Well, it was fabulous to visit my family, despite the fact that I left my feeble husband who was still recovering from surgery. I honestly couldn't have left him a day sooner. The morning we left, R's first words were, "But mom, who is going to take us to the airport?" I say dad is. He says, "But he had surgery on his neck." Literally, I had drove Scott everywhere until the afternoon before we left. I was pretty nervous for him to drive! Leaving him was hard for both of us, but he's strong and didn't complain at all!
Regardless, our visit in Virginia was so great! We are on our way out of town again...and so I have no time...but I'll try to put up some fun pictures and a quick recap (so much to say...intimidated to try to recap it all with NO time!). We did get to do everything on our agenda, except the Capitol Concert. Each branch of the armed forces' military band performs in front of the Capitol each week during the summer, except in the case of rain. But we learned after arriving at the majestic capitol, that they also cancel due to extreme heat, mind you it was 8 p.m. and not as bad as it had been earlier in the day or on other days, but they did cancel on us! I was bummed.
We found a super fun water park geared for children 2-8ish. Of course there were some older children there, but it was heaven for R. He LOVED IT! We went two times. Once in the evening with Grandpa and the next day with friends. Visited the National Zoo and got a Panda treat. When R saw them, he exclaimed, "He has a happy face!" This panda was a baby last year, so he's a toddler now I'm guessing and he was so fun. His parents were completely lathargic and no fun. What can we say, kids have energy and are FUN! We were lucky to visit with my Parents and Vanatter Grandparents who came from Kansas to see us. With them we visited the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum Annex in Dulles, VA. There we got to see a Space Shuttle,
Blackbird (fastest airplane to our knowledge), a Concord, the Enola Gay (airplane that dropped the Atomic Bombs) and many more. We got a private tour because my Grandpa the Veteran was with us. The docent was so smart, and does not work in aeronautics, it's just his passion. After all he taught us, I was humbled by how smart some people are! The Blackbird was built in the 70s without the use of computers and literally expands because it becomes so hot when flying. It leaks gas when not flying because of the material. Mind boggling! Enjoyed our traditional Burke Lake Train and Carousel, Washington D.C. monuments, Grandma's back yard and "wrestling with grandpa." We found beautiful butterflies on our Elinor C. Laurence and Walney Pond hike.Check out Syd's blog for pictures of Ryan in front of the Capitol or us at the Zoo. Syd's blog
On a side note: I'm sure everyone knows about Virginia's summertime humidity.
We were lucky last year to miss the worst of it. There are humid times, and not humid times, even in the summer. But I happened to hit the humidity this year. Here's the funny part...remember I said I cut bangs recently in my Random things post? Well, I did a few years ago...but they were longer bangs, thus not as noticable and I did it in the fall...after leaving Virginia...and its humidity. So needless to say, cutting them on a whim right before leaving for humid country was not the smartest plan! High School bangs revisited all over again! Note to self: Avoid bangs in humidity when you have naturally curly hair! I did survive and thankfully had better hair product and know how than I did 15 years ago. I'll get around to posting a picture that shows off the bangs idea some time...gotta run!
FUNNY ENTERTAINING GRANDPA!
6 comments:
No. Thank YOU for the visit! (And, uh . . . thanks for most ALL of the pics.)
Looks like fun--I'm sure your parents hated to see those grandsons leave.
p.s. One of my mom's 1st cousins (what is that to me?) was one of the test pilots when they first developed the blackbird--he did all kinds of top secret missions and even had to bail out of one once!
Who's that cute little girl with Ry? He better marry her.
OH do we miss Virginia! So glad you could go back and visit your family and friends. Your dad looks like he enjoys being a grandpa!
Holy Guacamole! That picture of you and Ryan is scary... is there any question that you are his mother? He looks exactly like you! hahaha, that is so funny! Mom and I went to "the Cape" and it was soooo cold!... in the middle of August! I'll update with pictures soon!
The pic of SEAN flying through the air brings back FUN memories. He would ALSO do a (layout-styl) "belly flop." He would stand there on the edge of the bed, then slowly lean out -- straight as a stick -- then let fly with an almost no-look dive. Grandma and Grandpa's bed is on risers, so he is flying through the air (onto Grandpa's own belly and waiting arms) maybe 2-3 feet. RYAN would often do a flying knee-drop. WHAM! (Fun, fun, fun! I miss them all.)
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