Week 23 (Inauguration!!)

This week was a BIG week in Washington, and we were excited to be a part of it. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Inauguration, but given Isaac's dislike of the cold weather we were nervous about bringing him. Ultimately we decided that it was such a historic day that it would be worth braving a few hours of cold so we could tell him he was there. To prepare him, we decided to bundle him up over the weekend and took him out for a few walks to Eastern Market. We tried several different options, attempting to bundle him as much as possible while still giving him the ability to move. We ultimately dressed him in the blue outfit, the brown outfit, a onesie with feet, a pair of socks, a hat, AND put him inside Bill's jacket.

Unfortunately strollers, the warmest option, were banned from the Inauguration, but we still took the stroller for our test run (no need to torture the poor little guy before necessary). We took out the infant seat and put him right in the jogging stroller for the first time. We think he liked facing out and watching the world, but between his layers of clothing and the rain/wind guard it was hard to tell. The city was starting to fill up with people coming in for the big day and you could already see the traffic nightmare that was going to be!


On Sunday, Bill and I got tickets to see the concert at the Lincoln Memorial just as it was starting and decided we should try to go. In our previous life that would have been a great idea, but it's amazing how much longer everything takes when you have a baby!! We spent some time bundling up ourselves and Isaac, and asked a friend for a ride downtown. She offered to watch Isaac while we were gone, so I then spent some time packing him up and giving her the Isaac scoop. Then we hurriedly jumped on our bikes and rode down to the Mall ... just in time to see the crowd pouring out and hear the last song of the concert!!! What a bummer... but it was still great to be down on the Mall with what felt like a gazillion people and feel the energy (and we TiVo'd the concert so we got to watch it anyway!!).

On Inauguration day we woke up early, bundled up and began the trek down to the Capitol. We brought the stroller as far as we could (we parked it at a friend's house right near the Capitol), got Isaac to smile one last time (the pic below really was his last smile until we got home), and then strapped him on and joined the crowds. The mass of people was amazing, but even given the crazy lines everyone was in good spirits. We walked for what felt like miles to find the end of the line for our section and once we got there someone yelled out that a new gate was opening for our section so we ran and got right through security, avoiding what we later heard was HOURS of waiting time. We walked through the metal detectors and up the stairs onto the platform realizing just how amazing our seats were as we walked past Tom Hanks and Jamie Lee Curtis!! We were directly underneath the podium, sitting to the right of the band. It was UNBELIEVABLE - we were probably 40 feet from the podium and could basically hear without the microphones!! I took a picture of the crowd behind us...and then the camera said "lens error" and STOPPED WORKING!!! Of all days... Once we got settled in our seats, the people around us were pointing out all the VIPS - we were just a few rows from ridiculous celebs like Jay-Z, Beyonce, P Diddy, Denzel Washington, and Smoky Robinson! It was crazy - we were so close, but since we were below the podium, we could only see whoever was at the microphone and not what was going on behind them. It didn't matter though, we had a great view of the President taking the oath, and giving his speech, and could see and hear everything that was important. Bill and I took turns walking around with a very unhappy Isaac who cried and cried. We tried to calm him down, but he was not feeling it. He slept for a little while on Bill in the bjorn, but every time they announced another round of people entering the platform he woke up startled and screamed. Finally, by the time PRESIDENT Obama gave his speech, Isaac had either cried himself to sleep or was as inspired as the rest of the crowd, but he was silent through the whole thing. We left after that in an attempt to avoid the crushing crowds exiting the Capitol. Isaac had finally fallen asleep in my arms (which were NUMB at that point) so I carried him back to our friend's house where we got the stroller and headed home. We were a little worried that we had caused permanent damage, but as soon as we got Isaac home and warm he was all smiles. What an amazing day!! Unfortunately, given the fact that the *@#% camera broke we were only able to take a few pictures with Bill's phone. If you look closely though you can see the President giving his speech on the podium up above us (and the secret service that kept yelling at us to sit down!).

After taking a few hours to thaw out and nap, Bill and I left Isaac in the capable hands of Bill's aunt Barbie and headed out for the Western States inaugural ball. Well, we actually got half way there, realized we forgot the tickets, came back for them, and THEN headed for the ball (tons of fun in the parking lot that was downtown DC!!) to meet our friends Ann & Shay who got us the tickets. It was fun getting all dressed up and hanging out among grown ups and more celebs (we saw Sharon Stone, Tyra Banks, the DJ from Ellen, Dave Winfield but heard of lots more). However, it was basically like a VERY CROWDED prom for adults - the food was hospital cafeteria at best and the drinks were pricey (not that it stopped us since we had to keep ourselves entertained for 4 hours waiting for the Obamas!!). There were no seats in the whole place (except in the handicapped area) so we eventually sat on the floor waiting (haven't worn heels in a while!!). We danced to Eli Manning's wedding band (no joke) and watched Marc Anthony and JLo sing, watched the Bidens dance, and then when the Obamas finally came in and danced we watched in awe - and then ran for the escalator to beat the crowds to a grab a taxi home and order chinese food!!

Overall, an AMAZING experience!!