The cousins at the WWII MemorialWe got the call from the cousins that they wanted to come visit during their Spring Break and we couldn't wait!!! Tate walked around chanting "The cousins are coming, the cousins are coming" for the whole week. Funny, because we haven't seen them since he was about 20 months old, before we moved.
Before they came, we had a few other fun things to do - like fly a KITE and learn to bowl on the Wii. Tate received a kite from Uncle Davin last year, but we just hadn't gotten it out. So, I opened my big mouth on a super windy day and out we went. You can see in the pictures that it was going great, Mommy got it up a few times then Daddy really got it going. Tate was fetching it when it fell, and we would put it up again. Until . . . UH OH! Big boom and that ended the blissful family fun. Tate ran home crying that Daddy had ruined his kite and he never liked flying kites ANYWAY! So there!
The pictures of Tate bowling on the Wii don't really do it justice. The kid is crazy! He bowled a 175 the other night! He doesn't want any help, he rolls it "granny style" but it works for him. Too funny!
The cousins arrived on Saturday, March 15 after a 19 hour drive. I am so lucky that they were willing to do that long drive. (It used to be an 8 hour drive from Wichita to Denver.) What's more is that it was only (girl) Chris and the boys - WHAT A WOMAN! Tate and the cousins (Nick, 13, and Cole and Christian, 9) had a blast running around, wrestling, chasing, all that boy stuff. Avarie loved watching and trying to keep up. Sunday morning we drove to DC so that they could see some of the sights. I arranged a special day for them by calling in some favors - it was the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and the President flew over in his helicopter and landed at the White House while we were on the mall. Sooo cool!! It was freezing cold and super windy, the cherry blossoms weren't quite open yet, but we braved it long enought to see the White House, the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. It was really neat to be there since I haven't been there for over 10 years when I used to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins who lived near DC. The World War II Memorial was new and was very moving - definately worth a trip. We drove to Arlington and walked up to see the Kennedy's graves, and then to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Although we were all tired and cold, it was a great day. Poor Christian wanted to see the museums but we couldn't fit it in. Chris did take them back later in the week to see a bit of the Smithsonian. We also made a trip to Williamsburg, which I don't think they thought was quite as cool, but they'll understand the significance someday. I thought Chris was going to kill me one night when I told the boys they could decorate a gingerbread house for Easter (long story). They created quite a masterpiece - jelly beans, marshmallows, chicks, and ducks, peeps and poops (Hershey's kisses). Derek said the house had some serious bird issues!
We had a great visit - lots of laughs and only a few fits by the kids (or adults)! Haha!
There are pictures on our Shutterfly page www.familymattila.shutterfly.com you just have to enter mattila as the password.
3 comments:
So much fun!!!! The cousins visit sounds like a blast. Hope we get to do fun stuff when we come visit. Did Al tell you we are trying to work on the 16-18th of May. I can't wait! Love, Ang
holy cow - I feel like I just visited DC without leaving my own home! I can not believe the boys are 13 and 9! Where did the time go. I hope to see girl Chris soon too. She is just too much fun.
What a fun time with family! Your pics made me miss DC...my sister is moving back to Denver as we speak and I'm upset I didn't get up there again before she left and to see you guys of course. Hopefully we'll cross paths one of these days!
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