Virginia, New York & Washington D.C.

We finally got to head to the east coast to visit my new nephew! If you know how much I love babies then you would understand that I have been counting down the days since the second we booked our tickets. Neither of us have been to NY so we also got to sneak away for the weekend for the R&R. We also flew in and out of Washington D.C so we could check out some of the monuments. It all worked out perfectly!

On day one enjoyed a direct flight into D.C. and were greeted by my big brother Garret who drove us to his place in Richmond, Virginia where we got to say hi to Cami in their cozy little home. I wanted to wake Hamilton up so bad but rule #1 is to never wake a sleeping baby. Just an FYI rule #2 is to never drop your baby. I crept up to his little bassinet and literally started to shed a tear. It's kinda unexplainable how precious little babies are. They are truly heaven sent and scent (like that play on words!?).  The next morning Jaime and I were exhausted from traveling but Cami knew how to wake me up! She plopped Hamilton right on my chest and BOOM Adrianna was awake. I was so ecstatic to see this beautiful grey eyed baby, MY NEPHEW! I pretty much spent every waking hour kisses, rocking and bouncing him. Fun fact, he loves to be bounced on a yoga ball. He's also just starting to smile and makes the most adorable noises, minus his very loud farts which I can hear through the wall. Anyway, back to the cute noises...he loves to be held and will stop crying the second you hold him. He also likes to be facing other people and enjoying the scenery.

 

  

 

It was also very fun to see Garret and Cami. The last time we saw them was when we got married! CRAZY! Anyhow, Garret and Cami are wonderful parents and they are so patient, gentle and kind with their son. He is so blessed to have them.

One of our most favorite things to do in the Bernal family is to play tennis. I did play some Varsity Tennis on a state champ team back during my MI high school glory days but um....I'm not really that great I'm just super competitive and love to spike the tennis ball across the net. I did have an undefeated record in high school, but hey those bragging days are long gone. We went to the court and Garret and Cami were quite impressive. They have been working on their skills. Jaime and I played doubles with them and I was so proud of Jaime, he really did hold his own. Hamilton was the ball boy and did a great job cheering on all the wrong shots. Oh, Jaime and I lost....but no one needs to know that.

The first day we just kinda hung out at the house and the we decided we should go workout. We drove up to the middle school and it was HOT AS HAIL! There was an exercise group that was about to start and the coach came over to us and said "Hey you guys look like you workout...what do you do!?" Jaime and the coach hit it off and he offered for us to join his class if we wanted some core work. It was awesome how friendly he was and how friendly people are in Virginia. We thanked him for the offer but said we had a workout in mind. I think he really wanted us to join his class because he kept saying "You can jump in at any time, we would love to have you!" Jaime mentioned we wanted to do some running and it was funny because he said "You don't look like a runner!" Jaime laughed and said that he was spot on because he is a weight lifter but he has to condition every once and a while. He asked when Jaime was going to compete next and he was so into it I swear he would have come out to watch him compete. People in the fitness industry connect really fast and are always very positive and upbeat, I love it. We finally got to our workout and decided to run suicides and do pull ups off the soccer goal posts. The grass was a little bit wet and the cross bar was a little high...and I was worried I was going to slip....so I made Jaime boost me up a few times. The last 100 yards we had to carry a tire and that was actually a lot harder that I expected. After we did some planks and called it a day...it was really, really hot. The coach called us in to his final huddle and wanted us to do a cheer with the group. We put our hands in and cheered " 1, 2, 3 FIT FOR LIFE." He said "I was watching you guys and you are pretty impressive...keep it up." We just laughed and said we were acclimating to their heat...but like very slowly.

After our workouts Cami made some bomb chicken tacos (she's vegetarian and this woman can cook meat better than I can). We ended up going to this bomb donut place called Duck Donuts where you get to customize your own donut which is made fresh! Just look at these delicious creations! We played cranium the rest of the night and Garret and Cami kick our butt, it was awkward.

