End of the year Off Site.

At the end of each semester the team goes does an off site meeting. They usually try to go to some type of relaxing retreat type place and take a few days to just rest, decompress, spend time together in fellowship and prayer and have their end of the semester strategic meeting, and one on one evaluations with Luke. If the place is able to accommodate us, the kids and I get to come along too! This past week we spent three days at one of our student's parent's awesome cabin in Virginia. Our family stayed in the finished suite above the garage and the rest of the team staying in the main house. It was really big and super cozy. And had lots of wildlife decor, haha. There was a pool table, full bar, several massive flat screen tv's....I mean it doesn't get much better than watching Thomas the Train on a 60 inch TV when your two years old.

She looked so grown up, eating her cereal with an adult size bowl and spoon on this big ol bar stool.

caught in the act of giggling :)

 I had made cut out sugar cookies with the kids at home the day before to bring with us and frost with the team. I brought everything with me to make the frosting there and I know I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record but I just can't get over what a difference a year makes. Last year they couldn't figure out how to frost really, this year they were all about it, and did a great job.

The last day we were there, before driving back to Maryland, we all stopped at a vineyard to do some wine tasting. It was my first time, (I'm so embarrassed to admit that. How can I be 29 and just went on first wine tasting?? Pathetic.) The wine was delicious and we ending up buying a bottle and ordering a cheese platter and relaxed by this huge fireplace that had a wonderful fire going.

All I can say is, sometimes I'm so thankful for smart phones and Netflix. Otherwise we would have left with the wine bottle and not stuck around! So glad we did :)

Baby pigs equal happiness...

...when your three. Apparently. I have no idea why the current obsession with baby pigs but it's all Hailey talks about. I think it started when she and Casey spent the day a few weeks ago watching a tractor across the street from our house harvesting hay. I told her that the hay on the truck was going to a farm to feed the pigs, cows and horses. Of course she then begged me to follow that truck! Everyday she asked to go to the farm to see the baby pigs. Every.Day.All.Day. I was using deflecting tactics like, "I don't know where the farm is." "The farm is far away." Aaannnd it wasn't working. We do live in an extremely rural area so on any typical drive we do pass farms and see cows and horses, and we would excited point them out but none of it was good enough. She wanted those baby pigs.

Then I heard the Frederick County Fair was going on! And they had baby pigs! Hurray! A student had also gotten a handful of free tickets to see the Beach Boys playing for the Friday night concert at the fair. The bummer was that the fairgrounds didn't even open till 6pm, so we were getting a much later start than I would have liked. It ended up being quite a bit of effort with 9months preggo me, and the kids to see baby pigs and hear the Beach Boys for the last 30min of their show, but it was worth it.

First we had to pay our respects to the cows. (We really just came across them first)

All was good, until they started mooing.

Baby pigs at last.

She had this look on her face like, "um yes, these are my baby pigs and you all may look at them too if you want."

Casey was completely into the Beach Boys.

He looked so serious but was so intently and deliberately clapping his hands. He loved it.

It was kind of fun to see them in concert. They are so old! But they still sound good! We got there late, our phones weren't connected with the students trying to let us know they were there and where they were. So that kind of stunk. But it probably was the best length of time for the kids.

I started getting a little nervous too and wanted to leave. I absolutely did NOT want to go into labor at the fair. I was having a few contractions and was feeling quite a bit of pressure. I swear I could tell the baby's head was engaging with every step. I was majorly waddling my way to the car later on.

(I might add, that she has never seen Charlotte's Web and I'm actually planning on getting it from the library when this baby comes as something new and special for her. I can't wait to watch it with her!)

Now when she asks me to see the baby pigs, I tell her they are napping. She says ok.

150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg is practically in our backyard and so we go there often. Naturally! :) They have an awesome outlet mall, and there is also a Rita's Custard stand in the cute downtown area. It is our Sunday evening tradition to go and get Rita's. If you've never had it, you need to. It is the best custard you will ever have. 

But aside from those two things, it kind of happens to be the site of one of the most historic battles in the history of our nation. 

And this year was the 150th Anniversary. We have been through the Smithsonian-esque (read: amazing) Visitors Center museum and on tours of the battlefields multiple times since living in this area. Whenever people come to visit us, it is probably the first place we take them. Luke has become quite the capable tour guide himself. So when the big anniversary rolled around at the beginning of July, I was on the website, checking out events and figuring out what we were going to try and go to. Luke was like, "we go all the time, it's mobbed over there right now!" I told him, yes, but this is actually when it is more exciting to me! The place was coming to life with re-enactments, there were so many special things going on. So on July 3rd we headed over, hoping to see the memorial walk across the field where Picket's Charge took place. It was for tourists to participate in, you could either be on the Confederate or Union side. I knew we wouldn't make it in time to join in, the kids were napping late despite my best efforts, so I figured we would just watch and it would still be cool. 

