DC with the Poodster

Violet and I went to visit my sister in DC this week.  I don't have a ton of pictures because most of what we did was home improvement projects, but don't be fooled-- that's very fun for me. We did a ton of shopping and got three rooms in her new condo painted.  And I was at least as excited as she was about how everything looked when we were almost done.  (I say almost because on the last night when I was going to help her finish painting and unpacking, I fell asleep at 9.  That's what pregnancy does to you.) My favorite part may have been the food, and it never ceased to amuse Brittany that I could finish every meal and still have room for dessert.  On Friday we did get to do some tourist-y things, so here are a few pictures of that.

Violet and me at the zoo.  As you can see my belly is finally getting big, which actually makes me happy, since Ashley told me when she came that I didn't look pregnant; I just looked fat.

   

Here I captured the most disgusting moment on the trip.  I know it just looks like Violet and Poodle are looking at a gorilla, but the gorilla was vomiting and then eating it.  And repeating the process.

Running through the misters may have been Violet's favorite moment on the trip.  Brittany and I had just walked .8 miles to not see a lion, so we were tired and hungry and wanting to get back.  But Violet insisted on stopping at every one of these and screamed when we had to drag her away.  If it weren't for the 7-11 just outside the zoo on the way back and its delicious slurpees and one dollar pizza, I may not have made it.  (Poodle also made it easier by carrying Violet most of the way.  I'm not very athletic to begin with, and having 15 extra lbs on my belly makes it pretty hard to carry her .)

Riding the metro was also a thrill for Violet.  It got to the point where if a bus or train came and left without us, she would start crying because she thought we were supposed to get on it.  It was nice to have her so enthused by the little things on our trip.

The only bad part of our trip was travelling back home yesterday.  Our plane was delayed because it was sprinkling and they told me I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta.  So they had me wait at the airport for hours to get on the first flight and had me booked for an 11 PM flight from Atlanta to Houston.  After three hours at the gate, Violet started running along a platform by the window.  I figured I would let her since at this point it was all I could do to keep her from having a total meltdown.  Then a lady came up to me and said, "That is REALLY annoying, could you please get her to stop?"  So I took her down and she totally lost it.  She had a full-blown toddler tantrum complete with kicking and screaming right there in the airport. Frustrated, I muttered to Violet, "Go scream by the lady who thought you were annoying.  I'm sure she thinks this is less annoying." A couple of people around me started laughing when they heard that, so at least I got some sympathy.  Violet slept through most of the plane ride, so that part was easy.  In Atlanta I found an earlier flight to Houston and asked if they could get me on it.  They told me that they could, but my checked luggage (car seat) wouldn't get there until midnight when the other flight landed. So I took the later flight, but when I got to Houston, the car seat didn't turn up anywhere.  When I asked about it, they told me, "Oh, your luggage came on the earlier flight."  And I said, "The earlier flight that I asked to get on that they told me my luggage wouldn't be on?"  Yep, that one.  Oh well.  At least I'm home now and the majority of the people I ran into were very understanding and helpful. Violet was a toal trooper, considering that she's a toddler who spent 12 hours in the airport.  I got lucky with that.