Wedding Weekend in D.C.

We were excited to head to D.C. for the wedding of Brian's good friend Will Sherlin (aka the Pearl). He found love with a great Venezuelan lady, and it was time to celebrate. But first we needed to celebrate a certain Mimi who was coming to town on her birthday! 

Mimi and Baba were so nice to come to Raleigh to watch the girls for us- especially since they were doing it on Mom's birthday! She assured us she would love to spend her special day with Collins and Addie so we decided a burger dinner at Bad Daddy's would be the perfect way to kick off the birthday festivities...

She loved her chocolate praline torte and gardening-themed present...

and then we were off to the nation's capital! First stop? The Supreme Court....had never seen it and was glad to check it off the list.

I told Collins we would send her pictures of what we were doing throughout the weekend and she should do the same...it was hard for us to leave each other because the girls and I hadn't spent any time apart this summer yet. But it was a good thing for all of us to separate a little bit. I thought she would be interested to see how we got around the big city...

The rehearsal dinner Friday night was a tasty dinner at a nice restaurant with an after-party that was really well done. We had a good time, and Brian gave a sweet toast. He told Will he was the type of guy he hoped his girls would one day marry. But by the end of the night, I was done. Standing on heels for hours on end is not easy, pregnant or not! Tried to get some rest so we could take on sight seeing the next day...

Slept terribly, but forged ahead with a full day of activities. Excited to start off at the White House...

then we walked over to the monuments and turns out it was really hot in D.C. that day.

Checked off the World War II monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial when I realized I was not going to make it much further. Between the crowds, the walking, and the heat, I was fading fast. But then I had the idea- why not bike it? Turns out you can rent bikes by the hour and see the sights that way. We went for it, and it was so much better! We both really enjoyed biking over to the Jefferson Memorial which we had neither one seen before. It was so far away, we would have never made it on foot. 

It's a beautiful monument, and featured some of the most inspiring quotes. We both agreed it was our favorite out of all the ones we had seen. 

We were returning the bikes b/c Brian needed to go to lunch with the groomsmen when we heard some loud sounds overhead. Turns out it was Marine One (the helicopters) heading to pick up the Obamas at the White House. We made a beeline towards the excitement wanting to see what was going on. Turns out, the Obamas were heading to Martha's Vineyard on vacation and this was their ride. We didn't get to see them come out of the White House, but I later saw them flying over the Mall with the President in tote. Pretty cool!

At this point, I was pretty tired but decided all I needed was a seat and some lunch. I found both at the Natural History Museum, and then toured the dinosaur exhibit, the National Geographic photography exhibit and saw the Hope Diamond. It's a neat museum! I got soaked on the way out the door and then had to walk five blocks in the rain to the Metro. At that point, I couldn't make it back to the hotel to lie down fast enough! 

I eventually rallied and got ready for the wedding which was being held at a nature preserve in Maryland. It was a pretty setting and a fun wedding, but it was HOT. It was the main topic of conversation, and by the end of the night, we all were struggling. 

Look how sweaty we are! And this was not even the end of the festivities! Brian headed to the after-party after the wedding, but the pregnant lady headed home. I am learning that heat and pregnancy are not a pretty combo...

Here's the high school crew looking tough...as usual they can't help but strike a football pose.

It was a fun weekend! It was nice to get away and see a pretty and historic city and catch up with people we had not seen in awhile. But we missed our girls who turns out were having quite the time with Mimi and Baba...

At Marbles...

at Coconut Charlies'....

at Ben & Jerry's...

and at Isabella Cannon Park/Rose Garden. As you might have noticed, Addie has the same dress on in every picture. Turns out Aunt Alli picked out a winner! Addie wore it every day while we were gone. :)

It was a good weekend for all of us!

Kiawah 2016

The night before we left for our Kiawah vacation, Brian surprised me with an alternate plan for heading South in the morning. What did I think about getting up early and visiting Fort Sumter in Charleston before heading over to Kiawah? Intrigued by the idea of seeing a new sight and getting more time in Charleston, I agreed. Then came the realization that we had to get out of the house by 6:30 a.m. Say WHAT?!?

Neither one of us got much sleep that night, but don't you know we made it to Charleston by 11 a.m. A record! We got to ride a ferry and then show the girls an important piece of the Civil War...