Wellllll, we were not prepared for the number of people in Gettysburg. I knew it would be bad when we started seeing signs a couple exits out saying stuff like, "exit here for parking for Gettysburg." But we forged ahead and after crawling at the slowest pace ever, we finally made it into town. And Picket's Charge was well over. I was super disappointed. It had been the last major event of the day and I had really wanted to make it to it. So instead we got dinner at one of our favorite Irish restaurants in town. (I should also mention we go on most of our dates in Gettysburg and always find new fun places.) 

After dinner we headed over to one of the battlefields where a daily evening program was held called "Voices of the Day." Actors and actresses narrated the events of that day, and what it was like for them - women who lived in town, a union and a confederate soldier. I really enjoyed it and the best part about it was the kids could run around. 

I am glad we went and got to do one small thing. Just being there in and of itself was cool. And we are still learning what we can reasonably do with such small children. In the end, it was just right.

Williamsburg, VA

Before Luke left for focus summer training, we went out of town for a mini family vacation. Luke knew the woman who is the head of hiring for all of Bush Gardens Amusement Park in Williamsburg, VA and she was able to get us free tickets to both Bush Gardens and the Water Park.Williamsburg is also known for it's incredible history and has preserved the most incredible downtown area of old colonial Williamsburg.I was so excited! (side note, even though I had the American girl doll, Samantha, I always had a love for Felicity. Seriously, the colonial era speaks to my romantic heart.) But on with our trip....

Our plan was to leave Monday morning, super early, and head right to Bush Gardens for a full day at the park. Theeeen we realized that it would be a 3 and half hour drive, right through Monday morning rush hour DC traffic - which could easily add up to an hour an a half, and then expect to be full of energy, ready to have fun at the park all day....no way that was going to work. So we quickly packed up and left after mass and a quick brunch on Sunday. Since Jamestown was just minutes away, we wanted to stop there that evening and see the Pocohontas trail, the ship in the harbor, etc. Well, we got there at like 6:30 and the park had closed at 6. Such a bummer! We didn't think to check online, we were really kicking ourselves. So we went to downtown Williamsburg to walk around and enjoy the atmosphere a bit. It is so quaint and you can really imagine what it must have been like.

We then checked into the Days Inn and put the kids to bed. An uneventful night. But we were there, ready to hit the park at 10am when it opened.

Monday morning the forecast was NOT good. Thunderstorms and heavy rain from 10am till like 3 or 4pm. We drove to Bush Gardens anyway hoping maybe it wasn't going to be that bad and quickly blow over. The sky was definitely saying otherwise. We debated in the car for forever, my vote was no, Luke wanted to try. So we got out in the mild drizzle, walked into the park, rain was getting heavier, got our tickets, rain still increasing, and we ducked into a souvinour stand for cover to revisit the "should we really be doing this today?" conversation. We agreed....not happening.

So we went and walked around the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center and saw a 30 minute video about life back then. It was kind of cheesy but I liked it. Since it was still raining, we went back to the hotel and let the kids take their usual naps. When they got up, the rain had stopped and we went swimming in the outdoor pool at the hotel. It was kind of cold, but the kids still had a blast.

Dinner that night at a local pizza place called The Library. It was sooo good. Apparently the pool wore Casey out.

Head falls lower. Didn't fall asleep though, once that pizza arrived, he chowed down.

That night we went back to a different part of colonial Williamsburg and explored some more.

Candy shop where Luke indulged his sweet tooth (he denies he has one)

view of the other side of the street

He needed to roam so we stayed outside the candy store

Time to see what they got us!

Time to go

Tuesday was sunny and beautiful and with everyone well rested we were so ready to take on Bush Gardens! We didn't know what Hailey would think of the kid rides, and she ended up loving them! Casey was a good sport about watching with me.

He's just trying to imitate Oscar the Grouch's eyebrows here.

She's telling me, "Go faster Momma!!" Sorry Hailey.

The elderly gentleman who was in charge of this ride asked how old Casey was and if I thought he would hold on. When I saw how slow the thing was going, I kinda was thinking Casey could handle it too. So we let him ride as well, on Hailey's second time around and at first he didn't like it, but then relaxed and enjoyed it a ton!

Probably her favorite ride. She loves flying on airplanes.

Luke got to go on a few rides throughout the day while the kids and I were either looking at animals or taking a break. We did do one water ride as a family and Casey HATED it. Looking at the pictures they take of you on the ride afterwards, we just about died because of the look on Casey's face. Complete horror. I think we got him and Hailey ice cream after that.

Another highlight of the day, that I never want to forget was the Celtic Fyre performance we watched. Throughout the park, in the different countries, are stages and theaters where shows are performed at regular intervals throughout the day. The Celtic Fyre Irish dancers was said to be one of the best shows so we made sure we made it to that one. It was truly incredible and beautiful. Hailey was mesmerized and didn't want it to end. She LOVED the dancers and was clapping and bouncing in her seat the whole time.