Hamilton turned three months while we were visiting and Cami made the best cake ever.  Just look at this beauty. I ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and second dinner. If you think I'm kidding just ask Cami and Garret. They kept catching me waking up in the middle of the night to eat some. It was a blueberry-zucchini cake with lemon buttercream.

http://iambaker.net/blueberry-zucchini-cake-with-lemon-buttercream/

The next day we had planned to head out to NY and we were debating driving vs. flying and the train. Since we were last minute on making a decision the cheapest option was to drive. Garret and Cami graciously let us take the Prius and that thing only costs $20 to fill up! CRAZY! We took turns driving in the morning because we were pretty tired and we stopped half way once to get some Chick-fil-A...yes I actually agreed to eat some and I'll admit it wasn't that bad. Anything is great as long as I'm with by best friend. Jaime drove the second leg and it was just what you would expect when we got to NY: CHAOS.

 

We had trouble getting into the parking garage because of all the one way streets and traffic but we made it and checked into our hotel on 8th ave called Row NYC. After, our first stop was Shake Shack for some bomb burgers and shakes. 

 

Then we walked through time square and got to see anything from naked people to character impersonators, millions of tourists, road rages drivers and all of the crazy screens. Of course we had to take a pic.

  

 

 We had some time to kill before meeting up with Kevin so we figured what the heck let's try this subway thing. We definitely got on the wrong one the first time but we got the hang of it. 

 

We went and saw Ground Zero. It's crazy for me as a nurse to think of all those people being rushed to the hospital and what everyone went through. 

 

We also went and saw the Wall Street Bull and sent Pa (Jaime's father) a picture. He wants a bull designed like this for their family firm's logo. We thought about taking the Staten Island Ferry but we ran out of time and had to go meet up with Kev!

 

After our excursions, we met up with my best friend Kevin Ke and he showed us this cool ferry that took us on the water to see the shoreline of New York. After we went to the BEST fried chicken restaurant ever: Bon Chon Chicken. It was so much fun to meet up with Kev. For those of you who don't know, he is my best friend from 6th grade! He's loved by everyone in my family and we have been on so many adventures over the years between school, concerts, soccer, boating, hikes..you name it. It's always fun to hear about his work life in NYC and catch up. He's such a hard worker and I respect his discipline. He was so kind to show us around some of the cool places in NYC and offered a little advice on the subway which we gladly accepted.

 

We pretty much crashed for 12 hours that night and all plans of waking up were long gone. We took the subway to Central Park (without getting lost this time, YAY) and walked around. We hit up the Met Art Museum and were going to try and eat brunch on the rooftop but it was too hot so they had to close it down (BOO). 

 

After we ventured out and ended up eating dumplings at Lee Chi's restaurant, not bad I would recommend it.  

After brunch we Subway's over to meet Kevin to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and we walked around the area and ate an amazing Oreo ice cream sandwich at Brooklyn Ice Cream. They had a sign I wanted to steal but I figured getting arrested would be a downer on the trip. We walked around the public parks and it was so cool cool because families were out barbecuing, playing soccer, basketball, everyone was outside enjoying the beautiful weather. 

   

 

We also stopped at one of the best pizza places called Grimaldi's. It was highly recommended by various friends and they were right, AMAZING. We had a list of restaurants we had to hit on our trip and followed it religiously...and of course we wanted to see a few cool attractions...but food was the utmost priority.

  

After Brooklyn, we had to rush back and change for the Les Miserables show at the Imperial Theater which was conveniently around the corner from our Hotel. I am in love with this show, the music, the story...it was a dream come true to see it and I was so glad Jaime enjoyed it as well. 

 

We went back to the hotel and changed and tried to make it out to this restaurant called Cafe Habana but unfortunately got there 2 minutes to late. So we walked through Little Italy and China Town and eventually ended up eating some greasy Chinese food at like 1am. It was aight.

The next day we woke up around 11am and went back to Cafe Habana and ate their famous Cuban Sandwhich for brunch. Jaime's picture was so on point the restaurant asked if they could use it for advertising! The vibe there was awesome and they were playing Selena so we ate it up.

