First, I'm going to do the Question of the Week tomorrow, because today is, you know, a holiday. Plus I really want to do a recounting of the DC Area Meet Up without worrying about the Question of the Week. And I know you all really would rather hear about the awesome ladies and gents I meet and how cute their children were, don't you?
First, it was great meeting all the lovely ladies, handsome husbands and adorable children. Everyone was nice and fun, which makes me excited to plan another get together! We definitely need to do another one, because this one was not the ideal opportunity to get to know everyone. It was crowded and we were all busy wrangling kids and trying to work around naps.
Should I admit that I knew the zoo would not be a good place to really get to know each other? I knew it. But I thought for a first meeting, it would provide us with distractions for the kids and an easy-to-find location. We would at least get to meet each other and put faces with names, as well as meet the kiddos.
But there are definitely some lessons learned from this meet up.
Lessons Learned:
-Do not plan to go to the zoo on Memorial Day weekend! I had not really considered the crowds both in the zoo and in trying to park. The caused mayham in trying to meet up at our initial meeting place, and trouble navigating through the zoo itself throughout the day.
-If you are the one everyone is looking for, leave extra early to be sure to get there in time even if you have parking issues. Oops. My bad, people. Sorry about that.
-Having a back-up time/place for meeting up was brilliant (if I do say so myself). I was actually able to meet up with most people at the zoo restaurant, which was our back-up place.
-Different ages and nap times will always be an issue when meeting a group of parents with their kids. I knew this ahead of time, but it bares noted again.
-I wish I could have spent more time with everyone, so next time we need to come up with a place/activity where we can coordinate schedules better and have the ability to really talk.
I'm sure there were more, but that's all that come to mind right off. Feel free to add your own in the comments, so next time will be even better. But let's talk about who was there!
People who made it (in order of my meeting them):
-La Folle Maman of Cirque du Bebe - I happen to know La Folle Maman in real life, but we haven't gotten together in a few months, and I haven't seen her Lil' Monkey in even longer! I can't believe how big he has gotten, and he was so charming and smiley. I wish you could have stayed longer, but I understand when a baby needs a nap, it is time to go.
-Becoming Mommy - It was great to finally meet Becoming Mommy. I first went to her blog after reading in a comment she left somewhere (I think on Mom-101) mentioning that she lived in the DC area. So I checked her out and immediately felt comfortable with her and charmed by her adorable Sasha. She was just as nice in person, and her smiley boy was even more adorable in person! I also wish you could have stayed longer, but when that baby needs to go, you better go.
-chaser - Although chaser does not have her own blog, she is a regular commenter on Ask Moxie, which is where the idea of a DC area get together was originally thought up and developed. Chaser was friendly and easy to talk to, her husband was wonderful, and her two boys were very cute. Unfortunately, we were only able to chat during a hurried lunch while juggling kids. We were hoping to meet them at a little playground area, but they had to leave before we got there. Sorry we didn't get to chat more! I hope we will next time.
-Colleen of Wine Please - Colleen was introduced to me through Burgh Baby's Mom because she was in the area and interested in meeting up. So I started reading her blog, which I immediately loved because she is funny and I could relate to her. She was the same in person! Funny and relatable. Her husband was also funny and so good with the kids, which can be tough when juggling one who wants to take in everything and another who does not want to be in the stroller (I know all about that!). Thanks for sticking it out even with a baby who was in need of a nap.
-Hedra of Hands Full of Rocks - Hedra is a well-known commenter on Ask Moxie, and she and her family made a 3-hour car trip to come to the zoo! She and her husband really were as wonderful in person as they are online. Her four kids were amazingly good, running around on a hill to get their pent-up energy out and being patient navigating through the crowds. After 3 hours in the car, I would have thought they'd have been a little more crazy with energy! And I got to hear hedra say to one of the kids that they shouldn't do something because "it's not safe" thus showing that she really does follow her own advice! I'm so glad you made the trip out, and hopefully you will come out for another where we might be able to really chat and get to know each other better.
-Sharina - Also a reader and commenter on Ask Moxie. Unfortunately, we missed each other at the zoo. I'm so upset that we didn't get to meet! You were perhaps the first person to contact me via email about wanting to do this get together, so I'm especially bummed we didn't see each other at all. Hopefully you had a good time at the zoo anyway.
