Disney Date Night…with Liam
June 3, 2012 at 5:16 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: restaurants, nights out, Florida, Disney
Three months ago I reserved us a table at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Epcot Center, table for three, just in case. I arranged with our babysitter a month in advance, and James and I had planned to spend the whole day at Epcot riding rides, chowing on some awesome steak, and staying for the fireworks show at closing. But, alas, that plan wasn’t in the cards.
First the sitter called in sick. Then, in the intervening three months, work has gotten hellacious for James. So at 5:30, when we all piled in the car to drive to Disney, I had a grumpy husband in the passenger seat and a whining toddler in the back. I didn’t even mind that we hadn’t gotten to spend the whole day at Epcot – it was 93 degrees and sunny, so perhaps that was for the best – but, dammit, I wanted to enjoy my dinner!
As if by magic, once we rolled Liam’s stroller past the big Epcot ball, our moods elevated. Liam cried out, “I see the big ball mommy!” and “Look, it’s the monorail!” It was manageably warm, and the crowds weren’t too bad. We killed a little time taking Liam through the hedge maze in the English pavilion, and the running around did him some good. It did them both some good. Though James perked up the most when his appetizer arrived: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup made with Moosehead beer and “Nueske’s” Bacon. Whatever that means. It was delicious, especially when dipped with big loaves of pretzel bread. Liam happily munched on the bread offerings, downing two cups of chocolate milk in the process.
My steak arrived, the “Le Cellier” Mushroom Filet Mignon, AAA Canadian Beef Tenderloin with Wild Mushroom Risotto, and it was. To. Die. For. Seriously, the best steak I’ve ever eaten. Even in Kansas City, land of steaks and barbecue. It was better than J. Gilberts. It was better than Pierponts, even, and comparably priced. We ordered a salmon fillet, carrots, and french fries for Liam off the kid’s menu (three guesses which item he actually ate), and even his fries were superb. I might have helped him out a little with those.
Paired with the recommended pinot noir, I contentedly wolfed down my meat while my dainty hubby ate half of his overcooked (IMHO) New York strip. (Overcooked to his liking, mind you. These chefs know how to cook steak!). Stuffed to the gills, I couldn’t leave without trying dessert, so we decided to split the Maple Crème Brulee. James ordered a glass of the Neige Apple – an ice apple wine – and our server graciously poured us each a tiny glass. He even came over with a bottle and told us all about the tour he went on in Quebec. Fascinating that they actually pick the apples when they’re frozen on the tree.
I had dreaded taking Liam along for dinner, but he turned out to be a well-behaved, if not entertaining, dinner guest. He stayed in his seat, asking if we were in “the cave,” which I guess James had told him because Liam probably didn’t know what a cellar was. He talked and talked and talked and talked, making James and I laugh at times with his innocent observations. After finishing his chocolate milk, he said, “Mommy, I really sucked that down!” Something I tell him all the time. When I told him we’d ask our waiter for another one, I could see him looking around, and a few minutes later he loudly shouted, pointing, “Is that our guy?” Sure enough, it was. Half the time I can’t even remember what our server looks like. What a smart boy. Of course we had to sit through the usual banter: Does daddy have a pee pee? Does mommy have a pee pee? Does our waiter have a pee pee? Potty training has made him genitally obsessed. Not once did he cry, whine, or insist we leave. The only time he got out of his seat was the check out what daddy was putting in the “to-go” box. Then he happily returned to his seat and waited for us to pay the bill.
After dinner we walked around the Canada pavilion a bit, admiring the big waterfall. James didn’t want to stay the extra 30 minutes for the fireworks, but I figured we’d have plenty of other opportunities to see them another time. We’re already planning another Epcot date day (or two!) during the Food and Wine Festival. Our waiter said they serve that cheddar cheese soup at their booth, and we’ll be the first in line, for sure.
