Daddy-Daughter(s) Date

Last week Ed took Hazel and Ginger on their first official Daddy-daughter date. It was the sweetest thing you could imagine.

Sometime last winter we borrowed the movie "Mary Poppins" from the library. I thought the girls might like the music, didn't know if they could follow the story. Well, they LOVED it. I had to sit through it a few times answering their questions. Then, once they had the gist, and knew when the "scary parts" were coming up (like Michael and the mean men at the bank), they could watch on their own. And watch they did. We had it from the library so much that we finally bought the DVD for Hazel's birthday, plus this cute Mary Poppins doll. It suffices to say, we're fans.

So when I heard "Mary Poppins" the Broadway musical was coming to D.C., at the Kennedy Center, this summer, I took notice. I thought it through. We would have a new baby. Ginger would be just shy of 3 1/2. I bought three tickets and decided we would figure it out when the time came. We thought if Ginger couldn't stay up late enough, or sit through it, Hazel could take a friend instead. But in the end it would have just been cruel to take Hazel and not Ginger.

So last Friday I made sure they both took good afternoon naps. When they woke up they put on their best Sunday dresses. I unearthed my curling iron, which I honestly don't think I've used since my wedding nine years ago. The girls had no idea what it was so I had to explain it, and once I started curling their hair I remembered how inept I am at it, and why it had gone so long unused. I didn't even have any hairspray in the house to do it right, but it was the process that was fun. Here are the before-and-afters:Ed came home early to pick them up. He took them to dinner at the Kennedy Center Cafe before the show, where they shared prime rib, vegetables and chocolate pudding, with typically overpriced Mary Poppins souvenier cups of water. Then they took their seats.I got Ed's report of the evening first, so I would be able to make sense of the jumbling explanations the girls gave me all the next day.

"And there was a bad nanny in this one, and she went in a cage!" (Apparently the story is quite different in the stage show.)

"And Mom, there was no Mom in this one!" (Ginger had a hard time distinguishing Mrs. Banks from some of the other women in the play.)

"Mom, what's a butler?" (No Ellen, a butler instead.)

Despite a few bathroom emergencies, the long line for overpriced concessions at intermission, and a very tired Ginger who didn't want to stay for the second act (Ed persuaded her with "Step In Time", which is her favorite song and hadn't come on yet), it was a fabulous evening. I admit, I was jealous. But I also really wanted Ed to have this experience with the girls, and vice versa. I was asleep when they got home, but they came in with whispery giggles to kiss me goodnight. I hope they know they're the luckiest girls in the world.

So, what did Poppy and I do while they were gone? Got a salad from Wendy's for dinner (they have all new ones, have you seen?) Watched my recorded shows from the week - Top Chef and Burn Notice. I got Poppy down to sleep a few times but she kept waking up crying. I suspect she knew something was up - the house was too still and she missed her sisters. I didn't mind; I was a little lonely myself, so she stayed up with me and watched Michael Westin kick some drug dealer's butt. So satisfying. And finally, once she conked out on the couch next to me, I moved her to bed and went there myself. For me these days, nothing beats climbing into bed and falling immediately to sleep. Not even a spoonful of sugar.

We Make DC Look Good

We recently did a photo shoot of the girls with our favorite local photographer, Andrea Marie, in Georgetown.

Check them out on her blog. Be prepared to die.

National Building Museum

Last weekend Hazel's friend Levi had his birthday party at the National Building Museum. His dad is an architect so it seemed only fitting. I'd heard of the museum, and vaguely knew they had stuff for kids there, but I'd never gotten around to going, partially discouraged by the unknown parking situation. It was tight but we found a meter spot as someone was leaving. It's literally across the street from the Judiciary Square metro station, so maybe in the future we'd take the metro. As we entered the building, this is what we saw:
It was breathtaking. Cavernous. Palatial. I immediately envisioned bringing kids here on a cold or rainy day to run around, though the running part might not be allowed. Hazel was fascinated with the fountain and probably could have stood and watched it all day. But we were late for a party upstairs.
The party was great. Adorable. We started with building, of course.
And knocking down.
Then a NBM worker read us a book about trains, handed out engineer hats, and opened bins of craft materials for the kids to make their own train cars.



