Sightseeing with Todd and Alex

This weekend Todd and Alex came to visit us for the weekend. The real reason behind their visit will be revealed in tomorrow's post. Anyway, it poured down rain Saturday afternoon but around 5:00 the sun came out and we took a stroll over to the FDR Memorial. We got spectacular views of Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial with reflections off the tidal basin. We then proceeded to have an enormous meal at a japanese hibachi restaurant - it had been a long time since any of us had been to a fun hibatchi place but it was fun and delicious!

Its Time for Some More Concert Photos

Tonight brought me once again to the State Theatre (Erin was working late so couldn't come) where a powerhouse trio of musicians played together in a night filled with great jams. Bill Kreutzmann (drummer for the Grateful Dead), Oteil Burbridge (current bassist for Allman Brothers Band), and Scott Murawski (Guitarist of Max Creek) filled most of the night with Dead Tunes and good dancing. This was the first time that any member of the Grateful Dead had played at the State Theatre - definitely a fun night.

Memorial Day Siteseeing

On the way to the baseball game last night we passed Arlington National Cemetery. I noticed that there was an American flag placed in front of every single headstone and I thought to myself that this was a photo op that I should not miss out on. So, the next day I toured the Cemetery and took some patriotic shots. I also went to Iwa Jima and the Netherlands Coalition Bells - two places I had never been in DC before. Overall it was a very beautiful day and there were thousands of bikers around due to a a big event called Rolling Thunder where tens of thousands of bikers drive to DC. Anyway, just really wanted to post the images for all to enjoy!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

Tonight, Erin and I got to go to our first baseball game at the new Washington National's Stadium that Clark Construction recently finished. We always love going to games with Kiera, Ryan and Natalie - although, admittedly we rarely watch the game, instead spending much of the time chatting it up. This time, Ryan and I were talking about their new life in Richmond, and the ladies were talking about who knows what. All I know is the Nationals won and they got 5 runs on 3 hits which I felt was an odd statistic. The night was capped off with some post-game fireworks and us getting a kick out of Natalie's reaction to the noise and lights (see the pic below).

Ginny's Bachelerette Party

This past weekend was Ginny and Geoff's wedding weekend! The whole weekend was amazing and super fun, although Brad and I forgot to take pictures most of the weekend :(

I did however bring my camera on Thursday night when we celebrated Ginny's impending nuptials with a fiesta themed (to celebrate Ginny's Mexican heritage) girls' night out. Super fun times which included Mexican food, margaritas and 80's dancing in Adams Morgan. Also a pretty late night which made getting up for work the next day a bit of a challenge!

Viva Miami!

One of my favorite traditions is called "Back to Nature" ... its a weekend getaway that Julie and I try to do every year. The tradition started with a night spent "camping" in my parents' camper on the street in from of our house (cut short by a neighbor setting off fireworks and us getting scared and hightailing it inside!), then a night pitching a tent in Julie's parents' backyard in high school.

Over the years, we've gotten a bit more adventurous then our backyards and also strayed a bit farther from the whole "back to nature" concept. Trips to Boston, Chicago and most recently Miami have ensued!

So, we headed off to South Beach for a long weekend of hanging out by the pool; swimming in the ocean, catching up on all the goings-on in each other's lives and generally just relaxing. It was fabulous! Of course, any time that I get to hang out with Julie is always a blast - but it didn't hurt to be hanging out on the beach in Miami!

I also read a great book over the weekend that I highly recommend - "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (also author of "Kite Runner" which was also fantastic!)

Slacking in the Blogosphere ...

So, clearly it has been a while since we've posted ... things have just been a little more insane than normal. Since we've returned from Vegas, my (Erin's) work schedule has sort of exploded into an uncontrollable chaos of multiple projects and untenable deadlines. Sigh, even more reason to love my job ;) Anyway, as a result the blog has fallen to the wayside a bit. So here are some quick highlights from the past few week's goings-on in Brad and my life ...

Brad and I spent an evening babysitting our beautiful niece, Natalie which was fun - a couple of trips to the park, some mac-n-cheese, reading the same books over and over (and over) again and staying up way past bedtime (yeah, for being Aunt and Uncle and not having to deal with the repurcussions of that decision! ;) We also had a family gathering to celebrate Natalie's 2nd bday. I can't believe she's 2 years old already! Seriously, where does the time go, it feels like just yesterday that we were at the hospital welcoming Natalie to the world!

We also had dinner one night with our buddies Kevin and Jessica. Kevin has been a friend of mine since birth (technically, probably before birth!) and he has always taken on the role of annoying big brother :) Anyway, it was great to get together with Kev and his wife Jessica and catch up. Here is a random pic of Kevin and Brad from our wedding - I have no idea what they are doing but I thought it was funny.

And of course we are continuing with golf lessons (we're still pretty bad) and dog park visits and trips to the local farmer's market. We've also just started swimming as well. Brad has always been a great swimmer (how cute is the pic).

I, on the other hand, have never really loved the pool. I remember hating swimming lessons when I was younger. My sisters were both on the swim team and I hated being cooped up in the stinky chlorine filled pool and just never felt comfortable in the water so I rebelled against it all. But now I've finally convinced Brad to teach me how to swim for real - after a couple of attempts at the local pool, I've gone from looking (and feeling) like I'm about to drown, to not completely sticking out like a sore thumb. Definitely a lot more room for improvement but its been fun for both us to try to get back in shape together!

Ok, how's that for an catch-up update? Hopefully, lots more fun things to come!