Nov 19th weeknd

With Sridhar maama here, we are playing DC tour guides again.

It has always been very hard to do tour guide thing. Add Abhay, work and age into the mix and it gets harder.

Let's put this in perspective:
1. Abhay - Pack his snack boxes ( 5 different ones he likes so that we can try different things in case he gets cranky), diaper bag ( making sure he has enough diapers, changes of clothes, toys, IPAD), jackets and outdoor clothing - two different types - one for being indoors and one for being outdoors, stroller (s), milk, food for lunch, dinner incase we get late (couple of alternates in case he does not like the first one offered) and making sure all of this is stored properly (either hot or cold and I could go on and on.... but I think you get the drift.

2. Work - With me working full time now, the weekend is the time to do grocery and any other shopping, cleaning, minor household chores, laundry.....But with the weekends consumed in touring I have to find time during the week to take care of everything. And not to mention come Monday morning I am still exhausted.

3. Age - I had to throw this one in there - I am getting old - I cannot do things like I used to. Cook lunch, pack lunch, plan dinner, tour Dc the entire day, cook dinner and do all this being extremely civil and social.

Not mentioning the emotional conflicts - I want to make sure Abhay is not taxed too much. Which means either staying at home or doing part of the day. That means cutting down on Sampath/Abhay time.

Nowhere is these posts do I mention that the strain on relationships but I do not want to go there here.

Ok, moving on to the fun part.

We started a little late on Saturday after eating lunch. Abhay was so sleepy and cranky by then that it was really hard to even get him into the car seat. He fell asleep in a few minutes. We went straight to the White house. Abhay was still sleep when we go there, so I stayed back in the car with him. After he woke, we met up with the others and then did a circle of the white house. We came of the stroller and then he was just reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal happy after that. He ran after a truck that was pulling into the white house (of course on the other side of the barricade). He tried saying "tuc....tuc". He will not repeat it if you ask him to though. Then he ran on the grass, rolled around like a dog and in general had a blast.

Next we went to the Capitol, he was so tired he fell asleep again in the car but woke up as soon as the car stopped. Felt bad that he was not getting the rest he wanted but that lasted a few minutes only. He was back to running on the grass towards the Capitol in full flow. He then went and said "hi" and waved to random people and the police guarding the place. He also ran on the metal grating in a straight line. Which was something new. He did not want to leave this place. Again, I think just having a lot of room is the only thing he needs.

This goes back to my rant about the day care we drop him off - she just does not have too much space but has a lot of stuff. So I guess it is a trade off.

Back to Capitol - we went to the union station from there. Abhay and me were very tired by then so we bought some food and sat down, ate and sang some songs. Then headed home. END OF DAY 1.

On Sunday we decided to leave as early as possible - so packed lunch for us and Abhay and left. Abhay fell asleep as we were nearing DC. And Sampath found prime parking near the Archives museum. Amma and Maama went to the Natural history and we met them there after we gave Abhay his lunch in their cafeteria. After that we had lunch in the sculpture garden. Abhay enjoyed watching the ice skaters there - after a while he wanted to go in there himself. Both Sampath and I do not skate so we will have to figure that one at some point. We went to the archives museum - this was the first visit for both Sampath and me. It was very impressive. Unfortunately Sampath could not see much as he had to take Abhay outside as he was beginning to enjoy his echo a lot. He would make a loud noise and look up to "see" his echo. We then dropped them of to see the IMAX movie and we hung around to pick them up. We thought Abhay would sleep in the stroller but he did not. After that we headed out - it was getting dark and rainy. Abhay fell asleep almost immediately. We then had coffee, drove around the monuments, took pics of Jefferson and Washington Monument reflection, ordered from Madras palace and went home. END OF DAY 2.

Take away - Abhay looooooooooooooves being outdoors, even when it is freezing.

It is already Tuesday today and we are getting ready to go to NJ/NY over thanksgiving weekend.