Summer break and a visit from two Kocs

Thomas' best friend since childhood called him last month to say that he had to attend a meeting in DC. Since he had to be out our way, he decided to turn it into a mini vacation. He flew out on Friday night with his 7-year old daughter Karoline. Karoline is just a month older than Kara, so our kids were extremely excited.

Saturday, we took them to St Mary's City. As always, we had a great time. We had Sonic for lunch and came home to put Luke down for a nap. I stayed with Luke while everyone else went to the beach at Solomon's. After that, Kevin and Karoline wanted to go to the Saturday mass and my girls decided they wanted to give it a try as well. Thomas didn't want to leave Kevin with 3 kids, so he went along. It was a very busy day!

Standard photo on the Maryland Dove

Sunday, we went to Six Flags. It was incredibly crowded! More crowded than I remember Kings Dominion being. The ride times were still manageable, but because the park is kind of crammed into a small area, it felt really busy. We didn't even get our (kinda sorta free, since we bought a meal plan) dinner, because the lines for every food service place were literally out the door. But, we still had a lot of fun.We grabbed some Papa Johns pizza on our way home and ended the evening with a karaoke party.

Everyone thought I was being nice for volunteering to stay with Luke. Ha! Luke was asleep and I went and had a soda in a quiet, air-conditioned restaurant while they stood in line for the river ride.

I told Kara she looked like a celebrity in disguise...

So, Anna decided to try as well.

Monday was Kevin's meeting in DC and Thomas also had to work. I took the kids to Ann Marie Gardens and a park. Ann Marie has their Fairy Festival and we enjoyed trying to find all 60 fairy houses. We played at their wooded area for a while and then went to the park next door for a picnic lunch. One of Jack's classmates was there and they enjoyed playing together. It is always so funny when kids see their friends outside of school, it's like they aren't quite sure what to do. 

I love the play area at the gardens. The kids had a blast making fairy houses and putting on shows.

The girls had contests to see who could last the longest on this thing pretty much the entire 90 minutes we were at the park (if you're wondering--it was Kara).

Tuesday we went to DC. We went to Natural History, the Archives and then walked around the memorials. We also took a quick peak inside American History so Kevin and Karoline could see the flag that inspired our National Anthem. 

With President Lincoln

Obligatory silly photo with the Washington Monument in the background.

Their flight left Wednesday afternoon, so we just stuck close to home. We were all sorry to see them go. Thomas remarked on how much he missed having a friend to do things with. I told him he should make more of an effort with the people here and he responded, "I don't need any new friends, I have a perfectly good one--he just lives in Kansas." Not a surprising response. I (obviously) love my family, but I also enjoy my friends. I like meeting up with them at the park, or having book club or seeing the occasional girls night movie. I wish he had that as well. Of course, it's a slippery slope, I wouldn't want him to suddenly start playing golf every Saturday, but a nice once-a-month outing would be a good compromise.

Thanks to the visit, our summer break is off to a good start. I had another job interview last week. I think it went okay. Once again, I don't have experience in the practice area (acquisitions), but I do have some things going for me, so we shall see. I put my odds around 50%. Of course, I have no basis for that. The things I see in my favor are: they are hiring for multiple positions, I have experience working with the military, and I am local.  My HUGE drawback is the lack of specific experience. So I guess it just depends on the pool of candidates, which I know is kind of a "duh" statement.

That sums up week 1. The kids are at VBS this week, which they are enjoying. I surprised them with a trip to the pool yesterday and they have been doing their "Bridge the Gap" workbooks to hopefully maintain everything they  learned in their previous grades. 1.5 weeks down, 8.5 to go!

Two more photos, just for fun.

During our walk one night, Luke decided to forgo his scooter, stroller and trike in order to push his lawnmower through the neighborhood.

Everyone diligently working on their father's day book for Thomas.