Surprise Get-Away

So sorry for the lack of posts lately, but it has been a whirlwind in our house lately.  As many of you probably know, Katie broke two of her fingers on Friday...but we'll post more on that tomorrow.  Also, Mike competed in and finished a grueling 10-mile obstacle course.  But again, we'll let him tell that story later this week.

For today, we'll focus on the happy surprise we all received on Saturday evening.  Early in the afternoon, Katie, Neve, and Traci all left the house to attend a birthday party.  Little did we know that Mike and Michael were feverishly packing for a surprise get-away in the city!!  You see, Mike's mother did the same for Mike's dad on their twentieth anniversary.  When Mike's mom passed away earlier this year, each of the three siblings promised that they would follow suit in their respective cities on August 25th, 2012, which would have been their parents' fiftieth anniversary.

So, when we returned home, Mike basically told us to stay in the car and brought out the suitcases.  We were all so confused, but excited for the adventure.  (Of course, Traci - the ultra-paranoid packer that she is - must have asked Mike if he remembered to pack at least 250 things.  For one night's stay.)  After a short drive, we pulled up to the swanky W Hotel, just about a block away from the White House.  After many years of staying in family-friendly chain hotels, it was actually kind of cool to be back in the expensive kind with good room service!  :)  The kids loved all of the crazy decorations and pounding music (the trendy hotel had a night club attached).  Thankfully, they didn't ask any questions about the drag queens riding the elevator with us.  We basically retired once we got settled as it was late already.

We woke up to some pretty excited faces and immediately ordered everybody the most scrumptious room service breakfast.  Seriously, even the kids were astonished by bacon and waffles that were not pulled out of the freezer.  We then got ready and headed out to see some morning sights:  the Washington Monument and White House.  Of course, the kids dutifully looked on, but they were really only interested in the fat squirrels and big mushrooms they found near some park trees.

After a quick stop back at the hotel room to feed Neve, we went up to the penthouse deck to see some exquisite views of the city.  The kids thought that was so cool that we had to drag them out.  Finally, we picked up a picnic lunch and headed over to the Tidal Basin.  We got to see two of Traci's favorites, the FDR and MLK Memorials before packing up and heading home.  Just perfect!!  Thanks so much to Mike for making all of this happen!  Please take a moment to look at the rest of our pictures to the right!