DC Metro Mom

Packing for vacation is always tough. In my pre-baby days, I agonized over choosing only two pairs of shoes and which sundress made me look the cutest. Now I agonize over which outfits are the cutest for my toddler, and whether I packed all of the nine zillion baby things that clearly they don’t sell anywhere else on Earth, so I must bring them with me (joke… smile now). Going to the beach is a particularly daunting packing task… there are so many variables!

After a hot summer, record-breaking earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and a week of flooding, this weekend it was my turn to escape from DC to what Presidents, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and royalty have all agreed is one of the finest resorts in the world. Since 1778, the well-to-do have been traveling to the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia to experience the therapeutic effects of the natural sulphur springs and fresh mountain air. Although I consider myself more comfort-soled than well-heeled, the glamour of America's grand old resorts has always been a lure.  With the advantage of an indulgent husband and special rate from the Greenbrier, my hopes for a memorable anniversary weekend were realized.

We had a lot of picnics in Paris. We would grab some baguettes, some cheese, some wine and some pasties and just pop a squat. One day, while picnicking near the Eiffel Tower, I decided to get a group picture. I carefully set my camera up on top of some plastic cups and set the timer. As I ran around my friends to drop into the picture, I slipped and slid on the grass and sort of ended up sliding into my spot. It didn't hurt, and was completely hysterical - especially the way I am looking happy and perfect in the picture while all my friends are looking at me.

But the best part is in the background of the picture. Over my shoulder is a police officer. He saw the whole thing and has the most priceless expression. Here it is blown up:

He looks so appalled. I can barely type this it makes me laugh EVERY time. He actually jumped over the little fence to come to my aid. He had a little hanky out for me to wipe the grass stains off my leg. I just couldn't stop laughing.

Here is the pretty version of the picture:

So while we were in Paris I had the joy of experiencing the public toilet. In Paris they have these sort of large tin cans that serve as individual public toilets. They are really kind of cool if you don't think about it too much. They used to cost money, but are now free. You push a button on the outside. If they are unoccupied the little bright silver door slides open. It automatically slides closed behind you. Once inside, you will see this:

Now, if you are like me, the first thing you will notice is that there is no drain. NO DRAIN. So where, pray tell does the waste go? I couldn't figure it out, so chose not to make any deposits. BTW - above the toilet contraption are a mirror, toilet paper, and (supposedly) hand sanitizer. I wasn't sticking my hands anywhere near any surface in here, so I never found out about the sanitizer.

Now comes the interesting part. You turn the handle to open the door to get out of the tin can. When you do, the door automatically closes behind you and locks. You will then see a sign outside that says "occupied". You then hear lots of commotion from inside and what sounds like an industrial shower. Thanks to the miracle of Google, I now know why there is no drain. Apparently the entire unit flips up into the wall and is thoroughly washed out on the other side (the waste disposal side). Then it flips back down and the door unlocks and is again available. It is kind of neat when you think of it. Where the waste goes from there I have no idea (nor do I want to know. Similar to my lack of any interest in the "sewer museum" my friends went to while I read a book outside. For me, the less known, the better).


Anyway, we also visited one of Paris' most beautiful public toilets that does not resemble this contraption in anyway. It was near the church of Mary Magdalene, and was GORGEOUS. Here are some pictures. I couldn't' get any really good ones due to the big sign that said "no pictures" - in ENGLISH. Seriously, why do the French think we would take pictures of bathrooms? Seriously! (hee hee) Anyway, these were Art Nouveau and very cool. Gorgeous tile and VERY clean. I highly recommend them if you are ever in need in Paris.

Cross posted on http://www.threetimemommy.blogspot.com/.

I am sure all of us can look at moments over the years that still make us want to just die from embarrassment.  Most of these moments happen when are we are younger, not quite as self assured as we are today.  I am not sure if it maturity, confidence or not just not giving a hoot (by hoot I mean something else) about what other people think but the novelty of "dying" from embarrassment seems to go away as we age.  This is a good thing for most women as pride and any general sense of humiliation must be checked at door when you enter the maternity ward.

Anyway, I have learned to roll with the punches.  I don't cringe when my daughter decides to show her bloomers to 200 people at the Town Green during a concert.  I don't get crazy when my daughter needs to be tackled by my husband or myself before she reaches either the priest or the Eucharist at Sunday Mass.  Stuff happens (and by stuff I mean something else).  So with all this new found calm, I gladly welcomed the opportunity to travel with my husband and daughter to Florida.  The trip down was a little crazy but hey...I HAVE BEEN STUCK NEXT TO ENOUGH SCREAMING CHILDREN that I wasn't too concerned when my daughter fussed for 20 minutes of the flight.  I was also ready for the return trip.  As with our trip down, I was loaded for bear.  I had toys, puzzles and DVDs.  I also had coloring books for the frightful moments when you are required to turn off all electronic devices.  Damn national security and the FAA...my daughter is a lunatic who must watch the Wiggles if we have any chance of getting of the runway without a meltdown!!!  As I was saying, I had everything.  Sort of...

