day 4: {WashingtonDC}

On Friday {day 4}, I had to wake up and pack the car. I was debating between taking the boys to a museum in Baltimore or the National mall...knowing we needed to be back by 2:30 as Justin would be done with his conference.
The National Mall in DC won. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the train station.

Max, Evan and I on the train.
Maxwell right after we got off train. Capital in background. National Museum of History on left, and Smithsonian castle on right.

Evan in front of the Washington Monument.
Then we walked to the WWII monument, walked the length of the reflecting pool{which alone is nearly half a mile} to the Lincoln Memorial.

Then we turned around and started back towards the National Mall.
It was SO gorgeous out. About 75 and SO sunny.

Then we caught a glimpse of the White House...which we hope to actually tour someday.

THEN!!! Then, we were stopped by police while they cleared the streets of cars and people. Nobody was allowed to cross. Soon came several police cars, then motorcyles, then a HUGE parade of black, SUV's Vans, ambulance, and more police. { I swore the sun shown right on Obama and I saw him through the tinted glass, but alas who could beleive me? Just like the time I talked to Usher}

I was so excited I couldn't even take a decent picture.

We headed in to the Museum of Natural History {Night at the Museum filmed there...so cool..and a cute movie} checked it out a bit and had a quick snack before running back to the Metro to get back to pick up Justin by 2:30.



A great morning in DC.

National Zoo, DC {day 3}: meeting Danielle, her twin boys and baby girl

On Thursday, after battling traffic and a GPS that said I'd be in traffic for another hour and a half when I was supposed to be meeting Danielle and her kids at the zoo in a half hour I saw a sign for the Metro and went for it.
I got a parking spot at the very tip-top of the parking garage and hauled the boys and a stroller down three flights of stairs. We bought our tickets I grabbed a map and we headed up to the train platform, got on board and set out to the zoo.

We finally made it and bet up with Danielle her boys; Duncan and Owen, and new baby girl, Sophia.




Evan, Duncan and Owen were non-stop...the whole day.

max.


Evan checking out the pandas.


Danielle showing the boys this crazy bird {it was quite loud too!}


there are A LOT of shots like this one.

finally, one of all of the boys {minus liam and sophia who were sleeping} all looking

...and last but not least a quick shot of Danielle and I before we parted ways.

So great to meet you and your family {minus Josh} Danielle! Finally! After all these years, and I appreciate you even more now that we've met in real life!:}

day 2 : {meeting amy & her boys} Washington DC

Wednesday the boys and I drove to just north of Washington to meet my newest blog friend Amy. She and our {6} SIX boys drove to downtown DC and went to the building museum, took the boys to the current exhibit of legos complete with building area where the oldest 4 built while we tried to keep the babes from licking the floors :)
{These pictures are just outside the museum}

luca{18 months}&liam{22 months}

evan{4}& xan{4}

these two...instant buds.

max{6} & david {8}

don't you love how cooperative liam & luca were?


6 boys!

And lastly, a quick shot of amy & I {ages unknown}.

so great to meet you AMY! It was a great day, felt like we'd been friends forever, and I love how our boys instantly bonded. Let's do it again soon!

interrupting trip details to tell you...

I'm offically an acutal, legit, for real, Aunt.

{photo credit Beth Hornyak[Jennie's Mother]}

Lucy Louise Wojciechowski
born 10.8.2010
born at 7:32 am{central time}
6lb. 6 oz. {what is up with that? I have these massive babies, and my brother who was 10lbs. 5oz. at birth has this little peanut?!!}
Congrats Alec and Jennie!! LOVE you. Can't wait to meet Lucy!!

Maryland {day 1} :Baltimore

Last week, the boys and I tagged along with Justin as he headed to Frederick, Maryland for a conference while we had a nice holiday away. We sure missed having him around most of the week, but we did a lot and had a wonderful time.
{I also met three {3} blog friends for the first time in real life, and they were all so great...more about that to come!}

Day 1 we headed to downtown Baltimore and visited the Science center.

The boys had a great time, and I wish I had taken more than a handful of pictures and that we had the energy{and it could have been a few degrees warmer} to explore more. But we did have fun at the harbor.

{fall 2010 trends}

polarn o. pryet

tea collection


j.crew {crewcuts}


orla kiely


shabby apple


anthropologie


j.crew


pottery barn


cb2

same place, new look, new title.

You feelin' the new blog look?

State of the Re:Union - A Food Revolution in Milwaukee

This is only a short bit on a GREAT piece about Milwaukee I heard yesterday on NPR.

Listen to the full audio HERE.

friends.

a day at the park with our friends, the Valentines.
{Evan, Caleb, Maxwell, Clay, Faith, Liam, Aubrey}

John Piper - What is a wife's responsibility in solving marital conflict?

so good. I think I may have shed a tear at one point...

"Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken..." Rich Mullins {at a concert shortly before his passing in 1997}

Alpha, Beta, Gamma

Last Friday night, unbeknownst to Justin and I, we had a Frat party at our casa.

{keep in mind this picture was taken after we had picked up half of it}

The boys were in bed at 9, and WIRED.
Just and I were downstairs and TIRED.
The boys were not unusually loud upstairs while we watched a movie.
Eventually, Justin went up to check on them and to get everyone in their own beds to sleep.
He came back down, {making no mention of anything out of the ordinary} and fell asleep on the couch around 10, while I stayed up to finish the movie and doinga little reading. At midnight I shook my sleeping husband awake to go upstairs to bed.
I walk into the boys room to check on them before I went to sleep for the night and when I walked in I about died from laughter.
Maxwell is on the opposite end of his bed with one arm hanging off and Evan was half off his bed, standing on the floor with his upper body and head laying on his bed. Not to mention it looked like a minor bomb had gone off in their room.
I burst out in laughter.
It was quite the sight.
I pick up a few things and re-arrange Max and Evan in their beds.
It's then that I look into Liams crib and notice he is BUCK naked from the waist down. His pants are strewn on the side of the crib and NOW I notice his diaper on the floor.
What happened in here tonight?!
I about die laughing as I put Liams diaper back on {thank goodness he didn't go in the crib at all} quickly and leave so I don't wake up the party animals, and head back to our room and pass out into our bed.

the end.

oh, and ps- I'm also happy to report there were no hangovers the next morning.
boys!

life with boys.

they continue to wrestle ON the furniture on a DAILY basis no matter how many times you tell them not to.


you find monster trucks and a wooden spoon among ashes in your fireplace.


your toilet paper is in a pile on the floor instead of on a roll.

you do not own one whole set of any type of glassware...and what you do have is most definitely an odd number.

there are hand smears ALL over every last one of your windows.

there is great camaraderie among brothers.

boys...

will be...

boys



{sorry they are blurry...taken within a 2 minute span}

{m + w}

last weekend I took a wrong turn and found this place. a place that i want to own and run. this is my dream. THERE. i threw that out there. but this place, rocked. I didn't get a shot of the wine side, but this is the market side, complete with local meats, cheeses, breads, flour and a few dry goods. they do coffee and a few sandwhiches served with fruit. i love finding a new place in my city. can't believe it took me so long to find this, and on the way home from my visit today, i found ANOTHER place to scope out later this week. more to come on that :) for now enjoy the cuteness that is wine + market.{m+w}

i love it here.