Happy Tuesday friends!! Today I am running some errands for the hubby’s birthday…wish me luck!!
Last weekend, we decided to make an entire weekend a mini vacation. The weekend revolved around an event we had for my sister’s wedding on Saturday evening at 5 PM. Because the location was 2 hours away, we decided a hotel was needed. Then, we decided to make a fun weekend of it.
Friday afternoon I picked the girls up a little early from school. We headed to pick Peter up from work and then went straight to DC. We checked into our hotel, the girls got out of their uniforms and then we went to explore the city for a little while before it was time to head to Nationals Park.
Yesterday, I mentioned being ‘honest’ on the blog today. I don’t know if it is me and my high standards for my children or if my children act like animals at certain times. We ‘accidentally’ got a “Spa Room” because we needed two double beds. As you can imagine, it was an amazing room…diffusers, yoga ball as a seat, Vitamin C shower head (can’t make this stuff up). So, we get in the room and I totally understand they have no comprehension what a “Spa Room” is, but OH MY GOSH…they took jumping on hotel beds and riding the yoga ball to a whole new level. We asked them calmly 106 times to settle down. We explained we knew they were excited but they had to treat the room with respect. UGHHHHH…they just didn’t listen. I think at this point I was texting my girlfriend saying I have ungrateful, unappreciative kids and I am canceling the rest of the weekend.
So, again, I know they are 7, 5 and 3 but I just get so frustrated when they act so unappreciative. Needless to say, the next hour before we headed to the baseball game was spent outside walking (and running!) the streets of Georgetown.
Tummies started growling so we headed back to the hotel and ordered appetizers for the kids and Peter and I grabbed a cocktail. How yummy does my popsicle Prosecco look?!?!
Then it was time for the game. I cannot even begin to explain the excitement of the kids. I think they were literally skipping because they were just so excited. Shay was a bit nervous of the “presidents” so we only captured the girls at first.
One of the “president’s” ‘security guards’ kindly took our picture for us and if you notice my tight grip on Shay…that was intentional 😉
We had a GREAT time, amazing seats and got to teach the kids some lessons about baseball. AND, the Nats WON!!
Saturday AM, we slept in a bit for us…7:30!!! We took our time, go up and got motivated.
If you follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram, you know that me and the girls unintentionally matched on Saturday. I packed all three kids and myself and completely forgot my regular bra. I was traveling on Friday afternoon in my gym clothes which included a hot pink sports bra. I tried wearing an off white shirt Saturday morning and that was a NO GO!!
Then we headed to Farmers Fishers Bakers for brunch. OH MY GOSH…you guys, it may have been the best brunch we have every had. The kids were in heaven with chocolate French Toast. Even Peter and I were in food heaven. Sweet toasted corn tortillas, crazy thick bacon, quiches, meatballs…I could go on and on and on…
After brunch, we walked around Georgetown for a bit (I also purchased a regular bra from TJ Maxx!!!).
So, this guy!! Shay is starting to show FULL personality!! My little chill guy is full of little boy energy these days. Boy moms, is this a phase or is this going to be him?? I don’t mind the ‘boy energy’, sometimes it is cute and it is so great seeing him be ALL BOY around 2 very GIRLY GIRLS. The punching and running at 100 mph can get a tad exhausting for this almost 39 year old but hey…that is ok. What I canNOT deal with (literally you see crazy come out of me) is when he won’t listen. He has always pleasantly surprised me with how well he listens, even from an early age…but all of a sudden, completely ignores any direction I give him. Meaning, if it is outside of what he is doing at that exact moment or WANTS to do at that exact moment, completely ignores me. UGHHHHH…did I mention crazy comes out?!?!
But, with a face like that….
Saturday afternoon, we were heading to Manassas, VA for my sister and soon to be brother-in-law’s Holud. Part of the Holud tradition is feeding them food so we stopped by Olivia’s Macaroons to grab some macaroons to feed Colleen and Ahmed. Guess what…we forgot them in the hotel room and they never made it to the Holud (whomp whomp whomp). But, of course, we grabbed some extras for ourselves that didn’t even make it out the door 😉
Next was the Holud. The girls were super excited as they received their special outfits two weeks prior at Colleen’s bridal shower.
Just so you know (because I did not!!), a Holud is a ceremony observed mostly in the region of Bengal (comprising West Bengal and Bangladesh ). It is part of an elaborate series of celebrations constituting the Bengali wedding.
Ahmed’s family welcomed us in by giving us food and flowers as we walked in. It was beautiful and inviting. We walked in with gifts to give them.
The Holud was being hosted at Ahmed’s parents’ home…so I was a bit nervous about Shay’s behavior. Add in no nap 2 days in a row…it I was a nail biter, they would have been gone.
In general, Shay behaved pretty well. There were a couple of meltdowns, but by 830 PM, that was to be expected.
The first 2 hours of the ceremony consisted of Colleen and Ahmed accepting food from guests as well as guests putting turmeric on their faces. It was a beautiful tradition and I am grateful myself as well as my children were able to learn about a culture and their traditions we otherwise would not have known about.
Colleen looked absolutely STUNNING!! Red is certainly her color!!
Aunt Lori and Miss Marlee Jean (heart eye emoji!!)
There was a henna artist there and talk about TALENTED!!! Her designs were so intricate and detailed. Lilly got one of her hand and Matti Jane and Chandler got theirs on their feet (their school is pretty strict about nail polish and jewelry, so I didn’t want to push the envelope with a henna tattoo).
I got one on the inside of my wrist…just beautiful and fun!!
Colleen and 3 of her bridesmaids 🙂
We did another hefty sleep in on Sunday…it was GREAT. We walked to breakfast at Cafe Leopold…another outstanding meal. We walked the C&O Canal on the way back to our hotel.
It was an awesome weekend, but nothing is better than HOME SWEET HOME!!! We intended to go out to dinner by boat just because we know our boat days are limited by weather, but we were all just too exhausted. It was a great, lazy Sunday afternoon.
At the end of all of our vacations and fun events, Peter and I ask one another and now we do with the kids, “what was your favorite part of the vacation”. We asked everyone at dinner on Sunday evening and we all said the baseball game. I think it being the first game for Shay and Chandler made it soooooo exciting. I LOVE all sporting events so it was super cool to experience it with the kids!!
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