I'm heading to Utah.

Not right now though. I booked a flight back home to Utah for a few weeks. I'm super excited and I'm super not!

Don't get me wrong, I love going home and seeing my siblings, niece and nephews. But a full day of traveling with a almost 2 year old who can't move all day long...ya right! Count me out! But this time I'm not coming home just for pleasure. I'm coming home for my Grandma's 80th Birthday!! Pretty much every single one of my cousins is coming in for it, so even though I live the farthest away and I'm dreading the flight there and back...I'm going! Heck I'm not missing out on seeing some family!

I've flown with Evelyn a few times now, and I know how bad it can be, I also know it can be enjoyable....but then again she was one last time I flew with her. So I have so much anxiety about it.

My tips for flying with a toddler for my friends is usually. Have a birth certificate (just incase they check), bring something to pop their ears (binkies, bottles, sippys), new toys to keep them busy, snacks (who cares if they are healthy or not, your keeping them busy and distracted.), and whatever else you need. But I'd recommend not bringing yourself something, if you have a toddler like mine, you wont get to listen to your music or read your book, even if they are sleeping you can't risk moving and waking them up.

This time, I'm still taking my own advice, but this time not bringing one thing for me, besides my cellphone. Also over loading is not happening. I bought a new light weight stroller so I don't have to bring my huge giagantic stroller. New toys, your freaking bet!! Also my Mom is sending me her Kindle, because I'm not chansing breaking my ipad, and my otterbox for it makes it just huge.

I'm only going for 2 weeks, and its a month away but holy crap, I feel like I need to be getting ready now! New outfit for Evelyn for family photos, new shirt for me, new stroller, new toys, snacks and so on and so forth...there is a lot to do!

...I kinda miss just getting on a plane and listening to music and not worrying about Evelyn. Those days were kinda nice.

Washington DC pt. 3.

We knew the 2nd full day in Washington DC was supposta be rainy, so we planned for this day to be museum day. This day we got smart and took the Metro in..it maybe a little expensive...but oh it was worth it! My parents, P and I decided to split up. My parents are kinda slow and want to take their time...P and I are kinda fast at things, and we're glad we did it because we saw a lot more!

Our first stop was the Smithsonian Castle...which is technically not even a museum. Its an information center. Who knew? not me. So we headed right on over to Air and Space...I was super crowded so we didn't spend much time in there, but it was pretty cool! Especially since we had just been to Kitty Hawk.

Right after that P and I couldn't decide where to go! We had so many options! We saw a little garden and walked around it, and saw the National Archives building...and then realized...we didn't even plan on seeing the Constitution! So we decided right then and there to go see it....problem was..the line to get in the building wrapped around the building. Save that for next time.
By this time it has started to rain, so we ran into the Museum of Natural History. Pretty cool, and again really crowded, but we got to see the Hope Diamond. I hope I get it for my birthday! We spent a good amount in this building. Not any good photos though really. Just this one of P and Manny :)

After that we met my parents for lunch at the American History Museum. I had not planned on going in this museum, but we did see so many cool things! I spent walking around trying to find Dorothy's shoes..and if you've ever been to this museum you'd know they are probably the easiest things to find at the museum. But I found them!!

 We couldn't pass up Kermit either!

Especially since Ev says "roggg"

This part of the trip makes me sad. One of the things I've wanted to go since I was probably in 7th grade was The Holocaust Museum. Like I said yesterday, WW2 is one thing I love to study, and the Holocaust was a big part of that. It was the last thing to do on the to do list, and when we asked a Ranger where it was, he told us we shouldn't get our hopes up because we probably ran out of tickets for the day...in fact he told us not to even bother trying. I was crushed but still had my hopes up. We got to the Museum, and sure enough we sign said, no tickets available. My heart broke. I just wanted to leave. Everyone but me got to do what they really wanted to do, and I just wanted to leave. Everyone insisted we go inside and look around, so we did. There were a few memorials and exhibits we could see, but I was still upset. P knew I was too, and he gladly let me buy a few books to read. I told him we'd have to come back one year by ourselves and come here first thing in the morning.
I didn't even know you needed tickets, but because someone dropped their ticket on the ground (douche bag), we saw that you can get them online! So if you're going to DC and you really want to go, make sure you get online and get them!

DC was an amazing trip. Another thing in the USA you must do before you die. I'm glad we did it, P has been wanting to do it for a while now, and it's great to have finally gotten the chance to do so. I can't wait for Ev to learn about this stuff in High School and I can pull out the photos and show her that she's been here before! Maybe even take her again one day :)

Washington DC pt. 2

After we went to Arlington we went across the bridge to DC...we drove on this day and I can tell you this....not so smart. Insanely busy and crazy parking and people trying to slam into you.

