Thankful

For those of you unaware, we have been dealing with some massive flooding up here in MN. Luckily it hasn't directly effected us thus far however, some friends of ours have been dealing with quite a few issues. Main highways are closed and it has been making navigation difficult for people that commute often.

You may recall that when we first moved up to MN we moved to a very small town about 20 minutes away from where we live now..... After all of this flooding our old home is under water. This video was shot on Sunday so the water has come up since then. Check out the KEYC story about our old neighbors. The yellow house is where we used to live. Let me just say I am very thankful we aren't living there anymore!

Day at home with Mommy

Daddy had to work this weekend so Mr. Maddox and I had some one on one time which was LONG overdue! Because of this he had a camera in his face pretty much all day. (I can't help myself!)

Apparently the canister of peanuts was really fun to play with and push around on the floor.

and when he wasn't doing that he played the "drums"

So, because it is the weekend I was doing our typical weekend activity- LAUNDRY! I ran to the laundry room to switch out a load and came back to THIS- well not this exactly- he WAS standing straight up and "riding" it like a surf board....

He finally sees me!

oh, Mr. big stuff, 'eh?

Look at me Mom!

Needless to say my heart jumped a beat or 2 when I saw him on top of it but of course I grab my camera- duh!

Come on Mom! I want to play already!

I'll help you fold I promise!

The one picture I DIDN'T get was him sprawled out in my nicely folded laundry drinking his milk. I had to laugh even though I was gritting my teeth since I despise folding laundry. I had a blast though, I love the days when it is just me and my baby boy.... I am trying to slow time down so I don't have a 1 year old too quickly.... Hard to believe it is less than a month away!

Saying Good Bye

Before we left Ali and Trent's we took this picture to try and show our gratitude for their hospitality, use of their vehicles, and help getting around the "big city"! Maddox wasn't overly cooperative but it worked.

As we were getting ready to leave we got a message that my mom's biological mother's husband (got that?!) passed away early that morning. We decided that since we were in the cities anyway, we would stop by and pass on our condolences. It was nice to do that because Justin has now (finally!) met all of my mom's siblings. The funeral was on Saturday and Justin was unable to go so it was great that it worked out for him to be there on Tuesday.

Since we were in no real rush to get home (unpacking- UGH!) we decided to drive over to Hastings and visit JR's grandparents too. We hadn't seen them for a few months so it was great to visit with them. Great Grandma was pretty excited to see Maddox tooling all around and being the little busy body that he is! It was a great way to end a great vacation. :)

Washington DC- Day 4

Monday was our final day in DC. Ali took the day off but Trent had to work so it was back to the 4 of us again. :) We started our day at the United States Capital with a tour. It was pretty cool to walk through there but in the future I will be sure to talk to our Congressman so we can do more "behind the scenes" stuff. 

Justin and Ali enjoying the tour. "Kelly", our guide, did a great job. She was very insightful.

a rare picture that I get to be with my baby alone!

The Capital

We decided to go up in the Washington Memorial later that afternoon. Ali and I had done it 12 years ago when we went on vacation with our family but not since. It was very cool to see the views and it was one of our favorite things we did this trip. I think it was great to do it at the end of our trip so we could kind of get our barrings about things. We could actually pick out the places we had been which was fun.

View of the Capital and "The Mall" with all of the Smithsonian Museums lining it up.

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial and World War II Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

To round out our day we stopped by Arlington National Cemetery where we saw JFK's grave site, watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and walked through General Lee's house. The view of DC from there is amazing.

JFK's grave site

Changing of the guards

Our last night with Ali and Trent we ordered in pizza and hung out. It was sad to start saying our good byes but we had had so much fun. It was a trip I had wanted to take since Ali moved out to DC but hadn't had the opportunity to do it yet. So thankful we were able to get out there before the move (whenever that is!).



Washington DC- Day 3

On Sunday (or day 3 of our trip) JR and I headed into to DC on our own again. Since we struck out at the Holocaust Museum the day before, we went back in to try again! This time we were able to go through the tour and it was pretty cool. I had been there but JR hadn't so it was fun experiencing it with him. There are so many neat things to


see and experience there. We could have probably spent a lot more time there however, I don't do well in crowds and Justin was getting tired of reading I think.

We took these pics in honor of my dad. Thought he would get a kick out of them!

When we were waiting to catch the Metro we were stopped to allow these SUV's go by. We are pretty sure it was the First Lady. *wink, wink!

Before heading back out to Viginia we went to the Air and Space Museum and spent a few hours looking around. Justin said this was one of his favorite stops.

That evening we jumped back into the JEEP and headed to Maryland to Great Falls Park. There were LOTS of beautiful views so we did our best to capture what we could.

As an anniversary present Ali and Trent took us out to eat at a FANTASTIC restaurant called Sweet Water near their house. The food was to die for and we all left there stuffed!

Thanks again Ali and Trent for such a yummy dinner!!!  (oh and of course your hospitality!)

Washington DC- Day 2

Our 2nd day in DC was really fun! Our first stop was to the Pentagon Memorial. I would highly recommend it to anyone that visits DC. It is an emotional experience that I can't really explain, it just is.....

One of my favorite shots

We were sporting our Hawkeye gear in preparation for the big game that night.

Another Favorite

Before lunch we went to the Eastern Market, something I have heard about for quite a few years.... We did some shopping and I scored a sweet headband, purse, and key chain. It was lots of fun and there were so many neat things to look at.

After lunch Ali and Trent offered to take Maddox for us so we could do some sightseeing on our own. Our goal was to hit up the Holocaust Museum but unfortunately we couldn't go as it was closed... So, instead we headed to some of the Smithsonian Museums.

 

Michelle Obama's Dress... It is quite exquisite!

The Hope Diamond

Maddox loved hanging out with Ali and Trent!

Before the big game we went on a night tour in Ali's new Jeep Wrangler. Maddox got to ride in style in his sweet "pink" car seat. We were VERY lucky that we were able to borrow a few things from a family both of my sisters have baby sat for. It worked out great!

the Lincoln Memorial

Another favorite snapshot

We got back to Ali and Trent's just in time for the Iowa game. Kick off was at 10:30 ET so we knew it would be a long night. Boy were we right........ Sadly they played like crap and lost the game with a heart wrenching 4 sacks in a row. Ridiculous!

The photo on the left is Justin's reaction to the game.

Our hopes were dashed but by 3:00 am we were on the verge of crazy anyway. :) No one said we weren't true Iowa fans!