St. Augustine
November 11, 2011 at 9:10 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Florida, museums, photos, restaurants, video
James had Veteran’s Day off, so we headed to St. Augustine for a day trip. While there we saw the Castillo de San Marcos, a 17th century Spanish fort with the distinction of being the oldest one of its kind. Liam had a great time climbing around on the battlements, and we made it there just in time to see the re-enactment guys shoot off a cannon. Sweet!
After a walk through the old historic district, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Crazy Dogs (yum!), then we hiked to Whetstone Chocolates for some dessert and a tour. We ended up skipping the tour – we just missed one, and we’d have to wait around awhile for the next one – but we did partake in some pralines and fudge. Liam had a marshmallow dipped in chocolate and sprinkles on a stick. He enjoyed it very much. What’s not to love?
Bellies full, we trekked back to the new Pirate and Treasure Museum, which was totally awesome! Liam could steer the ship and light a cannon (complete with sound-effects. Boom!). They had a bunch of genuine artifacts recently found right in St. Augustine. And a lot of cool animatronic pirates fashioned by the guys at Disney. We had quite a shipping spree in the gift shop. Liam’s been into wearing hats at home, so we bought him a pirate hat for his collection. And a pirate ship bath toy, which is amusing him as I write this.
Here are some more photos from our trip. Enjoy!
Disney World for the Uninitiated
November 8, 2011 at 10:22 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Disney, Florida, photos, restaurants
Actually, we almost didn’t go. We’d spent the morning at the dentist (Liam only watched again), and after a brief lunch at home, we went back out to the DMV for James’ new driver’s license, then to the AAA office to pick up our discounted Disney World Annual Passes. Included with these passes is free parking, entrance to any of the four parks any day of the year, and discounts at various restaurants (lunch only, bah!) and shops. It was a hard sell for Liam. He’d been whining for more than an hour, “I just want to go to the paaaark!” But then James mentioned the monorail, and all was good. Sort of. The whining changed to, “We take the train to the NEW house! We go home!”
After squaring things away at the ticket booth, we hopped on the monorail to appease our harshest critic. Then it was time to sell it again. “Liam, we’re going to go see daddy’s castle!” See, whenever Liam sees the Disney logo, or any castles in any cartoons, for that matter, he exclaims, “That’s daddy’s castle!” We thought this would really float his boat. But the best we got was the silent treatment while we pushed him in the stroller. Whatever.
I could tell James was totally in heaven. He acted as my own personal tour guide, pointing out his favorite rides as a kid (Pirates of the Caribbean, of course! And Space Mountain) and marveling at how small everything looked to him now. The crowds were moderate, though still more people than I cared to bump into with the stroller. I actually liked the Tomorrowland section best, with all the kitchy 60’s future tech stuff. Liam had a snack and seemed to perk up a bit, requesting to get out of the stroller. Truth be told, I didn’t really feel like Magic Kingdom lived up to the hype. But, having bypassed all of the rides and shops, I wouldn’t say we experienced it the way we should have. What I did see was a lot of potential fun, both for date night and for when Liam gets a little older. On our way out we saw a steam engine train that circles the park, and Liam got very excited. We didn’t have time to ride it (tummies grumbling, time for dinner!), but we’re thinking of heading back next weekend to give it a try.
Back on the monorail we headed over to Epcot to get some dinner. They feature restaurants with themes from all over the world. We also caught the tail end of Taste of Epcot, so there were gobs of small kiosks offering food from additional countries on small plates for a small fee. If we hadn’t had Liam in tow, refusing to sit in the stroller and insisting he be carried, we probably would have just sampled that stuff for dinner. Instead we bookmarked that for date night same time next year, and headed to the German Beirgarten for their dinner buffet. The food was decent, though not spectacular. But the entertainment was a hoot – polka, chicken dance, Oktoberfest revelry, hoy hoy hoy! We sat at a table with two other groups, and when my huge beer arrived, it started an amusing conversation. Liam was in rare form, totally showing off for our new friends. When asked how old he was, he exclaimed, “I’m eight!” Then he kept repeating whatever they’d ask him to say. One of the gals asked if he wanted to go home with her to New Jersey. The look he gave, first to me, then to her, set our whole table into fits.
