Day 2

We wake up at 8:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. Nevada time) to the phone ringing. It is Sunday, and we are supposed to go to church with Aaron's brother and his family at 9:00. Yeah, not going to happen...

Plan B: "Let's go to the Ward that meets at 1:00."

Deborah runs downstairs in pajamas (and no foundation undergarment) to gather something for breakfast from the 'Hometouch Breakfast Buffet' as all three boys are passed out on the beds and the buffet closes in 10 minutes .

Deborah returns with a shockingly large plate of biscuits with sausage gravy,"Cheerios" (Fruit Loops), milk, and a banana.

Finally the natives stir (minus HY) and we manage to get everybody in church appropriate attire.

Aaron wakes HY.

HY whines and walks around in a daze searching for the "Trains outside" (a carryover memory from a previous stay in San Diego)

Deborah finally coaxes HY into a tie by promising an entire bag of microwave popcorn for breakfast.

12:55, we leave our hotel room.

Aaron mumbles all the way to the car. "We can't EVER get to church on time!!!"

Deborah appoints herself as navigator since she was the most coherent family member when Heather gave directions at 9:00a.m.

Deborah quickly realizes that she was "more tired than [she] thought" when taking directions as we have difficulty finding the first street.

HY munches happily away on his entire bag of microwave popcorn and cup of Fruit Loops.

We pass by the Arlington Cemetery and take the exit to the Pentagon. Read: Away from Arlington, Virginia. "Maybe this exit will go back in a loop or something."

EZ puts in a request for a "morning snack."

EZ's request goes unheeded for the moment.

Deborah's chipper comments about how beautiful the scenery is and how "at least we are having a nice drive" start to visibly annoy Aaron who is intent on getting us to Church before Monday.

Thirty minutes later we are back to our hotel after a lovely drive through our Nation's Capital.

Plan C: Skip church (which is almost over anyway) and go straight to Ashley and Heather's. (Back to Deborah's scrawled directions.)

We find Wilson Boulevard and drive straight for twenty minutes trying to find Manchester.

We take several exploratory excursions away from Wilson trying to jog Aaron's memory of where Ashley's home is. "We're close...I can feel it."

EZ's requests for sustenance start to jangle Daddy's nerves.

EZ enjoys Mommy's finger for the remainder of the trip.

HY + popcorn = happy silence.

We finally pull over and have "Family Prayer."

Minutes later, we pull up at Ashley's home.

We spend the remainder of the day enjoying the cool weather and the fact that we are not feeling our way around Virginia anymore.

Aaron and Ashley mapquest several places so our "Sunday Drive" will not be repeated.

We return to the Hotel happy and rejuvenated.

Family Summer Vacation 2007 - Day 1

Day 1

Deborah dresses HY and EZ in matching outfits in the vain hope that it will charm the stewardesses and other passengers enough to assuage any annoyances on the plane.

HY sits on the table and eats as many of the "special plane treats" as he can find.

Deborah packs for everybody into one giant suitcase.

Aaron re-packs everybody into two large suitcases and three carry-ons.

Deborah stops to feed EZ.

HY stuffs five teddy bears, two stuffed dogs, three blankets and a Thomas the Train DVD into one of the family suitcases while Deborah is barricaded behind the Boppy. "Mommy, I all packed!"

Aaron dilly-dallies, basking in the fact that he is DONE with work for the next seven days.

Aaron quickly sobers when he sees the pile to be greased into the Buick: two large suitcases, three carry-ons, one diaper bag, one Pack and Play, one stroller, and two car seats.

Both Aaron and Deborah wonder out loud how they will get "all this honk to the terminal anyway."

Deborah feeds EZ.

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We arrive at the airport in record time and discover the wonder of the "Smart carte"--for three measly dollars you can rent the equivalent of three more adults.

The children cooperate beautifully and we breeze through security and arrive at the terminal with enough time to buy some expensive goodies to eat on the plane. Aaron purchases two Baja Mama burritos and a four dollar bottle of water, while Deborah buys three extra extra large slices of Sbarros pizza and a breadstick.

We board the plane--seats in the very last row.

HY watches movies and eats snacks.

Deborah feeds EZ.

Aaron contorts his body into amazing positions to accommodate EZ's penchant for nursing WITHOUT a blanket, and to shield Deborah from rubberneckers standing in line for the potty.

We arrive without incident at 11:00pm D.C. time.

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Deborah feeds EZ.

After picking up our new wheels (a red Dodge Caravan), we drive around for thirty minutes wondering which way might be the way to our hotel.

EZ starts crying.

In a fit of annoyance Aaron declares all maps in our car "D-U-M" and we hop on whichever highway we see first.

Finally, Deborah sees a Courtyard Marriott and implores Aaron to pull over and ask for directions.

EZ screams his guts out in the car.

HY starts whining for milk.

Aaron finds a 7-Eleven and everyone gets their beverage of choice: Aaron-powerade, Deborah-water, HY-milk, Ezra......

HY and EZ finally give up the fight and fall asleep. Aaron and Deborah enjoy the rest of the ride in blessed silence.

1:00a.m., we see the Residence Inn.

1:30a.m., everyone is settled.

to be continued...