Tuckered out...

This weekend's got me tuckered out, and feeling a bit under the weather...

Will try to get back into things Monday or Tuesday...

Baltimore Part 4: Everything else

So in the one and a half days we spent in Baltimore, we managed to visit the Maryland Science Center, the B&O Railroad Museum, the National Aquarium - and to do a lot more...

For example, the reason we were in Baltimore in the first place was Mommy's "Fit Bloggin'12" conference, and we got to meet a bunch of Mommy's blogging friends -

We even to hang out at the conference itself a bit, and, since it was a "fit" blogging conference, try out some of the fitness equipment, like this trampoline seemingly made just for Everett -

Of course, we also spent lots and lots of time in Baltimore's famous Inner Harbor...

Mainly running and goofing around...

And trying to decide whether we should believe it or not...

In-between all the outside time and all the museum time, we managed to spend a bunch of time at our hotel -

Riding in the hotel's glass elevators, from which we had the best views of the Inner Harbor -

Having a picnic lunch in our room while enjoying more harbor views out the window...

And getting a good afternoon nap, in our usual, somewhat unorthodox, sleeping style...

And of course, we had to relax, refuel and recall our day in the evening, with a tasty pizza dinner and a cold beer...

Then, the next morning, we were up at the crack of dawn, all the better to enjoy the beautiful sunrise over the harbor and aquarium

And like was the case with Mystic, CT, we sure cast a long shadow over Baltimore (thanks to the just rising sun...)

We had a great time in Baltimore, and can't wait to come back! 

Baltimore Part 3: Fishies!

We've sure been to many aquariums during our short lives, most recently the Mystic Aquarium, but also the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the one at the California Academy of Sciences, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, New Jersey State Aquarium near Dziadek and Babcia's house, and of course, the New York Aquarium at Coney Island (though since there doesn't seem to be any documentation of me having been there on the blog, only Jasper, I'm not sure if I've been there myself yet - I'll have to do something about that ASAP, and definitely once the new shark exhibit is completed.)

In any case, whew - that is a LOT of aquariums. So of course, when we were in Baltimore, we weren't about to miss the National Aquarium, especially since we could see it directly across the Inner Harbor from our hotel room window.

Despite the picture with Daddy, Mommy was actually the one who took us to the aquarium on Sunday morning, while Daddy caught up on some work. Since everyone has had plenty of chances to see pictures of us at aquariums over the years - and because Mommy isn't quite as prolific with the camera as Daddy is - we'll just share a few scenes from our morning excursion. 

All the colorful fishies were beautiful, but the dolphins were my favorite!

Like I like to say about 30 times a day around the house - I love dolphins!

Baltimore Part 2: Chooooo-chooooooo

The science museum that Everett told you about yesterday wasn't the only adventure we had during our Baltimore weekend - not even close. We also visited the B&O Railroad Museum, the birthplace of "America’s first commercial long-distance railroad."

But first, we had to get there. At first, Daddy wasn't so sure we'd be going - our car was already parked in the hotel garage, Daddy wasn't keen on pulling it out, and seemed a bit worried about finding parking near the museum (that wouldn't cost him anything additional, if you know Daddy...)

But luckily, we stopped by the Baltimore Visitor's Center right across the street from our hotel and learned that there is a free bus that runs to the museum. That's right, free. Daddy didn't need to hear any more than that - and neither did we, since that just meant we got to take a ride on a new transit system. Which is exactly what we did - on the Charm City Circulator, to be exact. We waited patiently at the bus stop, had our snack and surveyed a map of the city and its full public transport system.

And then, we went for a ride on the bus.

It was quite fun, but not nearly as fun as the museum itself.

Especially the grand roundhouse - 

We had never been inside one before, and we can't think of a better one to be the first for us to visit.

It was enormous and beautiful and full of locomotives and wagons.

Plus, since this was the first time Everett and I had ever been inside a real roundhouse, getting to check out every inch of it, including the turntable and its motor, was a real treat.

It was also a treat to see all the locomotives at the museum - look how enormous they are!

We even got to be train engineers on our very own steam engines. 

But the best part may have been going for a ride on a vintage train. We were giddy with anticipation after Daddy bought our tickets, and made sure we were the first ones in line to get on.

The ride wasn't nearly long enough (and the train didn't go nearly fast enough for our taste), but it was still fun while it lasted, and there was lots to see out the window.

And then, it was time to head back to our hotel on the Charm City Circulator.

Who knew Baltimore could be so much fun?!

Baltimore in four parts: Part 1

We had a bit of a whirlwind weekend - a trip to Baltimore! Mommy had to be in Baltimore for a blogging conference (which you can read about here), and actually left last Thursday morning, but since we had school the rest of the week, we stayed home with Daddy. Apparently by Friday he had enough of us, so right after school let out he packed us up into the car and we sped down the New Jersey Turnpike to Dziaked and Babcia's house (though Dziadek was not there, as he is currently on a six week solo hike through Spain...)

Anyway, we spend the night at Babcia's, then bright and early Saturday morning in the car again, back on the New Jersey Turnpike again, but this time instead of heading back North to Brooklyn, as usual, we headed even further South to Baltimore. Despite the long trip, we arrived in Baltimore bright and early, and since we knew we'd have to go back home the next day, we had no time to waste, and so our activities began.

And one of our first activities was a visit to the Maryland Science Center, which was conveniently  located just down the street from Mommy's hotel in the Inner Harbor. We always enjoy a good science museum, like the New York Hall of Science in Queens, the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. And so of course, we really got a kick out of the Maryland Science Center as well. 

We actually spent quite a bit of time at the science center in the kid's room, which wasn't so much about science at all, but mostly about fun things to keep little boys busy, which Daddy seemed to really appreciate...

After we checked out EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of the activities in the kid's room, we moved on to some real science experiments...

But the best part of all might have been the dinosaur room! With a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

And yes, there was a Diplodocus!

We even got to play archeologist, and uncover some fossilized dinosaur bones.

Boy, we're sure becoming science museum connoisseurs!

We'll have to save the rest of our Baltimore activities for the next few days, but I'll give you a hint - the involve trains (lots and lots of trains) and fishies (lots and lots of fishies...) Aren't you just full of anticipation?!