The Carson's are here the Carson's are here!! They arrived semi well rested after their connecting plane flight through Dallas. Shane and I greeted them at the airport. Evan and Chloe had never met Shane so it was cute as Evan thought Shane was nick - the confusion even continued a bit when we got home and Nick greeted us and Evan thought that was Shane - too many boys aye?
Once we got settled, Chelcy and I opted to take the kids to the pool while the BIG boys stayed home to prep dinner. We toasted ourselves later that night as we got to go wine tasting at my local favorite spot. We waltzed in ready for wine as their first evening customers at 7:15!! The night was fabulous as we chatted and chatted up everyone around us and brought home a bottle of wine and bellies stuffed with Tacos. During the conversation Chelcy and i said the SAME thing at the same time twice!! Absolutely cracked me up - I love our parallel humor and have SO missed it.
Saturday morning was coordination through Nick's triathlon - but once the dust settled from that we took the crew to the pool - we were the only ones there for a bit which was absolute bliss.
Here is our quick group shot
Evan was on a mission to NOT be part of the group shot
We tried to wear them out every day - there were moments of success that should be noted.
Love this dad's and Shane photo - we did a little park time for the evening
Having a girl around the house sure added another dynamic for my building, breaking, construction boys. She found the kitchen right away - as well as this fireman's hat.
Shane never really understood the girl type games.
We had them all coloring at one point - for about 10 minutes - it was a wonderful 10 minutes
On Sunday we headed out to a winery - but first to Aldi Mill - the oldest operating Grist Mill. This is what Evan thought of the historical site...
The mill started operation in 1807
The do daily demonstrations at 1 and 3 - but no time for that...
This crew needs to head to the winery!
My artistic shots for Chelcy
Here is my favorite!
The winery was fabulous - a bit sticky and rainy, but fabulous. They import their grapes from Italy and California and have quite the variety - to include wine slushies with green tea extract - a HUGE hit on the muggy day. We were equipt with tons of kid entertainment stuff, water balloons, soccer balls, bubbles, all great things if it wasn't raining - but sadly it was - the kids didn't mind, but the supervising parents weren't thrilled. Alexa's family joined us as well as Rick and Amy (kidless - their kids can stay home solo - how wonderful!!) Not sure why I never managed to snap a photo - but I'm hoping to commit it all to memory - or just go back again soon!
later that day we did the Sweet frog thing - its impossible to resist.
One of my favorite photos of the differences between boys....
And girls
The kids all slept in the same room and although the parents had high hopes of success, the night often was better as one, maybe 2 was extracted to another location temporarily.
The boys ran out to the Dulles Space Museum that morning as mother nature was encouraging us to refrain from the pool. Chelcy and I had a wonderful morning together just chatting away about life and the pursuit of happiness =)
We loved every minute of co-family living. The boys stayed up chatting, the girls could mingle in the kitchen - if only we could live like that more often. It was a wonderful long weekend together. I hope that it was a relaxing get away for the Carson's as they are knee deep in home construction and sale of their current home - its nice to get away from the every day sometimes.
As I write this they are on the flight home due to arrive at 8:15 tonight. I know its a tough turn around and school starts for Evan and Chloe (Kindi and pre-K) tomorrow morning - what a big day for you guys. We loved to have you for the weekend and hope to keep our traveling tradition going!!
Love you all
Its always possible that I miss something and that i love Chelcy's way with words - she sent this email out Tuesday morning and I love her way of describing everything.
Its always possible that I miss something and that i love Chelcy's way with words - she sent this email out Tuesday morning and I love her way of describing everything.
Well we made it all the way there without a working REAL camera so all pictures are from Sara (link to her blog is below) and we rarely remembered to take them amidst all the kids and activities – go figure. It was a great trip and the kids did pretty good considering it was their first ever plane ride – We do know that they are maxed out at 2hrs 45 min in the air so they have a bit more room to grow before we opt for a longer airplane ride.
Each night there was at least one adult that was “over-served” and I was the one to take it for the team the first night. Bless my friends and husband for not posting the pics they later took of me snoozing it off – I don’t care though as I was so excited to see my friend and catch up. The first 20 min solo we were finishing each other’s sentences and laughing so much that other patrons in the wine bar were wanting to join us and the party continued as we walked to the next eatery.
They live in an awesome community with everything you really need in walking distance – 3 pools, grocery stores, gyms, shops, yogurt shops, restaurants, parks Galore and so much more. I never really considered myself hip to the urban life (mainly due to lack of exposure), but they picked an awesome spot that is conducive to all walks of life and welcoming to visitors (like us!) to make sharing it all so easy. I walked more this weekend than I have in weeks.
The other main highlight was after we left the local winery which by the way was so great for just trying new things and family atmosphere – seriously looked like something about of Martha Stewart Living with all the locals rolling up for their Sunday afternoon rituals of snacking, tasting, bean bag toss and much more, BUT the best part of that was the Lobster Rolls we sourced on the side of the road. Yep I said side of the road – hello we are so close to the coast and you cannot pass it up when “in Rome” right! They were so simple and YET so darn good! It will definitely be added to the Chris Leadbetter list of eateries I am sure.
It was so fast, but just right to catch up with friends and let the kids see who their new best buds from afar will be. This morning as I woke up Evan for his first day of school, he told me as soon as he sat up how much he missed Shane and Nick. Awe the memories he will have and we will hear about for the next several weeks.
We are so fortunate to have friends like them that welcome us into their home no matter what continent or country they are in. We look forward to the many more adventures we will share with them.
The Leadbetter’s welcome all, just be prepared to sign the darn guest book – oops I forgot AGAIN! No worries she will get me on it soon enough.
Enjoy the pics and be sure to check out Nick’s 1st ever Triathlon that Evan and Chloe were on the sidelines cheering him on for. Very cute to watch and something I think Evan would really like.
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