On the Road Again....

...heading south. 

Our internet connection is spotty, so I'll update after we reach San Diego on Monday.  Stopped in Redding on Thursday night, here in Fremont for a couple of days, on to Santa Maria tomorrow, and then Home, Sweet Temporary Home on Monday.

I just tried uploading a few shots from our trip so far, but looks like it's not going to happen.

 Have a great weekend!

Home, Sweet Home...

...for a few days, anyway.

We got in last night, after a VERY long day, which included the typical flight delays, and such.  Thankfully, the girls were so in awe of the fact that our layover was in NEW YORK, that they really didn't mind. = p

Today: unpacking, washing, and then re-packing; we leave for San Diego on Thursday--maybe Wednesday--but probably Thursday.  2 months in the California sunshine, before we head to the Hawaii sunshine in May, and then back home just in time for some sweet Washington sunshine.  I need to pick up more shades.

Oh, and a Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law!!! (That's her on the left, hanging out with us on the ferry last year...)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Last Day in D.C.

On the agenda--packing, and maybe a twilight tour of the district? 

Obviously, my posting has been sporadic, at best; I'll get it all done once we get to San Diego.  Have a great weekend!

Museum of Natural History

This is the first Smithsonian museum we visited last week.  My first education was in the fact that the Smithsonian is comprised of many different museums, as opposed to being the gargantuan mega museum that I've always envisioned in my head.  Totally amazing, and, as Malia keeps periodically and very randomly exclaiming, "I can't believe we're here!" :) 

Hanging with the dinosaurs.

Checking out the ancient ocean dwellers. 

 I think the girls are thankful the honu they swam with at Spencer Beach weren't quite that big...

Breaking for lunch in the atrium.

Fellow mammals and such.

The first picture is a shot of an okapi, found in central Africa.  It first caught our attention because of its legs, which have markings similar to a zebra; it turns out it's a relative of the giraffe, which you can see in its similar blue tongue.  They keep themselves pretty well hidden, and were not known to European scientists until the 1900s.

Moving on to things of a more sparkly nature.

Immediately following is a picture of the Hope Diamond, a 45+ carat bluediamond. 

Learn more about it here.

The girls are impressed with this large-ish amethyst. :-9

But they love their own little ones just as much. :D

More from the Air and Space Museum, and the Art Museum later!

First Day in DC (a Week After the Fact)

You know me. :-p

Waiting at the airport for Dad's flight to arrive.

The official photographer.

"Maybe we can just jump on the metro and meet Dad at the hotel...." 

(Yeah, right.  And who will carry the luggage?)

First things first.

Coming up:  More from our adventures away from the hotel!

Hawaiians in the OTHER Washington

Good morning!

Just a quick update; I started an email this morning, and realized it sounded more like a blogpost, so thought I'd get that urge out of my system. :p

Very quickly, we've obviously arrived safe and sound; the girls are thrilled to be here.  It was definitely a long day; our flight left at 10:30ish Sunday night, and we arrived 9ish Monday morning.  (And what was I thinking, booking a red-eye again. Ugh.)  Anyway, I sent out the "We're here!" text while girls and I waited for Daniel's flight to arrive; we found a cozy little spot, broke out the bento lunches I’d packed, and finished off the movies they started on the plane. I did my best to keep my eyelids raised; none of us got very much sleep, with the exception of Malia, lucky girl. Finally got to the hotel around 11ish, unpacked, grabbed some lunch at the grill downstairs, and then came back up to the room and crashed. That, of course, made for a very late bedtime last night (this morning?), so the girls are still asleep now. 

I anticipated a late start today, so we'll just hang out at the hotel, taking care of #1 on the girls' priority list: the pool. :p  It's a beautiful day here, tempting me to take the girls out and explore first, but I know that will not fly with the Mini-Me's; they love the pool as much as I did at their ages.

Hm.  I thought I saw them taking pictures in the airport, but I can't find them now.  I'll have to ask them about that.  Okay, off to start my day; will post more later!

Happy Girl's Day!

These girls.  Where do I even begin? 

I know I speak for all the grown-ups in our family when I say these girls have brought joy unimaginable to our hearts, purpose to our lives, and an overall thankfulness that they are ours, and we are theirs.  

(I think it's important to document this now, before they become teenagers. :-9)

Happy Girl's Day!!!

We Gone Done Did It

In the words of my husband's ancestors, we gone done did it.  (And if they didn't use exactly those words, I'm sure they used some very similar ones.)

What did we gone done did?

This:

We take delivery by Thursday, and we're pretty excited.  :)

(I apologize for any copyright laws I may or may not be breaking. :-9)