President's Day

We had a great President's Day this year. We started out the day with a drive down to Quantico. Our friends Paige and Garret will be moving to VA next month and had a house they were considering renting that we went to check out for them. The weather was AMAZING! I came outside wearing a sweater and jacket only to discover 75 degree temperatures. On the drive down we had the windows down and the AC going. They were very welcome conditions in mid-February.

After giving the apartment a good review, we decided to stop in to the Marine Museum. The exhibit definitely makes you want to join the corps. We ate at the restaurant in the museum, did some pull ups, browsed the history of the Marine Corps and watched a parental focused recruitment video.




After the museum we drove back to Falls Church and met up with our friends Jeanette and Matt for a fun game of frisbee golf. Unfortunately, the weather remembered that it is February and started to rain and dropped 40 degrees in a matter of a couple of hours. So frisbee was wet. It was still a lot of fun. I never knew how serious frizbee golf could be.

National Geographic: FROGS

Last weekend we met up with our friends Jon & Melissa and Laura & Tyson for an outing to the National Geographic Museum. The current exhibit is full of frogs. Melissa & Jon gave a great summary of the outing on their blog. Some of the frogs had amazing color, and then there were those that were just ugly. Here are a few of our favorites:

After going to the museum we went back to Jon and Melissa's for lunch. We had a great time chatting, eating and enjoying the Smith's house -- which, by the way, they just redecorated, I'm excited to go and see the new color in person!

State Track Meet

A couple of weeks ago we traveled up to Connecticut to cheer my sister, Arrin, on as she competed in the state track meet. My brother, Chris, had the day off, so he was able to come along. The meet was held at the Yale indoor track, which sounds cool, but as a spectator it was not so cool. There was not any seating available and we had to push and shove to get a space on the upper balcony to get a good view.

It was so fun to watch Arrin compete. Her knee was giving her trouble, so the high jump didn't go as well as she had hoped. However, she took home 4th in the pole vault! We were so proud. Here are some pictures from the event.

Rache's Night Out

This was my view for a good portion of Friday evening. Rachel and I decided to have a Rache's Night Out, and hit the town. Because it is not metro accessible, Rachel had never had the pleasure of experiencing The Carlyle. So we took the trip to Shirlington for a delicious dinner. After a long week of work, good food and conversation really hit the spot.

We spent the rest of the evening planning a fabulous party. Stay tuned for more information!

Awakening

Yesterday, one of our favorite D.C. tourist attractions left town. The sculpture "The Awakening" was sold to Milton V. Peterson for $725,000. It will be moved to a beach on the eastern shore of the Potomac, at the National Harbor. Here's the Washington Post story.

For years, this has been one of my favorite things to go see in D.C. Shiloh and I went and visited last summer... Shiloh's response was too predictable.

I'd like to say that we'll make the drive to MD to see the new home, but my guess is it probably won't happen. Anyone else sad about the move?

Spain

[I started this posting at the beginning of January and it's been holding me up. Sorry it's taken so long.]

We just got back from an amazing trip to Spain. This year, Shiloh and I had planned to take a little graduation trip. When our families heard about our plans we all decided to scale back on presents and spend Christmas money on a fun group trip. Both of our parents and four of our siblings were able to joing us. It was pretty funny to watch the 10 of us parade around such narrow streets. We were so happy that everyone was able to come. We now have halarious memories to laugh about for years! Here's a rundown of some of the most memorable trip elements as well as a slideshow of trip pics. (Warning: we took a lot of pictures)

Day One: Madrid Airport
Highlights:
1) Searching for the Allens
2) Chupa Chups
3) Catching Some Z's on Hard Airport Chairs
4) Hot Showers

Day Two: Gibralter
Highlights:
1) Little Girl Mooning Us
2) Fiesty Apes
3) Amazing Views
4) Great Butt Workout From All The Stairs
5) English Speakers!
6) Warm Showers

Day Three: Jerez
Highlights:
1) Fundacion Real Escuela Andalusa Del Arte Ecuestra
2) Sweet Horses
3) Internet Cafe
4) Pizza Hut - Spanish Style
5) Cold Showers

Day Four: Seville
Highlights:
1) Flamenco Dancers
2) Millions of Pictures
3) Jesse's Navigating Skills
4) The Alcazar
5) Night Views
6) Plaza De Espana
7) Cold Showers

Day Five: Church in Marbella
Highlights:
1) Sleeping In
2) "Espirit"
3) Doubling The Size of The Congregation
4) "Ferngully"
5) Cold Showers -- Solar power water heaters are WAY over-rated

Day Six: Granada
Highlights:
1) Alhambra
2) Fresh Bread
3) FREEZING
4) Bus Ride
5) Cold Showers

Day Seven: Malaga
Highlights:
1) Tourist Souvenir Booths
2) Picasso Stomping Grounds
3) Lunch
4) Cold Showers

We had such a great time! If anyone is considering a good trip - Spain gets our vote!