After we found a spot to park we decided today was Monument Day...technically we had 2 full days in DC and things needed to get knocked out of the park. So before we even came we made a list...both my parents had been to DC but this was P and I's first time...so we pretty much got the high spot on the list. P's must do was the monuments. So we saw pretty much all of them in one day. It was a lot of walking but it was fun!

 The Washington Monument was under construction....BOO! I know. But it's beyond HUGE! I mean you always know that...but its like really big, and really cool!

 One of the first things we saw was the White House...they were setting up the Easter Egg hunt, which we wanted to buy tickets for Evelyn to do, but we weren't going to be there, darn huh! Still it was pretty neat to look there and see it!

P and I got to go up to see Lincoln by ourselves, and we enjoyed it. Talking about what he did and how giant he was. How many pigeons poop on him. It was just another cool thing to see and do. We liked it just being us too.

Seeing the Korean War memorial was a special thing for me. Both my Grandpa's served in the war. One went to Germany, and one went to Korea. I've learned a little more about it since learning that.

 I am one of those people fascinated by World War 2. I've been to Pearl Harbor and on my bucket list is to visit Germany, Poland, and you name it I want to go. So seeing the WW2 memorial was another cool thing for me to see.

You guys might find me crazy...but P and I are in a which is a better state all the time with eachother...California or Utah...Utah will be where P and I start making roots at when he retires from the Army, but California usually wins on where is the cooler state. Damn him for having Disneyland and the beach.
We saw more things, but you guys get the hint. We had a blast. It was an amazing day, perfect and sunny, and lots of history!

(I wish that man wasn't in this photo.)

(just to be clear...the man behind us...not P)

Washington DC pt. 1 (Arlington National Cemetery)

I can't even begin to tell you how long I have wanted to go to DC. If you grew up in America, or even have a huge passion for History like me, you have probably wanted to go to DC. Let me tell you, it was so worth every penny and every moment shoved in the backseat of a van.

We stayed outside of DC about 40 minutes away just because we got a better deal on a hotel. By the time we got in the first day we decided the trip to DC was going to be a little much. So we gave Evelyn a break. But the next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Arlington National Cemetery.

The feeling I had at Arlington was unbelievable. I always knew that it was a cemetery, hollow grounds and so on and so forth, but the peace you feel there, surrounded by men and woman who died for our country, its amazing. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Your in a peaceful spot.

 We did just about everything you could do at Arlington. We saw JFK's grave site, which was very cool. I had no idea he had an eternal flame there. One thing that bummed me out is that the security meant to keep the grounds peaceful, were yelling across the cemetery to make people shut up. While I understand what they are doing, they were really making the noise a little worse.

 Behind us is Washington DC, you can see the Monument in the background kind of.

 In front of us was JFK's gave site.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was once again another great feeling. Everyone was so quite, and the soldiers standing guard really are on spot. P knew more about this then me, and we made it in time to see the change of guard. I didn't get to watch because Ev was a little restless and I had to take her aside, but P said it was pretty cool to watch.

Outter Banks.

The plan was when my parents first got here that we had two trips planned, and maybe one to the beach for a day. My parents landed, the next day P and I were out on a date and when we got home they had booked a hotel room to go to the Outter Banks in Northern North Carolina. I had never heard of it, and I wasn't too excited to go.

On the way up there we learned that we were going to Kitty Hawk which is where the Wright Brothers used to test out the planes they were inventing...pretty cool huh?! Well the trip ended up being really good! I'm glad my parents rented a rental van so we could watch TV while P and I were shoved in the backseat. So the drive wasn't too bad :)

 Ev tried our fresh crab

(P and my Dad at the top of a lighthouse.)

 we just got out of the car when we took this photo so my posture is horrible.

My parents.

Help me plan a trip to Washington DC!

Hello friends! I'm sorry I haven't blogged yet this week. P had staff duty on Sunday and took my computer and then never took my computer out of his car. But I finally go my computer back, and its fully charge and no longer dead! I swear men!

I'm super ubber excited that I am planning a trip to DC! My parents are flying in next month for Easter and we decided to go that weekend. Wether it will be busy or not I am not 100% sure, but thats the weekend we are going and hopefully we squeeze in a lot!

My must do's (besides the norm.) are:

Holocaust Museum!
Georgetown Cupcakes.

Obviously I want to see everything at the Mall. P feels the same, and both my parents have been and want to go to the Vietnam Memorial again. I am obsessed with World War 2 anything and I am facinated with the Holocaust! So I feel like its a must do for me. And if you know me cupcakes are my thing.

Now since I haven't been and I know alot of bloggers out there have been stationed there or have visited a few times, I'd love to hear some ideas on what we MUST do, or where we MUST eat. Any ideas are very much appreciated!