Funk Family Tours: Harper's Ferry

Perhaps you are all tired of my constant praise of Harper's Ferry? If so, too bad. Here is another Harper's Ferry post. Paige, of course, has heard of my love for Harper's Ferry. She wanted to experience it for herself, and I do not think she was disappointed. It was my third trip, and I'm already planning the next one.

Shall we just get the obligatory train chatter out of the way at the beginning? Beckett had a fabulous time in Harper's Ferry. I think we saw 5 trains.

Every time we heard a train Beckett and Nate ran up these stairs. Doesn't Beckett look smashing in these sunglasses? No? Well, they are no more. B broke them on the way home and mourned profusely.

I try not to think about how many times Nate has let my son stand on train tracks.

We also got ice cream/ custard/ slushies (for the Funk boys) from our favorite ice cream shop. They liked it. We ate it in my favorite courtyard.

Now I want to do a little comparison for everyone. Below you can see what the Funk boys did during the ice cream-eating portion of our trip. 

 And this is what my kids did:

I think they each had about 3 spoonfuls of ice cream, and they NEVER stopped moving. The Funks? They each ate an entire slushy.

So, we arrived in Harper's Ferry late in the afternoon due in part to a late start on our end and in part to horrendous traffic in Frederick. On the plus side, we came late enough that we did not have to pay to enter the park. On the down side, all the museums were closed. I think we were all okay with that. We spent our time doing the outdoorsy stuff. We looked out at the Shenandoah and Potamac rivers. We admired the church and the cliffs. We walked across the bridge.We sat on this bench.

And then we threw rocks in the river. I want everyone to keep in mind that we had four boys with us. Four. This portion of the time was a huge success because all boys love throwing rocks in the water.

Because it was so fun the first time, let's do another comparison, shall we? Here are Paige's kids throwing rocks into the water. Notice how far away they are from the river. Notice how placid and peaceful they look.

 Now here are my kids:

Beckett is doing his crazy, excited arm flap and fake giggling. Felix insisted on practically sitting int he river, and throwing rocks into the water apparently turns him into a complete maniac.

Paige and I felt extra good about our trip to Harper's Ferry because just the night before we had gone to my book club where we discussed Richard Louv's The Last Child in the Woods and here we were, the very next day, with our children in nature.

All that rock throwing had worked up an appetite so we went and ate dinner on one of the restaurant patios. Felix was crazy during dinner (he is consistent), so he got to go on two walks with Nate during our dinner time: while we were waiting for our food and while we were paying. Apparently the walks included knocking on people's doors and sitting in the road.

We thought it was a pretty fabulous day with fun-filled, boy-friendly activities, but as we were loading up the car to go home A told us his favorite part of the day was getting gas at the gas station.
It must have been a really exciting stop at the gas station because we are pretty sure he loved everything else we did too.

Funk Family Tours: Smithsonian Highlights

I dubbed our trip to the District "The Smithsonian Highlights Tour." With four boys under five our strategy for conquering Washington was to keep moving (and split up when necessary).

Step 1: Ride the Metro

Everywhere we went we had to take two cars. Nate and I vastly prefer taking the metro into Washington anyway (whenever we drive we seem to get caught in horrific traffic on the way home no matter what day it is), and as all the boys were under five the train ride for them was free. The metro is fun for the kids too, and while Paige's boys weren't quite as enamored with the train as Beckett (and really who is?), they still really liked it.

Step 2: Fuel Up

We got to the city around 11:30 and went straight to the atrium at the Smithsonian American Art Museum where we all ate our packed lunch.

Step 3: Dissertation Highlights

The Smithsonian American Art Museum houses many of the works of art I wrote about in my dissertation, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show the real deal to Paige. We visited Martha Graham and Paige made me pose like the illustrious dancer. Martha is housed in the lovely mezzanine pictured below.

We made a quick jaunt through the visible storage because it is so incredible and then paid tribute to H. Lyman Sayen's The Thundershower, where I made Paige pose like the dancers. Pay back.

This speedy race through the Smithsonian American Art Museum was made possible by our awesome husbands who wrangled the children through the museum on their own.

