Jetsetter

Easton and I are back from our quick trip to Washington D.C. and I continue to be more and more impressed with our little rookie's performances. He did absolutely great on both flights...and thank goodness because we flew the US Airways Shuttle so the "if that kid screams his head off I'm going to throw my BlackBerry at you" stares were in FULL effect. Biggest compliment received was "I didn't even realize there was a baby in there" from the man sitting in the row behind me. A+, Easton, A+!

A tricky shot with the iPhone...but there's our ride

No matter where we are the feet are a guaranteed good time!

Ready for takeoff!!!

No, Easton, you're supposed to listen to
the safety announcements

The kiddos meet for the 1st time! Adorable :)

Alright, so I'll stop my mommy bragging and focus on the rest of the weekend we spent with Team Sandness. Polly and Pete recently PCS'd (our military acronym for a permanent move from one duty station to another) from San Antonio, TX to the Washington D.C. area this summer. I headed down to help Polly out with the kiddos and around the house because Pete recently left for a six month deployment to Germany (Oktoberfest anyone? I know I'm considering dusting off my good ole passport!). Though the weather wasn't perfect it didn't matter - we had a ball together!

On Saturday we all got up and had a yummy breakfast of french toast with fresh berries and bacon! We we all enjoyed the lazy morning together.

Mmmmm, bacon!

0 to 60 in about 2 seconds flat!

Easton passed on the bacon...he's watching his figure

ADORABLE! Maren was making a "cake" for Easton.
The main ingredient was paper with a delish hint of
plastic beaded necklace. Coming soon to stores near you!

Accessory by Maren...soon all the kids will be wearing
stickers on their foreheads!
(p.s. Yes, I did my own hair, don't hate, it's tough being this beautiful)

"Look at this idiot!" - Tyler Sandness

Teaching Smallz how to read

After cleaning up we took the kiddos down to Old Town Alexandria where Maren and Tyler battled it out for control of the umbrella stroller...no clear winner and a truce was finally declared, oh, about 10 minutes before it was time to leave for home. :) We had fun feeding the duckies and stopped for a "quick" lunch at Austin Grill (where Polly earned my vote for "Mom of the Year" - let's just say we were that table and she didn't even bat an eye) before rocking out with some Sesame Street music on the way back to the house. Sadly, I forgot my camera that day so here are a few iPhone shots :(

Come to find out ducks like Goldfish, too

Pigtails, check! Stripes, check! Cute, check!!

Back at the house we painted:

Had snack time:

Mmmm....Fruity Pebbles

MMMMM...Fruity Pebbles

Ah forget this one at a time crap, Ma...

Is Pete Sandness your father? Oh, really, I thought you
kinda looked alike!

Got serenaded by a pretty girl (um, yea, playing a ukelele):

AND checked in on the Falcons while they played Rampart High School...oh, uh, no, that was Tennessee State (c'mon, man!):

So that wrapped up our Saturday - I didn't take photos of the well earned Mommy after-party ;)

Sunday was another fabulous day. Woke up to rain so I suggested we just hang out at the house...and I'm so glad Polly obliged. We knocked out probably seven loads of laundry, sorted mail that she hadn't had time to do (weird...I mean, c'mon slacker), rearranged some furniture and all around just dominated the domestic landscape! It was precisely why I went and it made my heart smile to just help her with those little things :) The kids watched movies, read books, took a nap and played with Easton (Jace, please note that football was on in the background - keeping your son tuned in).

Mom, HEEEELP!!!  ;)

To reward the kiddos for behaving so well while cooped up inside all day we packed up the Explorer and headed up for a late-afternoon ice cream.

Forgot to not use the "sunset" filter
inside - #photogfail

Tyler's choice was Cookies 'N Cream

Maren went with Cotton Candy

Lucky girl even got a sprinkle cone!

This was before his polo ate
most of the ice cream ;)

Easton chose Alimentum flavor
(is it too late to work on my tan...ugh, gross)

Time to clean off those sticky paws

Happy girls!

Sunday night Polly had her part-time nanny come over and put the kids down while we went out for a nice dinner at Bonefish Grill. We had some fabulous Sauvignon Blanc from Starmont Winery (seriously, give this a try - YUM) I'm also happy to report that Mrs. Sandness' culinary aperture is opening up as she tried my seared ahi tuna and was hooked (whoa...ok, yea, pun intended)! So I'll declare a legit "Mission Accomplished"on this trip. Can't wait to see what we come up with next...but I have a feeling some fruity umbrella drinks may be in our near future (hello DR!).