We were all so excited that Grandma Norman would be coming to visit for the week. Kate, Sara and I pulled up to the airport to pick her up and to my surprise I saw a cowboy hat next to her and new exactly who it could be. Seriously I had NO idea that dad was coming to. I started screaming out loud before I could even get out of the car. It was a wonderful surprise! 
We spent the weekend watching conference and a few of us went to see the "very crowded" fireworks in DC celebrating the Cherry Blossms festival. Peter cooked prime rib, apearagus, garlic mash potatoes, fresh strawberries, deviled eggs with cayanne pepper ( I meant to use paprika but grabbed the wrong spice, but they were really good, its going to be my new secret ingredient) and I made a coconut cake from scratch that was delish.
The kids camped out in the boys room and calculated that the Easter Bunny arrived somewhere between 12:30 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. Either way it was a very early and sugary morning.
I took Mom and Dad and the kids over to the National Harbor just across the Wilson Bridge in Maryland. There is a really neat statue that was just relocated call the "Awakening". The kids had fun climbing around body parts. Mom wanted to take a peek at the Gaylord Hotel & Convention Center on the Harbor where the Close to my Heart convention will be held this year in July. I am rooting for her to come back in July to attend.....
We have discovered a fun new T.V. game show called "A Minute to Win It" where contestents have different games to perform in a minute to win upto one million dollars. We love to recreate these for family home evening on monday night. We all took turns doing this challenge, none of us were able to do it in less than a minute but it was alot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa shared their conversion story to our family of which I will share in a separate post.
I LOVE GOING TO THE BEACH! Any beach any where on earth is my happy place. So when mom & dad said they wanted to go I was happy to take them to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Alexandria. It was 90 degrees and a beautiful day. We walked, we read, we relaxed, we did not swim because the water was as cold as a 7eleven slurpee brain freeze. We ate fish and chips and did a little shopping on the way home at the outlet shops. Who doesn't love outlet shopping???
Carrie's Happy Place
O. K. Seriously it this cute or what? Dad wore his long sleeve western shirts and jeans all week long during this spring heat wave. He got so much attention everywhere he went wearing his cowboy hat that one lady said she wanted it and nearly took it right off his head in the Burger King parking lot. I tried to get him to buy some shorts at one the of shops on the boardwalk, but no. So here it is for all to see "cowboy shorts".
O. K. Seriously it this cute or what? Dad wore his long sleeve western shirts and jeans all week long during this spring heat wave. He got so much attention everywhere he went wearing his cowboy hat that one lady said she wanted it and nearly took it right off his head in the Burger King parking lot. I tried to get him to buy some shorts at one the of shops on the boardwalk, but no. So here it is for all to see "cowboy shorts".
We took some time to attend the Washington D.C Temple which was a real highlight.
O.K. I know this is a weird picture but it really sums up our experience downtown D.C. Mom is still wearing her boot from an injured tendon in her foot, so I decided to do a driving tour but by the time we got there rush hour was starting and it was not just traffic conjestion but a real throwup mess of cars, people, and lots of signs saying NO, DON'T, DO NOT, AND DON'T YOU DARE MAKE A UTURN. I was trying to play it cool, but I don't really drive to D.C to much. The best way is to take the metro and then explore by foot. We crossed over the arlington memorial bridge 3-4 times before I could get off those crazy loops. I was not trained for this kind of driving in drivers ed class at age 14 in Soda Springs, Idaho. Thanks to HOV3 we got home faster and safe.
Mom was pretty worn out and needed some good book therapy on Thursaday. So as Dad and I were getting ready to visit Arlington Cemetary I got a call from the elementary school saying that Barrett up-chucked his honey combs on the floor in his classroom. So I picked Barrett up and printed 2 maps and loaded a metro card for dad to venture out on his own. I got him through the gates and patted him on the back and hoped he would be able to navigate himself through public transportation on his own. And you know what.....He did it, cowboy hat and all.Nobody should miss seeing the Arlington Cemetary.
That evening Peter took Dad and Quinn to a Nationals baseball game and Kate took Grandma to see a movie. I stayed home with Mr. vomit and diahreaha boy and little miss Sara for a night of bedtime stories.
I took mom and dad to the airport this morning and we said our good-byes. Sick boy (Barrett) is feeling a little better today and I'm glad he is here to keep me company, but now I find myself listening to sappy music typing a long blog because I miss my Mommy and Daddy already.