The next day we went to the water park but the kids were sooo not into it. Like, at all. And they are normally obsessed with water. It was kind of baffling but I think when it came down to it, they were just still exhausted from the day before. They were lacking the stamina for day 2 of park fun.

where Hailey camped out almost the whole time.

finally someone was ready to have fun

We didn't stay long at all, and left around 1:30pm. Which was fine, especially considering we didn't pay for it! No need to feel guilty for not getting our money's worth or anything like that. And we had a long drive home ahead of us. Plus, the kids were just tired. They konked out on the car ride home, but woke up refreshed enough when we stopped to have dinner with a mission partner outside of DC at Chipotle to be bouncing off the walls and drive me nearly crazy.

Final memory from this vacation. The amount of pee in Hailey's car seat. For whatever reason, she could not hold it at all. It was like, "Mommy, I pee pee please!" "Ok, Hailey, wait till we stop the car. One minute." Pull over a minute later so she can go and she's already gone in her sear. It happened 4 times I think over the course of our vacation. (Once instance resulting in us on the side of the road, a cop pulling over behind us, assessing our situation and still being a jerk and writing us a ticket. A $90 ticket for failing to obey the "stopping for emergencies only) signs all over the highway. Well, sorry sir, this was an emergency, she had to pee and otherwise she would have gone in her seat. His response, "If my kids can't hold it, I tell them to go in their seat." Gee, thanks for the unasked for parenting advice. He was ridiculous. And then 2 hours later when she's telling us she needs to pee again and we're telling her we can't pull over on the side of the road, just a few more minutes till we can on an exit and she pees in her seat. Where are you now, cop? Case in point.) And it was just weird because she never does this type of thing and it probably was just the heat and amount of water she was drinking. Ohmygosh though, SO gross. We took her seat out once we got home, so I could take it apart and wash the padding in the washer, and the leather seat and floor were wet with pee too!! Thank goodness for leather seats though.

It was such a wonderful and special family trip though. And timed so perfectly by Luke so that it helped sorta sustain me during his absence. Good job, honey :)

And good job to you, if you made it through this long recap!

Little Italy

My really good friend Jenny just moved to Rome, (as in, Italy), with her husband and two boys and her blog does not disappoint as she shares about all their incredible experiences, big (Pope kissing her son) and small (potty training success....although that really should be classified as a big success) while living down the street from the Holy Father. 

Anyway, why am I giving her back round/life story? Because this post is mostly for you, girl. Last Saturday we up and decided we didn't want to be stuck in the house all day, so despite the threat of rain, we drove an hour to Baltimore to hit up Little Italy. Although nothing can compare to the real thing...I thought of you the whole time. 

Whenever we have visitors, Luke tends to be the one to take them into Baltimore for an afternoon and plays tour guide. I stay at home with the littles as they would be bored, slow everyone down, etc. He always takes people to Little Italy and then comes home and raves to me about how awesome it is. Well, it was finally my turn! 

As soon as we turned down the street heading into this quaint part of town, I felt like I just stepped into a time machine. I was transported back to Italy and although some things still felt the same, people driving enormous cars, looking for parking for 20 minutes, the buildings were sweet, and we landed at the most wonderful authentic pizzeria. They even had outdoor seating in the back with two bocci ball lanes for summer games. It was also lightly raining, so the whole setting just felt magical. 

I think Luke and I could have each eaten our own 14 inch, it was that good. I had to keep telling Luke to not eat the kids pizza off their plates! They weren't hungry at the time but I knew they would eat it later. We also had the most amazing caprese salad appetizer and ended our meal with a cannoli that was to die for. 

Not sure, or not hungry? Probably both.

Walking down to the inner harbor. When she heard there were boats, she was a woman on a mission.

Me: "Hailey, can you stand by this tree so I can take your picture?" Silently obliges and later I notice her finger pointing, as in, "let's keep going that way to the boats, mom." 

Tagging along behind his sister. Once he got those little legs moving, then he was hungry. Luke told me stopped abruptly at one point, came over to him with the to go box, shoved his hand in, took a fistful of pizza and stuffed it in his mouth. Then kept right on walking.

Classic Casey, the shy sideways glance.

Finding shelter from the rain. (Luke, stop eating the kids pizza)

On the other side of that bench is a huge drop down to the water. I freaked out if the kids were a mere foot away from me. They are so fast!!

It was all so misty and romantic. Sadly because of the rain, there were no boats out really, we got a quick glimpse of one but it wasn't enough for my water and boat loving girl. The whole way home she asked, "where boat go, mama?" I had to tell her they had to go to sleep because of the rain. It only mildly pacified her.

I know we'll be back Little Italy, you are a nice taste of the real deal and until we visit Rome again, Baltimore, you will just have to do.