Ken came home the other day with a pen that he had gotten from a co-worker that had travelled overseas. This pen was in the shape of a race car and when he presented it to Sloane, she was over the moon with joy. "Thank you for the pen, Papa!" "Look, mom, a race car!" and then later, "I love Papa because he gave me a special pen." She played with that car all day and then her enthusiasm turned towards the use of it as a pen and she drew pictures with it for hours.
We later remarked how extraordinary it is to see that kind of unbridled passion for something seemingly small and insignificant and how precious it is to witness that kind of gratitude. There's nothing like that kind of child-like innocence and perspective to place a big ol' spotlight on your own ability to appreciate the small things in your life.
I've said it before and I'll say it so many more times - kids breathe that second wind of life into you with a renewed perspective on the things that have gone forgotten or unappreciated. It makes them the best kind of people to travel with, for that reason.
We later remarked how extraordinary it is to see that kind of unbridled passion for something seemingly small and insignificant and how precious it is to witness that kind of gratitude. There's nothing like that kind of child-like innocence and perspective to place a big ol' spotlight on your own ability to appreciate the small things in your life.
I've said it before and I'll say it so many more times - kids breathe that second wind of life into you with a renewed perspective on the things that have gone forgotten or unappreciated. It makes them the best kind of people to travel with, for that reason.
We went to go visit my sister and brother in law in Silver Spring a couple of weekends ago, and it took a whole 5 hours instead of the expected two, which was astonishing and mostly terrible. The amount of tricks that I had to pull out of my bag to keep Sloane busy was a personal record and there may or may not have been a nursing session while we were on the road (but it was standstill traffic!). Overall I was impressed by how we all held up. Wilted but alive, we made it to the hotel. We then expressed our relief by making sure we thoroughly jumped on the bed.
We met my sister and brother at a restaurant called Urban Butcher, which was close enough to the hotel to indulge my little fantasy that we lived in a place where we could walk to restaurants, and tasty enough for us to put the long trip behind us. That photo up above is a waitress bringing by the lamb shank that my sister ordered to show her what it looked like after it was just cooked and right before it was cut. When Ken ordered his steak, they took him over to the counter for him to pick out which one he wanted. It was that kind of place.
This is a blurry picture but it so aptly captures what Sloane is like when she is being silly.
Ahhhhhhhh!! That's what my heart is screaming when I look at this one.
I got the pork belly with pickled onions and other goodness on top and it was so dang good. I had it with an unfiltered black rye which I had never had before and loved.
Look at us - a family of four! And loving it.
The evening air begged us to walk around so we strolled around the neighborhood, passed bustling restaurants, a jazz festival, got some dessert and ended the night at my sister's place.
Sloane was in heaven about the fact that we were sleeping in a hotel. We had done this once or twice before, but the idea of us all sleeping on a big fluffy bed was still novel enough that it was the most thrilling thing, in her opinion. Sloane did marvelously sleeping in the bed with us and Logan was a natural hotel sleeper in her little rock 'n play. This was us in the morning feeling giddy about a good nights sleep and waking up together, slowly. 
Conversations with Marie while we wait..
See ya later silver spring!
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