Finally, here are some fun facts about the 10 adults and 11 children who meet up at the zoo:
-Over half of the adults are consultants/contractors. This is pretty normal in the DC area.
-3 of the 11 kids were 11 months old. That is over 25%! (Another was 10 months old.) I just thought that was an interesting coincidence.
-Of the children, there were 3 girls and 8 boys.
-3 of the 4 men had facial hair. Apparently facial hair in the DC area is HAWT (to steal a phrase from Paris Hilton and another blogger who didn't make it). And all our men (even the one without facial hair) are HAWT!
-All 6 women I got to meet? Beautiful! How do we look so good and still manage to balance working and husbands and kids and goodness knows what else? With HAWT hubbies and gorgeous children? We are all very blessed.
Okay, that's all I've got. I'm soooooo tired. It's been a long weekend, and it has taken me since last night to write this post. I still haven't gotten to respond to other people's write ups on the meet up, but I will get there! It's just been a roller coast of a weekend with very high highs (like this meet up and lunch and a movie with good friends) and very low lows (like my short fuse with the Pumpkin and her screaming for an hour straight in the wee hours and her grumpiness during the days). It's been a long weekend, and it will be an even longer week coming up. Now, it's time to go to sleep.
Thanks to all who came, and hopefully we will really get to know each other at the next meet up. I'm thinking late June? Maybe early July? I can't get enough of you people!
8 comments:
Your mistake was that you should have worn something more easily seen. You know, like a pair of underpants on your head. I'm not sure if you would have lasted for too long at the zoo, but hell, it would have been badass.
And yes, HAWT!
It was great meeting everyone! And I'd love to chat with each of you more!
Thanks again to Caramama for planning the event! As consultants we all know there are always "lessons learned" from ANYTHING! ;)
awww...you're so sweet!
and I can't believe you were taking stats of us. :D I have to admit I was pretty surprised to see how many of the kids were all about the same age...too bad Tranny Head didn't make it cuz her little Sumo (who am I kidding, her big baby Sumo) is in the same age-range.
My suggestions/comments for next time:
*I would love June/early July, but we'll have to avoid July 4th. :)
*the back-up meeting place was awesome, particularly since kids were involved...thanks! might still be a good idea even if we have an adults-only event to account for work/sitter schedules
*would love a location accessible to the metro (like the zoo was, not that we were smart enough to USE it, but you, for other folks who are smarter than me)
*would love a kid-free event so that we can all easily chat and get more familiar with each other...I feel bad that I wasn't able to interact with everyone more (hope I didn't seem rude to anyone!)
On a related note, the big BlogHer road trip thingy in DC (well, Bethesda) is on 10/13/08 and looks to be pulling in quite a large crowd from not just here. Maybe I'll be able to see a lot of you ladies again there! :)
I'm so sad I didn't catch up with you guys. We were running late as well, and by the time we got to the very crowded zoo, we couldn't find you. So we tried at lunchtime, but no luck there, either. :o(
Oh, well, the zoo was fun as always...I hope to get together with everyone at the next go-round.
You remind me that my expectations for my kids are way higher than everyone else's (ep and I note this repeatedly, but it doesn't seem to affect our expectations). I was annoyed at them for being so fractious! And here others thought they were well behaved and patient? Sigh.
And what IS it with the beautiful and intelligent thing? I wonder if the underlying reasons we gravitate to Moxie also play a role in our ability to be in our own skins? (as that seems to me to be one of the reasons people look beautiful, IMHO - less mask, more real, more beautiful)
The Burgh Moms are planning our next get-together at the zoo, so it should be interesting to see if we manage to learn anything from you. Of course, we're cheating and gettina a pavillion, but that's because we're hawt and stuff.
Glad y'all had a great time!
You are all too sweet.....
But I don't beleive I'd be able to make an early July. We'll be in California.
And I guess we're in the norm. Me being an contractor, with an 11mo, and a hubby with a goatee.....
i liked everybody too and next time could we meet without the kids?!?!? so we could actually speak to one another in nearly complete sentences? please keep me in the loop!
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