A whirlwind

Sometimes you just need a little time away. And that's just what we got last weekend. LOML, Little One and I headed east last Wednesday to make a quick stop at my inlaw's and then hit up a dear friend's wedding in DC.

Luckily, we got to spend a full 24 hours with NayNay and Papaw and it was truly wonderful. The only trees still blooming were the red buds, but the flowers didn't dissappoint. My father in law has some kind of green thumb. I have learned a lot from watching him, and walking with him through his yard. We stop at nearly every bush, evey flower, every hint of life and he tells us the story of what it is, where it came from, etc. The man knows his plants. I love that we are able to make it up to their place at different seasons of the year. It seems that everything is new each time we go. And Little One is fostering a love for the time spent there as well. Four wheelers, tractor rides, a fun slide, and NayNay's home cooking make the 12 hour drive worth it fo sho.

This picture was taken in the afternoon. That morning, this peony was tightly closed.

Friday morning came quick as we left LO with her grands and hit the road to DC. Now, this was going to be a wild trip as a lot of time was tied up with wedding festivities and transportation from Arlington. Not to mention, this was the longest I'd ever been away from my girl. I was glad we were going to be packing a lot into those two days. We arrived, parked the car, and hopped on the Metro to Capitol South. I use the term "hopped" loosely, as it took us awhile to figure out exactly HOW the metro works, how to load your card with $$, where it goes in the entry machine thingy, how to balance yourself rather than getting tossed about with a million tourists. It was pretty fun. Once in town, we oriented ourselves and headed towards the capitol building for a tour that a long time friend managed to set up for us a day before we got to town!! Thanks, Jennie!! We had a quick bite at a great little bakery we stumbled upon in search of a sandwich and a bathroom. Firehook didn't dissapoint.

The vegetable garden is directly behind LO. Right now they've got lettuce and green onions. Give it a few months and it will keep their fridge full!

Papaw walking LO through the berry bushes- raspberries, blackberries, blueberries....yum

I don't want to bore you with too many details- I took ZERO pictures of the sites except what you've already seen. We wanted to try to hit a few high points in the little time we had. Our tour of the Capitol was short and sweet- the perfect pace for the two of us. I loved seeing the fabulous architecture, mouldings, and chandeliers.

After our tour, we walked the length of the mall, past the museums, the Washington Monument, the White House (from afar), the World War I Memorial, and finally the Lincoln Memorial. Wish we'd made it to a few others, but we were slap worn out.

That evening, we enjoyed a rehearsal dinner at the National Press Club downtown. It was lovely and I have never heard such precious accounts of friendship than what we witnessed Friday night.

This is the entrance to the garden. My FIL welded the gate himself. It's so tall to keep the deer out.

Why is it that only the second day in 13 months that I've had the opportunity to sleep past 7:00 and I only made it to 7:30?? I totally disappointed myself. We used our free time to walk through Georgetown. It was fabulous. The shopping was primo (if I really cared much about shopping), and the people watching was stellar. I believe that was my favorite part of the whole trip, a memory that LOML and I will treasure.

The wedding was in the late afternoon. It was beautiful. Rarely do I leave a wedding not thinking about ways that I can better love my husband. Rarely is there a time that something, a comment or a look, doesn't stick with me, reminding me of the commitment that we made to eachother. I am thankful that weddings have a way of doing that.

We headed back to the inlaws, rolling in around 11. We had a long drive the next day with our sweetest girl. The time away was perfect. I somehow remembered that I am a wife first, and then a mother. Now, we missed sweet LO something fierce. But to have that 48 hour break was just heaven. Thank you NayNay and Papaw for such a gift.