the blackmons in chicago

Playing ball with Bleeker in the park.

Final dinner at Maggianos

They had to eat at Ihop! How funny!
At the Reflection Pool and Washington Monument

Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Mural of Marilyn Monroe

Brad and I in front of the National Cathedral

Gorgeous day at the White House

And the Capitol Building

Mexican night!

The boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach, DE

In the nursery section of a great home shop...Decorium, Old Town.

Jen and Paul in front of the City Hall, Old Town.

Jen and Paul at the Old Town Harbour.

The Brits Were Here!

This week, we were thrilled to have friends from London visiting with us. While in London, I (Nicole) worked at an investment company and made some great friends while there. Jen and Paul were two of them (they are not a couple) and they decided to make a visit to the States before Baby Blackmon arrives. Of course, Brad and I were so excited to show them the ropes and how things are done here. Paul lived in Houston for 6 months in 2002 and Jen was born in NY and moved when she was 2, so other than that, this was their only visit. They got here really late on Saturday night, so Brad and I picked them up from the airport and took them home. Bleeker was ridiculously excited about our new guests and wore them out by wanting to play ball all the time! Brad had to work every day they were here but Wednesday, but we still had a great time.

Anyway, here's a breakdown of our funfilled and exhausting week:

Sunday: Noting that our friends were probably wiped out from their long day of travelling, we decided to keep it simple and stay in Old Town Alexandria (our neighborhood) for the day. We were amazed, especially my friends, at how HOT it was! London hasn't had much of a summer, being cool and rainy all season, so they were thrilled to wear flip flops and shorts. We first had brunch at a great place on the river called Chadwicks for their first American meal! It was funny to see how they responded to our menus, being full of choices. They didn't even know where to start! Then we roamed the streets, popped into the Torpedo Factory (a great place for local art), walked along the riverfront and just shopped around the different boutiques in the area. It was a great first day and Jen and Paul seemed to have a good time.

Monday: What great weather and what a great day for the BEACH! Jen and Paul were tickled to know that we lived rather close to a great beach and were all for spending a day there. So, seeing that Tues was scheduled to rain and the rest of the week was going to be cooler, we chose Monday. Yes, I managed to get the nerve to put my 5 1/2 month pregnant body in a bathing suit! I'm just so proud of myself that I drove the whole way there and back without getting lost, with the use of a GPS of course!! Rehoboth Beach is a beautiful beach in Delaware and is chockful of shops, eateries and a boardwalk. It's the beach that most of the DC locals visit and for good reason! The weather was so perfect, hot but no humidity, and there were tons of people that had the same idea as us. After spending all day on the beach, we decided to head back home. Our friends had a wonderful time visiting a US beach for the first time and splashing around in the water and loved seeing their excitement! On the way home, we stopped by Bojangles for some quick southern eating where we devoured fried chicken and biscuits. They absolutely loved it!!

Tuesday: Icky weather = mall. So, I took them to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. They had a hayday running in and out of the stores. Malls of this size don't exist in England so they loved it! Not to mention they were getting 2 dollars for every pound they spent. So everything was basically half price to them! Oh my, did we have lots of bags to bring home! What an entertaining day I had as watched them shoot fireworks from their wallets! Afterwards, Paul and I drove to Georgetown to pick Brad up from work and got so lost. DC is horrific for crazy roads and exits that come up so quick you don't have time to think. Even with a GPS system, we ended up way on the north side of town! We did make it eventually but not without a nervous breakdown!! :o)

Wednesday: Brad had the day off to travel around with us, yeah! So, we took advantage of the gorgeous spring like weather and Brad's sense of direction and took a tour of DC via the double decker bus. What fun! I highly recommend this for anyone visiting the city. We hopped on at 10:30 am and hopped on and off at the different sites until 5:30! It was a lot of fun and a great way to see the city without walking all over it!

Thursday: A day in Georgetown. It was amazing at how the weather changed so drastically. Not that it was raining but the temperature dropped a good 15-20 degrees! So, even after my disastrous journey to G-town on Tuesday, we decided that I would try driving again into the district. This time, I made it without getting lost! So, we spent yet another day on the streets for Jen and Paul to hit all the shops they didn't have at the mall. And you would be amazed at how many more bags we came home with! We even got to see Brad for a few minutes on the street as he ran errands for work. And we made it home without me getting lost...sorry to constantly bring this up, but it's a huge deal for someone with no sense of direction!

Friday: Last day of their visit - we spent most of it in Old Town and at the shops of Potomac Yard for a visit to Target and TJ Maxx so they could buy another suitcase to put all of their purchases in! Afterwards, we drove yet again to G-town to pick Brad up for dinner but this time, we got lost again!! Oh my gosh, this town drives me crazy with their roads! Some Frenchman named L'Enfant designed DC to be somewhat like the road system in Paris with all of its roundabouts and craziness. What was he thinking? Seriously! But although we got lost, we managed to make it there, though a little late. We had dinner reservations at Maggianos for Italian food...this is Jen and Paul's favorite food so they were in love with this place! It was a great way to finish out a perfect week!

Saturday: They had to leave and head back to London. :o( What a great time we had this week!