The day after Christmas we went to Richmond for the annual extended family Christmas celebration at Rita’s. I have been going with Justin to these since 2002! Wow! The celebration has dramatically changed over the years. Years ago there were tons of young kids and we all gave presents to everyone. Fast forward to present and most the cousins are grown. The young kids are now Avery, Emerson, and Harper and Heather’s kids. Some people show up, others don’t and the celebration is now centered around the meal and not gift giving and is the celebration seems much shorter than in years past (although I think it’s probably the same).
Anyway, the ride to Richmond was miserable….it took us close to 4 hours to get there and Avery threw up about 2 ½ hours into the ride. Thankfully Justin did a load of laundry when we got to Rita’s and cleaned out the car there so we didn’t have to ride the whole way home with the smell of vomit in the car. Thankfully the ride home took us just over 2 hours and passed by so quickly….probably because along with the kids I was dozing too, something I don’t generally do when Justin is driving.
Since we got back home in record time, we didn’t have to stop at a fast food place for dinner, which was great, but also I hadn’t planned anything at home and it was still close to 7:00. I decided it was the perfect night for Popcorn and a movie! The girls went nuts when I told them we would be having popcorn for dinner. Justin went the extra mile and while the girls and I got situated on the couch in the den, Justin put on his apron, came up with an accent that ranged from French to British to Indian and was HILARIOUS, and the next thing we knew Pierre the Popcorn guy was at our service for the next half hour. He brought us popcorn, drinks, and apple slices! I don’t think we heard the first half hour of the movie since Pierre had us in constant laughter. After about a half hour, Pierre’s shift was over and Justin joined us for the rest of family movie night.
Ludmila’s parents came to visit her for a few days after Christmas and she took the time off and is staying with them and sightseeing. Wednesday Ludmila and her parents came over for dinner. Ludmila requested my famous “chicken balls”. So I made chicken balls along with penne with a garlic lemon wine sauce topped with roasted heirloom tomatoes and basil accompanied with a mixed greens salad with roasted chickpeas, homemade croutons, and balsamic dressing. I should have taken a picture as the plating looked AMAZING but I didn’t want to come across as cocky (even though I was doing the cocky dance in my head). Anyway, dinner tasted as delicious as it looked and I think her parents really enjoyed it. I know her mom especially was nervous about meeting the girls. She was concerned the girls wouldn’t like her, but all three girls took to Ludmila’s parents and I think her parents really enjoyed getting to experience the bond that Ludmila has with the girls. We ALL played ring around the rosie together and I think it brought out the inner kid in all of us! And Maddy style, we posed for a few pictures!
The next night was New Years Eve and our plans were to go to the Brophy’s and spend the night along with the Niday’s. Well the night prior Harper ended up getting sick…fever of 102 and throwing up mucous….very unusual for her. She seemed okay the morning of New Year’s Eve but having just had a fever and not really knowing if it would occur the following night we didn’t think it was the smartest thing to spend the night out or expose her to our friends. I was disappointed but since we see the Brophy’s and the Niday’s fairly regularly I wasn’t entirely disappointed. My parents ended up coming over to our house around 6:00 and they brought Chinese food. The food was okay but I didn’t have any dinner plans since we had intended on being out. The girls went down before 9:00 and other than the half of glass of wine I had at dinner, I didn’t have anything more to drink. We did stay up and I watched some of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special from Times Square (a must of mine since I was about age 10 for it to truly feel like New Years Eve). Justin and I kissed at midnight and were in bed by 12:15…well actually I was in bed with Harper by 12:15 as she woke up a few minutes after midnight and refused to go back down in her room. So she slept in my bed and Justin slept on the couch. The girls didn’t wake up until almost 8:30 and as I told Justin I haven’t woken up feeling so good on New Year’s Day in quite some time! It actually felt wonderful to have had basically no alcohol the night before! Normally I get kind of bummed when I don’t do something fun for New Year’s but I felt totally content with staying at home and celebrating in my sweatpants! And by the way, I realized this was the 15 (YES 15th) New Year’s Eve that Justin and I have spent together…CRAZY!!!
New Year’s Day we managed to get out of the house by 10:30 and we headed to D.C via the metro! We actually first drove to Arlington and visited Daddy’s office…something the girls have been excited to do since Justin first told them of his intentions to bring them there over a year ago! We explored the totally open space concept and then went to lunch next door at the Green Turtle. Then it was finally time….we packed up the stroller and then walked to the Ballston metro. The whole car ride to Ballston Avery kept asking questions about the metro being underground and if she would get dirty. She couldn’t quite grasp the concept of something being built underground. Avery was a little scared at first but quickly overcame that fear. Harper on the other hand was clenching Justin’s hand the entire time to the Smithsonian stop. Here we are awaiting for the metro. 
(None of the pictures are the best quality as we were using our iPhones and it was cold outside so not only were Justin and I in a rush to take the pictures, but the girls wouldn’t stay still for any picture…so all these pictures are more about documenting the event than they are good pictures). We got off at the Smithsonian exit and made our way to the Smithsonian. 
We spent some time exploring a few of the exhibits at the Smithsonian museum. 
Then the girls talked us into getting some popcorn. Emerson kept feeding the pigeons, which was scaring the crap out of Avery. 
This next picture of Harper I took and is such a bad angle that it makes her look like a giant with a pedestrian sign coming out of her head, but it makes me laugh.
We then made our way to the Washington Monument at the girl’s request, where they ran around for a few minutes. 
We headed into the Freer muesuem for a few but only stayed in for a few minutes. Harper got a kick out of the Buddha’s. Avery was trying to figure out where the arts and crafts were. The girls started to get a little cranky in there and it was well after 3:00 so we decided to call it a day and head back to the Metro. All the girls loved the metro ride back and even moved seats a few times throughout the ride. Emerson was standing and trying to balance without holding on. 
The girls did great and it was relatively easy to get down there and it was fun! I’m sure we will be doing it again sometime soon. The girls were exhausted and it wasn’t long before we got out of the parking lot that all three of them were out in the car. At dinner, we all said several things about our D.C. Metro trip that we enjoyed most!