With a little help from James I finished an entire liter of beer. Then I was feeling the Disney magic!
We left the restaurant in high spirits, and with Liam sleeping soundly in his stroller, we took a little tour of the rest of Epcot. I told James I want to try a different one of these restaurants whenever we’re here for dinner. Or better yet, lunch, since we get a discount and the dinner prices are on the high side. The Japanese pavilion looked promising, as did the Italian restaurant, complete with replica of the Venetian bell tower. The Epcot ball was quite a sight to see all lit up at night. There’s also a Nemo-themed aquarium we had planned to see after dinner, but with Liam sacked out, we decided to save it for next time.
And that’s the wonderful thing about these annual passes. We can explore the Disney complex at our leisure. If Liam’s in a bad mood, we can go home without feeling guilty we didn’t get our money’s worth. We don’t have to attend every day for a week, packing in all the fun, feeling exhausted and homesick near the end. We can sleep in our own beds. Or, someday when we have older kids, we can do a stay-cation at one of the resorts. James says he’s always wanted to stay at the Contemporary, which the monorail passes right through on the way to Magic Kingdom. I’d say these passes will have paid for themselves in four or five visits. At the rate we’re going, we’ll hit that by Christmas!
The beach, a play date, and date night
October 16, 2011 at 2:41 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: baby, Florida, halloween, movies, nights out, restaurants
That about sums up our week. Liams been bad about the naps, and I’m still trying to catch up on all the shows I missed while in KC, so I haven’t had much time for blogging. Right now I’m at the park with Liam, fetching “orange bear” from the bottom of the slide and depositing him at the top of the stairs so Liam can push him down the slide. Apparently quite fun for both of them.
Anywho, it’s still blazing hot down here in FL, so we spent Wednesday afternoon at Cocoa Beach. I’d forgotten how much finer the sand was there than at Playalinda, and now that it’s fall the crowds were much lighter. I could even leave the stroller in the car and carry Liam since I didn’t have to bring a whole picnic lunch. We stayed about an hour as we watched a storm approach. Our umbrella almost blew away! We got drenched on the way to the car, and of course it blew over in no time. I tried to talk him into going back to the beach, but he wanted to go home. That actually worked out well — normally I’m so tired and sunbaked after a day at the beach, but this time we both felt fine. This might turn into a weekly afternoon excursion as long as the weather holds out.
On Friday we had a friend over to play, one-year-old Nicole and her mom Mandy who we met at swim lessons and have met up with a couple times. Liam did a great job sharing his toys, and while they didn’t really play together like Liam and Jean, they still had fun. We’re making this a weekly playdate since Mandy has Fridays off of work. Yay for new friends!
Last night James and I left Liam with our sitter so we could go out for a date night. Because we can almost never agree on a movie, we thought it would be fair for one of us to choose the restaurant and the other choose the movie. James chose Portobello, an Italian place in Downtown Disney that he and his family used to love when they lived here before. He was a little disappointed in his favorite appetizer, a thin crust 4-cheese pizza, but our entrees were great, and the white chocolate creme brûlée was amazing! After dinner we saw the movie I chose, 50/50, which I’d heard good things about from friends and NPR. We both really liked it — great performances and very well written.
Liam got his R2-D2 costume in the mail, and with a few minor adjustments, I think it will fit him. I say I think because I have yet to get him to agree to try it on. Sigh. It was only $15, so I won’t be completely heartbroken if he refuses to wear it for halloween. But bribery does work pretty well on him now, so I’m thinking I’ll just tell him the only way he can get candy is to put on the costume. At least it should work long enough for me to snap a few photos. Let’s hope.
Hurricane?
