Boston and Washington - Day 14 - Washington Nationals Game, Smithsonian Castle, Air and Space

[collybird]

Originally Posted by Goldia

It gets worse and worse, first there's a lack of proper coats and now we find out poor Poot has been wearing crocs the whole trip goodness me his feet must have been freezing.

The meet and greet with the presidents sounds chaotic. I'm not sure I'd have had the patience or stamina for it. At least you got some good photos .

I hope you enjoyed your weather channel documentary on plane crashes as you say it's the perfect thing to watch just before a flight. I assume you know what to look out for now at least and so you can avoid disaster?

Oh and I liked the opening sentence when Poot described going to the ball game...we 'had' to go...like you were forcing him!

PS it's nice to have you back, but not for long I'm sure you must be off soon for your cruise. I imagine you've just got time to do all the washing and then you'll need to get packing again.

See more...

Abby you cracked me up, poor Poot indeed!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by collybird

Abby you cracked me up, poor Poot indeed!

See more...

It all comes out in the open now... I bet we will find out that April is packing ski masks and scarves for the cruise just to be sure she's not caught out again.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by collybird

I really hope you fulfil your dream of visiting all the ballparks, it would be so interesting to read about your experience at each. Such a shame Poot didn't get to run the bases, that would have been a cool experience.

I was thinking the Air and Space museum didn't sound like my thing but the map of air raids sounds fascinating.

You can really tell how cold it was from the pictures today, so odd that the skies can be blue but you still know.
I flinched at the frost bite picture!

See more...

Sorry.

We made no progress on our ballpark quest this summer - but I still want to do it. MUST TRY HARDER! It's tricky, because R.C. has ZERO interest in sport - and I don't always want to be subjecting him to things that bore him stupid. And then I go and do crazy things like spend all my extra money on a cruise - so there's definitely NO MONEY in the budget for baseball next year.

I did buy a Powerball ticket ($750 million...I think) when we were in Nashville - but no joy.

And Colette - not to sound all creepy and stalker-ish...but I have been thinking about your trip and HOPING that everything is still OK in Orlando when you arrive. Poor Cazzius was supposed to leave YESTERDAY!

Originally Posted by Goldia

It gets worse and worse, first there's a lack of proper coats and now we find out poor Poot has been wearing crocs the whole trip goodness me his feet must have been freezing.

The meet and greet with the presidents sounds chaotic. I'm not sure I'd have had the patience or stamina for it. At least you got some good photos .

I hope you enjoyed your weather channel documentary on plane crashes as you say it's the perfect thing to watch just before a flight. I assume you know what to look out for now at least and so you can avoid disaster?

Oh and I liked the opening sentence when Poot described going to the ball game...we 'had' to go...like you were forcing him!

PS it's nice to have you back, but not for long I'm sure you must be off soon for your cruise. I imagine you've just got time to do all the washing and then you'll need to get packing again.

See more...

He did have socks on under his Crocs - I'm not a MONSTER!

And this coming winter he'll be wearing the Chewbacca Crocs that I had delivered to my mother...they have furry linings!

I did succeed in doing the "America washing" before we left England. Sadly our machine here in France STILL HASN'T BEEN INSTALLED (:angry - so we'll be turning up for the cruise needing to do laundry right away. Sigh.

Poot was thrilled to be able to watch the Weather Channel for first the eclipse and then the Hurricane Harvey coverage. His only regret is that we'll miss seeing Irma in person.

Originally Posted by collybird

Abby you cracked me up, poor Poot indeed!

See more...

Originally Posted by Goldia

It all comes out in the open now... I bet we will find out that April is packing ski masks and scarves for the cruise just to be sure she's not caught out again.

See more...

NO! Just hats and gloves.

[collybird]

Oh April I know, I verge between thinking 'our trip is ages away, everything will be fine', and 'don't be so arrogant, of course it's not going to be fine'. I am so glad that Cazzius was able to reschedule, but disappointed for her that trip may not be what she planned. To add to my stress levels, we had been house hunting and have had an offer accepted on a place we love. We have been looking for months without even finding anywhere worth viewing, but of course, just as we're about to leave the country 'the one' pops up.

I beg to differ whether or not you are a monster regarding socks and Crocs, I'm sure many fashionista would have plenty to say about that!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by collybird

Oh April I know, I verge between thinking 'our trip is ages away, everything will be fine', and 'don't be so arrogant, of course it's not going to be fine'. I am so glad that Cazzius was able to reschedule, but disappointed for her that trip may not be what she planned. To add to my stress levels, we had been house hunting and have had an offer accepted on a place we love. We have been looking for months without even finding anywhere worth viewing, but of course, just as we're about to leave the country 'the one' pops up.

