Family Time

Had such a wonderful week with T while she was home and I absolutely hated to see her get on that plane back to Memphis.  The weather was AMAZING while she was here and we did some relaxing, some rollercoasters and some sight-seeing, too!




She flew into BWI late Thursday night and we woke up early Friday and headed to Hershey.  It's an easy drive from our house, almost 2 hours exactly from door to door.  The weather was absolutely perfect, low 80's, not a bit of humidity.  The lines were short and we rode all the big rides, had a nice lunch and even took in the sea lion show.  Lots of silly laughs and screams and the big joke of the day was whether or not I was tall enough to ride some of the rides (I am a "twizzler" so yes, I was tall enough!).  T and KJ had figured out where all the cameras were on each ride so they would do funny faces and goofy poses.  http://www.hersheypark.com/




Saturday we spent the day at the pool and grilled.  This was T's first time here in the summer so she had never been in the pool before.  Just a nice, relaxing day.  That night we had Jimmie Cone.  Sunday we went to a Miss Maryland trunk show.  I didn't originally want to go but ended up having a fun time.  T got to meet several contestants and Miss Maryland 2013.  She tried on a few things and bought two cute dresses -- a white one and a red one.  Monday the girls met Cosmo for lunch and did some shopping and then we met him for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. 


Tuesday the girls and I spent the day at Mount Vernon.  The last time T was there she was in the stroller . . . I guess she was around 15 or 16 months old and KJ had never been.  We had a wonderful day walking around the estate and had a nice lunch.  I'm such a history geek and totally love that stuff!  http://www.mountvernon.org

Big Comfy Couch

Anybody remember this show???

Finally broke down this weekend and bought a new couch for the family room!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!!!  Our old couch has definitely seen better days and really needs to just go away.  Honestly, we shouldn't have even bothered moving it to MD from AL.  Basically, we bought the same exact couch from the same exact company just in a slightly different shade and a slightly different fabric.  We walked in the front door of the furniture store and it was the very first display.  It took all of about 10 minutes.  Once my mind is made up, that's it.  I didn't even look at anything else.

From there we took my parents to lunch and then did some shopping in Rockville at The Container Store (somehow Cosmo and I walked out with a $200 stainless steel kitchen trash can that closes by itself) and The Fresh Market.  We bought incredible steaks, twice-baked potatoes, broccoli slaw and garlic knots for Sunday dinner.

Saturday night we met my cousin Al at Uncle Julio's for dinner.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous so the Washingtonian was jammed packed but we enjoyed swirly drinks and chips before we were seated.  I usually have one of their salads but this time I went outside the box and had a delicious shrimp combination.

Sunday morning Bagel Boy took good care of all of us and after my parents left we started round 2 of "Cos Fam House Hunters."  As much as we've enjoyed living in this house, it's time to move on.  KJ loves the school district and is very excited about going to high school next year so we'll be staying in the same town.

The first house open house we went to was spectacular!  Exceptionally well-maintained with two master bedroom suites (KJ claimed one, natch), a full finished lower level with a work-out studio, wet bar and a theater room, in-ground pool with a detached two-car garage and a pool cabana.  The house had an amazing view from the deck and master bedroom.  Unfortunately, we hated the neighborhood.  It's such a shame.  The house is amazing but the neighborhood is awful.  And we need to think about re-sale.  So, scratch that one.

House #2 was my favorite of the open houses we went to.  Beautiful gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops, custom cherry cabinets, a wine cooler and top of the line Jenn-Air appliances.  Off the kitchen was a great sun-room, and french doors off the family room led to a new Trex deck, in-ground pool and hot tub with a completely fenced in yard. This house had a pretty rocking chair front porch and the best part was the amazing two-level master bedroom suite. Loved the neighborhood -- 20 or so homes in a quiet cul-de-sac.  Needs a few things done but nothing major; mostly just cosmetic.

House #3 was adorable but way too small for us.  Nice neighborhood, great price, beautifully decorated and incredibly well maintained older home.  But very, very small.  I don't think our king bed would fit in the master and the mast bath was only a "3/4" (no tub, just a shower) with only one sink.  I mean, c'mon.  A girl needs her jetted tub and her own sink!!!

Pumpkin Chunkin'

We had such a great weekend!  Very "autumnal."  The weather was amazing -- lots of bright sunshine, temps in the mid-60's and lots of blue skies.  Cosmo was on a roll and cooked almost the entire weekend.  Saturday morning he and KJ made biscuits for breakfast.  That afternoon they made homemade white pizza.  Sunday morning he made us French toast.  Love a man who cooks! 

Thursday I didn't feel like cooking so KJ and I planned to meet Cosmo at Uncle Julio's, a Mexican restaurant we like which is close to Cosmo's office.  I wasn't paying attention when I entered it in my GPS and it felt like we were driving forever.  I actually said to KJ, "hmmm....I didn't remember it being this far."  Double-checked my Garmin and realized I hit the address for the Uncle Julio's in Fairfax, VA.  Fortunately, I was able to get off at the closest exit, turn around and found my way to the right Uncle Julio's in time for a yummy swirly margarita!  My fave! 

Saturday we went to a local orchard to get our pumpkin on and couldn't have picked a better day.  The weather was perfect and we had so much fun.  http://www.butlersorchard.com/  Lots of stuff to do -- we went on a hay ride, found our pumpkin (35 lbs!), pet some animals, slide, walked through the corn maze, etc.  Every year we went to a farm in Clanton http://www.alabamagrandolepumpkinpatch.com/ and going to the pumpkin patch is one of our favorite family traditions.  KJ's obviously too big for pony rides and face painting but this year was fun because she did a little Pumpkin Chunkin'!  It was AWESOME and her pumpkins went flying!!  They must have gone at least 100 yards. 

Saturday night we watched a bunch of scary movies -- the remake of the Amityville Horror (w/ Ryan Reynolds) and the remake of The Omen (w/ Liev Schriber).  I'm not a horror movie fan and had never seen either of those movies (originals or remakes).  Cosmo was out like a light on the couch and KJ and I were up until almost 1 AM watching scary movies.  She slept with the light on that night. 

Sunday KJ had her final rec league volleyball game.  It was one of those "play until you lose" kind of things.  (Un)fortunately they lost in their first round so it ended up being an early afternoon for us.  Since the weather was so good we did our outside Halloween decorations.