Tuesday, July 10, 2007

I'm back, baby, I'm back!

Okay, so we've been back for a week and a half now. But I'm just now catching up to myself!

Our vacation was so great--we got to see family and so many of our old friends; the kids had a wonderful time at "Camp Baba" with my parents and nephews, and Batman and I really enjoyed DC.

We stopped first in Memphis, where we went to church with two of our oldest (not that old!) friends, Dan & Karla, and their sweet angel of a daughter Ainsley. She and the girls really hit it off, while the adults tried to cram ten years of catching up into one lunch. Hopefully it won't be another ten years before we see them again!

After lunch we spent some time at Starbucks with my friend and former boss Sandy and her husband Rick. It was so great to see Sandy again and to get to know Rick; they're a great couple and Batman and I both wished we could have had more time to spend with them!
We spent a few days in Lebanon visiting with my brother and his family; my grandparents were there as well, and I'm sure they enjoyed seeing all their great-grandchildren in one place. We had our annual family portrait photo done. Have you seen that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond? Ours wasn't that bad.

When Batman and I got to DC, the first thing we did was go shopping. The second thing we did was go eat. We did a lot of both over the week we were gone, in addition to a LOT of walking. Batman walks faster than I do (especially with my six blisters! Stupid cute shoes!) and this was my typical view:

See Batman racing along in the foreground? I also saw a lot of this:

We did some of the touristy stuff, but the best thing was going to the Library of Congress and watching a Coke commercial that Batman's great-uncle Glenn filmed back in 1965. He was a test pilot on the F-104 Starfighter, and after watching his commercial we went to the Air and Space Museum and saw his plane! Well, it wasn't HIS plane, but one just like it.

We spent the last night of our trip in Baltimore (their motto is, "Public Transportation: Only for the Very Brave") (or possibly, "Spend All Your Vacation Dollars on Cabs!") and saw an Orioles/Yankees game at Camden Yards. It was hot--sweat-in-your-underwear hot. I wondered as I melted, why was I so miserable? I live in one of the hottest cities in the US, and I was sweating like a hog. Then I realized that here, we have sense enough not to sit in the heat--we air-condition everything, including our ballparks! Sadly, not only was Camden Yards not air-conditioned, neither was our hotel. Visit Baltimore: We Love to See You Sweat!

When we got back to Nashville, it was SO great to see the girls again! We had brought them presents from the International Spy Museum (which we highly recommend) (unlike Baltimore) and enjoyed hearing about all the fun they'd had with Pop and Baba. The day after we got back, we got to see two of our favorite people, Tim and Marian, and had a great lunch with them at Wolfgang Puck's. Everytime we see them, it's like we only saw them the day before--we pick up right where we left off.
After lunch the girls and I met our three best friends from Florida, Tammy, Bree and Audrey. They live in Kentucky now and came down to Nashville to see us while we were in town. We've missed them terribly since we moved, and it was such a treat to see them! The girls were a little slow to warm up at first, but once we hit the Build-A-Bear workshop they started giggling and playing like best friends again. They also made lists of everything they want there--I think Number One filled up three sheets of paper.

We decided to spend an extra day relaxing with my parents--Batman and I felt that we'd hardly spent any time with them ourselves! We shopped and talked and ate the best chocolate pie I've ever put in my mouth. It is the best pie in the world, and it's found at the Sunset Restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee. Take your next vacation there, you won't regret it (like you would if you went to Baltimore).

Everything about our vacation was wonderful--the food, the relaxation, the sights, and spending time as a family. Even Baltimore had a Hard Rock Cafe and a Filene's Basement. But the best part by far was seeing our family and friends. We love you all!!!


See all our vacation pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/larfamily/Vacation2007

3 comments:

Beck said...

Your trip sounds like it was so much fun! I can't quite believe that you used the word "relaxing" though - really? With little kids? I find travelling with my children many things, but I stay tense and coiled the whole time, because they are away from our House of Safety.

Kim said...

Looks like ya'll had a great time in D.C and in Tennesse. Sounds like you packed alot in to your time!!Good to see ya'll this week. Ya'll need to come visit before school starts back up.

Anonymous said...

I am just now stopping by your blog, L! It was great to see you all. I loved the photo of H and Ainsley. :-)