Next we went back to Central Park and rented some bikes so we could actually get around and not die of heat. It was so nice to bike with the breeze and so much fun to see the lakes, parks and grass lawns. Jaime kept laughing because I had the biggest smile on my face while biking. He also told me I was stupid for trying to take so many selfies. Kev thought it was a recipe for disaster...oh the things I sacrifice for my blog, HA!

 

 

After Central Park I begged Jaime to go see the LOVE sign with me. We got some Starbucks and used the bikes to conveniently bike down 5th ave to the sign. I guess you could I window shopped from my bike while passing all the beautiful shops? Anyway, here's the iconic pic at the LOVE sign I wanted so badly. We were gonna try and hit up the Chelsea Markets after and the Highline but it was a major struggle. We were re-routed so many time because of the weekend maintenance on the subway's we gave up and ran out of time.

 

On the last night we stopped at Kevin's house to shower before our long road trip home. Check out this breathtaking view. Jaime was such a champ and drove the whole way. I was all chippy until I just crashed 3 hours in and didn't know what was happening. We stopped by (GULP) Taco Bell and for the first time in like 6 years I partook. Jaime was happy he had his tacos. When we got home the poor man just fell in bed and crashed.

 

The day after NY we were happy to chill at home with Hamilton and Cami. We said goodbye to Garret because he had to go on a business trip to Cali (bummer) last minute. When I woke up at 6am to say goodbye, I of course had to eat more cake. We woke up later in the afternoon and it was so hot we decided to go swimming at the local pool. Swimming with a chubby little baby is pretty much the best EVER. Just look, he loves me I swear. Hamilton lasted about 30 minutes and then we went home. Short and sweet.

  

The next day we decided to go to Hamilton's auntie's favorite store: Nordstrom. He had fun shopping with me but I'll admit, he couldn't keep up with my pace. My baby gift to Cami ended up being the hot little dress she rocked after popping out a baby just three months before. Hamilton got his little onesie too. Garret said Hamilton wanted a PS4 for a baby gift but I didn't fall for that. Later, I helped put hammer down for a nap and then we made Hawaiian haystacks and just chatted the rest part of the night. That's the best part of family..we can just chill and eat chocolate and it's an awesome night.

 

On our last day we woke up early and set out to Washington D.C. We wanted to see the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon, white house, Jefferson/Lincoln Memorial, Declaration of Independence and were hoping to hit all the locations within a few hours. Cami shuttled us around between the different attractions and we made great time! We first hit the Pentagon which had a really cool gravel area with benches dedicated to all of the individuals who died on the plane. 

  

Next we drove to see the Lincoln Memorial. It was Jaime's first time seeing old Abe and I teased him saying "Are you going to sit on his lap." He had previously said he was going to try not knowing how big the status was! We took some pretty awesome pictures of the view. 

 

 

 

Next we went to the Jefferson memorial (I kinda like the rounded top better) and walked through the museum under. 

  

After we stopped by the white house which was partially gated off for construction so we had a very limited view. 

After all that sight seeing you could guess we were beat so Cami showed us this bomb taco place called District Tacos. My Mexican husband approved and said they had pretty good carne asada. Jaime thinks people just need to "keep it simple" and that makes the food is great. I got to hold Hamilton and walk him around while Cami and Jaime ate because I wasn't hungry! I think Cami actually out ate Jaime which was shocking. 

After tacos we went to go see the Declaration of Independence and pretty much walked right in with no line! It was cool to see the original documents with all of the signatures. 

We decided that we didn't want to spend a lot of time in all the museums because we love being outside so walked to fountain across the street and got to stick our feet in and cool off. Hamilton loved it and also had to take some more pictures with Auntie. 

After all of that fun it was time to head off to the airport. Hamilton didn't want me to go. 

 

Cami dropped us off at the airport and luckily Hamilton was asleep or I probably would have cried giving him a kiss goodbye. 

Cami was such a trooper the whole day and week and we thanked her (and Garret) for being such awesome hosts. We will definitely be back!