Washington DC trip

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Washington, DC.  We took the subway (Jeremy's favorite) and walked around the National Zoo on Saturday.  On Sunday, Matthew and Ryan headed to the Nationals-Padres game, including batting practice prior to the game.  Here's Matthew after having his hat signed by Rick Ankiel.  They had seats on the 3rd base line, right near third base, and enjoyed the game.

Jeremy wanted no part of the baseball game.  He instead wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History and look at the gems in particular, and some of the other exhibits that interested him.  Here he is in front of a huge slab of crystals found in Arkansas.

On the way home we stopped into Ikea so I could get a few storage items for my office/craft room.  It was very hot here on Monday, and we were all glad for a swim in the afternoon.

It's hard to believe, but tomorrow's the last day of school for the boys.  I've made these crayon monograms for their teachers to thank them for their hard work and creativity. (These have been a hot item on all the crafting blogs recently.) 

Some Vacation Pictures

So the last 6 weeks weren't all bad.  We did manage to get a vacation in late February, during the kids' week off school.  We headed to Florida and got on one of Disney's cruise ships, the Wonder.  It sailed to Nassau and to Disney's own island, Castaway Cay, both in the Bahamas.  Ryan's parents were able to join us, and it was great seeing the boys hanging out with them.

Of course, since my boys can make anything fun, they had a ball at the hotel, just riding on the baggage cart.

This is Jeremy at the "sail away" party, wildly waving the streamers around, and barely missing Bob and Kitty.

Both kids quite enjoyed the giant slide into the pool; this is Matthew with an ear-to-ear grin after his first ride.  He pretty much only used the slide for the rest of the cruise.

For good or bad, cruise ships are known for their extravagant and calorie-free meals and desserts.  Jeremy quite enjoyed eating - and wearing - his Mickey ice cream bar.

Castaway Cay is the private island that Disney owns.  One of the ships from the Pirates of the Carribbean movies is sunk in the bay.  The boys thought they were hot stuff getting to go to the beach in February.

I quite enjoyed Castaway Cay.  In fact, I think that if the Wonder had been anchored there for the entire trip I would have been happy.  Plenty of chairs and umbrellas, bright blue sky, sand, sea and palm trees.  What more could a girl ask for?

Cape Cod, the Book

Well, the soon-to-be book. I have begun making layouts from the pictures from the Cape. I'm beginning to think of a bound book of them, that I can give to my mom, sister, and brother as a memoir of the trip. (All pictures can be clicked on to pull up a large version.)

This one is of Ryan (the hubby) showing Jeremy (ds#2) a hermit crab; I love the sandy hand!

Credits can be found here.

You've seen this picture before, of the kids watching the sun set. It's one of my favorite pics of the trip, and this layout may just become one of my favorite layouts of the trip.

Credits can be found here.

And last, but not least... Really not least, because I envision this becoming the cover of the book! A few pictures that I think captured the trip. My favorite is the one of my mom - you can just see how happy she was to have all her kids and grandkids together. It was taken the first night were were at the Cape.

Credits can be found here.