This week: Airstream Ranch in Tampa, Family bike ride (and Sam & I took turns riding a 7 mile lap as fast as we could possibly go), The Tampa Aquarium, swimming at Manatee Springs State Park, put up Christmas lights and had a movie night, parked at St. George Island State Park and played at the beach until after sunset. Its been a good week.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. Growing up, for me, it was a holiday to get together with all of my extended family, play games all day, eat around 3pm, play more games and then eat dessert when we finally thought we could fit it in before heading home late that night. Sam, on the other hand, grew up doing work/service projects in the morning, and eating during the late afternoon after everyone showered. The last 10 years have been a mix of both – sometimes with my family, sometimes with his, always trying to find a holiday routine that fulfilled the needs of our young family.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a parent, its that your family needs will change. Constantly. Young kids don’t have the attention span to play games all day (Mom! I’m bored!), nor do they have the skills to engage in an all day work project. Modeling our holiday solely after either family’s traditions has usually ended in frustration. This year, however, I felt we finally found a good balance for us.
We spent the morning in our pajamas, lazily playing Plants vs. Zombies on the tablet. No kidding. It was fantastic. We showered, got dressed, had a normal lunch and then headed over to our friend’s house in the early afternoon armed with art supplies so the kids could work on their crafts while I helped Cassie with the food. It was great! I helped the kids paint, we made Indian headbands and vests (found via Pinterest, of course), we listened to music, chopped vegetables and talked and laughed in the kitchen.
A lot of our success with the kids came down to being prepared. With no cousins to run around and play with, my kids really want to play with us. I’m totally okay with that, it just means that I usually have to bring something to do, and it also means that holidays don’t generally feel like a day off. In fact, they are probably more work. And that’s okay because I want our holidays to be memorable.
Maybe one day we’ll cook our own Thanksgiving feast in our Airstream, but this year we were completely content to be on vegetable chopping, table setting, and dish washing duty. Thanks again to our amazing friends who helped us create a memorable first Thanksgiving on the road!
During the months we stayed in Northern Virginia, we visited the National Mall and Monuments at least a half dozen times. We learned what worked and what did not. When some friends visited, we planned a tour around the mall with the ages of our kids (and theirs, which match pretty close) and it turned out great. We thought we’d share, for the interest of anyone attempting the same thing.
When we visited: Fall 2013
Ages of Children: 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, 2 months (combined kids of two families. NOT all ours!)
Time: 2.5 hours
Bikes: Three older kids on bikes, and 3 year old on a strider bike. Adults walked, which nicely matched speed of our littlest on the strider bike. Also bring a bike lock long enough to lock up all the bikes.
Strollers: The 5, 2, and 2 month old rode in 2 different strollers, which also contained stacks and water. If strollers are not needed, those items can be easily carried in a backpack.
Don’t forget to bring: water, snacks, bike lock, the National Mall smart phone app, and pens for your Junior Ranger booklets.
I can’t remember who it was that originally suggested we bring the kid’s bikes with us to the National Mall in Washington DC, but whoever it was, they are a genius. Having their bikes helped our kids last a lot longer, see more, and made the whole outing feel more adventurous. That said, you can still walk the route I propose, just know that if you have little kids you’ll probably need a stroller as the distance is quite far.
Where to park your car? I was so nervous for first trip into Washington DC. I had heard that everyone takes the metro, there’s no parking anywhere, and traffic is terrible. While that last statement is most definitely true, we parked in downtown DC dozens of times and I always seemed to manage to find a spot. To see the National Monuments, there are 2 different places I’d recommend to park. Both are free, 3 hour parking. The first is along Ohio Drive (see bottom of the map). This street runs parallel to the Potomac River and is pretty lengthy, offering many opportunities to park your vehicle. Choose a spot farther south near the FDR Memorial for easiest access to this route. The other option for parking is up behind the Lincoln Memorial on Rock Creek and Potomac Pkwy. If you are coming off the Memorial Bridge, take two quick left hand turns (there also might be a U-turn necessary in there somewhere). I believe there is generally parking on both sides of the street.
After you park, its time to go! Make sure you grab water and snacks and head across the street towards the FDR Memorial. They usually have rangers stationed outside, and you can ask for your Junior Ranger Booklet for the kids. From there you basically walk in a very large circle. 
From the FDR Memorial, walk north to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial, and then across the street to WWII. There are restrooms located near WWII Memorial that are clean, well-kept and close by. From there, cross the street and head east towards the Washington Monument. At the time of our visit, the WM was under construction (earthquake retro-fit) so we were not able to get tickets and go up to the top. Cut across to the north side of the monument, and then if you go just a little farther east you can get a glimpse of the White House.
Head down the north path back towards the WWII Memorial. Follow the signs for the Vietnam Memorial. The path will take you through the Constitution Gardens, and on the opposite side of the lake you can see the memorial dedicated to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Walk your bikes through the Vietnam Memorial, and you’ll come out within sight of the Lincoln Memorial. Head over, lock up your bikes and climb to the top. Spend some time checking out the Reflecting Pool, and then when you are ready grab your bikes and head over to the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
Once you are finished there, you just need to head back! We stopped by the FDR Memorial one last time to turn in our Junior Ranger Booklets and pick up our badges. The kids were also not quite ready to go, so we walked the length of the Memorial (when we started we just saw a small piece and decided we wanted to see the WHOLE thing – totally worth the time) and came out the other side pretty close to our car.
