FAILURE #1:
CALAMITY STRUCK on Thursday night and I LOST MY CURRENT FAVORITE PEN!
It’s still in my house somewhere, I am sure of it. But I can’t find it.
(Since I’m sure at least someone wants to know, my current favorite pen is the Pilot Juice Up 04 (black) with the Pentel EnerGel Clena (also 0.4) in 2nd place.)
I thought it was pretty humorous how long I spent looking for this $3.60 item but I failed to find it. On the up side, there are now five of them on their way to me so I will be safe in case it happens again.
FAILURE #2:
So I’m trying to get tickets for the Washington Monument tour while we will be in DC. Yesterday I didn’t even set a timer and (shocker) all tickets were gone. TODAY though I set a timer . . . tried exactly at 10 AM as they were released . . . and I still failed!
(I am having flashbacks to trying daily to get French Laundry reservations! We did ultimately succeed but the hotel ended up getting them for us. Not sure that strategy will work with the US government.)
SUCCESS
Picking a movie that all 3 kids like is getting harder and harder these days. Often we will scroll through Netflix or Disney plus and choice after choice appeals to 2/3 and the other kid shouts “NOOOOOO!”. Thankfully after ~30ish rejected titles, 2006 Ben Stiller for the win! I even enjoyed it.
Happy Saturday! Long run (done) –> gymnastics (current) –> bday party –> library –> maybe a nap 🙂
24 Comments
My kids love that movie! We had the same dilemma last night and ended up with Space Jam. I was not entertained but they LOVED it. I always love hearing about kid movie ideas. We have the same yes/no problem. The back up choice last night was Mr Peabody & Sherman which none of us have seen. Will do that one next time I think.
Shocking on the monument. I had no idea it was in such high demand!!
Ooh, space jam 🙂 Will keep in mind for future . . .
The worst is when you get the sense one kid is just saying no to make the other 2 mad. (And “the 1” varies – there’s no consistent combination!)
To get tickets to pretty much anything in DC, try emailing your representatives’ offices and asking them.
When we went to DC back in 2015- we also had no luck getting tickets for the Washington monument, but walked up to it while we were there and a guard let us up! Could be worth a try if you don’t have any luck getting tickets ahead of time.
My kids love that move and every time we go to the Museum of Natural History (which is a LOT, we are members) we have to visit the Big Head.
OMG I don’t think my kids understood that was a real place (I mean, I should have told them, but didn’t!). I will let them know today that is an actual place we can go. They will be excited!
We went to the Museum of Natural History on our NYC trip in 2018 too and my kids totally posed with the Big Head and were very excited! 🙂
You can queue for the tickets the day of — I was in line maybe 30 minutes before the window opened, and I did get tickets, but for an ‘instant visit’ (ie, the line opened at 9 and the tickets were for 9-9:30 as that was all that was available). Kind of a pain — but it did avoid disappointment! The guys managing the line said sometimes people get there 1-2 hours before it opens (I was there on a cold January morning). So you have one option.
that will be plan B 🙂
I’ve honestly think governmental ticketing systems are broken. They never work when I try to get tickets when people are in town. I can call friends who work there and get tickets, but the online ticket portals never work. Requesting through your Congressional delegation may work. Are you going to go to the White House? I highly recommend a visit, which can also be coordinated through your Congresspeople.
Just emailed Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (our rep!). Fingers crossed!!
if you watch Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian it might get the kids excited for DC! Also, if you can’t get Washington Monument tickets, I think the Old Post Office Tower is an even better view (because you can see the monument) and you don’t need reservations.
Oh wow – is that a sequel? That’s awesome! Will definitely check out . Doing trip planning as we speak . . .
Sometimes we have each person in the family write down a movie they want to watch and we draw out of a hat for movie night. Before we draw we say no complaining no matter which one wins and so far everyone ends up happily watching. Also I would recommend Marcel the Shell … this is the sweetest most unique kids movie I’ve seen in a while and my kids both loved it.
Our middle child is on a Roald Dahl kick, so we watched Fantastic Mr Fox last night. All 3 kids (9, 7, 4) LOVED it!
Definitely adding Night at the Museum to our watch list. Thanks!!
For our movie nights, we rotate turns. My husband and I are included in the rotation so that we can get them to watch things we think they will like (that we also don’t mind watching with them). There is no way we could get a consensus every week.
How soon is your trip? Were you trying for the tickets 30 days in advance? We just went to DC a month ago and had no problem securing the tickets 34 hours in advance. They hold a bunch back for last minute availability. We didn’t even do it exactly at the 24 hour mark. It was like 22.5 hours and we still were able to secure.
That was supposed to say 24 hours in advance.
We got them today!!! Woohoo 🙂
I thought you would like to know that a good proportion of my favorite pens come from your pen recommendations ( although I usually size up a bit on the tip size). ♥️
Oh GOOD! I am literally working on an outline for BLP Pen episode.
(which I tentatively was calling the Penisode in my head and then was like . . . no that will DEFINITELY give people the wrong idea. HA.)
My 12yo and I watched Big recently and she enjoyed it. Also, did you find the pen?!
I didnt !!! But the replacement (x5) is coming Weds.