Step 4: Walk to the Sculpture Gardens

Along the way we paused for a photo-op with the Capitol Building. When we arrived at the sculpture gardens we learned that Felix had lost one of his shoes. Apparently he threw it out of the stroller at some point, so I walked all the way back to the Smithsonian American Art Museum because we were sure it was in the atrium. It wasn't. Felix remained shoeless for the rest of the visit, and I had to buy him a new pair after the Funks went home.

Step 5: Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is huge and has lots of fabulous exhibits. We saw the dinosaurs, and actually, I missed most of them because as aforementioned I was walking all the way back to the art museum hoping to find Felix's shoe. Oh well, I heard that the dinosaurs were well loved by everyone, especially Peter and the Funk boys.

Step 6: The Transportation Exhibition at the National History Museum.

We have a train lover in the family (reiterated in case you could have possibly missed that fact), so this exhibit was a big hit.

A Conestoga wagon and our wagon.

Step 6.5: The Star Spangled Banner

To round out the Funk's Fort McHenry experience we took turns seeing the Star Spangled Banner. The kids stayed in the ice cream shop with alternating parents while the guys and the girls ran upstairs to see the flag. Paige and I also zipped through the First Ladies' Dresses.

Step 7: The Peacock Room

I love, love, love James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room, and I wanted Paige to see it. So Paige and I booked it across the Mall to the Freer Gallery while the boys headed to the Washington Monument.

Step 8: The Washington Monument

The idea behind stopping at the Washington Monument was that it would give everyone a nice view of the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House. Our plans were thwarted by the fences and scaffolding that is earthquake-proofing the monument once again.

Regardless, we managed to get a shot with the Funks and the White House while Beckett danced like Michael Jackson.

Step 9: Dinner at the Old Post Office Building and then a trip up the elevator

Everyone got to do something they really wanted to do in Washington. Paige and I got to see the art. Peter got to see the dinosaurs. And Nate got to ride this elevator. Back when Nate lived in D.C. he wanted to ride this elevator, but it was closed after 9/11, so he never had the chance until now. On the ride up we met some lovely fellow Cougars who have three kids at BYU. Then we enjoyed the magnificent views while the kids were absolutely crazy.

I'd definitely recommend taking a ride up this elevator if you are down in the District. Great views and it's cool and breezy up there.

Step 10: Metro our tired bodies home

Funk Family Tours: Fort McHenry, Playgrounds, and the National Zoo

My sister and her family came to visit! We had a lot of fun and packed in some great day trips.

On our first day together we went to Fort McHenry, the home of the original Star Spangled Banner. It was pretty rainy, but that made for absolutely no crowds. I was actually able to watch the movie in the visitor's museum, something that was previously impossible due to kids mixed with crowds.

Paige's crew in the gateway to the fort.

Both the Funks and the Stephens both rocked the stacked double stroller this week.

On day two, we sent the Funks to the National Air and Space Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to see the Space Shuttle. When they got home we went to the playground.

I'm now skipping ahead a few days because our other tours deserve their own blog posts, but on Saturday we braved the weather and the crowds at the National Zoo. We tried a new route this time and drove to Bethesda and then took the metro in. 

We were glad we did because all the zoo parking lots were full. 

I didn't take many pictures at the zoo. 

We got a glimpse of the Giant Panda.

Paige and I agreed that the panda is so strange and doesn't quite look real.

All of the kids found something to love at the zoo. A. loved the reptile house and spent a long time looking closely at every animal. C. loved the invertebrates and told us that every jelly fish and anemone was "beautiful." Beckett loved the beavers on the American Trail. The beavers have a river with a waterfall and a tunnel. Beckett was running back and forth watching and exclaiming about how the "beaver was swimming. He's going in a tunnel. He's running." Paige and I loved the American Trail too. We went there at the end of the day when most of the exhibits were already closed. It had turned into a nice evening, and we enjoyed seeing the beavers, seals, sea lions, and bald eagle. 

Best Library Finds (6)

One Gorilla is beautifully illustrated. Every page has a different group of primates. This book would be a real winner for an animal lover. Beckett likes it too, and he isn't an animal fanatic.

