Our perfect world - for 18 days....

Well, R&R is over and life is back to our adjusted normal for the next 4 and a half months. We had such a wonderful time with James and it was truly amazing to see James and Kemper together. We had a very busy R&R, but it was worth it (I think James was semi looking forward to getting on the plane to catch up on his sleep - j/k).

When James got home, Kemper and I met him at the airport. After lots of hugging, aw-ing over Kemper and more hugging, a kind lady approached us and asked if she could take a picture for us because our reunion was too sweet and making her cry. Poor Kemper was rather overwhelmed with the events of the day and doesn't seem to enjoy this photo-op.

We spent the evening on Roanoke, just the three of us so that James and Kemper could get to know one another and we could have some quality family time. Poor James tried to make it awake all night to help with Kemper's bath but fell asleep and slept soundly through the bath and putting on of the pajamas. He woke up after Kemper was in bed and asked when bathtime was - bless his tired heart.

We had Kemper baptised the first weekend that James was home. The ceremony was beautiful and we were surrounded by family and friends (even amazing friends who drove up from NC to spend the day with us!). After the ceremony, we headed back to my parent's house for a picnic turned indoor gathering due to the excessive heat (although, James spent most of the afternoon outside...hmm, what happened to my hot natured hubby). We had a full house, but a great time visiting with everyone. Kemper was a perfect angel, also perfectly content being passed around as long as you were willing to cuddle him and let him sleep in your arms. At the end of the day, Kemper was well rested and James and I were ready to collapse.

Before heading to church

During the baptism ceremony

Father Steve presenting Kemper - James calls this the Lion King pose

Just hanging out with Auntie Ashley

James, Kemper and I heading to Washington, DC for 4 days to sightsee and have some time to ourselves as a family. We had a great time and Kemper proved to be such a good little traveler. Aside from having to stop to feed him, we made it to DC without too many pitstops and without getting lost (YAY us - ok, YAY GPS!!). The first day, we hit the ground running and walked from our hotel, to the White House, then onto the monuments. We visited the Washington Monument, the WW2 Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War memorial, FDR's memorial, the Jeffereson Memorial and then finished our day at Arlington National Cemetery. Kemper did great, rode in his stroller or in my Ergo carrier. James and I enjoyed just walking around, talking, and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Day 2 we headed to the Smithsonian museums (well, a few of the museums) and the National Galleries of Art. Kemper, again, did great, but did have a minor meltdown mid art museum that had us running for the hotel in hopes to calm him down. He calmed down and we headed back out to dinner. We attempted twice to eat at ESPN The Zone but, due to LONG waits and their apparent policy to seat large groups before smaller parties that had been waiting forever, we never actually got to eat there. We did head over to the Hard Rock and had dinner the first night we were there. You would have thought the loud music would have bothered Kemper, but quite the opposite. He LOVED it and actually fell asleep mid meal.

Day 3 we visted the Botanical Gardens, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, the museum of Natural History and the National Portrait Gallery. Overall, we had a great vacation and really enjoyed ourselves. Kemper may not remember this trip, but we took lots of pictures (of course) and will hopefully be able to take him back when he's old enough to remember.

For the rest of James's R&R, we stayed on the run, visiting family and friends. I did convince James that he and I should go out one night for a romantic date without Kemper. I didn't think he was gonna let Grandma Rita pull out of the driveway with Kemper, but we managed to get on the road and headed to Roanoke. Our plan was dinner and a movie, but instead, we went to look for James some new tennis shoes, went to the mall, and ate at IHOP. We, honest to goodness, were the youngest people in IHOP except for the little girl there with her grandparents. Maybe not such a romantic dinner, but it was delicious and we had a great time. James was very happy to pick up Kemper at Grandma Rita's that night.

We were sad to say goodbye to James yesterday, but, there are only 4 and a half months left. We've come this far, we know we can make it til the end. There were too many pictures to post in the blog, so here's a link to the rest, enjoy!

http://tinyurl.com/5gjuca