August 25, 2011 at 3:34 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Florida, restaurants
Other than the wind picking up, we don’t see much sign of a hurricane in our midst today. In light of that, I decided to take Liam for a picnic bike ride over to Tanja King Memorial Park. I’d heard about the water fountain there that kids can splash around in, and with the August heat only slightly abating today with the clouds and wind, it felt like a good day for it. While I was there I bumped into a very friendly stay-at-home-moms group, and they invited me to join. Yay! Typical Liam didn’t want anything to do with the big group of kids and moms. But he eventually made it down from the playground equipment to the fountain, and he delighted in running through and splashing around. We’ll definitely be heading back there again…and I’ll bring the camera next time.
On the way home we stopped at an ice cream shop I’ve been wanting to try, Pop Pop Ice Cream and More. After sampling a few flavors, we took the advice of the owner and got a scoop of the Red Velvet cake, with real chunks of red velvet cake mixed in. Oh. My. Yum. We’ll be heading back there again as well.
We ducked into the Publix to wait out a short squall, then managed to get home before the next one hit. The wind and the ice cream didn’t make for a pleasant combo coming home. But I managed to burn off just enough calories to indulge in our sweet treat, so it was worth it.
Weekend with Grandpa
July 18, 2011 at 5:36 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: family, Florida, restaurants
We had our first visitor this weekend, James’ dad (aka, Grandpa Bob), who flew in last Wednesday. James had to work Thursday, so the three of us headed to Cocoa Beach. Being my first beach excursion since the move, I was glad to have Bob’s help navigating and carrying stuff. We found a great beach with free parking, and it was very easy to find. We didn’t have far to walk from the car, and at 10AM, we almost had the place to ourselves. The only downside: no beach umbrellas for rent. So we got a bit scorched despite our best efforts. But Liam absolutely loved jumping over the waves (assisted, of course) and playing in the sand. We had a wonderful, albeit sandy, picnic lunch, then headed back in the afternoon. Over the weekend I picked up a sizeable beach umbrella I can take along next time. We’re totally doing this again soon!
For dinner we tried one of the seafood places that came highly recommended ala google. Called City Fish, it was situated in a more rustic area of Orlando called Thornton Park. So this is where all the big trees were hiding! A little on the pricy-side, but definitely worth the expense.
Friday we headed to Downtown Disney, a stand of shops and restaurants with free admission and parking (woo-hoo!). We took Liam to the T-Rex Café for lunch, which he enjoyed immensely. I don’t think he’s ever been so entertained for a meal. He kept pointing at all the animatronic dinos and saying, “Didosaurs mooooving!” Every twenty minutes the lights would dim and a meteor shower would light up across the ceiling. Needless to say, this was the highlight of Liam’s dining experience. After lunch we popped into the giant Lego store, mostly for James’ benefit. Then we took a long, humid water taxi ride back to our car. Yes, it’s Disney, so of course it’s huge enough to warrant transportation to and from your car. There were a ton of other great restaurants there we want to try out, some that James even remembered from when he lived here before. We’re already planning date night: dinner at Fulton’s and a movie. Got to add “get babysitter” to my to-do list…
Saturday we stayed home, hung curtains, took naps, cooked out. A nice reprieve from the summer heat. We picked up okra and zucchini from the farmer’s market, and some nice lean steaks for grilling. Liam refused to put any okra in his mouth, unlike last year. So disappointing! But grandpa sure liked it!
Sunday we went to the Central Florida Zoo, completely unaffiliated with Disney, and far less expensive. I suppose you get what you pay for – it was a total let down. Not helped by the fact that Liam decided he didn’t want to see the “amimals” anymore. He just wanted to throw fits. Unimpressed by the lunch fare, we headed to nearby Lake Mary to a Scottish pub and eatery James and I had spied on our last trip down. We hadn’t actually eaten there before, but it looked like fun. Ummm…yeah, definitely fun for the boys. It was like a Scottish Hooters, with the waitresses in tiny plaid mini skirts, crop tops, and white knee socks. We had ourselves a laugh about it, especially when our waitress bent over to pick up all the sugar packets Liam threw on the floor. Aside from the, ahem, booby shirts, the food was actually quite good. I can’t wait to have Shepard’s Pie leftovers this week.
