a fight!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Tourist

So in the week that we have been here we have been able to get out and see a lot of this great city! The big part is that we don't have to wear ourselves out we just go and take our time!! We have been able to go through completely over several days the American History and Natural History Museums. Porter and I were able to go through the American Portrait Museum, and surprisingly I really enjoyed that. We went to the movie Night At The Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian @ the IMAX Theatre in the Natural History Museum. Today, we went to the D.C. Zoo, which Porter really loved! The Panda's were really cool and they Gorillas were awesome, they were wrestling-Kevin got a huge kick out of that! Here are some pictures of our past weeks adventures! We will take better ones once our camera is working!














Porter @ Clyde's enjoying Ice Cream!
















Porter, Me, and Theodore outside the IMAX

















The Washington Monument on are Sunday Stroll
















WWII Memorial -under the Wyoming sign

















I love this pic-the sunset is so pretty












My favorite President














Porter the tourist-enjoying a cookie break














National History Museum-Porter outside the ocean exhibit












Every time we go for a walk, Porter leans as far out of his stroller as possible to take in all the sights and sounds! P.S. he is a huge fan of the pigeons and the beggars!!

















National History Museum -Porter, Me, and the giant turtle

















Porter and his friends-

















We loved this Gorilla he was posing for us the whole time! This was his thinker pose