All American

The Friday before Labor Day Will and I went to the mall to get some new outfits for school. I gotta look professional so the high schoolers don't confuse me for one of their own and Will needed some crazy new ties to impress the 5th graders he's working with this semester. Then we stopped for dinner at Chili's.

Will asked for a four-seater booth rather than a two-seater, claiming that he wanted more room on his side of the table. I should have known better.

Just a few minutes after we were seated and we were just chatting, I heard someone next to our table ask "Excuse me, do you have the time?" I thought to myself, as I turned to face them, no one says that except my mother. Who should be standing there--but Mom and Dad!

I cannot lie. I bawled. Right in the middle of Chili's. My parents had drove from Wisconsin to Virginia to surprise me for the weekend. They had been in cahoots with Will for months and I never suspected a thing.

But the surprises did not end there. That night we were instructed to be ready to go very early the next morning. On Saturday, my parents picked us up and we drove several hours to Charlottesville. Dad wanted to see Monticello and the BYU v. UVA game, and I just so happened to be in the same state. Might as well stop by to see me.

Thomas Jefferson was a fascinating man and his house is just as interesting. Custom clocks and rooms built only to look pretty from the outside. There were thousands of BYU fans running around Monticello. The two passions of Mormons? Founding fathers and BYU football.

The famous Round Room. Jefferson didn't really have a purpose for this room, but it creates the iconic look outside.

The game had a severe weather delay because of lightening after the first quarter, and there was a ton of rain. It was very exciting after the lightening cleared out but ended in heartbreak for about 1/5th of the stadium. Seriously--BYU took up 1/5th to 1/4th of the stadium. We could easily drown out the UVA crowd. I'm a little bummed that the rain delay had the opposite effect on BYU this past weekend, rather than the game we attended, but it was still a good game. And UVA fans are so classy. Shirts and ties and sundresses. Cavaliers and horses. Shout and Roar!

Will was sneaky and packed my BYU t-shirts so I got to have my pick once I found out we were going to the game! He chose to wear his JMU shirt rather than a VT shirt, so as not to upset the UVA fans.

It was an All American weekend. Family, food, founding fathers, and football.

Theme Song: Good Old Song, UVA Marching Band

On the Road Again

Road trips can be a bit rough. But this one was actually pretty excellent! Four good friends, four licensed drivers, and some of us traveled through states we had never been to before. I'm becoming a very seasoned road tripper.

Wyoming's State Animal: The Great American Jackalope

Instead of going through South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, this time we went through Nebraska and Iowa. Nick and Sara recently moved to Iowa because Nick is doing his PhD at Iowa State. We got a free place to stay the night, and it was so excellent being able to catch up with Nick and Sara! And we saw Tristan and baby Aramis.

Lily took a look in Caitie's bag while we were at Nick and Sara's

The plains of America are all corn and windmills

Matt being the first one into Indiana. Unless Caitie pointed her toes far enough to beat him in. When we reached Ohio, Will discretely snuck up from the back seat and lunged across the dashboard, trying to be the first one in. We are so mature.

This was my first time sitting in the back seat of the Honda. Will and I even got to sleep despite continuing to cross state lines. Road trips are more fun with good buddies. And no illness this time around. A little preventative maintenance kept Will's pain tolerable for most of the trip. His back and driving across America simply do not agree.

Theme Song: On the Road Again, Willie Nelson

His Best Friend's Wedding

Will's best friend from university got married earlier this month. It was out in Utah, but we developed a brilliant plan to be able to attend. We flew out from Dulles on a Wednesday, the wedding was on Friday, and we set out on a cross-country road trip to Virginia with the newlyweds on Saturday morning. They had their honeymoon and a ring ceremony with Matt's family here in Virginia.

It was a lovely wedding. Caitie's dress was stunning. The temple and ring ceremony/reception venue were beautiful. The food was excellent. And the bride and groom were just so happy!

We were all staying at Matt's apartment in the days leading up to the wedding.
Dan and Will reeeeeally love Matt. Can you tell?

Two college buddies pondered their post-university futures many years ago.
Now, two married buddies ponder their post-wedding eternities.

Will's sweet action shot of the garter toss

Theme Song: Better With You, Five Times August

Into the Wind

On a day trip to the greater DC area, Will and I spent some time at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Air and Space Museum. Full of planes, helicopters, and a space shuttle! Took me back to the days when I dreamed of being an astronaut.

The museum is in a field just across from Dulles, and the planes are so close!

This mini plane disconnects and becomes a car!

I'm fascinated by the tiny gliders all over the museum

Me and My Dogfighter

Space Shuttle Discovery

The Blackbird (It's a Transformer. Don't tell.)

All of my favorite sculpture seems to involve flight. This one. Bird in Space (Brancusi). They just have so much motion to them.

Theme Song: Watching Airplanes, Gary Allen

Summer Photos

Will is working full time for the summer and I'm applying for jobs for next school year. Things aren't exactly exciting every minute of every day. Here are a few pictures, from when I actually remember to pull out my phone...

The last two potatoes we had before we moved to Virginia

Our first place in VA--the attic

Will barely clears the ceiling. Oh, and he has a beard all the time now. All the time.

At the new place, we're on the second story. This lizard climbed up to say hi.

Rock Band with our Nephews

Down in Colonial Beach last weekend, they were having Jet Ski racing dockside.

Theme Song: Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer, Nat King Cole

Starting Summer With A Bang

Who doesn't love roller coasters? Right?

For Will's birthday, Mom and Roger took us to King's Dominion. It was LIT-ruh-lee  (Chris Traeger/Rob Lowe) the perfect day to go. A Thursday before the schools let out for the summer. There was no one there! Our longest wait for a roller coaster was less than 15 minutes. We rode every major ride, and even rode the best coasters twice, despite the park closing at 6pm because it's not on summer schedule yet. It wasn't even overly hot or humid! Seriously, this was once in a life time. Never again will I have such a perfect theme park experience.

The Volcano

The only bit of bad luck of the day. We were on the front row of the Volcano and a cicada hit Will's hand and split in half. Half on his shirt, half in his lap. Gross. (And yes, Will's hair looked like that pretty much the whole day.)

As I was taking this picture, the wings were still moving. Ew....

The Crypt

The Anaconda

Outside of The Grizzly

The Intimidator

On the front row and terrified!! We're such good little actors. 

Let's talk about the Intimidator for a second. You see that first hill in the picture? 90 miles an hour and 6Gs. You don't pass out, but you black out (they're different, look them up). The first time we rode it, we were in the very back and it was early in the day. My vision fogged up so that I only had little points of light in the middle and it cleared up as we were rounding the corner to the second hill. The second time we rode it, it was late in the day and we were in the front row. I literally lost all vision and didn't get it back until the top of the next hill. Couldn't hear anything during that time either. Water was streaming from our eyes and there was nothing we could do about it. It was amazing.

Both our first and our last roller coaster of the day. Bookends.

Theme Song: Wipe Out, The Surfaris