Washington, D.C.

We took a little vacation out to our nation's capital, which resulted in a bit of a break from the old blog. So there will be plenty of posts this week to catch up =)

Last year we took a fun trip to West Palm Beach, FL, and because we had terrible luck with our flight getting out of StL (as in the flight crew decided not to show up so we missed our connection and were stuck in ATL for 11 hours) we got a pair of free round trip flights to try to make up for it. At the time we thought it was a pretty good deal, but after booking our trip and not paying for the flights, we were all the more pleased with how things worked out.

We have terrible luck in airports the ATL airport. In the last two year we have gone on three trips, that all had connections there, and all but one of the flights have gotten messed up or delayed. There was the fiasco discussed above. Over Memorial Day we went to see our friends the Vieux's out in Charleston and when we landed in ATL, our flight was canceled. No explanation just said canceled. We finally made it there, but still. So when our flight left on time from StL, we were excited but leery of what would occur once we got there.  Everything appeared fine and we were on the runway (waiting, which even when your flight in on time, you seem to do a lot of there) and the captain came on and told us there were severe thunderstorms so we wouldn't be taking off for a bit. Which turned into us going back to the gate, and actually getting off the plane. Yep, they unboarded the plane. Not a good sign. We finally got to D.C. about 3 1/2 hours late to learn from my cousin (who lives about three miles from the airport) that it hadn't rained at all. Regardless, we made it and that's what counts!

Our trip was fantastic. It was so neat to see D.C. and spend time with the Mr. away from work and reality. We went out to visit my cousin and his new wife and really did have such a blast. I don't think I have ever been so touristy in my entire life, but what else are you going to do in D.C. I suppose. We averaged walking about eight miles a day, so we were nice and worn out by the end of the trip and took a four day weekend to rest and recuperate before heading back to work today.

And now for a nice little photo gallery of our trip, enjoy!

 day one: White House

 day two: Air and Space (my Dad was on the project that built this one!)

 view of the courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery

day three: WWII Memorial, 4,048 stars each representing 100 American casualties

 Lincoln Memorial

U.S. Capitol

day four: The Hope Diamond

 Mary Lincoln's dress

Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soilders

I couldn't get over the size of everything. I knew things like the Capitol would be huge, but I wasn't expecting the museums to be so big that spending four hours in them felt like we had barely scratched the surface. 

Such a fun trip (another big thanks to Will and Jasenka)! I hope we can go back again and explore some more!

keep it simple.

Visitors

I love visitors. Like really love it. I always hope that my friends and family know how welcome they are in our home and that their presence fills my heart with such a joy {no matter how scatter-brained I might seem during it all}. I love to fuss over people {maybe that's why I've enjoyed nannying so much}.

A few weeks ago, my Lawrence family {you guys are family, deal with it} came through to visit us. Catherine {she's superwoman, just wait...} took their four {soon to be five} children on a road-trip across the country to visit family and friends. That's right, she's preggers and she drove from Charleston, SC to Lawrence, KS and OK by herself with her four kids. It makes me tired just thinking about it. Lucky for us, StL is on the way back from Oklahoma, so we were fortunate to get a long weekend with them.

We got lots of fun StL activities in while they were here:

The Magic House!

Dr. Monique

Aden showing off his catch 

Nathan enjoying the slide

  President Annabelle in the "Oval Office"

 Climbing the beanstalk

Grants Farm:

Silly boys in the stables

 

 Carousel

Water fun:

It was after all boiling the weekend they were here. Of course after they were in the yard playing in the water it started to rain, but they didn't mind, water is water, doesn't matter where it's coming from!

We had so much fun with the visit, it made us sad that we don't live in the same town anymore, but that always makes visits so special. I can't wait to see you guys again soon, hopefully the entire family which will be SEVEN at that point! I can't wait to meet the little one, only a few more weeks til the arrival, maybe I can convince the Mr. to let me fly out to Charleston in the winter =)

keep it simple.

Home Sweet Home

 I got a lot of looks with all 3 of them in the car.

After a long crazy week at the homestead, we are back in our sweet little house. It's funny how much you can miss little things when they aren't around. Case in point, our gloriously comfortable bed. Not to say we slept uncomfortably at my families, but there is something about being back at your house, in your bed that can make everything seem better. 

The Mr. had some friends in town over the weekend. Our friends band, Quiet Corral was playing here in StL and a handful of guys came in to see the show. It was a great show, and it was nice to see everyone. I was a little thankful that I could get away from the madness. Well sort of. It was sort of a take your pick kind of situation.

In other news, my baby brother turned 19 this week. NINETEEN.

Look at how cute he was, rocking that red fubu jersey. Sometimes I forget that he's grown up now and I still imagine he must look like this, right? He's not old enough to be going to college in the fall, right?

There you have it, he's a grown up. Sort of.
Dinner should be fun tonight. Typically is when the whole crew gets together, we are blessed.

keep it simple.