5 Years

 5 years ago a tradition started that I look forward to each and every year....a girls getaway!  These trips are filled with laughter and tears and endless memories made.  This year was particularly a little bittersweet since one of our dear friends in a few short weeks will be moving 1,000 miles away! These trips have always been important to us but we are now even more committed to meeting up once a year no matter where we are and continue this wonderful tradition.

 This year our trip landed us in Washington DC.  Some would think that the 12 hour drive would be long and boring but not for us.  I can honestly say that the drive there and home was probably the highlight of the trip.  When the 5 of us are together we are always surrounded by our 21 wonderful children.  As you can imagine it is difficult to have even a 20 second conversation without being interrupted by someone needing something.  So to have 24 hours of adult conversation proved to be very therapeutic and so so fun.  The drive flew by and was filled with singing and dancing, crying and laughing hysterically.

Our first stop before even getting to the hotel was Cafe Rio for lunch.  It was D-licious and the only quiet moments we had were when we were filling our fat faces as fast as we could with this amazing feast.  We managed to visit this place not once but twice in our 3 days there!

The next couple of days were filled with lots of sightseeing although there was a dark cloud following us on this trip. The phone call we got from one of the hubbies only a few hours into the trip that he was headed to the emergency room for stitches should have been a warning to us that a bumpy road or should I say slick road was ahead of us!

We headed to Arlington National Cemetery and took a tour of the grounds.  It was peaceful and beautiful and reminded all of us how thankful we are for our freedom and for those who have provided it for us.

Visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was wonderful and learning about the guards and watching them change their post was amazing.

That night we headed for some frozen yogurt at pinkberry and caught a chick flick at the movies.

The next morning we headed to DC to visit the Holocaust museum.  No pictures were allowed but if you ever have the opportunity to visit this place you must go.  It was gut-wrenching and chilling but I think so important to remember what happened not all that long ago.

We went outside for just a minute to decide where to head for lunch and this is where quite literally the black cloud continued to follow us.  It started to rain and one thing led to the next and before we knew it our very pregnant friend slipped and fell face down on the ground and hurt her foot.

 The next few hours were spent filling out forms and visiting the on site nurse and trying to figure out what to do with our dear friend who could not walk anywhere!

Our friend assured us that she was ok as long as we could push her around in a wheelchair so we continued on and headed to our tour of the Capitol building.

(the dome of the Capitol building)

The tour was great and while getting around with carts and wheelchairs and cabs was a little more difficult we made it work. 

Getting home was another story.  Our hotel was about 40 minutes from DC and since all of the wheelchairs were borrowed from the places we went we were left to our own strength to get this cute girl home.  So what did we do?  We did what all good friends do...carried her from the capitol through all the train stops and made it safely back to the hotel. 

We had to stop many times for breaks because we were laughing so hard we could not breathe.  We had more strange looks than I care to talk about and we had nothing short of  3 offers of people wanting to call us an ambulance!  This is a moment we all will NEVER forget and while it was not what we had planned on having happen we bonded together and made it work and still had fun doing it.  The lady who we asked to take this picture for us must have thought we had completely lost our minds....and she just may be right!

That night we ended up in the emergency room until 3:00 in the morning!  How I have no pictures of this event I am not quite sure.  After hours of tests and monitoring and x-rays we were given the all clear and headed our tired heads back to the hotel with a set of crutches and an ace bandage.  My favorite moment may have just been when Steph wanted to play a hand clapping game for fun at 2:30 in the morning.  I think the trauma of the day must have gotten to her head at that point.  Boy do we love that girl!  Keep in mind this was now the 2nd trip to the emergency room...and the black cloud continues to follow still.

We saw lots more sights and ate a ton of really great food and got all good and tuckered out!  Just in time to wrap things up with a relaxing trip to the spa.

Our trip came to an end with a fabulous trip to the spa at the Lansdowne Resort.  It was beautiful and so relaxing.  After all the hopping and pushing and crutching we were all ready for some relaxing.  And that is just what we did.

 

I never think it is possible to love these girls any more than I already do but these trips always prove me wrong.  I am blessed in my life to have a group of women who cheer me on when I succeed and cry with me when I fail.  Who show me how to be better by their amazing examples.  They have been proud of me on my best days and have hugged me on my worst.  We laugh until we cry and I would truly be lost without them. 

I can't finish without a shout out to our amazing hubbies who hold down the fort while we are away.  I honestly think they look forward to it as much as we do and I question sometimes who has more fun.  They themselves have sleepovers and play games almost every night we are gone.  We are so glad that they are all close as well and have fun together while we are gone.

And you may be wondering about that black cloud?  Well, I knew there was trouble when I got a call from Charlie asking how to get blood stains out of clothes!  The story involves a broken plate, some water, Morgan on the counter, and falling off flat on her face and lots and lots of blood.  ER trip number 3 followed soon after.  All is well except for some bruises and a ginormous top lip!

Another year down....I look forward to the next 5, 15 and 20!