as most of you may already know,
my Lover is set to leave on a 7 month deployment
to afghanistan very soon.
being the sweethearts that they are (ahem),
the marine corps gave us two full weeks of leave
to enjoy our family.
how kind of them, right?
2 weeks = 7 months...?
anyway.
we didn't have a lot of money to spend,
thanks to dave freakin ramsey,
so we decided on a small trip to quantico, VA
where we could visit the museums in d.c.
5 hours in the car with a loaded car and 5 kids.
fun times.
no really, they were all actually very good.
my guppy lyn enjoyed tasty bread sticks
while we ate the pizza buffet.
pronounce that: buff-it.
it was fancy no doubt.
only to find this lovely gem hanging inside my stall.
there were no other pictures in the entire bathroom,
just this ONE inside the handicapped stall.
he liked watching me as i used the latrine.
and i liked watching him.
just in case you can't read that sign it says:
"lets keep the heat set permanently on tropical."
and at that very moment i knew this trip was going to be good.
you rock that ribbed sweater you manly man.
rock it in the stall of the pizza hut bathroom.
it was actually VERY accommodating.
it had two rooms AND a kitchen!
the kids went bazerk as soon as we stepped foot in the room.
some of them were literally hanging from the rooftops.
penny's favorite part were the elevators.
i think that may have been the first official time
he's ever ridden in an elevator when he was old
enough to realize what it was.
afterwards, a stop at my most FAVORITE taco place on base.
mmm. taco del mar.
i can credit taco del mar for successfully keeping my weight
at a steady number during our short lived stay in q-town.
after many two hour workouts,
bonnie and i would jet on over to grab some grease wrapped in a tortilla.
nothin like a hearty after workout lunch.
and day 2 of our trip started off just right!
haircuts at the old barber shop in q-town.
once isaak saw the older boys getting theirs,
he HAD to have one of his own.
ladies and gentlemen:
he HAD to have one of his own.
ladies and gentlemen:
introducing isaak's FIRST professional haircut.
here he's saying,
"what did i just agree to do?"
i'm getting really uncomfortable
having some foreign hands on my head."
"okay, okay, i know i'm DANG cute but i like to pretend i don't."
we spent the rest of that day
visiting a few of the smithsonian museums in d.c.
kora fell in love with these beauties.

visiting a few of the smithsonian museums in d.c.
kora fell in love with these beauties.
i knew i had to somehow steal it for my beauty queen friend
(who i forgot to link up in her birthday post. sorry michele)
she. needs. this. swimmer.
but it's kermit.
my man. we go way back.
but i was.
i guess i never really acknowledged that there was a day
where there was no such thing as birth control.
how weird, huh?
we explored our roots.
kora embraced the awesomeness that is
neanderthal woman.
please excuse the niplet.
you should have seen her booty. it was really intimidating.
this reminds me of how michele
described the way afghany men sit.
again, pardon the testicallia.
again, pardon the testicallia.
(yea i just made that word up)
i learned quite a bit by visiting the museum.
like how to deal with Lover when he misbehaves.
we learned how to pose dramatically for pictures.
or maybe she's just really tired of walking
and throwing a big fat fit.
dangit.
i just realized i should have done this picture in black and white.
shoot.
about this self explanatory picture.
wait, my kids are cute.
there.
one day he'll be the proud owner of one of these fine medals.
of course,
that more than likely means he'll suffer an untimely death.
but look at that thing, TOTALLY worth it.
either wrangling the big kids
or pushing the babies in the stroller
and feeding them snacks and drinks to keep them happy,
we really did enjoy just being together.
we didn't plan that day TOO wisely
and got stuck in d.c. rush hour traffic.
but Lover is quite the wise guy
and brought sustenance or his manly muscly body.
and he was letting all of us know about it.
it was nothin a little smithsonian rock candy couldn't help!
which is actually part of the smithsonian as well.
it was NOT hot there at all.
our car thermostat did NOT read 105 degrees.
i was NOT dripping with sweat so badly that i felt like fainting.
we spent most of our time inside buildings
or standing under the little water sprayer thingies.
aaaaaaaand,
i just realized i'm missing about 58798823 pictures from the zoo day.
i just realized i'm missing about 58798823 pictures from the zoo day.
i hate when that happens.
now i can't show you the scary alligator.
or the panda.
or my Lover hugging ponyo.
or the orangutans that swing on wires above your head
all throughout the zoo.
or when Lover got so hot he stripped down to nothing but a loin cloth.
oh well.
use your imagination.
to me, there's nothing hotter than a guy pushing a stroller.
i dunno why i think it's hot.
it just is.
it's even hotter when it's MY Lover.
all of my kids make the silliest faces.
where do they get that?
and stopped at red lobster for some grub.
i kid you not, this is what jake's plate looked like.
i kid you not, this is what jake's plate looked like.
and he ate every. single. bit.
hey...it's vacation :)
jake kept the babies happy by flipping his eyelids
inside out.
answer me this you doctor friends you,
why are his eyelids blue on the inside?
somehow he persuaded me to try it.
he promised it didn't hurt.
because not only did it hurt.
bad.
it pained me for HOURS afterwards as well.
of all this eyelid flipping nonsense?
yea.
that's his annoyed face.
and finger.
the place where i spent almost every single day during TBS with my friends.
well, not IN the museum, but at the park there.
it brought back many memories.
now look at him.
he's a bonafide mini marine.
izey was obsessed with the bloody ones.
he would just stare and stare at the "owies".
and if we walked away
he'd ask for the owies until we found another one.
to see if we were really all fit to be marines.
and i couldn't help myself so i jumped on top of him
and started making out with him right there
in the middle of the museum.
wait, what?
did i just say that?
sorry.
i got carried away.
peanuts.
fries.
cheese.
meat.
mmmmm.
i want more.
it was crazy.
and there was madness.
and sleepless nights.
and lost kids.
and screaming and crying.
and fits and tantrums.
but,
we enjoyed it. every minute of it.
apparently, we're going to miss this stage of life one day.
