Capitol idea

Damon and I decided to celebrate his first birthday with a flight to Virginia to visit Grandma Brown. Thanks to some wonderful friends here who helped take care of the girls during workdays, Damon and I were able to spend a week at Grandma's visiting family, helping out around the house, and even seeing some sights.

It turned out to be a great time to go: we got to be there for two other cousin birthdays, a baptism, and Mother's day! It was neat, and unusual, for me to hang out with Steven's family without Steven, but it was a nice reminder of what a great choice I made to marry him. I loved hanging out, playing piano duets, and watching episodes of "As Time Goes By" and "One Step Beyond" with Linda; watching a local "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Linda and Heather (courtesy of Rachel's babysitting!); chatting with Heather and Richard on car rides to DC; visiting with Jason and Tashia; and of course seeing all the local nieces and nephews!

Damon opens his birthday presents from Grandma Brown

Damon and Uncle Richard

Savannah, Damon, Caleb, and Lindsey at Caleb's baptism

Damon, Joshua, and Caleb get ready to pick up chicks outside the ladies' room

Damon's cousin Tiana is a baby lover like her mom!

Showing off his Texas rodeo skilz at the carpet store

Showing off my great new 'do, courtesy of my niece Rachel!

And of course, we couldn't be in the area without going to the Capitol. Steven calls these Damon's "Flat Stanley" shots, where I'm basically taking pictures of stuff and plopping my baby in there, but gosh, how else am I supposed to show we were there? (or at least, that Damon was there).

Anyway, Damon and I had a fun day in DC. We saw Smithsonians...

And ate lunch on the lawn of the Capitol building.

Then we visited the monuments:

Including the new MLK one, which I hadn't seen yet. I made sure to get Damon's picture in front of the controversial (and misleading) drum major quote, before it gets changed.

Altogether we had a wonderful trip. And, as an added bonus, when we got home, Steven and the girls all acted especially appreciative to have me back.