Winter Break

It flew by. I got into a nice little pattern of sleeping late (yeah, late, like 7:30, but better than 5:45!), eating a ton, and seeing people that I care about. My brother started off the vacation, which was awesome as usual. I loved getting a little bit of free time, as he is great about babysitting. He also is my built in tech-support and lots of fun too. My Aunt Jean and cousin Becky came to town to celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary. We went to a great restaurant, Fabi and Rosi. Then, my wonderful friend April came to town for a very short time, but I was lucky enough to get to see her. That almost made me sad because I realized how much I miss her. We were on the same team and co-taught, so we were together quite a bit. She is lucky enough to live in my happy town, Lawrence. We also got together with Summer, whom I also co-taught with, but at least she still lives here and I get to see her with her husband, who we love as much as Summer. :) Later on in the vacation, Uncle Peter and Aunt Mary arrived from Colorado (I am beyond jealous of them) to spoil the kids some more. We also got to do some play dates with old and new friends. I managed to bake 90% of the days, so I will be challenged to find pants that fit this week. It was, all in all, a most lovely and perfect two weeks.

Pictures tomorrow, but

wanted to write a bit tonight about the trip that Andy and I just went on. We went for the past 5 days to Washington DC. I know that is not the traditional getaway-from-the-kids type of holiday, but we love to go out and explore and see things. Inevitably, we end up bored at a beach type of place. We saw quite a bit. Some of the things we saw years ago as middle school age children, but they are way cooler when you aren't twelve. My favorite part was the Twilight tour we took of the monuments. Our tour guide was a great person to do the tour. He was this big ole guy, a former professional football player, and he told some good stories. Downtown looks amazing with all of the lighting. My favorite monuments, I think, are the Lincoln and the FDR.
Seriously, I wish I had a pedometer with me. I think we walked 10 miles some days!
I loved the energy there about the election. Obama gear seemed to be everywhere. Of course, I had to get a t-shirt. Luckily I live in Austin, because I don't think that would be a popular shirt in most of Texas.
More tomorrow. I am very tired.