Sunday night we tried another seafood place on our list, called High Tide Harry’s. Considerably more casual than the place we ate Friday, but the price-to-food ratio was definitely satisfying. We laughed when we pulled up – it was right next to a Joe’s Crab Shack. We figured they must be doing something right if they can coexist less than 50 feet apart.
Monday morning James went back to work, and on our way to the airport we stopped for breakfast at Sweet Mama’s Restaurant. This may become a breakfast-before-flight-home tradition. The place was completely unassuming, paper plates and plastic forks, country music playing on the radio. But the food was delish!
I’ll leave you with this hilarious video of Liam playing tickle with daddy and grandpa. Be sure to watch to the end – Liam really is quite funny without really meaning to be.
Grandpa’s Visit and Lots of Videos
November 30, 2010 at 5:15 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: baby, family, photos, restaurants, video
We had a visit from Grandpa Bob over the holiday, and there was much eating, drinking, and merry-making. Within an hour of picking him up the airport, Liam was calling him, “Papa!” With hardly much coaching at all. We celebrated Thanksgiving a day late with a simple ham steak, stove-top stuffing, corn, and cranberry from the can. Saturday we took Liam shopping for his birthday and Christmas, stocking up on lots of clothes, Curious George books (his favorite right now), and the best present ever, grandpa!! A tricycle! This fancy-pants model has an attachable handle at the back so we can push him around until he’s old enough to pedal himself. He can’t quite reach the pedals, but he loves being wheeled around the house! Sunday we took the train to Chinatown for burgers at Matchbox, yum! As usual, Liam sat at the window on the 
train yelling, “Choo choo!” at each passing train, and “Bye bye, choo choo” after it passed. Monday grandpa came to Itsy Bitsy yoga class to watch Liam show off his mad yoga skills. Liam hammed it up, marching around the room, going through TWO tunnels (a feat!), and clapping his little hands together at the end of class, “Ommmmm!” We finished the visit with a lunch at Piratz Tavern in Downtown Silver Spring, where Liam, true to form, ate about three bites of fish sticks, one french fry, and spent the rest of the time making us walk around the restaurant with him. For his age, I suppose that isn’t half bad. But eating out with him isn’t nearly as easy at it used to be.
Before we drove grandpa to the airport, I picked up some speakers for my computer, so I was able to go through some of the videos I’ve had sitting around (yay!). So here goes:
And if you have any trouble viewing these, they’re also on the baby site.
Geckos!
October 12, 2010 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: baby, museums, photos, restaurants, washington dc
Liam and I took our own little field trip to the National Geographic Museum to see their new Gecko exhibit this morning. Unsurprisingly, Liam sat enrapt for the train ride to Farragut North, and rode happily on my back to the museum. Inside we found several glass cases with sluggish geckos inside. We found most of them nocturnal and sleeping the day away. Some of them were very hard to spot, and I found Liam staring at the wrong spot on more than one occasion. But we found some other more interactive activities to partake in – Liam’s favorite was the touch screen game where you had to pick out the gecko hidden in camouflage, and if you touched it correctly, it would play a sloppy chomping and swallowing sound that just cracked him up every time.
We had even more fun at the next exhibit, Wild Music: Sounds & Songs of Life. At the entrance we found a giant wooden xylophone, which of course we had to bang on. And inside a special room we found a cornucopia of percussion instruments, both natural and electronic, that set Liam off in fits and giggles at every new strange sound his mallet produced. The 
rest of the exhibit was geared toward adults and older kids, so Liam just set off running back and forth across the fairly empty room. He’s easy to please.