(or so i've been warned about 298982980283 times).
so i try to keep that with me
and enjoy all of it.
even the parts that make me want to stab knives in my eyeballs.
because there's always just as many (if not more) fun parts too.
and along with the bad parts, the good will dissapear one day too.
*sigh*
16 comments:
You do have quite adorable kids and how RAD would it have been if you HAD stolen me that swimmer?!? It would be epic.
Love the pics of your trip! Your fam is soooo cute! Jake and Chloe are going to be married fo sho! Get your butt out here already! Haha
Looks like you had a great trip thanks for sharing and yes seeing some of those zoo pics would have been fun too. Your kids are so incredibly handsome, cute, gorgeous, adorable, squeezable, well I love it. Oh and I will miss your lover too considering your posts after he leaves might leave us depressed and agitated. (but I would read it anyway!)
:)
i always think that too when we go on vacation, the madness, the insanity, the sweating, the screaming...but it's memories and its OUR family memories that hopefully the kids will remember as only fun!! so i agree, i need to focus on the good. Which means looking at all the pics of Eggroll again, and again. ;p
You do have the most adorable kiddos, seriously, can't wait to meet all of them! Glad you got to have some quality time before he left!!
Such an awesome trip!! JUST TODAY {while in the hospital waiting room} I told my hubby I could not wait until we went ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza this Christmas.... we then started joking about all the whining and crying, lost kids, etc. we would have to endure when we venture New York for Christmas and I feel the same way as you did about your trip....all of the tantrums, etc. are what make the trips exciting, memorable and great family times!! P.S. I have also been told three trillion times that I will miss those days also ha ha
I love DC> I do think the Smithsonian is cool.
Also, that eyelid thing? I am now going to throat punch you.
roooooooooooooooooooooaaaadddd triiiiiiipppppppppp!!! looks like a fantastic family trip with all the essential elements - cheap hotels, sweaty zoos, tantrums, expensive restaurants, and sleepless nights...AND niplets (what the?).
I need to constantly be reminded that I will miss it too... But sometimes I wonder if I really will? I'm a horrible person I know.
Glad you had such a fun trip!!
Sigh...you were in my area and didn't even call. *sniff* I guess I'll forgive you, this time.
PS- You don't have to stab knives in your eye balls, all you have to do is flip your eye lids inside out.
It looks like your trip was a blast! Gotta love the BS of 2 weeks = 7 months, but what a wonderful memory for all of you to have while he's gone.
PS...the kids all looked ADORABLE and I'm especially in love with Kora's wardrobe. Does it come in my size?
Seriously want to go to the Marines museum ... and well ALL of them! :D I am not brave enough to do the eye thing either, gooo Jessica!
I miss you! And your lil babies, oh yeah and even your Lover too! But I really miss you. I can't wait to see you in Texas, I have a feeling it will feel right. ;)
Ha! I love this post and all your pics are fabulous. Your kids ARE cute...you can say it :-) We LOVE the zoo and museums too, especially the marine one. It's so nice and not crowded...well, most of the time. Next time you come up we should def meet up. I have a lot of moments where I feel like stabbing my eyeballs with knives too... we'd be quite a pair :-)
So glad you got to enjoy your family time!! Best wishes to you all during the next few weeks as you prepare for deployment.
I like this post. :) Good luck to Austin in Afghanistan!
I miss those tacos, but I think I miss everything about Quantico. Those were some good times :-(
I love those pictures of your babies, I miss them as much as I miss Quantico... I miss Quantico BECAUSE I miss them. You have good babies, they are sweet and scared of authority... which makes them VERY WELL behaved in my book.
I think that you all those HOT in those Zoo pictures. And I don't mean hot as in temperature hot... even though you did look pretty sweaty. I think those are great pictures. Tell Austin he looks loverly in yellow, all tan and Asiany.
I'm glad that you guys had fun. Hurry up and come visit me so that I'm not sitting here all lonely and sad, feeling sorry for myself. If you came and stayed with me Morgan would babysit. I'm just saying.
OKAY, I know TODAY IS YOUR CRAZY, CRAZY SItS Day, so I'm going to try and keep this to a minimum (b/c you're not gonna read it ANYWAY... I had my SITS day in May... i know what it's like).
Anywho. I think we were separated at birth. What is your mom's maiden name?
In all seriousness, we need to becoming big time Blogging buds. Like, big time. I'm obsessed w/your adoption (I have 4 kids and wanna adopt a 5th), and I wanna know what I can do to help while hubby's gone.
I'm up in Raleigh... HOW can I help??
Hugs, Kat
Post a Comment