We made it to our seats, buckled in our little darling and even got off the runway without incident.  Just when I was popping the champagne cork in my head...I started to smell something.  Yep, my daughter had picked this moment in time to go #2, poop, etc.  Whatever you opt to call it; it was not a fragrant aroma for Rows 7 to 12.  I rolled my eyes as I was confident I would be making the trip to the bathroom with our daughter.  Then it hit us...neither my husband nor I had packed the diapers in the carry on bag.  ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME??  I packed 22,000 toys in a backpack, I had 16 Ziploc bags for each 2 oz item and I had my People magazine but NO DAMN DIAPER!   My husband was no help.  He just shrugged his shoulders.  A hello....men can leads armies into battle but you can't come up with one good idea at this moment.  I told him to "COME WITH ME".  By Row 20 I still had no idea what I was going to do without a diaper but this child had to be changed.  I quickly scanned the plane to look for another toddler but there were only small infants...rats no diaper love from other passengers.

As I entered the bathroom, I rummaged in my bag and tried to make a Ziploc bag and some toilet paper suffice.  Note to file MacGyver, a small Ziploc bag doesn't fit around a 2.5 year old (I should have potty trained earlier!!!).  I peaked out at the flight attendant, awkwardly smiled and asked if she had a trash bag.  At this point, my husband had told her what was going on.  She smiled and said she could help.  Success!

We are here in France, and are having a great time! Arrived this morning and found my way on the apartment via the metro. Really wish those things had escalators - hauling my luggage up and down stairs for two transfers was a bitch. Ahh well..a good workout, I guess!

We walked around Ile St Louis and did some fun shopping. Had a great ham and cheese crepe for lunch and a delicioso gelato!

We spent the afternoon waiting for our friends to show up (as it turned out there flight was significantly delayed). So now we are heading out to get provisions (wine, cheese, bread). Au Revior!

Cross posted on http://www.threetimemommy.blogspot.com/.

As I head off to Paris, I will leave you with this cool design created at http://www.wordle.net/! I may try and blog from the City of Lights!

Cross posted on http://www.threetimemommy.blogspot.com/.

So I am in process of planning two big vacations. What I cannot do without is a notebook. I have three dedicated notebooks for my trips - where I write down, and tape in, anything to do with the trip.

1) My trip to Paris. This is next week and I cannot wait. I am going with 6 of my girlfriends. Of the 7 of us, 4 turn 40 this year - so we are celebrating. A whole week in an apartment in the City of Lights - without kids or husbands. I am sooo excited. For this trip I have all information in a pretty travel journal with tabs. I have sections for shopping, eating, sightseeing, logistics and other. I have either written down information or cut and pasted information in. I plan to bring this with me on my trip.

2) DisneyWorld. We are taking our girls on a trip to Disney in November. I have been planning this from last February. I have a simple spiral notebook that I have used to write tips I have heard/seen, all of our advanced dining reservation confirmation codes, etc. I have even started to paste in maps and such. These notebooks are the way I stay organized, and have all the information I need in one place. That is what works for me! For more tips visit rocks in my dryer!

Cross posted on http://www.threetimemommy.blogspot.com/.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly relaxing, but it was fun. We went to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. First, the trip there and back was awesome. We went on a Sunday and came back on Wednesday - great days to avoid traffic. We also planned it so we were driving right during nap time. All three kids slept for all but 20 minutes of the drive up, and 40 minutes of the drive back. SWEET! Second, we had a great hotel. We stayed in the Avenue Inn, and I highly recommend it. Free breakfast, happy hour daily, and nightly chocolate chip cookies included! They also had laundry machines on premises, and a cool indoor/outdoor pool. It was all indoors, but had big sliding doors open to a rooftop patio. Perfect for enjoying the weather with no sun exposure!!! The customer service was fantastic - they drove us in a golf cart the 2 1/2 blocks to the ocean to help us cart all our crap. AMAZING!

I had never been to RB except for just walking around for a few hours. It is SOOO kid-friendly. No packs of rowdy teenagers, lots of lifeguards, and plenty of police presence. The beach is really nice - the girls LOVED it. Big Man, not so much. He was ok with the sand, as long as he didn't have to see, hear, or know the ocean was there. He REALLY did not like it. In his defense, they were red-flag no swimming days the whole time we were there, and there was a lot of surf and wave-crashing action. But he HATED it. Would become hysterical when he could see the ocean. The girls loved playing in the surf, building sand castles, and digging for crabs.

There is also this great place called FunLand. It is a little cheesy amusement park - but perfect for little kids. And it is CHEAP. We spent a total of $40 on ride tickets the whole 4 days we were there, and we let the kids go on anything they wanted. The littlest rides (perfect for Big Man) were 1 ticket (which worked out to be something like 18 cents)!!! He LOVED it. All three of them did. We did kill another $10 or so winning them race horses in a skee-ball type game.

We also rented bikes, flew a kite on the beach, and ate lots of really bad-for-you food. All in all, a great time! Will definitely do it again.

Cross posted on http://www.threetimemommy.blogspot.com/