For lunch we took the train to Union Station for burgers and fries at Johnny Rockets, where he learned an essential skill: dipping his fries in ketchup. He liked that. A lot.
First vacation!
July 17, 2010 at 11:37 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: amusing, baby, photos, restaurants, vacation, video
It was a day of firsts. Liam’s first beach vacation. And Liam’s first earthquake. Yes, our day started bright and early at 5 AM when James and I awoke to find our bedroom vibrating. We sort of squinted at each other, then I said, “Earthquake?”, and James, who spent a good deal of his youth in California, said, “Couldn’t be.” Liam didn’t mind the shaking, thankfully. So then I spent the next couple of hours wondering what could make our room shake like that –- abnormally-low flying aircraft? –- in a futile attempt to go back to sleep. And sure enough, we turned on the news and there was an earthquake in Gaithersburg, just 15 or so miles from our house. I knew it!
The earthquake seemed to set the tone for the day, scrambling my brain so we kept going back to the house to get something I forgot, or make sure all the doors were locked. It wasn’t until we were halfway to Baltimore before we noticed the GPS was taking us the wrong way, which would have turned a two-and-a-half-hour trip into four-and-a-half hours. Toll road avoidance, bad! Thankfully we corrected it before it added too much time to our trip.
We arrived at Bethany Beach just in time for lunch, and according to my research, the crabs at Mickey’s Family Crab House were some of the best in town. James ordered the all-you-can-eat blue crabs, and I ordered the “famous” crab cake sandwich. I practically licked my plate, it was so scrumptious. But James didn’t enjoy the crabs as much as he thought he would – too much work for too little meat. And Liam was getting antsy, so he couldn’t stay and finish his second batch.
We checked into our hotel, conveniently next door and conveniently free with our hotel points (otherwise a whopping $289/night, yowza!), and headed three blocks to the beach. Mmmm, I love the smell of the ocean. Liam was a bit timid at first, but we coaxed out some giggles and splashing in the surf. He and James played in the sand a bit while I rented us a beach umbrella to save Mr. Whitey’s delicate complexion. (That would be James. We’re fairly certain after this trip that Liam has inherited my ability to tan easily.) We took turns taking Liam down to the surf, and each time he seemed to enjoy it more and more. At one point he took off running down the beach, and we got pretty far before I could turn him around. Then it was all I could do to keep him from running headlong into the surf. A couple of planes with banner ads flew by, which warranted enthusiastic points.
After a quick rinse at the hotel, we headed to the boardwalk for another highly-recommended restaurant, Bethany Blues BBQ Pit. Right as we walked in the front door we saw a sign advertising their 5th place win at the American Royal in Kansas City. So we had high hopes. My crab cake and beach fries gorgefest left me a bit full, so I ordered a local brew called Dogfish IPA, and an appetizer of sliders filled with pulled chicken, pulled pork, and brisket. For me, the BBQ is all about he sauce, so I slathered a bit of their sweet and tangy on one, sank my teeth in, and somehow teleported to Kansas City. Damn, that’s good! The spicy sauce was even better, giving my fav Oklahoma Joe’s a run for its money. James ordered pulled pork and pork ribs, which he said made up for his lack-luster lunch. I’m not usually a fan of ribs, but a taste of one from James’ plate, and I picked it clean in no time. Liam loved the corn bread, but just as I was about to enjoy my third slider, he’d run out of patience. We scarfed the rest of our meal and headed outside to enjoy the boardwalk.
Just for fun we stopped in this little pet boutique, and Liam went bananas barking, pointing, saying, “Baaa”, and downright molesting a dog statue. Moving right along, we picked him up some beachwear and our usual fridge magnet, then headed back to our hotel to get Mr. Fussibutt to bed.
