Road Trip!!

First of all...am I the only one who can't believe that there are only 45 days until Christmas?!!! I feel like I am so behind already. I am trying to focus on November and Thanksgiving first, but it is hard when all you see is red and green, and all you hear are holiday tunes. Why are they showing Christmas commercials already when we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving? I think the holiday candy was out before midnight on Halloween at Walmart! Every year...earlier and earlier. Can't we just enjoy the moment and the day? I digress....

Last week Joe was in Washington, DC for the annual EO's conference. So this year, Jackson and I decided to head to DC also to see some friends and do some sightseeing. Our good friend Kimberly invited us to stay with them for a few days, so off we went! Jackson and I arrived Thursday afternoon and enjoyed a few hours of playtime in Benjamin and John Stephen's awesome playroom. Then we headed out again to meet our friend Kim Hollingsworth and her three kiddos for dinner. It was so nice to see them and to finally meet baby Mia. She is a doll, smiling all the time!

The next morning, after sleeping "in" to 6:30, the girls (Kimberly and I) and the boys decided to check out the Air and Space Museum that was near Kimberly's house. It was a smaller version of the one on the Mall and it is located near Dulles Airport. The boys had a great time wandering around looking at all the flying machines! There was even a real control tower with airline communication being broadcast in real time. It was really amazing to see those big planes come in for a landing. It seemed like we were higher than they were! Which we probably were! That afternoon, Scott and Joe were finally "released" from their conference and made it back to the Powers' house. Later that night, Joe, Jackson, and I were able to see some more friends for dinner. Jackson did great playing with the big kids that night. And we had a great time reuniting with some of Joe's classmates. We figured out that we hadn't see the Glander's since the 10 year reunion in 2003. WAY too long ago!!

Saturday was a beautiful day so we all loaded up and headed in to the "big city" to the Zoo!! The weather was perfect for animal watching. There were lots of animals to be seen, and see we did! I think we visited all of the animals except for the zebras and hippos. It was amazing to see huge Orangutans climb the towers and creep along the ropes to make their way to another area of the zoo. We made sure we weren't under any of them when they were walking along! That could be a mess if one of them decided that they didn't like you below them! The kids learned about the Circle of Life and Food chain in the Reptile House as we saw a snake eat a mouse. Jackson kept saying, "Mouse! Ouch!". I thought they would be freaked out, but I guess not! We also saw lions, tigers, groundhogs, turtles, elephants, and pandas, among other things. It was a great first trip to the zoo for Jackson.

Unfortunately, I was a little too lazy to take my camera with me everywhere we went (unlike someone else...ahem Kimberly!) so I only took pictures at the zoo. But hopefully I can get some from the photo queen Kimberly! Here is a glimpse at our weekend. Thanks for a great time Powers Family. Can't wait to see you again!

Attempt at a photo of two of the boys!
Bad attempt, I might add!

Orangutans preparing to climb and move it!

Creeping across!

There they are!

The Lioness!

Mr. Tiger was ready for lunch!

Off to the next animal. Look how big he is!

Lunch time craziness!

Running off some energy!

Hugs!

Jackson was not into having his picture taken today.

Nice straw toupee Mr. Elephant!

Checking out the cute, chubby groundhogs

There he is!