Rainy Day Rewind

We really had an outstandingly wonderful visit with Anne and Brook last weekend. They are always such gracious hosts and seemingly always up for a visit. Even when I email out of the blue and invite ourselves to come and visit in less than two weeks. Obviously, I have no manners. It isn't my fault - I was homeschooled. Ahem. I really enjoy spending time with them. And I love that Kim gets to meet a part of my family who are loving and supportive of us and our relationship. That is such an awesome thing for me.

We drove up early Saturday morning, after our stay over in Fredericksburg. We actually got up and out as planned that morning (a rarity for us) and were making really good time. Then we missed (what turned out to be a rather critical) step in the mapquest directions, because the margins never fuckin' print right(!!!), and managed to get ourselves lost. We went from being right at the D.C. border (from Virginia) to being in Maryland, nearly to Baltimore. Uh, yeah. Once we managed to get ourselves back into D.C. proper, we were even more lost, b/c we entered the city from a totally different direction. We had to call out the rescue squad (aka Brook) and sound totally stupid. Again. (Yes, we got lost last time we came to visit too.) All told, we arrived about 90 minutes after our planned arrival time. And that doesn't include the extra 30 minutes of *get lost* time that I built into our schedule of when to leave that morning. Fun, fun.

We had time for a bit of visiting before we decided on our plans for the day. We had fabulous Lebanese for lunch, we really enjoy that place. Brook did the ordering for us - we all shared dishes from the mezza menu. After a quick pit stop at home, we were off to the Museum of Natural History. It was my first time, and I could have spent SO MUCH MORE time there. I have an absolute love affair with museums. I could easily spend hours in probably any museum in the world. I find them so fascinating. We checked out about 3 exhibits and then it was time to start for home. I really, really want to go back!

When we got back to their place, Anne tempted us into a light snack before dinner, with the intoxicating aroma of baking bread. Kim and I (Amanda was catching a quick nap.) each had a nice thick slice smothered in real butter. O.M.G. It was orgasm on a plate. Have I mentioned how much I love bread? And it was very good bread. It had great holes. YUM!

After a bit more visiting, we headed to dinner. The three of us got to try Ethiopian for the first time. We all enjoyed it. It made for very interesting eating though! (No dishes/plates and no silverware.) It was a cool experience and great food. Brook did the ordering for us. (Notice a theme here... starring Brook as rescue squad?) We wouldn't have had a clue what to order, and he made great choices.

We took a short walk after dinner, so we could see a bit of the D.C. night life. It's a happenin' place! We finished up the evening back at their place. Great conversations and lots of laughter ensued. Our stuffed selves still managed to find room for a piece of Anne's fabulous homemade pie ala mode. Most of us had blueberry, but Amanda got to try a piece of plum pie - her first time. She approved. :) We decided it was time to call it a night when I could no longer hide that I was falling asleep at the table. I was totally zonked. I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Ooooh yeah, they had a great guest bed. We were so comfy and the quilt was gorgeous. Not quite as erotic as the one in Fredericksburg though. ;)

We had a great homemade breakfast before hitting the road the next morning. Handmade chocolate croissants (drool!), excellent french toast from homemade bread (my wife still gets the award for best french toast though!), and BACON. Plenty of delicious bacon. Have I mentioned that I like bacon?

All in all it was a great visit. We can't wait to go back!

I am not ready for this to end.

I am absolutely not (not. Not. NOT. *not.*) ready for the babies to leave. I'm just not. How on earth have 2 and a half weeks gone by already? I feel like we made the most of this last day. I think we made the most of the whole trip. But I am just not ready for it to be over. It is so very hard.

This sucks.

Sigh.

Summer Vacation

The kids are coming for a visit this summer. I am positively dying of excitement! They will be here for about 3 weeks. There is so much we would love to do with them, but gosh, things are so expensive! Especially when you realize that everything we do will be times six. And gas prices... goodness gracious! So in an attempt to fit in as much as we can, and make sure they are things the kids most want to do, we have sent them each a survey. Spencer called me today to let me know that they got them. They are as excited by them as I thought they would be. Check out this snapshot to see part of the survey.

Spencer says he'll mark everything with a one. Except roller skating! I wouldn't put it past him. lol I'm eager to get their surveys back so I can finish planning. We also asked them for a birthday list and thoughts on what they want to do for their birthday party this year. Since I have moved away, we have a group birthday party for the three of them, they get their presents then, and we just do it whenever we end up having our visit. It works out well with each of them having summerish birthdays - July, August, and September. I try to make sure our visit does not actually coincide with anyone's birthday, b/c I don't want the others feeling left out. So far we have succeeded, though with the tight timeline, we are often just a day or two off from a birthday. I'm sure we are going to have a GREAT visit! I am so thrilled they are coming here.