Then we sang Happy Birthday to Levi and ate cake and juice. The museum gave him a t-shirt from the gift shop, and everyone got pencils and patches to take home.

After the party we wandered around the museum a little. On the other side was this transportation street projection thing. It has sensors so when you stand on a bus, car or bike and then walk, the vehicle moves and stops with you. The girls were entranced. We probably hung out there for 20 minutes, and Hazel was sweating from running back and forth, and never tired of it. We finally had to pull her away, literally kicking and crying.
On the way out I popped my head in the Building Zone, a building playroom just for 2-to-6-year olds. We didn't have time to stay and play, but I put it on my mental list.
As you can see, I'm actually learning there are some cool things to do with kids in and around DC. And the parking and traffic so far have not even approached New York, so I'm getting braver and more confident to go into the city. Speaking of, check out my VGP post on Georgetown Cupcake - yum! And with spring and summer approaching, well, there's almost no end to the possibilities!

Thursday Field Trip: Botanic Garden

Last week the Thursday field trip was a visit to the U.S. Botanic Garden, just south of the Capitol on Capitol Hill. It was the maiden voyage of the new minivan into the city, and I lucked out with a close - and roomy! - metered spot, phew.

We came here with Ed in January when they had a massive miniature village & trains set up everywhere, and it was magical. This time it was a simpler, and less crowded, pleasure, but still a pleasure to wander through room after room of plants representative of different ecosystems and climates.
Everyone took turns looking at the map to decide where to go next.


In the west gallery was an interactive "Plants and Culture" exhibit, where we spent the most time. This table taught about scents, how they're extracted, and where they're used.
This one taught about plants and cultural rituals, like henna for tattooing, tabacco for smoking, coffee and chocolate for drinking.
And this column told about plants whose names are used for people names, like this one:

When we were done, it was raining outside, so we had to scrap our plans for a Capitol Hill picnic lunch. But since we had 30 minutes left on the meter, and a room-on-wheels, we sat in the van and had our picnic there. The girls fell asleep on the way home and I didn't even get lost.

Thursday Field Trip: Puppet Show

My friend Rebecca puts together "Thursday Field Trips" for a bunch of Mom friends. It's actually every other Thursday, with a big break over the winter holidays, but we just started up again, and with a bang. On March 5 we all drove downtown, actually found street parking (I keep thinking it's going to be as bad as New York but the few times I've gone haven't been), and gathered in the Smithsonian Discovery Theater for Bob Brown's Penguin Playground. Bob Brown has been doing marionette shows for years, and I even remember seeing him perform at Wolf Trap when I was little.The theater was a small room, about the size of two living rooms, with chairs around the edges for grown-ups, a taped aisle down the middle, and kids sitting on the floor. There was no photography allowed during the show. It was a cute performance - Bob came out in all black and had a number of penguin puppets he brought out for short skits like walking a tight rope, juggling, ice skating, etc., all set to upbeat charleston-style music. Most of the numbers also involved him talking to the puppets and them somehow disobeying or slightly disrespecting him so that the kids roared with laughter. In fact, I watched Hazel and she was absolutely undone with belly laughing, the kind that warms a mother to the heart. Ginger liked it too but wasn't catching everything Hazel was.

After the show we hung out by a wishing well in the hall before bundling back up for the trek to the car. It was so much fun, the kind of thing that might take me years to learn about and actually get around to doing on my own. So thank goodness for Thursday Field Trips!

In front of a spider sculpture outside the Hirschhorn (modern art) museum on the way back to the car.

New Year's Eve at the White House

I have a cousin named Aaron. He is the oldest of 11 children (this always amazes me), he is a recent graduate of UVA law school (last summer), and he is awesome. He also happens to work as a speech writer for the President at the White House. That's right, I've got someone on the inside.One of the things Aaron does is fact-checking for various speeches, so he is on the phone a lot. It's always fun to hear his stories of how people change vocal demeanor after he says, "Hi, this is Aaron Cummings calling from the White House." Except the pizza guys - they never believe it.