Trainstop is a wordless picture book. This is our second time checking it out from the library, and I love the way the book illustrates imagination. It's a good little introduction to fantasy as well. This is definitely a good pick for train lovers.

Little Owl Lost is my favorite of the bunch and perhaps Beckett's as well. I love just about everything about this book: the story, the illustrations, the colors, the font. The design is basically perfect. Little Owl falls from his nest and a squirrel and a frog help him find his mama.

Almost 4

It's not Beckett's official birthday yet, but we've already celebrated. We decided to hold Beckett's birthday a little early this year. The kid has been 90% potty trained for quite some time, but he refused to wear underwear until his birthday. We kept telling him that he was capable of wearing underwear, and he would reply, "I wear underwear for my birthday." So we had his birthday. We are tricky like that and have the advantage of being able to tell time and understand the calendar.

The night before the birthday celebration I told Beckett the next day was a very special day for him, and he said, "Is it my birthday?" On the morning of his "birthday" Beckett came downstairs and said first thing, "It's my birthday. I need to wear underwear." So we opened a present with underwear bright and early and never looked back.

Beckett's only request for his birthday was that he have a yellow cake. Yellow is his favorite color, and I'm pretty sure he meant the frosting should be yellow because he knows about decorating cakes but not about different flavors of cakes. Beckett helped me make the cake. I made yummy chocolate frosting and then we decorated it with the yellow frosting.

Turning four is awesome. Everything was so exciting; the presents (even the present of pajamas and underwear), the cake, the candles. I kind of wish it could be Beckett's birthday more often. He was so happy and cheerful all day long. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about four. I can already see Beckett changing back into the cute kid we knew before he morphed into a demon 3-year-old.

We had our good friends and neighbors over for cake and ice cream. A couple days later I took a picture of the 4-year-old friends (and little sister) under the 4 banner.

After the party Nate and Felix took naps, and I took Beckett out for a photo shoot. Most of the pictures turned out pretty ridiculous:

 But we got a couple of kind of good ones.

 Happy birthday Beckett. I'm so glad you are 4 (almost).

Boys

JoLee is in NYC this weekend at Book Expo America with her friend Jessica. I'm alone with the two boys doing boy stuff.

The first night, Friday, did not go so well. I needed to get Beckett some underwear, so we went to Target. The car radio was tuned into Delilah's, "Girls night out". Then I found out that all the 4-year-old underwear was sold out. Meanwhile Felix took an interest in a My Little Pony doll. Then I noticed all the glazed looks on the faces of the other dudes in the store. That's when I realized that buying underwear at the Target was no way to spend a Friday night. We promptly headed to the monster playground where Felix fell down and skinned his knee. At that point, things were starting to look up for us boys.

On Saturday we went to the skills park at Rockburn and ran through the BMX track. Beckett was quite skilled at the curves and the jumps (while on foot). We also hiked some of the trails. Then we went to my office and drank soda, played pool, and made photo copies of our hands. We rounded off the night with a trip to Costco where we ate hot dogs, pizza, and cookies. On our way home we listened to "The Boys" from the Big River soundtrack and "Moves Like Jagger" from Maroon 5 (a.k.a the move-it song); that's when Beckett said, "I no miss Mommy". Of course he also said, "Daddy is nicer than Mommy" and "Daddy sings better than Mommy", which can't possibly be true. That guy is going to be a great salesman if he keeps that up. Felix doesn't talk, so I can't say for sure if he misses mom or not, but he did look content with all that chocolate covering his face.


On Sunday morning we had a breakthrough. Beckett pee'd at the toilet standing up. I told him the previous night that I would buy him a new train app on the iPad if he would pee standing up. The next morning I awoke to cheers of ,"I did it!" Beckett's week spot is obviously the iPad. I explained to him that now he can pee anywhere -- school, the park, church, even dad's office. He liked that idea a lot.

In summary, I'd say our boys weekend was really successful. We had a lot of fun without actually breaking anything. Here is a partial summary by the numbers:

• Head wounds: 3
• Scraped knees: 1
• Pizza meals eaten: 4
• Hours playing the iPad: not quantified
• Late nights playing video games: 1
• Phone calls to Mom: 2
• Bathroom breakthroughs: 1