Four is not the same

I keep setting the table for five...then only four of us show up. It's not the same without everybody home.



Hurry home Dylan, you are missed.

Two days at the beach

We had a great time at the beach.
The first day, the weather was perfect and we were at the beach the whole day. Jack and I staked our claim early and the others joined us shortly after.

The evening was spent at Captain George's Seafood Restaurant eating plates full of crab legs (Dylan joined in this year so now we just have to convince Grant how good crab meat is) and then off to go cart rides and two (torturous) games of putt putt golf.
The second day there it was windy and chilly with the dangerous water flags waving behind the lifeguard chairs. Jack and I (we are the early birds) walked to the pier and headed back to get the gang. We hung out at the beach for awhile. The waves had beat a 3 foot wall into the sand shore overnight so the boys decided to dig out boobytraps and see who could race across the edge of the sand without falling in the water.



We shopped that afternoon, had a great meal at a local restaurant for lunch, shopped some more, swam in the pool, ate pizza for dinner and the boys played with their new light up launchers at night on the beach.

Time to pack up for the trip home.

The trip home was long with lots of fun stops along the way including dinosaur land, a tiny church, largest apple, military museum, largest sundae, a scenic overlook, a visit with Matt's great aunt, and finally my parents' house at 12:30 am.



Another great vacation thanks to Matt's expert planning skills with lots of memories made.

Rollin' Along

We visited Rolling Ridge Ranch, an Amish run animal farm, today with my parents and Nicole and the kids.
It was awesome!
Jack was in heaven, he loves animals and they love him. Many times the animals would be running along behind our wagon with Jack's hand on their heads. He's already planning his next trip and his dream of turning Grandpa Charles' farm into a petting zoo :-)
When I asked Grant if he liked it, he said, "Nope, I loved it!"





It was beautiful day filled with some of my favorite peeps, lots of laughter, a wonderful Sound of Music sing-a-long, and way too much ice cream (dad)!

By the way, I'll try to post a wrap up vacation post tomorrow.

Day 3 of vacation

Another day of sightseeing in D.C. again today and, boy, are we beat. Our legs just could not make it another step.
Sights seen today: Nationals Baseball Stadium and gift shop, Lincoln Memorial, The Mall, Reflection Pool (which the boys wanted to swim in), a fox chasing ducks (no lie), the WWII memorial, Museum of American History, the White House, Vietnam Memorial, the entrance to the National Aquarium (too expensive), a few hoboes (as Jack calls them), many metro trains, and lots of water fountains! The boys are swimming now and then we'll head out to find something to eat, that is if we can walk....

Day two of vacation

We spent today walking and riding around D.C.
Spots on our tour today included Arlington National Cemetary, Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, National Archives, the Mall, Capitol.
We rode the metro everywhere and by the end of the day, we seemed to have the hang of swiping our tickets (it took several tries and a few bottlenecks but we overcame). It was very hot and our legs almost gave out on us, but it was a good day and we came back to the hotel with all three boys so I consider that a successful day.
Here a few pictures from our day.










A funny story about Grant Avenue: I pointed the sign out to Grant at the cemetary and told him that the street was named after the president named Grant. He asked if his last name was Avenue. LOL!

Day one- Alexandria

Rainy start to the day.


Sun was shining when we got to Alexandria. We took a walk and a trolley ride down to the water front along the Potomac river.








Street performers were everywhere. This guy has been playing glasses in the same spot for 26 years, he was amazing.



Signed a chalkboard wall at an art museum.







Ate at a famous chili place, Hard Times Cafe, and had a great meal!


Came back to the hotel for a swim and then to bed.


D.C. tomorrow.

Long day

Today was one of those days where I became the mother who says 'when are you guys going back to school?'
I also said 'don't look or talk to each other!'
I also texted my husband something about 'his children.'
You know, one of THOSE days.

The good part of today is when Matt took the boys back to the pool for ice cream night and I sat on the couch and ate the last brownie, oh yes I did!

A day on the lake

Saturday, my dad and mom took my family (minus Dylan and Matt who were at an all star baseball game) and Nicole's family out on Salt Fork Lake in a pontoon boat. It was an awesome day. The weather was beautiful.


The fishing wasn't so great but that didn't stop them from trying ;- )











Tubing was the most requested activity, the kids loved it!














Nicole and I went too. I, willingly, Nicole, not so much ;- )

But the best part of the day or me was seeing my dad so happy.








We will definitely be doing this again. Thanks dad, for an awesome day!

Sunglasses case

I just bought my self a new pair of sunglasses and thought I needed a safe spot to keep them so they wouldn't get lost in my purse or pool bag. So what's any craft starved momma to do? Sew up a sunglass case, that's what.

I searched my fabric scraps and whipped this up in a jiffy, no measuring, just pieced things together and I love it.











Not too sure about the lace, it's a little out of the box for me, but I like it.

I've already had two requests for cases...I think I found a great idea for Christmas gifts...

Missing Jack

Jacks been at my moms for 10 days and I'm missing him. I'm figuring he's missing me a little too considering the increase in the frequency of phone calls :- ) We are going over tonight to sleep over and then out on a boat at Salt Fork tomorrow.

Disguises

I looked in my rear view mirror as I was pulling out of my driveway this morning and was shocked to see this staring back at me.


LOL!

Jack's a winner

Jack is not a fan of baseball (maybe that's because he has to sit through endless hours of his brothers' games) but he does like football, flag football. Back in May, Jack's flag football team won their age division. The last game is played on the high school field.






So fun!