Cousins, Gardens, Retirement Party

We had a fun weekend. Jim's sister and her family were in town, as well as my brother and his wife. On Saturday, Jim and I went to the Cardinal game with Lenny and Colin. Cards won! That evening the 5 grandchildren played in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

After dinner Jim, Karen, and Paul entertained us.

On Sunday, we went to my parents' house for my brother, Michael's, college graduation party. I didn't take any pictures of the party, but I took a couple of Uncle David reading Jack his bedtime stories. We are really going to miss Uncle David and Aunt Melanie when they move to Australia later this year.

On Monday, Jack and Daddy spent the day together while Mommy shopped for some clothes that would fit her. Jack had a "box lunch."

On Wednesday we went to the Botanical Gardens with Grandma. We met Joslyn there with her boys, Garrett and Nick. Jack examined the flora from afar.

Jack's favorite part was the water.

Today Jack and I went to a retirement party for my good friend Sue. Jack got to eat lots of yummy treats!

The three amigas: me, Sue, and Elaine:

Catching Up with Friends

It's good to be home and see our friends again. On Tuesday, we met some friends at the park. After swinging, sliding, and running around we had a picnic lunch. After the park, Jack stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad ran some errands. First we went to Jim's appointment with an oral surgeon. After examining Jim's jaw, he decided to take off the wires! Jim is not supposed to chew for a couple weeks, but at least he can open his mouth some to get soft food in it! Then, we went to get a new license for Jim and out for a quick dinner. I can't remember the last time Jim and I had dinner alone. Lastly, we went to my doctor for my ultrasound. The baby looks good and is on-target for our Oct. 15 due date. We did not find out the sex (we want to be surprised), but the technician knows.

On Wednesday Jack and I discovered that the grocery store gives a free cookie to kids when they are shopping with a parent. I was pretty excited and decided Jack needed a chocolate cookie with M&Ms in it. Of course he shared it with me! He also got it all over his face.

Thursday, we met Zoey and Delaney at the zoo. It was so crowded! The kids loved petting the goats.

We watched the river otters for a while.

Jack and the girls stood here to be measured. I took a similar picture of the three of them last September (it's below).

A trip to the Children's Zoo would not be complete without a ride in the jeep.

We are so thankful for the membership Nana and Papa gave us so we can ride the train for free!

Today we met friends at the Magic House. We spent most of our time outside playing in the water. Notice that Jack has his shoes and socks on in the water. He went in the water before I could stop him. I took the shoes and socks off later.

Jack and Margo loved running around the moat.

We got to play with Ashley's children: Maggie, Eliza, and Nate.

Lily drove Jack around in the boat while he relaxed and caught some rays (they did have sunscreen on, of course).

Jim and I are anxious to take Jack camping again. Maybe we should get a Jack-sized tent like this one.

Jack found a boat he could pull in the water.

We had a lot of fun today. I didn't plan on being outside, or near water. Jack was soaked by the time we left, so he rode home in just a diaper. He is actually taking a nap right now!!! I thought he would nap yesterday after we spent 4 hours at the zoo (without a stroller), but he didn't. So, I wasn't too hopeful that he would fall asleep today, but lucky me, he did!

More D.C. - Area Outings

Here are many pictures from the past 2 weeks. After the Cardinals rain-out, we went back to the Nationals game the next night. This time they played the Astros. It is so different from being at a Cardinal game. The stadium was so empty. Jack was thrilled that he could run up and down the many empty aisles near us, though. They had this tribute to Stan Musial at the Nationals stadium.

Jack didn't pay much attention to the baseball game.

Later that week we went back to the surgeon and he took the stitches out of Jim's chin, above his lip, and his forehead. He also took the cast off his nose. It was a big improvement. That weekend we headed to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We rented a cabin in the mountains and did some hiking. It was nice to relax; just the three of us.

Jack wanted to hike up to the edge of the cliff with his Daddy.

Family picture on tree stumps:

As we were driving to our cabin, three deer walked along the road beside us. We were able to drive closer and closer and they didn't even run away!

Later that night, after we put Jack to bed, Jim and I sat on the cabin's porch and played cards. Three deer came within 20 feet of us (probably the same three) and weren't scared at all. Jim and I were amazed.

Here's our cabin (we had the left half):

Sunday morning we went on a hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Snack break

On Monday, we went down to the Mall. We got to see the Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Memorial

Jack wanted to get up close to Abe.

He settled for a more distant view.

We met up with Tim and Aimee for a bit. They are in town for National Police Week. That's the White House in the background.

Now we are a little closer to the White House.

Monday night we moved to a hotel in Arlington. Jim had a conference there, so it was closer than staying in Maryland and commuting each day. Jack really enjoyed looking at himself in the hotel mirror.

On Tuesday, Jack and I went to the Zoo. Here Jack is watching some gazelles. A teacher who was there with her class' field trip kept telling the students the gazelles were goats. I wanted to correct her because I didn't think the kids should be misled, but I didn't think it was my place. Clearly, they are not goats!

We got to see a baby gorilla with her momma.

The zoo had a system of cables called the O Line in which the orangutans can climb along. It was so cool to see. I didn't get any pictures of the orangutans on the wires, but here are some of the O Line, with a couple orangutans in the tower.

Wednesday night we went to historic Alexandria. Jack and I met a couple from Kirkwood on the trolley. It's such a small world! We met up with Jim by the waterfront and then walked to dinner. Jack enjoyed looking at the boats.

Thursday, Jack and I went to the National Air and Space Museum. He really enjoyed all the planes.

This is the Wright Brothers' plane. Last night Jim's friend Ben came to our hotel and watched Jack so Jim and I could go to a dinner with his colleagues. It was really nice to get out without Jack for a while. We enjoyed dinner without chasing after a two-year-old. Today is our last day and we plan to get on the road in a few hours for our long journey home.