Everyone was gathered for Aunt Florence’s memorial—and it was the first time our kids met the Hough side of the Schwalm clan. They are lined up by age, with Katie being the youngest at 5 and Gabrielle the oldest at 14.
Then we took a selfie because we haven’t done so in awhile.
We surprised the kids with a mini road trip to the Jelly Belly factory which is right up the road…And also surprised them with who was also there!
Getting ready for a train ride around the factory floor. It’s really just a warehouse.
Since it is a working factory we had to wear hats—they are very cheap plus I have a big head so it didn’t last long…but I had to keep it on. 😆
We were able to try whatever flavors we wanted. I tried margarita and pancakes and maple syrup. They were both tasty.
We spent about $50 on stupid jelly beans but we had fun. And I can honestly say I don’t need to buy Jelly Belly fudge again (it’s in the freezer so others can try it). 🙂
We went to a really popular local park today and took a great bike ride around a lake. Katie did great!!
And then the playground afterward. 🙂
This is inside a faux stump—they get to it in a cave!
The restaurant didn’t do anything for birthdays so we went to Culvers. Owen let me play with his hair as a birthday treat.
Road trip to Michigan for a mini vacation including the Len Christmas!
We walk by this photo booth every time we go to a Lego build and never stop. Today we did. Memories. 🙂
Today is the day I redeem my free flights from them messing up me not getting any photos the last time! And what better lipstick color to wear for flying than Fly Girl? (Though it’s a tiny bit too deep for me on its own so I layered it between Cocoa!)
Since I missed out on any pictures the last time, I made sure to have Tom take a ton of them this time around—which he certainly did!! I had about 100 to sort through! Here are the best of them…I am making excited faces in most of them because I was smiling and making faces for the kids when I flew around by them. (Click on any of them to see a bit bigger version!)
The instructor knew I had flown before and had told me that we could try a new move or two, but since I only had short flights (two one-minute flights instead of the two two-minute flights I had the first time) we wouldn’t be able to do too much. That said, almost as soon as I got in, I flew way above her head! I could sense she was a bit nervous (they generally keep you at chest level or below so they can grab you if they need to) but she saw I was okay so she let me go!!
Taking me up for the High Flight!
Owen was the videographer for these! He did a great job!!
And the actual pics they took! The instructor said she put me in front of the camera A LOT to make sure I got a good photo!
Post-flight success pics!
It’s funny. While I was waiting (and it was a looong wait today) I was like “Ugh. Is this really worth it? All the travel time and all the wait time for two silly minutes in the chamber…” And then I did it and YES, it was totally worth it. It’s SOOOO much fun. I can’t wait to use my 10 minutes in Chicago!!
After watching the forecasts and worrying about the weather all week (the forecast varied from thunderstorms to 60% chance of rain to light rain all day)…we decided to go ahead with the party and it ended up absolutely perfect!! It was overcast at the start and gradually got sunnier and warmer throughout the party—enough so that I had Tom grab my suit when he went back to get the cake!
We had 60 guests (kids and adults!!) and the pool was probably the busiest it will be all season (aside from the days they have cookouts with free food or night swims with free ice cream). But it all went smoothly, everyone had a blast, and there was plenty of pizza and cake for multiple helpings (once I started cutting the serves 48 cake and realized my small pieces were still not small enough to get me close to 60 pieces, I started halving those…and then ended up having half the cake left so kids got seconds and thirds).
The gaggle of dads. They didn’t move from this spot the whole time. 😂
Us moms:
;
The kids were fairly patient about opening gifts once we got home…and they LOVED everything. They got Bop It (thank heavens I found the volume control!) and Owen picked up on it right away, Katie dug right into the glitter glue and construction paper, Owen picked out his favorite baseball cards from a new pack, Katie put together her Disney Lego, we’ve been shot multiple times by Owen’s new nerf gun, and both kids were OVER THE MOON about all the gift cards and getting to go shopping once we move! They both said it was a great birthday!
At the halfway point, we detoured toward the new sidewalks along Lorton Road, which took us over a huge hill where the grasses were as tall as Owen!
Stopping to check out a reclaimed water pond.
Katie kept complaining that her hips hurt or her legs hurt… Until we suggested she run ahead to check out the trail and she was off like a shot!
And since we’ll likely never be right here at the sign again…
I can’t believe we have a measly five weeks left…
Trying out each other’s lipsticks before heading out to lunch! Neither of us liked the colors on us but liked the colors on the other!
In Occoquan! Nancy and Eddy gave us grief over the name and called it something different every time they said it which was hilarious. I think Khakakan was our favorite.
Our lunch that took forever and a day. Excellent food, awful timing.
Uncle Eddy showing off the awesome portrait camera setting on the iPhone 7+ (blurred background). I want it badly but the phone is just TOO big.
The Mitchells were going to be in Virginia visiting Amanda (getting the nursery ready!) so they had planned to come visit us…but since we were going to be close to them after flying, we met for lunch!
