Monday 18 January 2010

Drawing to a close

It's been a busy last week here but not a lot to say. We've been hurried with last minute trips around the state to say hello to lots of people that we thought we had a lot of time to catch up with! I must remember to start booking nights out earlier next trip! We've been especially sad to have missed catching up with many of our ex-Denbigh High colleagues who have moved on from DHS - you know, it would have been a lot easier if y'all had stayed in the same building!! Ryan's grandmother has not been well which has been worrying and obviously, time consuming as she lives in Suffolk which is quite a distance from where we have been staying with Ryan's sister's family. However, we WILL be back sometime and hope to catch up with those we missed as a first priority.


Not too many photos to share - just one of Ryan and Cassie in Washington DC. We went up for a quick visit last weekend, to catch up with friends and see some of the museums. Bob and Kirsten were fabulous hosts as always and it was a delight to meet their son for the first time. We ate a ton of food and had a lot of fun, hanging out. On the Sunday, the Fatzes sensibly stayed home and Ryan and I braved a sunny, but below freezing day to go and see some sights. Ryan was especially keen to visit the National Archives and see the original documents of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the proclamation that freed the slaves and many other relics of American history and government. I was thrilled that there were no lines and the buildings were well heated :) I took the pic (left) on the mall in the walk between the Archives and the Museum of American History where we went afterwards - it was so so so cold but once again, Cassie refused her gloves so we were unable to do too much walking to see the monuments. We had brave plans to visit the new WWII memorial which was in construction last time we visited, but the Arctic wind blasting up the Mall from the Potomac River changed our minds!!


Thankfully, there's been a change in the weather over the last few days - mid to high 50s F (about 13-15 Celsius) and we have perceived it as so warm, we've spent a fair few hours outside! We took Cassie and her cousins to Colonial Williamsburg for more photos on Friday - Jared and Cate were very patient as they not only have a paparazzo mother who is an awesome and avid photographer but now they have a photo mad aunt to deal with too! I took most of those photos in RAW format though so I am dying to get home and start playing with them in my processing software!


Today, we will be seeing a few of the cousins and Cassie will get one last crazy playtime with the older kids as we leave for New York tomorrow. Sadly, it's raining here and the forecast is for more in NYC but we figure we'll spend tomorrow at the Met which is always great anyhow. I found a great deal on a 4 star hotel on Times Square so that will soften the blow of departure hopefully! We arrive home on Thursday morning and have our first day of meetings for the new school year on Friday so all of this will seem like another world! We've had such a blast and again leave wishing it was cheaper and closer so we could do this trip more often. Cassie has had such fun, as have we. Love to all here and there - bye for now!

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