My Hill baby

Moving to the Hill rather than the burbs involved some tradeoffs for us -- not getting a spare bedroom or a second bathroom, no yard or garage, higher home price, sketchy (to say the least) public school system -- but today was the true picture of why we ... and particularly I ... wanted to live here at this point in our lives: the Hill baby experience.

Daniel calls the Hill "ground zero for babies" in this city. And he's right. You can't swing a dead cat on the Hill without hitting at least three kids or babies and one pregnant woman, so you're in family-friendly company. The 'hood has an unbelievably active parents' community (MOTH - Moms On The Hill) that is the Type A personality's dream for parenting (think playgroups, baby gear exchanges, recs for docs/ repairmen/ nannies/ anythingelseyoucanimagine, etc.). And today Harper and I were able to run errands in perfect late-summer weather on foot.


Our couple-hour afternoon stroll started with zig-zags down Hill streets we normally don't drive or walk on (our fave find was a sign on a rowhouse that said "No Firewood or Religion Peddlers"). Then we were off to the post office on Pennsylvania Avenue to mail a baby gift for Harper's second cousin, Jaxson. Next stop was the Dunkin Donuts on Barracks Row for an iced coffee for mom, then over to Frager's True Value Hardware to get a spare set of house keys made. One final stop at the drugstore (as you can see in the photo, Harper was making her "mom, it's time to eat" face) and then we made our way home.

A perfect Hill day. At least for the moment I think it's better than a second bathroom. ;-)