We were blessed to have a visit from this sweet family over President's Day weekend. We had originally scheduled an earlier visit over the New Year's holiday and had big plans to don our Ducks gear and cheer Oregon on in the Rose Bowl together, but Type A Influenza put the kibosh on those plans.
Although the weather has not been ideal, they braved the threat of snow and 40-60 mph bone-chilling winds to make the trip up to the DC-metro area from North Carolina.
The weekend went too fast, but we managed to pack a lot of visiting and togetherness in a short time. Jim and Sara even got a chance to slip away for a few hours to see some good friends while we got to reconnect with the wonder of the world through the eyes of an almost-two-year old. Priceless, and we enjoyed every minute of it! Lyla and the boys got some quality "cousin time" and had many giggles together. Stitch and Spike checked each other out and generally did what dogs do (yep, what you're thinking!). All-in-all, it was a great weekend. What a great antidote to the homesickness we're all feeling to be able to connect with family again!
Although the insane cold and dangerous wind chills kept us from all venturing into DC on the metro for some Smithsonian time, we did make our first trip out to Dulles to the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center (the "other" National Air and Space Museum that everyone talks about).
The opportunity to see the Discovery Space Shuttle up close and in person made it worth the trip! Seeing the impenetrable mosaic of 24,000+ individually numbered and catalogued 6-inch by 6-inch ceramic tiles on the bottom surface of the Shuttle, and learning the Shuttle had to withstand temperatures of up to 2300 degrees upon reentry into Earth's orbit, gave us a much better appreciation for what the fuss was all about when there was a possibility that a couple of ceramic tiles were missing on several of the voyages.
Another highlight was being able to look down into the huge hangar where they were restoring aircraft that were part of the museum's collection. Some of the planes looked like they had just been pulled out of the jungle and they were being meticulously taken apart, cleaned and reconstructed for eventual display either in the Dulles location or the original Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in DC. Somehow we didn't manage to get a picture of the restoration hangar (sorry!), but don't miss checking it out if you find yourself at this museum.
The hide-a-bed must not be too lumpy, because we didn't hear any complaints and I didn't notice any huge bags under their eyes when they packed up for the long car ride home. Must mean we're okay to host other visitors who venture East, so family and friends please keep us in mind. We'd love to see you!
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our next houseguest (Grandma Carol!) in less than a week . . . with Grandma Judy not too far behind.
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