Thankful for the four day weekend

Food, relaxation, family, and football...what more could I ask for on Thanksgiving weekend? I am thankful for the quality time spent with my loved ones!

Here are Becca and Levi as the meal preparations at the Hauck house began.



I am sad that I wasn't there to take pictures of the feast.

Tyler and I joined his family for the big meal on Thursday. It was absolutely delicious!



To end the evening, we all showcased our musical talents (or in my case, our best attempt at talent). Here is Tyler on the guitar :)


On Friday, Becca, mom, dad, Tyler and I got lost in Lacey trying to find the new Cabela's. Once we found it, oh my, where there a lot of people!



I really enjoyed the displays and although we walked out empty-handed, it was a fun experience after all.



The weekend was productive, yet relaxing. Here's to a great week...

Happy Turkey Day to you and yours :)

Happy Birthday, Becca!

Friday was Becca's birthday. To celebrate her newfound nerdy lifestyle, she requested an Atlas of Human Anatomy textbook to supplement her current textbooks.



After work, her coworkers Trinh and John, friend Angie, and I headed to Todai for the best sushi I have ever tasted :) For those of you who didn't know, Todai gives complimentary all you can eat meals on your birthday!



To cap off the evening, we stopped at Fox Sports Grill for a drink :)



Fun times!

DC

On Monday, we traveled to DC, all five of us plus 17 webkinz in the Jetta!

On the way, we stopped in Hampton to tour Fort Monroe and saw the Old Point Comfort lighthouse.



We crossed the moat and had a wonderful view of the surrounding area.

For lunch, we stopped at WaWa, a popular gas station/convenience store chain. They serve fresh sandwiches, much better than Subway! So, when I was younger (and still today), WaWa was my nickname. Of course, I had to take a picture! Steve even bought me a WaWa commuter mug :)



Our time in DC was a rapid-speed whirlwind tour :)

The National Air and Space Museum was amazing...



I loved the Wright Brothers exhibit, the way that the museum was laid out, and the American Treasures exhibit from the American History museum.

We walked the National Mall. Here is a shot of Tyler and I with the Washington Monument in the background.



To experience excellent southern BBQ and the Metro Subway system, we hopped on the Metro to Rosslyn and ate a huge and tasty BBQ dinner!

After returning to DC, Sandi was our chauffer as we visited some of the main memorials and sites in the evening. It was a wonderful experience! We visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. DC is beautiful at night!



Here is a panorama of the National Mall (taken from the FDR Memorial).



On day 2 of our whirlwind tour, we toured the White House and rode the elevator up the 555 foot Washington Monument (thanks to Sandi for arranging this). Both were amazing experiences, but due to the fact that we could not bring cameras to the White House, I don't have pictures to share (sorry)! In between these events, we saw the dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and visited the National Archives museum where we saw the original copy of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence (pretty cool, eh?!).

With exhausted legs and feet, we headed back to Chesapeake for a very tasty enchilada dinner. The next day, Tyler and I experienced the Norfolk Marina and the Portsmouth Lightship. We rode a paddlewheel ferry water taxi, toured the USS Wisconsin and went to two museums.





On our flight home, Tyler took this great photo of the moon from the plane. How peaceful :)



It was hard to say our good-byes but we arrived home safely and are back to work now.

Our trip to Virginia

Tyler and I enjoyed our trip tremendously! Here we are trying to stay entertained on the flight...



Sandi, Steve, and Kelly were great hosts and it was so nice to stay with them.

On our first full day, we attended Kelly's gymnastics meet.



Kelly is 9 and in two years of gymnastics, has learned so much!



After the meet, we headed past Virginia Beach to Fort Story and climbed the Old Cape Henry lighthouse, 115 steps in all.



What an amazing view of the ocean and New Cape Henry lighthouse!



We also saw the Cape Charles lighthouse from a distance. I was very excited to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The sand and blue water were gorgeous!






After the lighthouses, we ate flounder fish and chips at Chick's Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach. Here is the view from our table.



That evening, we watched football, enjoyed the company, and ate brownie sundaes.

I will post more soon...

We're baaack!

Tyler and I had an excellent time in Virginia and DC!!! I am headed back to work this afternoon, but will be sure to post a recap of our trip soon!

Off to Virginia we go...

As previously mentioned, Tyler and I are vacationing to Virginia and Washington DC. We leave early Saturday and return late Wednesday. Of course, I will be sure to post pictures upon my return and possibly an update sometime during the trip. I am super excited for three reasons: 1) I have never been East of Minnesota, 2) I haven't seen my cousin Steve for years, and 3) I need a vacation (I know, don't we all?)! We will be staying with my cousin Sandi, her husband Steve, and their daughter Kelly! They live in near the coast of Virginia, where we will be for two days. The plan is to go visit the outer banks and watch Kelly's gymnastics meet. We will then venture to spend Veterans day and Tuesday in Washington DC. While there, we plan to see as many monuments and museums on the National Mall as possible, and we are going on a tour of the White House! Yay! For our final day, we will likely be in Norfolk. Here's to a fun trip...

R & R

The last few days have been spent with friends and family. Thursday, Lynne and I visited our landlord who just had a baby girl, Anneke Rose. As you can see, she is a beautiful baby.



Afterwords, we went to dinner and drinks at Red Robin (yum) with our friend Nury.

Work has been quite busy, so I definitely wanted some R & R this weekend. Tyler and I accomplished that goal quite well, I must say. We are gearing up for our trip...next week we are headed to Virginia and DC!!! (YAHOO!)

Today we went to the Hauck house to meet the latest addition to the farm. Meet Albert...



That's all for now!