Friday, June 21, 2013

Heading out East (Part 1)

Just a few days after we returned from our church history trip, Ken and I were able to get away, just the two of us.  Earlier in the year, we had watched our friend's kiddos while they were on a lovely vacation.  Lucky for us they agreed to return the favor.

Ken left on Monday and I followed him out on Tuesday after doing major laundry, cleaning the house, getting all the kids packed -- again, teaching lessons, and having a Take Note rehearsal.  Wouldn't you know that is was a crazy snowy day here and school actually got cancelled.  I was a little nervous my flight wouldn't get out, but it ended up being just fine.  It was 20 degrees when I got on the plane and it was almost 90 when I got off the plane in DC.

I took a cab to the hotel and was so excited to see Ken. We walked around the corner to a fun restaurant and dined outside.  The night was beautiful and I couldn't get over how warm it was!  Ken and I are usually pretty good about having date nights, but, as much as we love our children, there is something almost magical when we know we can just focus on each other for a few days.

On Wednesday, Ken had to go to work. :(  I slept in and didn't have to go anywhere! :)  That was such a treat!  Ken and I were able to meet up with my friend Rusty and his family for lunch.  It meant so much to me that they would take the time to drive into the city to meet us.  I have been wanting Ken to meet Rusty for years and I wanted to meet the gal who could make Rusty settle down.  I totally loved Jennifer and their daughter.


We lucked out and timed our trip perfectly for the cherry blossoms and I couldn't wait to go see them!  As soon as Ken got off work, we headed to the tidal basin, along several thousands of our friends.  The blossoms were glorious!  I had fun taking pictures, walking around beautiful monuments, and people watching.  So awesome being with my love! After lots of walking with my love, we enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner.  Rusty was on his break for work so he was able to join us for dessert.  It was such a beautiful night and after all that walking we were ready for a good night's sleep!












Thursday Ken again headed out door to go to work, but this time I wasn't too far behind.  One of the perks of a visit with Ken to DC is visiting my former roommate, Naomi.  She is seriously one of my very favorite people on the planet, so any time I get to spend with her is a real treat.  We had a great plan of me spending the day down in Fredericksburg with her, then picking her husband up at Quantico, and then meeting Ken for a nice dinner in DC.  Well some plans just don't work out.  As I was heading down to the airport on Tuesday, I got a text from her hubby saying that Naomi was in emergency surgery.  I was freaking out a bit and was glad to talk to her the next day.  I arranged to rent a car on Thursday and drove down to the hospital in Fredericksburg to hang out with her. (Crazy deja vu moment:  I lived in that area when I was 13 and just as I was passing Patomic Mills mall, Red, Red Wine came on the radio.  That was one of the big songs that year and I was instantly transported back in time.  Very fun to remember back to that time.)  Even though Naomi was unable to get out of bed, she was healing well.  We talked, laughed, and cried as the hours sped by.  I loved every second of being with her, even if it was in her hospital room, and the time passed too quickly.  I finally had to go to meet Ken for dinner.  We ate at an amazing Brazilian steakhouse, Fogo de Ciao and then enjoyed a lovely walk through the city on the way back to the hotel.

It was a bit cloudy and rainy when we woke on Friday.  Ken had decided to take the day off so we could see some cool things together.  We checked out of the hotel and then walked down to the Old Post office, the 3rd tallest structure in the city.  There were some really cool views even with the gray day.  We went up on the hill to meet my friend Erica (my friend from RBHS) for lunch.  She is an congressional aide and it was really cool to hear about her job and catch up.  After lunch, we had a couple of hours to walk past the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, and the Capitol.  I love those buildings!  We walked to the Ford Theater where we had tickets to see the matinee of Hello Dolly.  Great show that we both really enjoyed.  After the show, we went to the car rental and drove around the city before heading up to Gettysburg, our next adventure together.
















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