Longest Post Ever

My parents, my brother Nate, and my sister Tammy were here for about a week and a half. From the moment they came, we did. not. stop. GO GO GO! It was a blast of a time that took me nearly an entire week to recover from. We got so many good shots that I have avoided doing this post because I didn't know how I would ever choose which photos to share! Here is a rundown of events while the fam was in town. I think there about a million photos....and yes, I could have/should have probably just made a slideshow of all of them, but then when I make my blog into books they won't all be on there....soooo, get ready for a very long list of photos:
Day One
My parents arrived bearing gifts for the kids. Seriously?! Where is MY pink cowboy hat Dad...and my quiet book mom?! My Dad...yes, my Dad, picked out THE cutest outfits for my girls! I could hardly believe it. A darling skirt and shirt for Rebekah and a cute John Deere outfit for Kaitlyn. Thanks Dad!

They girls warmed right up to my mom. 

Alex was THRILLED to get a REAL Cowboy hat from his REAL Cowboy Grandpa. He was one happy kid....plus a REAL lasso. Couldn't get better than that. I have the best Dad. He showed up all decked out in his cowboy gear knowing how much Alex loves cowboys. I love you Dad!

Day 3 (My parents went on an anniversary outing on Day 2): Eastern Market, DC

If you are around here and haven't been, I would go. It is a fun DC neighborhood experience. It is a HUGE Farmer's Market right downtown DC in a cute little neighborhood. In their indoor portion of the market they serve breakfast and have some killer French Toast and Blueberry Buckwheat pancakes. 

"Um, no Megan....my mom's lap is just fine thanks."

Running around in the eating area of Eastern Market

Love this photo.

A shot of part of the market

Practicing to be Judges. This is at the Courthouse where Joseph works (US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces). The kids LOVED playing on the Judges stand.....yes, the Judge said it was okay. :) 

Our three little judges in training. 

Then off to the Dino Museum we went (aka American Museum of Natural History). There are so many fun things to see here. It is our 3rd time there and we still have not seen it all. 

Once again, holding the cockroach. Yuk.

And another shot. 

We also got to see the Tarantula being fed. Alex was enthralled and was the last standing observer. 

This is in the insect zoo of the museum. Our favorite part. I don't know what they are looking at, but I thought this shot was cute. Rebekah LOVES her Grandma. 

And just because I think she is too cute. 

Out of order.....here Jayden, hold it!

Out of order again...the tarantula feeding. Rebekah kept trying to get closer and practically dove in at one point.
After this part , we went over to the Skeletons part and Alex stood in front of a snake skeleton for about 30 minutes just staring at it and talking to Grandpa all about snakes. What a boy! 

Before we left, a few of us went over to the mammals part. The boys like it...a lot.

They were like this after about 5 minutes in the car leaving from DC. :) I wish I was them. 

Day 4: Sunday, Double Birthday

Kim got all the girls matching dresses. Too cute!

They are SO cute!

Ummm, yeah....they look a lot alike!

Happy Birthday Kim and mom!

You old ladies... ;P

Day 5: Boating! SO FUN!

At the dock getting ready and sunscreened. 

Watching intently and waiting to get in the boat.

We're in! LET'S GO!

Here we go. The kids were in heaven. I love this!

We rode out to a little sand bar and beach and swam around in the disgustingly dirty water for awhile. The kids had fun....I was just kinda grossed out. :)

My Dad is so buff. :)

Rebekah LOVES her Grandpa. SO Much!

The boys got brave and swam all over with those life jackets on.

Then we got the hot dog out. At first the boys were like NO WAY are we gettin on that thing. Rebekah, however, hopped right on with no reservations. That sparked it in the boys...they got on too. It was so fun to watch them being pulled behind the boat....

Getting straightened out...

Yay! You are so brave!.....Shortly after this, Justin (my nephew and Jayden's Dad) decided to turn...they all fell off. Thank goodness for life jackets. They were SO mad at us and were NOT gettin' back on that thing. In fact when it was mine and Joseph's turn, Rebekah started to cry saying, "No, don't do it, You will fall off!!!!!" Well, we did fall off. It was Justin's main goal to get us off that thing. He swerved and swayed and went fast until we fell. We fell three times before getting back into the boat. It was a BLAST!! With Joseph in the back, me in the middle, and my brother in the front, I got slammed between the two of them on one crash and ended up with 3 large bruises. Worth it though? YES! 

And this is what Kaitlyn did while we ventured out on the water.....

And this. Thank you Kim, Mom, and Tammy for taking the 2nd boat shift so we could go play without babies. 

Day 6: Crabbing

The boys all got up at 5 am to get out and catch some crabbies (as Jayden calls them). They look tired huh? :)

But excited!! This ended up being Alex's favorite part of our vacation. In fact, he loved it so much that we convinced Kim to take us out again on the 4th of July. 

Justin and Dad getting the lines and boat ready. 

Lowering the traps. 

Bliss

Checking the traps

Nothin'.  Lower it again.

Driving the boat

Watching and waiting.

Got one!!!

Got more!

