Zachary's visit

For the last 10 days or so we've had a special guest at our house. Zachary came to stay with us while the rest of his family was away. Zachary's family is one of our oldest and dearest friends--going all the way back to when Jarrett and Michael (their oldest child) were in 1st grade. Zachary and Joshua first met when their sweet family let the kids and me come hang out with them for an entire month when Dave got extended in Iraq after the year-long deployment. Joshua was 11 months and Zachary was 19 months old. They are like brothers--in just about every way. (wink)

We had a great time with Zachary here and will miss him a lot! In fact, Joshua said to me, not five minutes after he left this afternoon, "Well, what am I going to do now?"

We did a lot of fun things this week-went to the annual Cub Scout picnic, played outside A LOT (they may need to get a trampoline for that boy!), played with friends after piano lessons, had a great time at an agricultural festival, chased the kitties around, went on a picnic of our own, and even went to the movies. The boys did their share of work around the house and earned enough money picking up sticks in the yard to get to do a little shopping at the mall. School got done every morning and both boys fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows every night.

And, just for Zachary's mom, here are some quotes from the week:

Joshua: Now, don't you want to get a cat?
Zachary: Yes!
Me: But I thought your mom was allergic to cats.
Zachary: She is. But when she gets old and goes away somewhere, then I'm getting a cat!
_

Zachary: Hey, Miss LeighAnne, guess what?!
Me: What?
Zachary: Did you know that pink is the new black?
this little tidbit of information was followed by a 20-minute discussion between the boys about how that could be true. It had something to do with pink being lighter, and mixing colors, and squinting your eyes just the right way.....

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Laying Low

Wow! I didn't realize it had been two weeks since I last updated! Don't be confused--it's not because there hasn't been anything going on, I've just been too busy (or tired!) to tell you about it!

Here are some pictures to let you see we're still hangin in there....

On Sept. 11, Joshua and some of his Cub Scout Pack participated in the Volunteer Firefighters' Parade here. He had a great time--and that makes 3 parades this year so far for him. He's a pro!

Joshua took some homeschool classes at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. Alyson was off school that day so she and Nick tagged along with us. The big kids watched a 3-D IMAX movie on the Grand Canyon while Joshua took a class called "Just Beachy." We had a nice day, and ended it with lunch at Olive Garden. I like having a picture of the three kiddos--even with the shorty hamming it up in the middle...

Country Cousins/City Cousins

For the last week we have had my niece visiting from Florida. She's from Montana, working as a nanny in Florida, and will be heading to college in Washington state next year. She graduated from high school this year and is really taking advantage of her opportunities to see the country!

The cousins all had a great time together. There was MUCH time spent in Alyson's room watching movies, talking, and laughing. I'd post pictures, but I have none because the door was usually SHUT.

We got to take Morgan out a little and see some of the sights, though.....
As much of DC as we could possibly see in one LOOOONGGG day.......

just outside the National Archives, which I hadn't been to before. It was amazing!

Checking out the digs...

Much-needed rest

One of my favorite things to see in DC.

We had a day of shopping at the mall, of course, which involved lots of clothes trying-on.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor

At the dolphin show in the aquarium, Morgan got picked to be the volunteer. She even got to pet one of the dolphins!

The boys braving the "Splash Zone"

The big pay-off

She and Jarrett (who came up to see her) took the Metro in to meet Dave at the Pentagon, too. No pictures allowed in there, but they had a good time and they even got Chief of Chaplains coins from an old friend from Germany.

And all too soon it was time for her to head out.

It was great having her here--she was just like another member of the family. Oh, wait--she is!! :)
Bye, Morgie! Come back and visit soon!!

And the battle begins....

This little guy greeted me in the morning. I am wondering if he is a scout sent to see what kind of forces his group will be up against this season or if it's just a warning.....

Senior Pictures...

Tonight we had Alyson's senior pictures taken. Our sweet friend Kara, who lives in Georgia and was visiting family in Virginia, braved the rush-hour, Labor Day weekend traffic and came up to shoot the photos.
We shot the pictures at Camp Wabanna, which is run by yet another good friend of ours (thanks, Jen!) and the setting was absolutely gorgeous. Morgan is visiting us this week so we even got to get some cute cousin-shots!
Kara did a great job and Alyson was beautiful. I can hardly wait to see the finished products! Here is a little teaser if you can't wait, either.....