August Break, Week 2: DC Visit

For the next two weeks of Matt's break, he completed externships at Ohio State University and Oklahoma University. He worked hard, saw some fascinating cases, and built some good rapport with the current residents and program directors at both sites.

John and I headed to D.C. to play with lots of family! Jane and Scott were each home for a few days, BAC was back from visiting family around the world, Thomas was home and starting his Senior year, and Sandi drove up from Williamsburg, so John got tons of time with many different people who love him.

One happy boy

(in my favorite rocking chair when I was a little girl!)

In addition to interacting with fun family, we experienced two exciting natural disasters! One earthquake (far from the epicenter, we thought at first the washing machine was going wild) and one hurricane (hit us in early AM hours, just knocked some branches down and resulted in no power for 3 days). The impact was minimal in both cases, but the hype was huge! Life without power was slightly inconvenient, but I was just grateful we were all safe and all air travelers made it to their destinations safely.

A few hours after the hurricane, walking the C&O canal

(the wind blew away the humidity, it was beautiful day!)

My dad and brother engaged in an impromptu watermelon ball "chubby bunny" contest.

John was confused; adults try to be silly while eating, too?

John loves looking at the "John book." A simple compilation of pictures from his first year (what I made for his birthday through MyPublisher; love it!).

Reading here with Blam (Sandi-Gram was pronounced as "Blam-Blam" and has stuck!)

Reading with GGpa

Clapping and giving high-5s

Hugging his favorite stuffed animal. The routine: hug, carry, clap for himself, repeat.

There were many sunny days, so we enjoyed several fun outings. Our favorite was the Zoo.

John quickly posted up here in front of the gorilla, recognizing the social value of this highly coveted spot. He spent more time waving at other kids than looking at the gorilla right in front of him!

Life is good. He lounged like this anytime we were strolling around. It was so lazy-mannish... Mom and I were joking that adding cup canisters to the side of his floppy hat, with an attached straw to funnel milk directly into his mouth, would complete the image nicely.

Running around the foam pizza in the kid's play place with Aunt Jane. Again, such a fun zoo!

We also ventured down to the Natural History Museum. John loved the stuffed animals... although they don't move, they are on display far closer to people than most of the live animals at the zoo. He also loved the bug exhibit.

Too much to handle: bugs inside a ball!!!

Our last big adventure was to the Cabin John park, which I loved when I visited my grandparents as a little girl.

Swinging high is great fun.

So is hitting bells with a stick.

Overall, it was a very fun trip! I love visiting family and friends. I am just so grateful that John has such a close relationship with family that lives all across the country. Technology and air travel are amazing!

Final favorite- John practicing one of his new favorite tricks, opening and closing doors

Here's a link to our photo album from the trip.

August Break, Week 1: Elko and Kaelene's Birthday

We had quite the full 3 week August break! Matt originally had lined up 2 externships and one site visit for 3 different OMS programs, but *thankfully* a paperwork glitch opened up one of those weeks for us to spend time together as a family. We decided to spend that week with Matt's parents in the perfect summer weather of Elko :)

Before taking off, Matt spontaneously sprung on a great deal for Phantom tickets, and took me out to see that amazing show. Live orchestra music is so powerful! Of course the incredible set, elaborate costumes, and perfect vocals add a ton as well. It's been awhile since I've been to a musical, and I just loved Phantom. The Vegas version is shorter, keeping only the best music and action, and the stage is amazing. Matt, who has seen the full version, said he actually enjoyed the Vegas version better. It was wonderful!

Elko was so relaxing and the weather was perfectly temperate. John did get sick, throwing up in his car seat on the drive up... going through triple the usual amount of diapers... and as a result subsisting on Pedialyte for a few days. Still, he was his happy self and cleaning after him was much less stressful when I wasn't simultaneously worrying about my usual house and tutoring work. Matt and I went to see TWO movies, the final Harry Potter and The Help, both of which we loved. John was absolutely spoiled by his loving grandparents, who gave him books, toys, and his favorite foods.

"Juicing" his watermelon

John loving watching his favorite active, funny baby... himself...

We also went to the Elko museum, which has a great animal exhibit. John loved walking around pointing at all of the animals.

The food was so great; we ate almost every meal outside, fully utilizing the grill, and capping off our week with our favorite dessert, Tyler's Ultimate Cheesecake. We also ended the week with a hike into Lamoille Canyon, enjoying the perfect weather and beautiful vistas.

John was great. He loved the views and constant movement. That movement did eventually lull him to sleep, but even in his sleep he would not relinquish his grip on his new favorite stick.

Back in action at our lunch stop. Playing Peek a Boo behind a bush :)

Our favorite view: Liberty Lake

When we got back into Vegas, we had a day and a half to repack Matt for this two weeks of externships. We did stop to have some fun with Wade's family, who came into Vegas for a temple trip and to celebrate Kaelene's birthday. While Wade and Steph were at the temple, we had a blast as a family of 7 for a few hours. We filled the time letting the kids entertain themselves at our favorite Vegas park. Everyone played well and had fun!

The Birthday Girl :)

Drying off

Admiring Baby Drew

Who wouldn't admire this cutie?

We finished the celebration at Chuck E Cheese. As always, it was fun to catch up with Wade and Steph, and John loved the kid chaos. His favorite ride was a galloping horse, which he found to be hilarious. A fun-filled break from the repacking!

Here is a photo album from Elko and the Vegas park, with some favorite shots from hiking and splash pad fun.