Birthday party fun—spending a token on my favorite “game.”
Pre-dinner selfie.
Pre-dinner family selfie.
We loved that the three of them all crammed together on one side even though they didn’t need to. The boys were at the other table. 🙂
And I forgot to take a pic of the food (Slow Cooker Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes, Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad, and KFC’s Cole Slaw) and our group!
From his teacher’s email:
I wanted to let you know that Owen is going to receive the good character award again this week at morning program. The character trait of the month is honesty and trustworthiness and Owen is one of the most honest and trustworthy kids I know!
Little sister looking all sassy in her outfit while we wait for the program to start:
She wrote the J on her own and then I suggested she do an E—which she also did on her own but needs a tiny bit of practice—and then I helped with the N. And then she did the K all by herself—which I was very proud of because she normally messes up the top diagonal line. 🙂
Can you find Owen? He is literally a half a head taller than all the kids in his grade.
He had no idea that he was going to get the award.
The noise the kids made when Owen’s name was called was the most enthusiastic. It’s customary to repeat the recipient’s name after it’s announced, but Owen’s was the loudest of the bunch. When we told him that later he was embarrassed and said no it wasn’t. We have the video to prove it was pretty loud (below). 🙂
He got mostly 4s (the top grade) with 3s in art and music. This was his best report card yet! So we treated him to Sweet Frog (frozen yogurt).
Can you guess whose was whose?
Top: Katie (gummies, M&Ms, and Nerds) & Tom (nuts, pound cake, coconut)
Bottom: Jen (Heath bar, Oreos, peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate sauces) & Owen (mini chocolate chips, cherries, marshmallow fluff)
We were a tiny bit late due to a lavatory issue that had to be fixed before takeoff (which meant we left a half hour late) but all ended well! Gramma and Grandpa were waiting for us!!
Tom parked at one of the Pentagon lots near the metro (but not at the metro) so the three of us walked to the metro station while he walked over to meet us. This is walking through the Pentagon bus depot.
On the metro!
Katie: “This is fuuuun!”
Since we had two hours to kill at the airport, I dropped a Lure. 🙂
This may look like a lot of stuff, but we normally drive and take four times as much stuff! This time? We each have a carry on and personal bag.
They’re more than ready!!
First plane ride selfies!
Our route! I liked this plane—it was newer so had touch screens, movies or TV to watch (free), and multiple USB charging outlets per seat!
Owen was amazed by the outside temperature (-74°F if you can’t see it).
Owen read all the way so he could do less homework at the condo (he finished two books!). 🙂
After snacks it was time for drawing!
Then we switched planes (and kids!) in Atlanta…so I got Katie.
Gum for takeoff. She was super excited as she rarely gets gum. 🙂
Katie, looking out the window as the plane was climbing: “I can see the world.” 🙂
Tom, to Katie: I’m glad you like flying.
Katie: Totally awesome.
We were dressed for a friends’ Christmas party so we took some family pictures!
I’ve been wanting to do this…so since this is our last winter here it was now or never! ICE!® featuring Christmas Around the World — We told Katie we were going to see an ice castle so she was totally on board. 🙂
Experience the magic of more than TWO MILLION pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures and slide down two-story ice slides. All kept at a chilly 9 degrees! Delight in the celebration of cultures through holiday scenes and travel to the North Pole to see Santa and his elves.
They give you parkas to wear OVER your own coats.
Now, I grew up in Michigan. I know 9° weather. I’ve lived in 9° weather. And let me just say my body no longer likes 9° weather. EGADS was that cold. I’m very glad they gave us the extra parkas…
Waiting for the ice slide!
The ice slide!
And this is where my phone died from being too cold. It had only been out 12 minutes! Thankfully Tom’s had been under all his coats so he got his out and his worked better in the cold.
The kids liked it but it was really quite cold. I have to be honest and say I rushed through a bit faster than I’d planned because I was FROZEN. OF course after you exit, the outside 34° felt like a sauna! Then it was back inside the resort where they had lots of things set up to siphon away your money like photos, hot chocolate, mini carnival rides, Build-A-Bear, cookies with Mrs. Claus, etc… Katie really wanted to ride the tea cups and since I’m all about either of them learning to like rides, we spent the $5. She enjoyed it.
Then since it was lunch time and we were close to a yummy restaurant…we went to Succotash (it’s where we ate lunch before the USMC ball). The kids had a bit of hat head. 🙂
And then after we left we drove around National Harbor Pokemoning for about a half hour!!
Overall I’m glad we went…but it was a big chunk of money for what it was.
We brought up the big beanbag today…so of course we had to have a family cuddle!
Our friends invited us to the Fort Belvoir Officer’s Club for Brunch with Santa! It was a bit of a disorganized hot mess in my opinion, but the kids got to see Santa and the food was pretty good. The best part was the company!
