Matthew's Graduation

My cousin graduated from USUHS (military med school) and we went to DC for the occasion.  I didn't take the kids to the actual graduation (that was tough enough when it was their dad graduating), but we loved getting to spend time with family the rest of the visit!
I walked with the kids to the National Gallery and the Natural Science Museum while everyone else was at graduation.  I was so proud that I did it by myself - keep in mind that Jonah was still colicky at this point.  I felt like Super Mom. :)

Then we had a celebratory party where we hung out on the coolest roof in Washington and ate Cafe Rio (YUM!) before making the drive back to our house.
The pictures are in chronological order.

Uncle Ken, Aunt Linda, and my cousin Beth visited us at my parents' house before meeting up again in Washington

Sightseeing for a bit before going into Matthew and Corie's apartment.  This basically their front yard. :)

More quick sightseeing

Now are inside and Carolyn (Matt's daughter) is checking out Jonah for the first time.  The last time that we visited them, I was 8 months pregnant.

The only picture I took of my cute cousin David.  He just graduated high school!  I visited his family 3 different summers in the late 90's and he was the cutest toddler and preschooler you've ever seen!

Beautiful Claire (Corie and Matt's youngest)

Playing with bubble wrap as we walk to the park

The "park" that we walked to was really the US Navy Memorial.  It was really cool.  Matthew with Elena, Carolyn, Kevin, and Carolyn's grandfather

The National Archives view from the memorial

The Lone Soldier

Matthew and Corie's apartment building.  They moved out 2 days after graduation and we will really miss them!  I wish that our time living so close had overlapped more!

What it would have looked like at our hotel that night if Kevin had not started jumping on top of and kicking Elena for fun.  He ended up sleeping with me in the other room.

My adventure at the museum.  Jonah stayed asleep in the stroller for a little while, but then some tourists from another country started taking pictures of him and with him (posing next to the stroller and pointing), and he woke up.

Claire crawled over to meet her new cousin.

I wish I had a picture of Corie that wasn't a side shot, but it is cute to see her with her girls.  Corie is, by the way, awesome.

On the roof

Elena was amazed by the balconies on the apartments below.  You can see the National Gallery of Art down there too.

Sleeping boys

My Aunt Mary Carol with her brother, my daddy.

I can't believe that I never got a picture of my Uncle Brent.  You can really tell that I was much more concerned with visiting than having people pose for pictures on this trip.  We had a great time.

My mom helped out in the car on the way there and back or else I'm not sure if I would have braved it.  Dan was working a night shift the one night we were there.  I am so grateful that the kids and I got to Matthew and Corie again before their move out west.  It was awesome to see Ken and Mary Carol's families too.  Another perk of the visit was that Corie introduced me to Costco brand Reese's Cups.  Only $9 for a 3.75 pound bag.  :)

Fun fact: Jonah cried 3 out of the 4 hours home.