Turns out Fort Sumter is the hottest place on earth in July. The girls and I melted while Brian soaked up the American history. I seriously almost passed out at one point, getting dizzy and nausea and having to take shelter in the one air-conditioned place on the fort. The girls and I threw in the towel after that, taking shelter on the ferry where they sold water and hot dogs. Note to self- next time- eat before you take on Fort Sumter and you might enjoy it a little more. 

We got off that ferry and couldn't get to Lewis Barbecue fast enough. Al gave us the fabulous recommendation, and our hungry selves loved every bite of this authentic Texas barbecue. 

The girls got on that island and went straight to the pool. We asked if they wanted to go to the beach or the pool first, and that was no contest. They could not be torn away from that pool. Except when they got out to check on Baba's whereabouts...

Our new flamingo friend made herself at home pretty quickly...

This one also acclimated to the water quickly thanks to her use of the floaties (finally) and her many "CANNON BALLS!!!!".

Collins was amazing in that pool showing off her new swimming skills. She didn't ever want to stop, and she really did get a lot of great practice in that week. We are so proud of her and love that she is now officially a real swimmer!

The only problem came when a certain stench creeped up on us. Initially, we thought an animal had died in the lagoon behind our house then we realized it unfortunately wasn't just one. Turns out hundreds of fish had died after the 12-HOUR thunderstorm we had endured our first full day at the beach. Apparently, if it rains too hard, it can alter the oxygen levels in the water and kill the fish. Wow, did we find out the hard way. We literally could not walk out back on the pool deck for a full day the smell was so horrible. It stunk (pun intended) to lose a whole day with the pool, but we made up for it in the days to come!

And believe it or not, we did actually make it to the beach every once in awhile...good thing because Addie figured out that floating waves in the ocean was pretty fun! Both girls were braver in the water because the waves were so calm.

Bumping big time in this picture...was 19 weeks pregnant on this vacation. I think it's pretty neat that I've been pregnant with all three of our babies while at Kiawah. Collins was just a "blueberry" while we were there, Addie was more of a "bell pepper" and baby boy (still un-named despite our best efforts) was about the size of a "banana"! 

Mimi made us all winners in the sand castle contest giving out awards for "best design", "most artistic" and "cutest". Not sure that Addie was much help to her starfish team- except when it came to knocking it down! :)

And when we weren't in the pool or at the beach, chances are good that we were on the bike. It was really neat watching Collins take off on her bike and whiz across the island. When we later asked her what her favorite part of vacation was she surprised us by answering, "riding bikes"! 

We all rode bikes over to the tennis center to watch C take two tennis lessons. She enjoyed them, and I was glad she had the opportunity to play at Kiawah.

One of the neatest places we biked to was the Marsh Overlook. We found this spot last year, and couldn't wait to come back this year. The views from the top are amazing!

Brian and I took a twilight bike ride to the beach to see things in a different light...

And we all were perfectly content at the beach house hanging out with each other and coloring... (Collins decided she was ready to graduate from kiddie coloring books to adult ones and did a great job taking her time and focusing on the harder pictures.)

We all colored so much we had a designated "coloring table" in the kitchen where we left our supplies out at all times! Loved coloring while drinking my coffee...very relaxing. 

The girls were excited when Mimi offered to give them a manicure and pedicure...

These two took very good care of "soft baby" togeher...Addie and Baba have always had a special bond- so glad they got to spend a whole week together!

Bubbles were a must on our wash-out day...

We also had fun watching the wildlife around us at the beach house...this guy hung close by while we packed up. The girls were amazed when we saw a mama and her two babies the morning we left!

And then, Friday night ice cream! It's become a tradition, and the girls wanted to get dolled up for the big night out. :)

Addie put on a little dance performance for us after Baba fed her "chocolate chip" (aka mint chocolate chip) ice cream...

And just like that our vacation was over! The girls did much better on the way home than they did on the way down. After a much-begged-for lunch at "Bone-jangles" (Addie), they both conked out for me and slept for a whole half hour! We were excited to get home, but so very grateful for another wonderful and memorable trip to our special island. Thank you so much, Mom and Nick!

And many thanks to Al and all the amazing things she does with her camera. I treasure the photos she takes on our vacations- especially when they're of my girls being so happy! 

Already looking forward to 2017! Hard to believe we will have a little boy joining our gang of girls, but can't wait to introduce him to our special place.