Don’t be afraid to bring your kids to enjoy the National Mall and create some great memories. Our kids loved it, and yours will too!
Everybody knows someone that is a photographer, and with Thanksgiving wrapped up and Christmas approaching I thought I’d help you out with your shopping list. Here are 22 great gifts for the photographer in your life (in no particular order).
1. Black Rapid Strap: I love mine. The cross body carrying method is 10x more comfortable than a strap around your neck. They have both a women’s and a men’s version (although I just have the men’s. Women’s wasn’t yet created when I acquired mine).
2. Joby Gorillapod: Flexible, lightweight, adjustable, and easy to carry with you on the go. Get super creative and wrap around a pole or a tree for some great stable photography.
3. Add the Joby Ballhead X to your Gorillapod and you are golden. Much easier to move the camera around and fine tune positioning.
4. Digital Timer Remote for your SLR: Allows you to set your shutter on a timer. Also does intervals – I totally use this with my kids when I actually want to be in the photo. Put your camera on a tripod, set the intervals for every 10 seconds and then go about your activity (obviously you have to be fairly stationary). Worked great for coloring Easter Eggs one year.
5. Think Tank Card Wallet: For those wedding photographers that have a ton of memory cards. I love that it has a strap for you to attach to your clothing. Also has a business card slot for easy identification.
6. Eneloop AA Batteries: I’ve lost track of how many of these I actually own. Every photographer needs more rechargeable batteries. Trust me. These are the best.
7. The Capture Pro: For full reasons why should get this, read my blog post here. Its fabulous.
8. The Daisy Grip: I don’t own one (yet) but my child photographer friends swear by them.
9. The Expo Disc: Get perfect white balance in tricky situations. Fabulous for wedding photographers when the lighting can be all over the place at receptions.
10. The F-Stop Watch: Totally on my list.
11. Camera Cookie Cutters: Who doesn’t love sugar cookies?
12. Photo-opoly: Personalized game of Monopoly. I’ve never tried it, but it has great reviews on Amazon! Fun, easy to put together.
13. Going Pro: Scott Bourne & Skip Cohen are two of the greats in the photography world. Fantastic book about taking the leap from amateur to pro photographer. Have it, read it, loved it.
14. Understanding Exposure: For experience or beginning photographers. Understanding your camera, f-stops, and dozens of other topics to get your camera of Auto and have more control over your photos.
15. Camera Charm Necklace: Sparkly.
16. Keep Calm and Snap On Poster: Decorates one of the walls in my office. Kind of an odd size, so I had it matted and framed at Michael’s.
17. The PhotoJojo lens set: ooooh. These are fun! They’ve even added a polarizer since I bought mine. Might be time for a new set.
18. The Slingshot: stabilizing grip for your phone and it also folds out into a tripod! Super useful for video.
19. Canon Camera Lens Mug: My dad bought me one of these for my birthday. I totally love it.
20. Smartphone Attachable Lens – Sony Qx10: One of the coolest innovations for camera phones yet. 10x optical zoom, f/1.8, the lens carries everything it needs inside it and you control it with your phone. You can also find it here.
21. Holga Camera: For those of us that have always shot digital, this is a fun little experiment in film. Don’t forget to also buy film.
22. Camera Shaped USB Drive: Why not?
When we visited: August 2013
Ages of children: 7, 5, 3
Don’t forget to bring: Picnic blanket & dinner, bikes, bike lock, toy planes
Just north of the Reagan International Airport in Washington DC, there is a small park called Gravelly Point. The park sits right at the end of the runway, giving you a spectacular view of the planes as they take off and land. Every few minutes, you’ll get an up close and personal experience with an airplane. You will either see the planes taking off, or the planes landing, depending on how the airport is routing air traffic. (I suppose this depends on wind patterns.)
We heard about the park, and decided it sounded like a great outing with our kids. We gathered a picnic dinner and threw the bikes in the back of the newly acquired truck, and headed out. The park did not disappoint, and we had a great show as we ate our dinner. Just know the because they planes are so close, they are also very LOUD.
We received a tip from local friends that the bike ride from Gravelly Point to the Jefferson Memorial is a short one, great for kids, and is one of the easiest ways to get to the memorial. The Jefferson Memorial is situated on the other side of the tidal basin from the bulk of the monuments, and there’s no parking at or near it making it the least accessible monument at the National Mall. After dinner we set off on our bikes, riding north on the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail. The bike trail continues to Arlington National Cemetery, but you want to take the fork that leads over the George Mason Memorial Bridge.
This ride at 3 miles (round trip) , was about the right length for Andrew (5) on a bike, a little easy for Rachel (7), and Cara (3) rode in the CoPilot seat with Jess. With the exception of one street crossing, the entire path is separated from car traffic and safe for kids. It is an active bike path, so have a talk with your kids about proper path etiquette (stay to the right, pass only when safe, announce passing, and ride in a straight line).
At the memorial, we found a rack to lock our bikes with a long bike lock I carried in a backpack, and then headed into the memorial.
As with the Lincoln Memorial, the light inside the Jefferson Memorial is beautiful. After you have walked around a bit, don’t forget to take the elevator or stairs below to view the exhibits and visit the gift shop. There are also ranger talks every hour and these guys really know their stuff. Its always a pleasure to hear what they have to say.
We enjoyed our stay so much we left a little late, and it was getting dark on our ride back to the truck.
To give you an idea of what watching the planes is like, check out this video shot at a different day, but same location: