the blackmons in chicago

Memorial Day Fun!


So sorry for the delay in getting these photos uploaded. Memorial Day was a great day for us. Brad and I decided to have a family day out for the holiday and try out the Natural History Museum with Baker. The weather was great, warm and humid but turned out quite nice. So, we thought that we would let Baker get a short morning nap in before we left, thinking that his mood would be much nicer if he had slept a little...we were right on with that because he was a dream the entire day. We then took the train a couple of stops over to Smithsonian and started out with lunch at the museums food court, which is so great by the way, unlike your typical food court and full of healthy options. I say healthy and yet Baker has pizza for lunch. But he loves pizza so my options are have him eat or get steamed broccoli and have it plastered all over me, Brad and the floor. I'll take the first option. Besides, pizza has diary, tomato sauce for veggies and carbs...a balanced meal!



Then we wandered through the halls, seeing every large animal you can imagine, elephants, lions, giraffes, dinosaurs, sea creatures. It was wonderful and being my first time at this museum, I was definitely impressed. Baker enjoyed it too but didn't have a clue what he was really looking at I don't think. He liked the size of everything but more importantly, roaming freely through the museum, squealing the whole way. We had a difficult time keeping up with him and probably looked a bit silly to the strangers around us.

Brad and Baker - This is the first of many trips that I'm sure we'll be making to the mall!

Nothing like the views from here! We had to cross over the mall from the metro station to get to the museum. As you can see, the inauguration took quite a toll on the, what used to be, pretty lawns of the mall. They are planning on resodding it, thank goodness!

Baker giving me some look as he eats his pizza.

Baker loves to feed us his food.

Sant Ocean Hall

Baker plays in the Discovery Room, a room that's open to kids for hands-on play.

He was very into this skeleton.

Baker was attacked by this alligator! He was clearly not afraid!

A free man - Baker takes off running as we began a wild goose chase after him.

Checking out some dinosaur

Brad, Baker and the T-rex

Okay, I was really into this elephant that is in the main rotunda but when Baker laid his head on my shoulder, that's all I really cared about!

This giraffe was so cute! I hate that the flash is glaring in the picture but you gotta love the giraffes!

Another giraffe!

There were TV monitors that were showing images of water as if it were a creek. Baker kept trying to "splash" in it.

The Hope Diamond - 45.52 carats

After the museum, we walked the mall, loving the views of the monuments and the Capitol Building, and thinking how happy we are that we moved to the district. We spotted a carousel and knew immediately we had to take a ride. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Baker seemed to like it, he didn't express a ton of emotion over it but he wasn't fussing either. I loved it on the other hand! I was amazed at how fast it went and was worried that my motion sickness would get the best of me...it did a little bit but I was determined to make it through! Brad was the camera man on this venture and captured my every sound on video...thanks babe! You can see it below.
We finished the day by walking home. We thought, why not? We were, what seemed to be, so close to the Capitol Building and we thought, well why not walk home since we just live on the other side of it? Well, the Capitol Building is a massive buiding and looks closer than it is and we just kept walking and walking. It only took about 45 minutes and was a nice walk, a long walk but a fun one at that. We were wiped out by the time we got home though, as was Baker! Overall, this was the PERFECT family day. It was the best combination of family, quality time and a nice day out and just had that sweet nostalgic feel about it. It couldn't have been any sweeter!

Getting ready for our carousel ride!

And we're off! Dear God help me!

Daddy and Baker enjoyed it too!


We stopped on the walk home to let Baker out of his stroller and get some free roaming time.



This was the first time being this close to the Capitol Building. We were shocked that they let you get so close to it without security.

Funny to think that we literally live just a few blocks behind this.

Later that afternoon, Baker tested out his new crayons...he didn't even try to eat them this time! I have tried the crayon thing before but he always put them straight into his mouth. Not this time...I guess he understands that there is another purpose for them now.

And this is the result! The top is the paint art that he made the week before and the one below is his crayon version! He's quite the little artist!

Of course we bought Baker a giraffe from the museum...as much as I am beginning to hate stuffed animals, this one was too cute to pass up!


Video: Carousel ride and me sounding a bit panicky and ridiculous. But for the record, it went way faster than I imagined. I mean, when was the last time I ever rode one of these? I have no idea!