Holiday Trip Part 1: Maryland

My mom touched down in Brooklyn on Thursday the 18th of December and after a quick drop off of nonessential luggage at the apartment we left for the first leg of our journey--a 4 hour drive to Baltimore. The first snag: the Rav 4 we opted to rent under the impression it would have those 2 extra seats in the back only had empty compartments. Convenient for storing all those presents, but not helpful in transporting 4 adults and 2 carseats comfortably. At least the journey there was uneventful. I got to dubious honor of sitting between the boys and refereeing all conflicts and roughhousing that naturally ensues from cooping up two active boys for 4 hours. It was almost a relief to be banished to the back trunk when headed for D.C. the next morning. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.

Arron Hieatt is a doll. A peach. A whatever more manly word is out there for the kind of thoughtful, caring person he is. He gave up his bedroom for me and the boys and even bought the kids Thomas and Lightning McQueen bedding. Yeah, he knows the way to a little boy's affections. After getting the kids to bed (but not to sleep since that didn't happen until close to midnight), we stayed up way too late talking and reminiscing in the usual way of old friends. Oops, I forgot to mention that my mom brought 2 bears for Jarom--Pooh Bear and Pooh in Disguise--which he was supposed to share with Keahi. She told them a bedtime story about the bears as they lay cozy under their new blankets, and then finished with the ground rule that while they both belonged to Jarom, he had to let Keahi choose which one he wanted to sleep with that night. Jarom quickly clutched Pooh in Disguise to his chest and stretched out his other arm with Pooh Bear in Keahi's direction saying, "Here. Choose." Smart boy. He's not taking any chances. Luckily, that was the one Keahi wanted anyway. So while the boys played with their bears and the blankets with flashing lights (who thought that one up?not so restful in a blanket), the adults went down stairs to chat.

In the morning we headed out to D.C. to see the sights, first stopping at a local dinner (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives--one of my fav foodnetwork shows) for some breakfast. Now I can say that I've tried Scrapple--which Arron said was a must while not having any for himself--and that it's not bad. Jarom, of course, loved it. And he practically inhaled the waffle with blueberry sauce that Keahi insisted on even though the plain one came with a combo for cheaper. Scrapple, for those of you unfamiliar with the delicacy, is made from the liver and other less savory parts of the animal that are boiled for hours before being shaped into patties and fried for good measure. The other noteworthy thing about the diner is that Keahi got a bear for his own from the vending machine outside. After a quick and unsuccessful attempt to snag the furry red bear, Iz was ready to pack up and leave. But popo pulled out another 2 quarters and said to give it one more go. We were shocked and impressed when Iz managed to grab it and then we were all in fits when the dang claw wouldn't open up once it was over the chute. But, some persuassive shaking later, Keahi had a brand new red bear to go with his old blue one back home. Sahweet.

What Jarom did most of the trip.

What Iz did most of the trip.

After an uncomfortable ride (Iz needs to learn about gradual acceleration/braking), we made it to the train station. Maryland trains are much nicer than the NYC variety. Carpeting, no visible bodily fluid stains, and cushioned seats. Awesome. While Jarom was obnoxiously whinny most of the day(except when he saw the tiny aquarium at the museum or when popo and I would swing him across the street), we did get to see some pretty cool things. The Natural History Museum. Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument. And a pretty view of the Capitol building. Plus, I also got to help Keahi squat behind some bushes when he felt diarrhea coming while we were waiting for a cab. Nothing actually happened and I didn't have a diaper to put on him so I gave him a sanitary pad instead just in case. And I brushed off his inevitable questions about what it was and hauled him back to the street curb. Never a dull moment.

This picture just sums up our trip so well.

We had to leave early the next morning for our longer trek to Chicago so we swapped cars that night and prepared for another long haul by what? that's right, staying up late again. This was partly unavoidable since upon returning back to Arron's place we realized that Iz has left Keahi's winter coat in the bathroom at the grocery store we had stopped at along the way. Did I mention that he had previously left the baby wipes container in another bathroom in D.C.? Not his day. But while the wipes were history, we did recover the coat. The whole way back to the store I kept praying that it would be there. And then in the midst of telling God how much we needed that jacket, I'd also acknowledge that there might be someone out there who needed it more and maybe finding it in the men's room (though it seemed more likely that this someone would be a woman and so therefore never come across the windfall) would seem like a personal miracle and who was I to deny them that? So I was conflicted and a little guilty by the time we got there. But my relief was complete and unfettered by residual guilt when Iz walked out of that bathroom holding the jacket aloft. Whew.

Poor Arron was also up late with us and then picking up his sister at 1am and then waking up super early to send us off. He also inadvertently gave us his file cabinet key with the car key. The one that opens up the drawer containing his passport that might come in handy when traveling to Italy. Oops.

One regret: not having time to play Arron's amazing keyboard. You can't even really call it a keyboard. And not being able to hear Arron playing it for us. I wish I had more single female readers who could appreciate my bragging about my friend. I mean c'mon, what girl doesn't like the idea of a guy playing the piano?



Here ends the Maryland portion of our journey. Up next: Chicago.