ICE! at Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor

I took last Tuesday off so that we could see ICE!, the ice wonderland and exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, MD. It was a little challenging to get tickets, but we got tickets for Tuesday, 10:30am.

I knew it was going to be cold, so I made sure everyone bundled up. CJ was wearing his thermal pajamas underneath his clothes + two pairs of socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece sweater, thick khakis, his winter jacket, gloves and hat. I was dressed similarly. I paid special attention to the feet and hands because I know that when the extremities are cold, you're miserable. We got mom to come with us to ICE!, for which I'm really glad, even though I knew she was going to be cold, cold, cold.

ICE! was great. It's not a big exhibit, but it's impressive and fun. We were told that the Gaylord brought in 2 million blocks of ice from Ohio and ice sculptors from China and Mongolia created the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol building, dancing penguins, an igloo, 4 ice slides, a tunnel of branches and ice, candy, animals, wreaths, Santa Claus, lamp posts, a nativity scene, and on and on.

Mom and Maki bailed when we got to the end because they were so cold, but CJ, Jessie and I stayed longer to wander around, start over at the beginning and go down the slides a bunch of times. The slides intimidated me at first because as I've gotten older, I've developed a slight fear of slides and roller coasters. But CJ was really insistent and, as expected, I had so much fun, I ended up going down the slides with the kids a half dozen times.

It's 9 degrees inside ICE! 9 degrees is really cold. In addition to the clothes we were wearing, we were given parkas to keep us warm AND to facilitate going down the ice slides. At 9 degrees, nothing is melting. There's no water, the sculptures aren't even shiny, and there are no puddles at the bottom of the slides. I kept asking the kids if they could wiggles their toes. When CJ and Jessie complained about their mouths being frozen and not wanting to go down the slides anymore, I knew it was time to go.

After ICE!, we went to the Gaylord Hotel (ICE! is in an outdoor structure) to check out the decked out lobby and have lunch. We had lunch at the Pienza Italian Market, which is a surprisingly good buffet. The kids loved the pizza and pasta and of course, the desserts!

When we got home, the kids were pooped so they watched a little TV, while I addressed my holiday cards. I'm ridiculous. I ordered the cards in October and they didn't go out until New Year's Eve! Oh well, it's still the holiday season.

Inside an igloo with the dancing penguins.

CJ and Jessie in front of an ice bear!

CJ Loves Jessie

My niece Jessie spent last weekend with us.  CJ had a ball playing with her older cousin; Jessie was awesome and ready CJ lots and lots of books.

On Saturday, we went to Yoko, a Japanese restaurant in Reston.  My god, these kids really love their sushi.  CJ ate 10 pieces of nigiri - 6 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of tuna and 2 pieces of egg sushi.  Jessie ate two rolls - a California roll and an eel roll.  I am pretty sure that the kids ate more than I did.  At left is a cute photo of CJ and Jessie (and two other girls) watching the sushi chef make their lunch.  

After lunch, we went to Tyson's Corner mall to get some watches fixed, look for some new shoes, and visit the Lego store.  CJ is finally old enough to play with the small Legos, so we bought him a small container of Legos.  We were hoping that CJ wouldn't see the Thomas Lego sets, but no such luck.  I'm surprised were made it out of there without buying any Thomas Lego sets.  (We did promise a set or two for good behavior and stars.)

On Sunday, after a heart-stopping breakfast of sausage egg mcmuffins, we headed out to Old Town.  We met up with our friends Emi, Elena and Rona to have lunch and take the water taxi to National Harbor.  It was a beautiful day and the kids loved the 20-minute boat ride.

We got off at Gaylord Place, which is a gorgeous property.  We walked around the hotel, checked out the many restaurants and then the kids ran around the colonial garden.  Afterward, we walked down to National Harbor.  There are more shops open than the last time we were there, but there are still quite a retail shops that are coming soon.  With the economy the way it is, I wonder how many shops will wait until next year or simply never open.

As usual, CJ loved playing in the sand park at National Harbor; this is where the Awakening statue has been moved to and it's nice to see more people enjoying the statue.  After strawberry milkshakes, it was time to take the water taxi home, meet up with Maki, and head home.  

I can't believe it's October and 80 degrees outside!

National Harbor

Last Sunday, my friend Megan was in town, so we decided to check out National Harbor in PG County, just across the river from Alexandria on the VA side. Maki and I had been watching the construction every time we dropped off our nanny in Oxon Hill, so we were excited to see the new place.

There is a water taxi that goes back and forth between Old Town and National Harbor and that seemed the like way to travel last Sunday. The weather was sunny and warm (but not yet humid), and I was thrilled to be on the water. The water taxis leave every half hour for National Harbor or Gaylord National Resort. Gaylord is the giant hotel and convention center that serves as the anchor for National Place.

There isn't much open yet at National Harbor, but it was fun to walk around. The Awakening status that used to be at Haines Point is now here; CJ just loved playing in the sand around the statue. The Westin and Gaylord are open, as are a few shops and Potbellies sandwich place.

This is going to be fun and pretty once all the shops and restaurants are open. The streets remind me of Reston Town Center and yes, there will be lots of chain establishments. There is a good breeze off the water from the hill leading to Gaylord, so it shouldn't get to muggy.

We hear that National Harbor is pretty at night, so we hope to have dinner there one evening with CJ and the nanny.