Don't faint, it's really a new post

I've been gone so long I can't even count it. I let the whole rest of the summer go by without one post. It's a puzzle as to what I've been doing with my time. I've nothing to show for my missing blog posts. It's all very untoward. 

But here we go again with a short post and a half hearted promise to try this again. I can't promise it will stick. 

For the first time since August 1994 school has started and it affects me in no way whatsoever. I'm currently out of work, and Owen is the last born child of ours in school, needing no help from me. I'm so OK with that. School is now something other people do. John's of course still teaching, but he doesn't need my help either. It's the best thing ever!

When I was last here my family was about to embark on our vacation to DC, and we expected it to be fun. We were not disappointed. We saw much of this beautiful land that we love. Tennessee and the great Smokey mountains and Pigeon Forge Tennessee as well as Gatlinburg. I cannot imagine living on a side of a mountain, and the mountain is your backyard. Just walk out your back door and boom, mountain. It's really quite something. 

I think we saw every square inch of Virginia, at least it felt like it. And while Virginia is quite lovely, it's too much real estate for one trip. It's square mileage is 42,775 and Texas is 268,597. But when driving, the two feel equally as big. I don't know what else to tell you about that. 

We saw no famous people in DC while there. We covered a lot of ground and got to see an extra special place or two while there. I'll show you a peek of our trip. 

Driving in Tennessee is always a lovely thing to do.

Beba looked quite happy, while Owen did not. The boy is not a fan of mountains and heights. 

This is a good example of a lovely day. Billowy clouds hanging over a pasture full of freshly cut hay rolls. It's perfectly beautiful. Americana at its best.

We saw the White House...outside first, inside later.

I saw this Georgia congressman giving an interview. He and I agree on absolutely nothing. 

This is the view from the Speaker of the House's Balcony.

It's really quite something. 

The hall to the Speaker's office. He did NOT come out and say hello.

Down under, in the tunnel to the capitol. All underground tunnels lead to the capitol. I don't really know if that's true, I just felt like saying it.

My people walking in the tunnel.

My people waiting outside the office.

My people walking down a hall. I like all these walking pictures. 

Group photo in the congressman's office. 

Before we left for DC I was watching the news and saw this super tall guy walking through the capitol. I was amazed at his tallness...or everyone else's shortness. 

WELL! We were in DC, in the car near the capitol and. There. He. was. Walking down the street. He was NOT singing, Do WA Diddy, did dum diddy do. BUT it was the same guy from the TV! What are the odds!? It was a stunning event on the vacay. AND Emma knew who he was. That as well was stunning. To me anyway. 

I took multi shots of the walking.

 Stunning.

At the end of the afternoon we went to eat Mexican at Pacifico Cantina. It was delish and they have the most delicious margaritas in the land. 

It was an open air restaurant and it was raining a little and the whole experience was quite lovely. 

Then we went home to regroup and maybe collapse. I don't remember. Owen seems to be making a statement here.

I just like all of these and so I put them in.

And one more....

This is Olivia macaron. NOT Olivia's macaron. Two very different things. 

 Before we went to DC, Caitlin had the idea to look into a girls only afternoon tea. Here's how it came about.... 

And a brilliant enjoyable idea was born. So we went to Lady Camelia for tea and scones and had the loveliest time ever. It was so much fun and I barely even like tea. But that wasn't the point. It was all quite grown up and lady like. I can do that sometimes. Not often. 

I thought about buying the girls a teacup as a momento, but they were pretty expensive. 

We were all very excited about the event.

It was the cutest and best place for tea. If your'e ever in Georgetown, you should pop in for tea. But you have to have a reservation. 

We don't know those people, I was trying to get a panoramic. 

We ate all of this. We did not drink all of the tea.

I very stupidly didn't get a picture of each daughter, so I had to snag this one from snapchat. 

Beba was happy too.

And that is some of our fun, exhausting family trip to Washington DC. It was a memory well made. If I can make myself keep this blogging up, I'll post more of our trip as well as anything else we did this summer. 

Summer is gone, but why is it still so hot that we could boil an egg on the concrete? I just can't deal with the heat much longer. It just keeps dragging on and on. Each year, along with the entrance of September, comes the hope of Fall bringing a cool snap to our thick southern air. But almost always we're disappointed when the heat of summer tags along for the fun of it. And before we know it, we hang our hope on October and pray September passes quickly. So this year once again, we hope for the pumpkin month and a nice chilly breeze. I hope it comes soon. Our air conditioner could use the rest and recuperation. 

It's 2:13 on September 20th and I need to find my bed. I mean, I know where it is, I just have to extricate myself from the couch to the room where it lives. 

In the meantime the safest of travels for anyone going anywhere in the world.