One of the perks of working for the President is that Aaron can give tours of the West Wing. This ain't no get-tickets-through-your-Congressman White House tour. These are private, after-hours, small group affairs offered only to those with connections. I knew Aaron takes his own personal time to do these, and with a new baby at home and the current administration's days numbered, I thought we might not be lucky enough to get in on one of these tours. But he called a few weeks ago with an opening on New Year's Eve and we jumped at the chance.

We met Aaron and the other four "tourists" - Aunt Janet, her roommate Pat, Aunt Merrilee and her father - in the frigid wind outside one of the gates by the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. We had our ID's handy for the couple of security points, then made our way into the complex. I badly wished I'd worn a hat - it was FREEZING. Aaron started our tour outside, and then inside, the Executive Office Building, which is right next to the White House. Aaron's office is just inside the EEOB; after all, he says,

"Proximity to power is power."

Aaron in the hall outside his office at the Executive Office Building

It was awesome. Having grown up near DC I developed a general boredom regarding museums, government, and tours with guides. But this was way different, and I'm way more mature now. It was actually fascinating, and while I have a mind like a sieve and cannot remember facts nor figures from one minute to the next, it was amazing to be in a room while Aaron told us the historical meetings, announcements, or events that took place there, decades ago. He pointed out architectural details, symbolic statues and engravings, and told the stories behind things like the brass railing on a staircase that President (was it Cleveland?) had installed because he had slipped on those stairs, and the porch on which President (I can't even remember which one) used to go out to smoke cigars.

Ed viewing pictures of past uses of Room 180

I was so impressed with the level of interesting-ness of the things he was telling us that I asked him what kind of training he'd gotten to give the tour (because other tour guides in DC could use it), and he said none. It was just a bunch of things he had picked up in reading different books.
Well. I just resigned myself to spending the evening in awe.

One example of how this post-Civil-War era building has been updated to support today's technology

The view of the White House from the EEOB

After the EOB we crossed the little driveway between the buildings and entered the West Wing. Saw the Navy Mess, the door to the Situation Room (closed), the Cabinet Room, the Roosevelt Room, the Oval Office (George was in Texas). There are several lobby/sitting areas throughout the wing, all decorated with beautiful art that Aaron knew details about. One of my favorite things were the photographs. Lining most hallways, staircases and some foyers were dozens, possibly 100+, recent photographs of the President in various settings, from a speech to troops to a meeting with the Italian president to wearing dirty jeans and a cowboy hat on his ranch. They were beautiful photos, and Aaron said they are constantly changed and updated to reflect the most recent events. The President also chooses his own art for the various meeting rooms, from an art catalog they have, and chooses his own rug and decor for the Oval Office.

We couldn't take pictures inside the West Wing, but we could in the Rose Garden and other areas outside. Aaron knew which president had added which porch and portico and who had done what where. Amazing.

Ed in the Rose Garden. The tree down off the tip of his nose is by the window to the Oval Office

The Press Room was pretty cool - it used to be an indoor swimming pool but is now a super high tech cozy meeting room. On our way out we saw the spot on the lawn where all the White House based news reports are made - they have to leave their equipment out there covered in tarps all the time. Finally we saw the Blair House across the street, where incoming presidents usually stay, and where the Obamas will be starting January 15. And we saw all the bleachers and scaffolding that are in progress for Inauguration Day.

Thank you again so much, Aaron, and Katy who was home with Baby Reuben, and my parents who were home with our kids. It was a perfect, and memorable, way to spend the last night of 2008!

My Baby Loves Disco...Does Yours?

After we'd lived in Brooklyn a few months I was talking with some neighborhood moms about things to do with kids and one of them told me about Baby Loves Disco. It was white hot new at the time (2005) and right up my alley.
The concept: one Saturday afternoon each month a real nightclub turns into a disco for munchkins, complete with a live DJ spinning 70's and 80's classics, healthy snacks, diaper changing stations, and fun dance gear like scarves, egg shakers and hula hoops.

