Virginia is for Lovers. . . and baldies

We're home safe and sound -- I even managed to restock the fridge, finish up the laundry, unpack and get everyone over jet lag in one day. Poor Dustin flew to from San Francisco to Virginia Saturday morning, flew back to Arizona Sunday night and woke up at 4:30 Monday morning to head back out to California again, so he is excused from all chores.

Before I get started on this -- I should mention that this is really really looooong. It will make up for my lack luster posting lately. OK, warning over. .

We left for our 12 day adventure with the promise of rain and came home to Spring (and weeds and a very dusty car)! So what did we do for 12 days?

My sister blessed this adorable doll while we were out there. I had fun taking my sister out shopping for a new outfit for the blessing but I will never go to Tyson's Corner on a rainy Saturday afternoon again. I felt like it was the day after Thanksgiving with all the crowds. And look at that cute hat Miss Olivia has on -- her dad crocheted it! FOR REALS!
He also stayed up to the wee hours putting together a Lego castle for Nate while we there too.

There was also lots of cousin time. We were too busy playing to take any pictures. Or sleep. My parents had SIX of them on the floor of their room for 2 nights. I wish I had a picture of that.

My kids were amazed by the squirrels. At one point Nate informed me that he had seen a skunk, but it was still just a squirrel. I couldn't get them to understand how common squirrels are no matter how many times we saw them.

My sister borrowed my Au Pair. She tried to steal her, but I insisted that cute thing come home with us. Too bad I couldn't steal the baby while I was at it, but I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to fit her in the car.
Best baby holder/entertainer/carrier/kisser ever!

We doted on Livy and Aunt Lola entertained us all (Kathleen and I were solo for much of the adventure -- nothing like 2 tired single moms with a flair for drama to make things exciting!)


This big red chair is the coveted seat in my parent's house. It is the only comfy place in the kitchen/breakfast nook area and NO ONE is allowed to eat in it. Unless you are my dad's sister Sally or Luke. Somehow my kids still managed to cover it in dirty hand prints and crumbs.

Monday was a crazy day where we spent the entire day with family for my Dad's award. Sadly, no picture. It did begin with a buffet of fruit, cookies, brownies and end with mangoes and sticky rice at a Thai restaurant - so we'll call it good.

Nate also was gifted a glove, some balls and TWO bats from his cousins who are more than thrilled that Nate may share their love for baseball. He proceeded to take it to the park to practice. After 10 minutes of attempting to throw the balls in the air AND swing at them at the same time, he resorted to hitting the balls using the bat like a golf club.

Lots of outings with all the kids and lots of crazy Virginia driving for me (oh how I love Arizona roads which are straight and we drive fast and don't have stop lights every .2 miles). There may have been an insane sister melt down on our way to Target where Kathleen realized she didn't remember how to get there, we didn't have the GPS or our phones and I started freaking out because we had no idea where we were. I'll let Kathleen blog that one -- I'm sure it will be hilarious.

The Tylers! Our neighbors moved to Virginia Beach about 9 months ago. I think Luke was about 6 weeks old when they moved. Look at that handsome head of hair. . . He may need a haircut (ha ha ha). They drove up for the weekend. We dragged them out in DC rush hour and promptly got them lost (this time using the GPS). Luckily for us Noah knows how to use a GPS and got us to Frying Pan Park in one piece.To make up for the poor directions, I took them to Five Guys for their first time EVER (yes, I ate there TWICE in 7 days. If only they had a place here. . . like Mesa. . .).

We learned Sadie is terrified of horses. Quite possibly my favorite picture from the entire trip. It still makes me laugh no matter how many time I look at it.

Jill and Noah even had my oldest three over to their hotel for a massive sleep over Friday night. Best neighbors EVER (unless Casey is offering to have them all over tonight??) !!
Saturday Dustin was finally back so we celebrated with a big breakfast and headed down to DC for the day. Noah wanted to start off at Arlington Cemetery and I am so glad we did. I've never been before and it is so peaceful and powerful there. The kids even stood still and remained quiet for the entire changing of the guard. We lucked out with front row seats for them.

The kids were AMAZING the entire day as we walked them all over -- at least 4.5 miles. We also did the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War memorial, ice cream by the reflecting poolThen up to the World War II memorial. Hooray for ARIZONA!!!up to the Washington Monument and finally a late lunch at the Museum of American History where Ellie and I loved the First Ladies exhibit the most. After that we decided to be done and hoped the Metro home.

And last but not least -- the last great event, and probably the most memorable of all. . . when Luke became bald. See! LITERALLY BALD! Where to start the story. . .

My parents offered to watch Luke for us on Saturday so he could be spared of a crazy day in the sun and get some naps. They also had hair appointments with their crazy Thai hair dresser. My parents have been seeing Sherri for over 10 years, so to say we know and love her is an understatement. They were planning on taking Luke to show him off at the salon and I mentioned that maybe they could ask Sherri to give him a quick buzz while he was there. BUZZ.

So my mom is off getting the color washed out of her hair and my dad is in the chair when he asks Sherri if she'll do Luke's hair really quick. Well next thing he knows, she's zipped right up his head and there is a ginormous bald spot. I guess my mom just about flipped when she turned the corner and saw it. I saw this via text message:
The only words were: I wasn't there. My kids cried and sobbed. It's funny because I *know* he is bald, but still every time I go to get him up from a nap or see him for the first time in awhile I still gasp.

It definitely feels lonely and quiet being back at home without everyone. I was just thinking today that making food for *just* the 5 of us feels pointless. But I'm sure once I actually get some sleep in me I'll realize it's not all that quiet and lonesome.