The past few weekends.

Apr 15-Apr 16: American History Museum, Air and Space Museum

Apr 23-Apr 24: Maryland Science Center, scrapbook fair



Apr 30-May 1: Saturday dawned a gray, drippy day and we spent it as a family day at home. My mom came over for the morning and stayed for lunch, a homemade spinach lasagna. For a good chunk of the morning, all the girls worked on scrapbooks, leading Nicholas to beg for a book of his own. He did make a page with some extra supplies and one of his own photos, so he's well on his way. After mom left we wandered downstairs to the indoor pool where the temperature of the water would have been fine if the room was actually warm. Some other kids came down while we were there, so they all played together, but I couldn't get out of the water fast enough. It was time to go when everyone was shivering. It was still an ugly day, so the kids took warm baths, drank hot cocoa, put on PJs and watched The Princess Bride. Sounds like a day in the middle of winter, doesn't it? But no, practically May and I'm still wearing a sweatshirt every day to combat the chill.
Sunday we attended the Memorial Mass for Fred Franke at Marymount University. The kids were very well behaved. They should have been, we prepped them beforehand. Every little sound is magnified in the tiny MU chapel and there were only a couple dozen people there so it was imperative that they stay almost silent. They made us proud. After the service was a small reception at the Main House where we met Fred's mother, saw his photography and listened to friends and classmates tell stories about Fred. II can't say that it was a good time, but it was pleasant and comfortable to meet up with college friends and shares some time together even under a sad occasion.
You know, Marymount is an itty bitty campus. It's a lovely campus, but it's "cozy."
Back at home, we took advantage of the pleasant weather and walked down to Clarendon to the Container Store (mom, they have car trash containers!) and across the way to the Whole Foods for some broccoli. Jeff came over for some dinner so we ordered a little Indian food from Delhi Dhaba to go along with a pot pie, some broccoli, bread and other random foods. Jeff has never complained, he'll eat just about anything we put in front of him. He's such an easy guest. We're going to miss him greatly when we head out again.