I beg to differ whether or not you are a monster regarding socks and Crocs, I'm sure many fashionista would have plenty to say about that!

See more...

Lol, Colette - the closest anyone in this house is coming to a "fashionista" is when we walk past the magazine aisle at Tesco. Poot likes Crocs - and since he's never gotten a blister, I like them for him. Plus you can ALWAYS buy them at TK Maxx. And as he's been wearing adult-sized shoes since he was seven, that's a big plus.


ALL fingers crossed for you on the house front. And you are right, life always works out that way. But you deserve to have your dream house AND a lovely holiday; I know we're all hoping that's what happens.

It looks like Orlando won't get the worst of it - but I was stunned to see Tampa has been evacuated. Anji got me wondering about what's going to happen to Sanibel...and to the critically endangered deer in the Keys...

[Cazzius]

What a great day.

I agree it is never the same watching a game as a neutral. We went to South Africa V USA in the Rugby World Cup at the Olympic Stadium, and while it was really fun and a good experience, it was a shame to to want to properly cheer on one of the teams.

The president meeting sounds chaotic. I remember when meet and greet at DLP was like that and it was awful, because you feel like you have to let the kids go first, but you really want your picture taken and to give the character a hug, but then you worry about being pushy and people are just pushing their kids forward and ARGH!

How many times is that you did Air & Space this trip? I'm thinking 3? That is very impressive and I think you deserve some sort of gold star, rosette, medal award.

Excellent packing skills getting all the books into a carry-on, and a smart move to tell the cabin crew - I don't think I would have been able to heft it into an overhead anyway, so just as well she put it into a cupboard.

Have you been to the Tampa ballpark in your quest yet? It was in our original plan but had to be dropped. My BF was looking forward to it as it is indoors, which to him means air conditioning and no humidity!

Thanks again for sharing your adventures

Originally Posted by GopherLass

And Colette - not to sound all creepy and stalker-ish...but I have been thinking about your trip and HOPING that everything is still OK in Orlando when you arrive. Poor Cazzius was supposed to leave YESTERDAY!

See more...

Originally Posted by collybird

Oh April I know, I verge between thinking 'our trip is ages away, everything will be fine', and 'don't be so arrogant, of course it's not going to be fine'. I am so glad that Cazzius was able to reschedule, but disappointed for her that trip may not be what she planned. To add to my stress levels, we had been house hunting and have had an offer accepted on a place we love. We have been looking for months without even finding anywhere worth viewing, but of course, just as we're about to leave the country 'the one' pops up.

See more...

Awww, you ladies are both so sweet to be thinking of me and our holiday nightmare
It certainly was not the trip we planned, but we never would have stayed at the Swolphin otherwise and I am SO glad we did, and now I have the perfect reason to persuade the BF to go back - we have to have the holiday we planned still

[Skittl1321]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

That case was SERIOUSLY heavy!

As for the game, we've only been "neutrals" a couple of times - it's nowhere near as much fun (though I really dug the presidents...).

When I was a student and people left basketball games early, we would all chant "Beat the Traffic!" over and over at them...

See more...

Well, I'm years behind on this report, but I'm post stalking you since I love your writing style. (I also love how Poot weighs in. I can't wait until "the infant" is ready to travel, and be aware of it. She's already been to 7 states.)

In college we would berate anyone who left early as a two-percenter (as opposed to someone who supported their team 100%). I got heckled once when I left a football game early: because I had passed out in the heat.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Cazzius

What a great day.

I agree it is never the same watching a game as a neutral. We went to South Africa V USA in the Rugby World Cup at the Olympic Stadium, and while it was really fun and a good experience, it was a shame to to want to properly cheer on one of the teams.

The president meeting sounds chaotic. I remember when meet and greet at DLP was like that and it was awful, because you feel like you have to let the kids go first, but you really want your picture taken and to give the character a hug, but then you worry about being pushy and people are just pushing their kids forward and ARGH!

How many times is that you did Air & Space this trip? I'm thinking 3? That is very impressive and I think you deserve some sort of gold star, rosette, medal award.

Excellent packing skills getting all the books into a carry-on, and a smart move to tell the cabin crew - I don't think I would have been able to heft it into an overhead anyway, so just as well she put it into a cupboard.

Have you been to the Tampa ballpark in your quest yet? It was in our original plan but had to be dropped. My BF was looking forward to it as it is indoors, which to him means air conditioning and no humidity!

Thanks again for sharing your adventures





Awww, you ladies are both so sweet to be thinking of me and our holiday nightmare
It certainly was not the trip we planned, but we never would have stayed at the Swolphin otherwise and I am SO glad we did, and now I have the perfect reason to persuade the BF to go back - we have to have the holiday we planned still

See more...