This one clenched onto Justin's finger and when he flung it off, it nearly hit Dad! The boys were laughing SO hard when they came home and told us about it. :) 

Later that day we cooked up the crabs they caught (and bought a few extra since they didn't have great luck that morning) and sat around pickin' crabs and havin' a good ol' time with my mom's side of the family that live out here. This is SUCH a fun tradition.

And a delicious one too.

He loved it. Loved loved love it. Even eating them.

I was so proud of Joseph for digging in. This was a new experience for him. 

We played outside that day and BBQed as well. Isn't she darling in her John Deere gear?!

Then Nate broke out his ToroJutsu (sp?) Martial Art training and made us all balance these bean bags while standing on a stump. My dad held on for the longest...that is one fit 66 year old! I came in second, but am convinced I could have beat him if I'd gone after him. ;) It was so fun! I love my family. 

Mom even joined in the fun! Good job Momma!

Day 7: Assateague Island: Heaven

Nate didn't waste any time breaking out Jayden's dragon kite. This kids loved it. 

The biggest sandbox there is....the beach.

One of the neat things about Assateague Island is the wild horses that roam the beach. It is so peaceful there. 

These pics are out of order....the Kite came back out at the end of the day. There is no better place to fly a kite than at the beach. 

What a life huh?

Don't do it Daddy! :)

Best Friends. It will be a tear jerker when we move. This is the second place we have left where Alex is having to say goodbye to a best buddy.

Grandpa nooooo!!!! :)

Gotta love the bum shots. 

The men braved the waves....I would have been right out there with them, but about half way through the day we went for a walk down the beach to look for horses and I was holding Kaitlyn who was asleep on my shoulder...well, I didn't see the RUSTY piece of barbed wire there in the sand and stepped right on it. It went right into the ball of my foot and bled...a lot. UGH!!! RRRR!!!  I was, however, able to enjoy the rest of the day (even though I didn't get to swim with the men) and I went in for a Tetanus shot the next morning. I wasn't about to leave the beach to go get a shot. No way! :) For the record...Tetanus shots hurt. Especially when they are given in the arm where you are already bruised from boating!

And we couldn't fully enjoy the day without practicing our Karate moves against the ocean waves. 

You have to admit...he is so cool. 

I think the boys ran a mile today...at least. In and out, in and out, in and out. 

She looks unhappy, but really she is focused. This girl loves sand. You can see my socked foot behind her. Stupid barbed wire.

Cute face.

We did not pose them. They are just cute. 

Cute Cute Cute

I love this beauty

Seriously....we need a shot gun for when she is a teenager.

Day 8: Shop, Play, and Medieval Times (Dinnner and Jousting Tournament with a Falcon Show)

Tammy painted Rebekah's nails. Annnnd, between that, Tammy always playing with her, doing her hair, feeding the seagulls at the beach, and just being Tammy...Rebekah is pretty much obsessed with Aunt Tammy. EVERY day since they left Rebekah says something like, "Aunt Tammy did my paint nails. I love Aunt Tammy." "When Aunt Tammy comin again?" etc, etc. 

Matching!

She wanted to sit by her at Medieval times too! I just wish Tammy had been on my side of her and I on her's...about 20 minutes into the 2 hour show, Rebekah spilled her entire mug of soda onto my lap. I felt like I had wet my pants for the next 90 minutes. :) Man, I am lucky. :)

Alex insisted on sitting behind us with Jayden. He is holding his new camera. He has been saving up for about 1 1/2 years now to buy a camera. He found this little digital camera for $15 at Wal Mart. Not bad, eh? :)

Our Knight must have thought Rebekah was pretty cute too, because he kissed this flower and threw it to Rebekah. When she got it she said, "Oh! That was SO nice!" :)

Alex was like this the entire show. I think he ate 3 bites of his food. :)

Don't know what's wrong with my eye, but I thought this was cute of Rebekah. Did I mention I am severely allergic to horses?? I found out when I went to a rodeo about 6 years ago and had to leave because my lungs were constricting and I couldn't breathe. I decided to try Medieval times anyway since I had been before. Well, once again, I reacted. This time it wasn't as bad as the rodeo, but worse than the last time I went to Medieval times. About halfway through the show, I was having trouble breathing and my neck was itching terribly. By the time the show was over, my voice was pretty shallow and it took a few hours and a shower to feel normal again. Maybe I won't do Medieval Times anymore. :) 

Rebekah was freaked out by this guy and all the kids refused to get in the picture.

My mom and Kim spoiled the kids with these light up lances. Lucky. 

Day 9: Arlington Cemetery and War Memorials

My parents and sister left to head back to Ohio and Iowa the morning after Medieval Times, but Nate got to stay one more day. So, he and I spend the morning running some errands and taking him to Trader Joe's to stock up on their yummy stuff. Then, he took the train into the city and met up with Joseph so they could go see Arlington Cemetery and the War Memorials. They had a great day and I am so glad they got to do it. We ended the day with a nice dinner made by me :) and some awesome strawberry Rhubarb pie from TJs topped with vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm....

And just in case any of my readers have sisters/friends/cousins/etc who  you think would be a perfect fit for my brother....isn't he sooooo Good-Lookin!? Not to mention kind, funny, smart and talented. Just sayin'.