5 Weeks

Today was a rain out so we went to the movies to see Night at the Museum 2. We first saw this preview at Christmas time, and I knew without question that we would be seeing it opening weekend. Time does indeed fly by though, as Memorial Day weekend seemed so far away then. But here we are, and we saw the movie as intended. It was definitely not as good as the first one, but there were lots of funny parts and the kids both liked it a lot. What it did most for me was make me even more excited for our upcoming vacation and the part where we will visit DC.

Here are the promised details on the first week of our vacation. We fly into Asheville, NC and will spend three nights there while James attends and speaks at the rock mechanics conference. We've booked this downtown loft so that James can walk to the conference and we are paying the same amount per night as a hotel but here we will have a full kitchen. We traded a pool (that a hotel would have) for the kitchen so we can cook. I'll try to find a local pool or maybe take a day trip to Lake Lure (about 30 minutes away by car). And we will have a pool every other place we stay, so it's not a big deal. Okay, so upon leaving Asheville we drive to Blacksburg for one night. I can't wait to show Quinn where he was born, and both kids the campus where Mom and Dad went to school. It's the first time we'll be back since we left almost 6 years earlier! Next is the reason the movie today made me so excited because we drive to Washington where it was filmed. We stay there for 3 nights and also are joined by Nana, Papa and Annie! We are staying at a hotel downtown right near a Metro stop and within viewing distance of the fireworks since we will be there for the 4th. Once again, this is a trip down memory lane showing the kids where Mom went to college and the first time I have been in DC since 2000 or so. On Sunday, we drive 6 hours or so south to the beach house for the remainder of the vacation. Details on that can be found here.

So that is the scoop. Five weeks from now, we will be in Asheville. I hate to wish away a month of summer but I am SO looking forward to this trip....to each and every part of it for each very different reasons. I sure hope it can live up to expectations, but I know that the time spent with family, both our family of 4 and the extended family, will be worth every ounce of anticipation. :)