It's a rainy Saturday, we're hanging at the house, and we discovered kids music stations on Pandora! My are the songs catchy. Meryl is eating voraciously and Lummi has an upset stomach...one flows in, and the other flows out. Here goes the day!

Allison, Noelle, and Caleb stopped by for a Halloween visit this morning. Of course we took a cousins costume picture: Caleb and Noelle, the firefighters, Noelle's turtle, Turdy, in the back as the firehouse Dalmatian, and Meryl, the angry burrito who ate spicy salsa (thanks, aunt Lisa, for the get-up!). Cuddles galore otherwise!  

We moved from the kitchen couch to the living room couch:) 

Milissa and Benson stopped by this morning to visit with Meryl. Bonus for us, they brought us treats from Coyle's Bakeshop! (I'm in love with their meringue, it's like grown up cotton-candy.)  

 ...Chatting about pies and Texas chili.  

Mom stayed over last night and headed out today for Anchorage. 'Xanna-time' is something to maximize! Still, we had a great trip and I'm thankful to my Mom for introducing me to the Smithsonian. 

We made it! All six hours of it! Probably a mix of a little more confidence and knowing what to expect, but Meryl was a champ and we even got to watch a movie. Well, it took 'all' six hours to watch the movie:) And, yes, we remembered to pick up Meryl's bag at the baggage claim. (The hozon made it too.)

Catching our last meal before the plane at Old Ebbitt's, a DC classic and a favorite of my Dad's. 

Always a favorite visit when in DC. And I'm always amazed, and pleased, when I see so many people spending their time watching the Julia Child videos at the National Museum of American History.  

Always a tradition when we're in DC, we make sure to meet up with Jenn and David to eat! And tonight, we added Meryl to the mix (with laser eyes). I love that we get the chance to see them twice a year...talk about food (of course!), and hear about their world travels (Scotland and Japan are up next!).

Today we got to meet up with Kira for lunch at Momofuku in DC!  And I had what might be my favorite dish of the year. First, it had rice cakes, wich are made from pounded rice and the closest I can get to a gluten free version of gluten. Second, which made the dish, it had this rich cheesy seeming umami sauce that I couldn't get enough of. Turns out, the sauce is made from a Momofuku house fermented chickpea paste (akin to a white miso), called hozon, and bolstered with 'a lot' of butter. I was in heaven! Thankfully, as Kira works for Momofuku, she convinced the chef to hand over a little hozon my way:) Bonus! Now to recreate the dish at home. We of course stopped by Milk Bar for dessert on the way out (cereal milk soft serve and corn cookies!).

Today, jetsetting in DC, Meryl is two months old!  

DC city lunch date! Anne drove down from Philadelphia to meet us for lunch and hang with Meryl. It was great to catch up with her and her daughters, Ellie and Norah. We all ran around in our hotel room after (well, Ellie and Norah did most of the running), and then Frank, Meryl, and I crashed for a nap afterward:)

Frank and I went to see a musical a while ago, and he proclaimed at the intermission that we were getting 'cultured like yogurt!' So here we are, introducing Meryl to her first museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, less than a month after it opened. And here she is with Venus and Serena Williams! Lucky us, the fall Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) Board meeting kicked-off with a curated tour of part of the museum! Mom and I parted ways to attend the meeting after, and Frank had a Dad and daughter day on The Mall with Meryl! Go Frank!

We made it! Yesterday, Meryl took her first flight, and a cross-country one too. While I won't say that she didn't cry, I will say she actually did pretty well. However, when we landed early and had to wait on the tarmac for our gate, her eruption voiced what everyone else was thinking, "get me off this plane already!" What no one anticipated was Frank and I completely forgetting to pick up her checked bag at the baggage claim! (At least we remembered Meryl!) We realized it 'after' we got to the hotel (at midnight) when we were getting Meryl ready for bed and noticed her pajamas were missing! Frank headed straight to the airport to only get the chance to stare at her bag in the baggage office, which had closed for the evening. (Testing the pin pad combinations to unlock the door was a heavy consideration.) Then, eaaaaarrrly this morning, he went again to the airport to pick up her bag when the office opened. So we survived both the flight and the first night! And, we won't forget Meryl's bag again!

What a day! Playtime with Xanna in the morning and lunch with Xanna's college friend, Susan. This afternoon...a total blur. Meryl got a case of the fussies, and while I almost posted a picture of her 'finally' sleeping, I noticed that I snapped this sweet one this morning; a much better option:)  Now I'm craving popsicles and ice cream bars.