The last time we went to DLP Poot was 4 - I think the only M&Gs we did were the ones at our hotel. The park ones were just BONKERS. And no matter how many times I tell myself, "They don't mean anything by it - they just don't queue in France/Italy/Spain." - it doesn't work. When adults push in front of children I just see red (not that YOU do that, oh...you know what I mean ).

But it sounds like the new(ish) queues at DLP are...slow. When I read Gill H's recent DLP days...JEEZ! Universal gets people through the M&G queues SO FAST (they also get people through security in like 90 seconds) - I just don't see why Disney can't do it. Grumble.

I get that places (like the ballpark) want people to have "organic" interactions with characters - but unfortunately that doesn't seem to work anymore. You'd think the Presidents were giving OUT presidents, rather than just high-fives.

I think we did Air & Space twice, and Natural History twice. It was fun to revisit this day - I had forgotten about the kid in "Museum Time-Out".

And the (United) crew on this flight were great. The French stewardess treated Poot like a small adult - and offered to sneak him wine (he refused - I'm not sure what she would have done if he'd accepted).

We've NOT been to the Trop - I think its charmless nature puts me off. We have been to a few Spring Training games in Florida (and a Minor League game) - those are always good fun. I struggle with the heat - but I struggle with indoor baseball even more.

Going forward, I think I'm committed to seeing the Twins in different parks. They visit Tampa every year...but we're always in Florida AFTER baseball season finishes. Must plan that better.

Originally Posted by Skittl1321

Well, I'm years behind on this report, but I'm post stalking you since I love your writing style. (I also love how Poot weighs in. I can't wait until "the infant" is ready to travel, and be aware of it. She's already been to 7 states.)

In college we would berate anyone who left early as a two-percenter (as opposed to someone who supported their team 100%). I got heckled once when I left a football game early: because I had passed out in the heat.

See more...

Seven states before age one is mighty impressive. Poot's 11 now (just) - and he feels quite hard done by - having only been to ten states. It's his "J" nature asserting itself, I fear.

"Nothing quite as satisfying as crossing things off a list!"

Qatar is on NONE of his lists - nor on DH's - but I remain fixed in my course.

Hehe...two-percenter. Crazy college sports traditions are one of the things that I really miss about America. I try to get Poot to a game whenever we're in the States - but it's not the same as going several times a year. And he's still NEVER been to a hockey game. Such a shame - the hockey chants are the absolute best (worst).

Post-stalking, indeed. I will pass on your kind words to Poot. He writes a lot - because I'll be good (you know what) if any kid of mine is going to turn up at university incapable of writing a coherent sentence. My best girlfriend is a college professor and......what she sees these days...it's just appalling.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

The last time we went to DLP Poot was 4 - I think the only M&Gs we did were the ones at our hotel. The park ones were just BONKERS. And no matter how many times I tell myself, "They don't mean anything by it - they just don't queue in France/Italy/Spain." - it doesn't work. When adults push in front of children I just see red (not that YOU do that, oh...you know what I mean ).

But it sounds like the new(ish) queues at DLP are...slow. When I read Gill H's recent DLP days...JEEZ! Universal gets people through the M&G queues SO FAST (they also get people through security in like 90 seconds) - I just don't see why Disney can't do it. Grumble.

See more...

It's a mixed blessing, because it does mean the level of interaction is superb. None of the US-style 'hug, pose, bye!' - at DLP they really take the time to interact with people. We met Marie one Christmas season, and in between meeting guests, she was pretending to play with a bauble on the Christmas tree - so cute!

But of course, leisurely interaction means slow queues. Hey, at least they do have queues now, so we're thankful.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Gill H

It's a mixed blessing, because it does mean the level of interaction is superb. None of the US-style 'hug, pose, bye!' - at DLP they really take the time to interact with people. We met Marie one Christmas season, and in between meeting guests, she was pretending to play with a bauble on the Christmas tree - so cute!

But of course, leisurely interaction means slow queues. Hey, at least they do have queues now, so we're thankful.

See more...

Hmm...I am thankful for the queues, but I have come to prefer the sign and shove M&Gs (when people are waiting) - as I think the reality is that MOST PEOPLE want a snap/autograph - rather than a lengthy interaction. Especially with guests much younger than we are - they want that vital photo for whatever social media thing is the new thing - WAY more than they want to "play" with Marie.

Given the choice between meeting four characters quickly and one slowly - I'd take the four quickies ()!


The French ain't changin', though! Their art comes first - your comfort is a distant second!


...I only wish that DLP had more obliging opening hours...so we could fit in all the 45 minute M&G queues, lol.