Luke's Week Off: Staycation and The 4th with Matt & Whitney

Luke got a week of work (Much Deserved!) and we just had a staycation. It was really nice to have him around and the kids loved that.

On Monday, we went 1 1/2 hrs south to a lakeside forest resort called Callaway Gardens. We started out at the beach. We were worried that it would rain because there was a high chance, but luckily no rain until we were done. Then, we had some delicious pizza and ice cream at a cute little shop. After that, we saw Florida State University perform their circus act. Abby really liked watching all the tricks and was quite attentive. Brad, on the other hand, could have cared less. It was kind of neat sitting under the big top tent with the rain coming down along the edges. Finally, we went to the butterfly house- a green house with beautiful plants and tons of butterflies flying about. The kids loved seeing all of them flying and were running around with their arms up to the sky.

It was a good day. Here are some pictures to prove it :)

 The only circus picture. Included is the sweaty man in front of us that was creating quite the wonderful scent.

 That was Brad's stance for a lot of the time in the butterly house. Arms up... did he think he could catch them?

Later that week, Luke's brother, Matt & Whitney and their 1-year-old, Lana, came through on their way from Houston to D.C. for Matt's internship. We were really happy to see them, even if it was only a day and a half. Abby loved her Aunt Whitney and didn't want to ever leave her side. Unfortunately, I had to work on the night of the 4th of July, so I missed out on some of the time. We mostly just hung out eating and the guys went to a movie on the 5th.

These are some pictures of the July 4th celebration that I missed. (Thanks for the pictures, Whitney... I wish there were some of you!)

Cutie pie Lana and Matt. I love her reaction. "Hahaha!... Oooh..."

This picture cracks me up.

 Luke setting off the 1 firework because of the rain. Many big fireworks were cancelled that night, too, because of the rain.

 I guess the kids really did not like the loud sound it emitted.

In other news: We said goodbye to our 2001 Ford Taurus. No longer are we a 2 Ford Taurus family! And we said hello to my favorite vehicle ever, a Honda Odyssey. It's like a whole new world. Love.

Aaahhh!