From the website: "Started by professional dancer (and professional mom) Heather Murphy in Philadelphia, the idea was to create an alternative to the pre-packaged world of entertainment for young kids. 'We’re parents, we’re always looking for something new and different to do with the kids,' says Murphy whose lifestyle (like most of the baby disco parents) was changed when she gave birth to her 4 year old son Max. Make no mistake, this is NOT the Mickey Mouse club, and Barney is banned." Brooklyn was the second location to get its groove on, and from there it has spread like wildfire to 28 U.S. cities as well as Israel, Japan, Holland, Sweden, Poland and the U.K.

So I looked up the dates and put it on the calendar every month for two years and Ed was either working or there was some other conflict every time. Then Ginger was born and I gave up the hope of ever being a cool mom who did stuff like taking my kids to a disco dance party. Survival became the name of my game, and soon BLD fell off my radar.

So how do you think I felt when Beth Blenz-Clucas of Sugar Mountain PR, after reading my blog, contacted me to see if I would be interested in reviewing Baby Loves Disco in DC? Control, our radar is back on. I was over the moon and told her, "Put us on the list!" Of course after I'd committed, I learned Ed would be out of town at a conference, but no matter. I called our trusty babysitter Alicia, and while I could tell from her voice she thought I was crazy when I explained to her where we were going, she agreed to come with us.

So last Saturday the girls donned their dance skirts and we loaded into the car, Google directions in hand, and headed into the city, to the chants of "Dance Party! Dance Party!" I don't know DC well enough to know how scared I should have been in the NE neighborhood where the club (Rock and Roll Hotel) was located, so I tried not to think about it as we walked the 3 blocks from our parking space. The garbage, pigeons, and potholes made it feel like we were right back in Brooklyn, actually.

The place was rockin'. Imagine, if you will, a typical night club. Black walls, full bar with shelves of hard liquor, a stage at one end, a DJ cage and lots of flashing lights. (Kind of like the places in Georgetown I used to sneak into in high school.) Now add to that scene a roped off stroller parking area outside, a spread of juice boxes, goldfish and muffins on the bar, ceiling mounted bubble machines on a 10-minute timer, baskets of egg shakers and dancing scarves, mini tents and hula hoops on the stage, balloon animals taped up on the walls, and of course the ultimate necessity: a king-sized disco ball, and you've got Baby Loves Disco.
There were parents and kids of all shapes and sizes, and in addition to the DJ spinning classics such as Night Fever and YMCA not-too-loud-but-just-loud-enough, an MC (didn't catch his name) announcing dance competitions and the winners of freeze-dance (we tried, we honestly tried.)He also mentioned the VIP room upstairs, so we went to check it out. What we found was another bar and even more food - a tablecloth had been draped over the pool table, and there were fresh fruits and veggies, hummus and pita chips, more muffins and brownies, chips and salsa, and more juice boxes. We found a "quiet room" full of stuffed animals, couches and changing stations. There was a nail-painting corner, Greta Gonzalez was offering free face painting (I didn't want to wait in the line or deal with the mess), and a balloon master from BalloonTopia was making free balloon animals (Hazel got a frog but he didn't last long.) It was also more quiet and cool upstairs, a nice break from the disco inferno the downstairs had become once the morning nap crowd started showing up.But we'd come to dance so dance we did. Hazel was all about it, especially when the bubble machines came on. She's really got more of a gallop than a boogie but it's her thing. Ginger was a little overwhelmed by things and wanted to be held most of the time but she did get down and shake her squeezy buns for a few songs. Overall it was an awesome success, well worth the calculated nap manipulations I'd orchestrated for two days in preparation. Alicia even loved it.
Jealous? You should be. It's a great time, and probably even more fun to do with friends (I'm still working on getting those here.) It's in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Seattle and Portland, Chicago and Boulder. It's even in six cities in the UK for you expats, so get your rears over there and let's see the pictures. But if your town doesn't have it yet, don't despair. You can bring it there yourself (or better yet, get a friend to do it) - email Erica to get the ball rolling. (Utah could especially use it, and can you say...Culpeper?)