A Detour to D.C.

       We had the most incredibly wonderful time during our beach vacation to Surf City, NC with Chad's family. Honestly everything was as perfect as we could've hoped for - except the fact that it was cut one day short by flood warnings and hurricane watches. With a forecast like that, we all decided to head out a day early. Rather than heading straight home on Thursday, we decided to take a detour to D.C. so we could finally see Aunt Kelly & Uncle Jesse's new(ish) house. We just got home today, and we had a lovely weekend seeing their home, visiting their places of employment (Secret Service head quarters for Jesse, University of Maryland for Kelly), going out to tasty restaurants, making a brief stop by the Museum of Natural History, shopping at IKEA, and having a great time at a BBQ at their house with 50 of their friends. It was a busy weekend, that's for sure! Thanks for having us, Kelly & Jesse!

Dylan trying to lure Buju over to her side of the baby gate to play with her. He's not convinced. (Smart cat!)

Trying on Uncle Jesse's hat (all baseball hats make her say "Pawpaw".)

 "Here Aunt Kelly, you should try this on."

One hat...

Two hats...

Three hats...

Four hats...

Whoops, nope, four is too many. Dylan is taking that one back! She really enjoyed dressing Aunt Kelly in as many hats as possible. :)

Playing with Aunt Kelly's iPhone. A vision of the future.

Ahhh, a little slice of Heaven. Wine, cheesecake, and a sleeping baby. ;)

So glad we took the last minute detour to DC - thanks for having us, K&J!

Kelly & Jesse's adorable bungalow. It felt amazingly spacious and their neighborhood is gorgeous and full of trees.

Dylly trying on some of Aunt Kelly's shoes. Of course she went straight for the pink ones. 

So many choices!

We had a great time at the beach, and in D.C., but it felt SO good to get home today. 9 days is a long time to be away from home and our routine. Dyl was thrilled to play in her yard and with her toys again. Our house might be piled with dirty laundry and bags that need unpacked, but it's our house and it's good to be home again (not to mention to see all our dogs and cats again!) Grandma & Grandpa invited us over for dinner tonight. Dylly was so excited to see them when we were talking about them driving over there. But when we arrived and she actually saw Grandma, she went all quiet & almost sad. Then she said 'Pawpaw', so we went to find him, and same thing. Quiet & reserved once she saw him. I think she was almost overwhelmed after not seeing either of them for 9x longer than usual. Of course she warmed up after a bit and was very happy to see them. She sure loves her grandparents! We had the most delicious dinner too - thank you so much, Mom!

I'm officially exhausted - time to sit on the couch and watch some TV before bed. My alarm clock (or Dylan) will be going off far too early in the morning I'm sure! ;)