Washington DC - Part 1

Jimmy and I took a trip to DC to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary.  My parents were kind enough to keep Parker while we were gone, so it was just the two of us.  We flew out on Thursday morning and crammed in as much as possible for 3 1/2 days.  Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole time, but we tried to make the best of it.

We went to Arlington National Cemetery shortly after checking in to our hotel because it was near by.  Thursday and Friday evening were the two stretches of nice weather.

 JFK grave and eternal flame

 My family spent a day in DC in 1994 on our way home from my uncle's wedding in North Carolina.  We dug out pictures before leaving and tried to re-create them with Jimmy taking the place of my brother.  It was fun looking for the places pictures were taken.

We arrived at the tomb of the unknown soldier just as the changing of the guards are beginning

For dinner we went to a fun burger place called Good Stuff Eatery.  It is owned by Spike Mendelsohn from Top Chef.  The burgers were amazing and they had a huge dip bar for your fries.  The mango mayo was my favorite.

Our final stop on Thursday was the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

 If you look closely, you can see the different stone color from where they had to rebuild the exterior

 A full description of the memorial can be found here.  I got a bit emotional when I saw the bench for Dana Falkenberg.  She was just 3 years old and was on the plane with her parents and older sister.  There were 5 children in total that died at the Pentagon.

 We woke up early Friday morning to hit the National Mall.  It was drizzly, but not too chilly.

View west towards the Washington Monument

View east towards the Capitol

We had the WWII Monument all to ourselves

From the top step of the Lincoln Monument

Lincoln Monument 

Another throwback at the Vietnam memorial.  Lee Napier was a man my great uncle knew, so my dad had us point to his name.  I kind of look like a boy in that top picture!

There is a huge sculpture of Einstein in front of the National Academy of Sciences, it was a must see for me!  We also ran into a group of high schoolers from MN here!  They were kind enough to take our picture.

Whew, picture overload, but, there is more to come.  Stay tuned for part 2!

Five Crazy Years of Marriage (In Pictures)

Epic Play Date and Busy Bag Exchange

Parker and I had an awesome play date with our church friends today.  There were 9 mamas and 10 kids, 8 months to 3 years old.  People started arriving around 9 and we played upstairs for a little while.

Finbar, just hanging out.

Parker, Brock, Ezra, Maris, Judah, Isaac

Erza found the drums especially entertaining.

We got some snacks (how could I forget to take take a picture of the food?!?) and headed downstairs.

How many toddlers does it take to make an elephant pop?

Parker, Isaac and Caiden

Fun in the ball pit...

 And on the trampoline...

 Isaac and Maris were particularly fond of the trampoline, neither wanted to give it up!

 Even the youngest two got in on the fun!

Ronin and Kadley

 A floor that messy is a sign of a great time!

 This group of ladies, plus 4 more who couldn't make it, also did a busy bag exchange.  We each made a different activity and everyone went home with 13 fun bags to keep these busy little ones occupied and learning!

1 - Pom pom color sorting

2 - Magnet Fishing

3 - Button snake

4 - Sponge blocks

5 - Lacing shapes

6 - Glitter bottle

7 - Clothespin color matching (I made this one)

8 - I Spy bag

9 - Felt Pizza

10 - Butterfly symmetry

11 - Clothesline

12 - Heads and tails matching

13 - Popsicle stick pictures

Literally hours of fun to be had with these bags!  I am really excited to play with them with Parker.  I hope you had a fun and fabulous Saturday too!

Date Night!

We had a low-key date last night with Parker. We went to a new place (for us) called Slim's. They have a really diverse menu with chicken, pizza, sandwiches, gyros and more! Jimmy got a cheesesteak with whiz and Parker shared a pizza with me. It was really delicious!

We went to Appliance Smart next because we are in the market for a new fridge. The service plan on our washer is up on Monday. Since we never had service we will get the cost of it towards another purchase. I found a floor model that I really like and hope it lasts the weekend!

Parker was thoroughly enjoying playing with all the drawers and doors!

What a fun night!

Full Blown Rock Star

I love his game face!  I will let the video say the rest.

Boys will be boys

Jimmy took the first video below about a week ago and I just realized I never shared it on here.  It is the classic laughing at fart noises video!

This next one is from tonight.  We discovered a couple days ago that Parker really likes to watch the video above.  I love how he keep looking at Jimmy like, "hey dad, do you see how funny this is?"  I also love that he knows when it is just about over and gets ready to hit play again.

Celebrating Daisy

My friend Daisy is expecting twin girls in the next couple months!  A bunch the ladies gathered to celebrate with a Dr. Seuss/Thing 1 and Thing 2 shower.  It is always a blast getting together with these ladies and this was no exception.  We has a delicious spread of food and played a game that gave us all a Disney Princess crash course (essential for mom-to-be!)

Maris was making sure the popcorn was up to par!

 Our lovely emcee, Katie

 Mom-to-be, Daisy

 Success!