We were a little nervous about how this was going to go. Along with his first beach vacation and first earthquake, this was also Liam’s first time staying in a hotel room. They provided a crib, but it was pretty small and metal, and I knew there was no way Liam would sleep quietly in it. So I got his blanket and his puppy, and we cuddled up in the bed and watched TV. He nodded off around 8:30, and I transferred him seamlessly into the crib. All was well…until inexplicably our alarm clock went off at midnight. Desperate to switch it off before Liam woke up, James hit every button on the damn thing to no avail. I had to unplug it. But the damage was done. I took him back to my bed (we ended up with two queens, so James slept separately from us. Lucky.), where he tossed, turned, slept sideways, jabbed me in the ribs, woke up crying, cuddled, jabbed, woke up crying, and so on until I finally turned on the light and turned on the TV again. Normally we’d give him a dose of Tylenol for that last stubborn tooth that I suspect was bothering him, but like so many other things we forgot on this trip, we forgot that, too. I flipped through channels, desperate for a cartoon. But even Tom and Jerry didn’t do the trick. Then, suddenly, I stopped on Puppy Superbowl on Animal Planet. Liam was quiet. And then he was barking, and pointing, and barking! And not crying! And I could lay down behind him and rest my eyes for a bit. Until a commercial. No dogs, no dice, apparently.
I waited an agonizing 45 minutes until breakfast, then took a very wide-eyed toddler down for eggs, cereal, and yogurt. Then he walked and I slept-walked around the hotel while James packed our things up. So many people stopped and remarked how cute Liam was. Obviously they didn’t sleep next door to us. We had initially planned to take a dip in the pool before our 11 AM checkout, then hit another seafood restaurant for lunch. But by 8 AM we knew we were too exhausted to enjoy any of that. I had been afraid that one night at the beach wouldn’t be enough time, but it turns out it was just enough. We’ll likely do this again next year, maybe trying out Virginia Beach or Atlantic City, and we’re hoping Liam will rest easier. Maybe we’ll bring some benedryl.
Anyhow, while we rest up Sunday on our vacation from our vacation, check out photos from our trip here. And if YouTube gives you trouble, you can also watch the video here.
A Family Outing: The Zoo!
May 29, 2010 at 3:24 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: baby, restaurants, washington dc
While Liam’s been to the zoo a few times with me, this is the first time he’s been there with both James and I. And while he’s been somewhat interested in the animals and people before, today he showed downright enthusiasm. Perched on daddy’s back in the Boba, we’d point out an animal, he’d scan around, and then yell, “Baaa!”, point, and start barking. Bwa, bwa, bwa. He did that with everything except for the horse, which he actually “neighed” at. If Liam could talk, I think this is how he’d describe it:
I was on a daddy’s back, and first we saw the doggy with the stripes (tiger). Then we saw the little doggies going in and out of their holes (prairie dogs). Boy, did I love those guys! Then we saw the doggy swinging way up high on the ropes above our heads (orangutan on the “O-line”). I pointed and yelled like crazy at that guy! The zookeepers even laughed at me. Daddy let me down in the mammal house, and I saw all sorts of doggies with long tails (lemurs and monkeys). Then we saw lots of big black doggies, a silver doggy, and a little puppy (gorillas). Then we saw a neigh (horse), and then another striped neigh (zebra). And then, then we saw three great big gray doggies! (elephants). I barked and barked at them! For just a second we saw a funny black and white doggy (panda). He was shy. And then, at the end, we saw a doggy with lots of polka dots! (leopard). Then I passed out on daddy’s back. I had a fun day!
Afterward we had lunch at Louisiana Kitchen in Bethesda, recommended by James’ work friend. We got there for Saturday brunch, so they only had brunch items on the menu. James ordered the Etufee omelet, I got the crab cake eggs benedict, and we shared a heaping bowl of gumbo. The gumbo was great, though still not as good as we make it. We may have to come back for a regular meal sometime – the brunch was good, but we were really craving more traditional cajun fare. We got a few beignets to go, and they’re sitting in the kitchen right now, calling my name. Mmmmm.
Sorry no photos. We had just parked the car when I realized I’d forgotten the camera. Oh well.
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