Shon & Madison Come to Visit...Part I

It's always fun when friends from out of town come to visit - gives us a good excuse to play tourist and tour guide in our own backyard - something we don't do nearly enough. So when one of my very best friends, Shon, let me know that he and his daughter, Madison, were headed our way for a mini-summer vacation we were thrilled to say the least. Seemed only fair to host them for a change seeing as we've been to their house in Charleston numerous times. 

Now I'm not saying that we tried to out do them - but we did wait for their flight to land at Reagan from the Potomac River - and right after catching their plane on camera as it made it's decent Harper and I jumped from the boat to the car and picked them up right as they were walking out - eat your heart out Uber! 

From there it was back to the river where we took them on a fun boat ride down to Old Town Alexandria. We had an awesome lunch which included some oysters on the half shell - surprisingly one of Adam's favorite treats. 

After lunch we got back out on the water and took them for a little sight seeing of DC from the boat. They got to see the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center, and Georgetown. Not a bad way to take in our Nation's Capitol. 

Back home we had planned a crab feast and Shon was even nice enough to jump in and make some pizzas to throw on the grill. It was a fun first day with our friends and we were looking forward to more fun to come...

Back to Lake Anna...

It may have been the hottest weekend of the whole summer but we were lucky to spend it camping at Lake Anna. We got to borrow Mark and Bebe's boat which meant we spent those sweltering hot days out on the water. Our campsite was pretty shaded which was also helpful. 

Adam and Harper got pretty accustomed to riding on the boat and just jumping off the boat into the water. Lake Anna really is the best for just throwing out the anchor, grabbing a cold beverage and just floating in the water - yacht rock playing in the background. 

Sadie, it turns out, is quite the boat dog. She loved having the wind in her face and was happiest when we found a little beach to spend a morning at - she just ran in and out of the water - you could practically see the smile on her face. Knowing Lake Anna had been one of Liddy's favorite places made it all the more special - we thought of her often on that trip. 

Few things are as fun as getting to take a boat to grab a post-dinner ice cream - so we were sure to do that one evening. The moon was amazing and helped to guide us on our ride.  

Tubing was on Adam's to-do list and he did great! For as much as we tried we couldn't toss him from that tube - he is a pro - or maybe we were being too easy on him. 

Lake Anna never disappoints - well, you know, so long as the snakes keep their distance! 

4th of July....

4th of July was a Thursday which is not ideal but we made the most of our midweek day off! We had a fun lunch at Reston Town Center - wings and tater tots - very American haha. Then when we were walking back to the car the kids noticed other kids running through the fountains and it was just one of those "just say yes!" moments. So that's what we did - we just said yes - and the kids had a ball running through the fountains in their clothes. Kind of felt like the perfect 4th of July thing to do in retrospect - throw caution to the wind and just be free.

Later that afternoon we scooped up Uncle Mark and headed out to Ommy and Poppy's house for a BBQ and fireworks. It's Ommy's favorite holiday and I feel bad we hadn't celebrated it with them before. Happy we had the chance to. The cousins had a blast getting to be together. And in the end, from the comfort of Uncle Mark's lap, Harper was not scared of the fireworks - a 4th of July miracle!