New York Weekend

Mike and I happily embarked on our first road trip together to visit his family in New York. We had a great time and are still on speaking terms after 16 hours in a car together. Sounds like a successful vacation to me!

Time with Mike's family always means great food, wine and lots of teasing and banter. Needless to say, I felt right at home.

We were very fortunate to spend a lot of quality time with all three kids and celebrated Hannah's 6th birthday a little early. Thank you for a great weekend!

The birthday girl picks some flowers for her Dad. All together now: aaawwwww!

Kaiden helps Hannah line up her presents while "Sister Julia" takes a break from texting.

Dad and his Mini-Me Kaiden hanging out and rocking their Marine Corps t-shirts.


Sisters snuggling. Sister Julia is excellent at entertaining and pacifying the little ones!


Dad takes the little ones on a paddleboat ride in the pond in Grandma and Papa's backyard.

And the girls take a spin. The conversation went something like this:

Hannah: "Can I steer?"

Julia: "No"

Hannah: "Please, can I steer?"

Julia: "NO!"

Me: "Do you think Grandma has some wine open?"

Didn't you have your own outdoor bistro when you were little? Kaiden and Hannah fuel up on hot dogs. Completely necessary if you are going to wear down five adults and your big sister.


Pretty in Pink! Grandma knows how to shop for the princess.

You'd think they'd run off just a little bit of energy in the yard. Nope.

Even Old Lady DeFazio gets in on the game of chase. She forgot to take her Flinstone vitamin and tried to convince everyone to take a nap. Care to guess the answer to that one?

Make a wish!

Wise girl saved room during dinner for dessert. I'm very proud.

Shortly after this photo was taken Julia contacted Amnesty International. Something about being tortured and having to be seen taking a family photo in the front yard. The horror!

Guns N' Cupcakes

Tuesday Julia and I had a lovely, lazy morning baking cupcakes while watching Gilmore Girls. The poor kid had never tried cream cheese frosting (it's one of my favorite food groups!) and now I think I've ruined her for life. We hit a sugar crash by the time Mike got home, but rallied and checked out the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico. Mike was excited to show Julia around and I think she was pleasantly surprised by how interactive and fun it is.

Example of the good times that await if you choose to visit:

Proud Dad coaches his daughter during target practice in one of the "interactive" exhibits. I chose to play photographer rather than embarrass myself.



Her "what I did on my spring break" essay will cover a wide range of activities. Guns, baking... pretty standard stuff, really.

Watching Mike watch young Marines scope out his underage daughter may have been the highlight of the day for me. He didn't bust out his signature line, "Have you ever tried to pick up your teeth with broken fingers?" but I could tell he was ready to throw down if one of them even tried to speak to her. Julia was completely oblivious to the attention she garnered. I had fun teasing her about it...not to mention torturing Mike. Ah, good times.

Sunday Family Fun

Mike and Julia standing in front of some building in DC.

Since Julia is here on vacation, we've tried to provide her with fun options but let her decide where to go and what to do. Mike and I anticipated she'd sleep in and want to watch movies and generally ignore us... basically, she'd be like us when we were her age. Not only was she up and ready to face the day long before I was, but she was incredibly easy-going about activities.

We hit old town Fredericksburg first, but found most of the fun stores were closed on Sunday. After lunch at a pub and some back-and-forth over what to do next, Julia suggested a visit to the Holocaust Museum. We headed home for a quick wardrobe change (Spring has gone into hiding temporarily) and sped on up to DC for some Smithsonian action. Since we got off to a bit of a late start, we weren't able to see half of the museum, but what we did see was pretty powerful. A bit depressing but educational and worthwhile, for sure.

We wandered around the National Mall for awhile longer before heading home for cookies, pizza, Battlestar Galactica, and some nice family bonding time.

Ninjas!

This picture kills me. I'm not sure who's having more fun here. Such cute boys!

Munchkins!

Proud Dad with his beautiful kids

Samurai Kaiden shows off his skills

Hannah and her doll on the deck. Apparently she likes her gifts!

Dad enjoying dinner with Hannah and Kaiden

Saturday was a busy day for us: took a bunch of boxes to recycling, ordered our dining room table (which should arrive any minute now - yay!), did some last-minute cleaning and organizing...and finally welcomed Mike's kids! Julia, his oldest, is spending her spring break with us while the little ones, Hannah and Kaiden, enjoy some time in colonial Williamsburg with their mom and her boyfriend. We had all the kids here for dinner and presents from Japan (Dad outdid himself in the gift department), while his ex-wife and her boyfriend took a break and got some dinner alone.

The kids really like the house and seem eager to spend time here. I'm hoping we'll have a full house at some point this summer! I baked a ton of cookies for dessert and for the little ones to take on the road and enjoy. Scored some points with the baked goods. Bribery may not be ideal but it works.