Shopping Day

Christina and I found the cutest little boutique store awhile ago and we have loved popping in from time to time to drool and window shop. It was a secret really but I guess I can finally share. I was able to find a day when Ashley could go see it so we took the day for a girl's shopping trip. We missed Christina who hasn't been able to make it down this summer but we decided we couldn't wait any longer and went. First stop...Amber's Umbrella.

Ta Da...best store ever!

 We spent all morning browsing and drooling and lots of ohhh and ahhhhs. I wish I had a million dollars that kind of thing. I did finally take the plunge and buy some vintage suitcases though and made my suitcase stack for the living room. Pretty exciting for me.

 The shopping was followed by a fantabulous lunch at Zupas of course. After lunch Ashley suggested a cupcake shop she had tried before and I was all over that. Who can resist a cupcake after all?

 Oh ya it was so good. Grasshopper cupcakes for dessert. Loved them. We did some more shopping and finished off the day tired but pretty darn happy! It was wonderful to spend the day together and I am pretty sure Ashley enjoyed being childless for a bit too. Win win.

My vintage suitcase stack sits proudly in the corner even though Mendis called it a pile of junk. Men!

Father's Day

We had our traditional Father's Day Breakfast Buffet. There's no going back now because it's tradition and well loved by all, especially the dad's. We met Ashley & Benjy and their kids at the Red Rock this year bright and early so they wouldn't run out of food on us, lol. We were anticipating a big ol' line but we got lucky and there was none at all. Any other Saturday it would be packed! We all had a yummy breakfast and I am happy to say no one was worrying about their stupid diets this morning.

 Luckily the green jello only got mauled but not eaten!

Really it's all about watching the kids eat. With this kind of entertainment what else do you need right!!

So Mendis and I went shopping after for his present. He got a new grill finally. A webber that just got delivered to our house this week in fact. We are both pretty excited to fire that baby up. See what I did there!

So Saturday night we took Grandpa Cooper out for Father's day with the Coopers to Buca de Beppo. Seriously we had two meals that day and we were still full.

 After dinner we introduced Ashley and Benjy to the Sweet Tooth Fairy for cupcakes and cookies! You're welcome Ash.

Play Date with Cooper

I had the day off June 3 so I thought it would be a great day to have Cooper over to play. It was the last full day of school so we drove by and watched the kids at Water Day on the way by. We played with the marbleworks, the water toy, puzzles and tiles and colored. 

How cute is that!

 Cooper watched the Jungle Book while I made popcorn for Ashley's mutual. He started off in a pretty normal position but morphed into this.

 Cooper did help me test the popcorn to make sure it was ok. Every time he walked by he tested it lol.

Phoenix for CREDA

Mendis had meetings in Phoenix for CREDA so I went with him. We decided if we were going to get to the Temple that month at all it was going to have to be in Phoenix.

 I expected it to be nice but it was really really beautiful inside and out. No I did not take this picture lol. There is alot of marble and granites in browns that look so pretty together.

So driving home it was rainy and pretty cold...in MAY. Crazy weather.

Our Last Full Day in DC

We headed over to the Smithsonian so we could check out a museum we hadn't seen before. We went to the Natural History museum this time. We checked out the bottom floor which had all the animal exhibits and the ocean. We were running out of time fast we we headed upstairs and went to the Minerals section. I finally got to see the Hope Diamond!

 All the other "minerals" were pretty impressive. Around noon we met up with Jeff on the Mall and staked out our claim on some grass to watch the air show. There was a World War 2 airplane flyover that day to commemorate the 70th anniversary.

Jeff went in search of Rachel so she could join us. They closed all the offices for the flyover so that was pretty cool.

 While we thought the flyover was a really special thing it was frustrating because they didn't actually fly over the Mall like they said they would. That made all the planes pretty far away and hard to really see. After we had lunch for the last time at Union Station (Potbellies & Shake Shack for dessert) Rachel went back to the office and we headed over to the Holocaust Museum. We had gotten tickets to the main exhibit first thing that morning so we would be sure to get in this time.

 The walls of pictures of the Jews from one town that were killed was awful. Putting a face to the name was amazing and much more personal. Then they had the room of shoes collected from the gas chambers from some of the victims.

 While the museum is pretty depressing it is a must see for everyone I think. We were going to all go to the Temple that night together. Rachel got off at four and everything but we didn't get out of the museum until after 6 so we couldn't make it in time. We went back to Jeff & Rachel's apartment and ordered pizza and played Ticket to Ride instead. Next time we are in town we will have to do the Temple.

 We always love to ride the Metro when we are in DC. It is so much easier than trying to drive around the city. There are stops close to everywhere we want to go pretty much. By the end of the week I was pretty good at getting around by myself. Saturday we and breakfast with Jeff & Rachel and took the Metro to the airport. It was so sad to leave them behind. We missed being with them instantly. We are going back in August but that seems so far away.

 After we got to Vegas we went to Maggiano's for dinner for Mother's Day. I heard they were having triple creme brulet and we had to check that out.

It did not disappoint. I happy ending to a wonderful trip! Can't wait until August.

Tour Day

This morning we got up and headed straight to our White House tour. We met up with Jeff there and headed in just in time. It had the best security we had seen all week. Everywhere else was kind of a joke really. Not here. After all the security we headed in for our self guided tour. We loved it. The rooms are so pretty. I was surprised how small it seemed though.

Of course you can't take any pictures inside so I copied a few from online.

 

 

 

It was an amazing tour and probably my favorite. Right after our tour we went back to our room and we packed up and checked out and switched hotels because business was over. We had quite the haul with all our suitcases on the Metro down to Crystal City. We grabbed lunch there at Chick Fil A. What was amazing was the line was constantly out the door. I have never seen a fast food restaurnat so busy non stop. After lunch we headed straight to the Pentagon for our tour there. We had to be there an hour early which was annoying (as JEff would say) but we spent the time shopping in the gift shop and anticipating a fun day. The bummer was you had to keep moving the whole time and there were lots of interesting exhibits in the halls to see that there wasn't time for. 

It's probably not a tour would would do again but we were glad we got to see it.

 So after a fun day we met up with Rachel for dinner. We headed over to Union Station and went to Chopped which was all salads and so hit the spot!