It's all good . . .

Vacation Adventure: The Brown Family Party - Part 2

We started Saturday morning with family portraits - it was a wonderful, low key shoot, and we ended up with beautiful pictures.

And Kevin was beyond happy that he got to keep his beard in them ;).

After the photographer left, I took advantage of having everyone looking nice, to snap a few pictures.  Unfortunately, I only had my phone, but its all good.  I love the one with all four Brown granddaughters.  I think it is fun that each of the Brown boys got their one daughter :).

After pictures were finished, everybody changed clothes and went back to having fun.  Kevin took Arthur out in the boat, which he just loved!

Then it was Arthur's turn to fish with Grandpa Dennis, and he even caught a little fish.  So fun!

After lunch, most of us headed to the other part of the lake, where the resort had their cool toys.  Kevin went out there to help Arthur, since the water was way too cold for me ;).  The kids had just gotten out there and started playing, when in rolled a thunderstorm.

We were responsible parents and had everyone get out of the water, and every time we thought the storm had cleared, we heard thunder again.  We ate snacks, the kids played in the bounce house, and Derek and Kevin played catch for a bit.  Arthur was getting really cold, and so I left them all to play and took him home.

I let him "swim" in our cabin hot tub (which is actually how he spent the morning before he had to shower for pictures) to warm up.  Derek eventually came home and joined him, but then he heard that Lily and the rest of his cousins were in the big outdoor hotter at the main lodge, and so he headed there instead.

After all the hot tub fun, it was time to get cleaned up for our final family dinner of the reunion.  We all wore our Brown Family shirts, that Conner and Peyton designed - they assigned each member of the family a Star Wars character.  Our family was Kevin Solo, Lisa Organa, Lily-2-D2, Derek Hobbie Klivian (and actual Star Wars character) and Arthur-bacca.  So awesome!  After dinner, while we waited for the family fun, Conner bought out his Tie Fighter drone and flew it around - so fun!

Then we made a camp fire and all gathered around to roast marshmallows and make s'mores.  Dennis spoke to us all about family, and how proud he is of how everyone is living their lives.  It was really nice.

Then the real fun began - the white elephant parent presents.  Kevin had come up with an idea for each of the brothers to come up with a white elephant gift for each of their parents, and they were awesome.  Kevin's were the best, but mostly because they were not only super awesome ideas, but he made both of his presents.  He crocheted a mermaid tail blanket for his mom, and then made a Lego set of Alderan all exploded - complete with instructions.  It was fabulous!  We all laughed so hard!

After we finished up, Lily finally got her turn to fish with Grandpa.  She had to have a license for it, since she is over 14, and so we had to get that sorted out first.  For her, it was worth the wait.  And she caught a fish - a tiny fish, but a fish, none the less.  She was in heaven.  

It was so nice out on the dock, we all decided to hang out there - even if it meant that the boys had to be quiet :). It was a wonderful way to spend the beautiful evening.

We were so blessed the entire weekend to have such amazing weather - temps in the 70's and it was so nice.  And the sky was beautiful, with spectacular sunsets each night.

The next morning, we got packed up and ready to head to Twin Falls.  We said goodbye to all the cousins and aunts and uncles, as each group headed out on their separate ways.   

We were going to head to a local sacrament meeting before we headed out, but first, our GPS sent us to the wrong place, and then suddenly, Arthur threw up all over himself, and his chair, and his booster seat.  It was awful.  Luckily, we were able to get back into our cabin so we could wash him off and rinse all his clothes and such, and then we put him in pj's and just drove to Twin.  Sadly, he had picked up the stomach bug that his cousin, Isaac, had during the reunion.  Poor little guy - this was his second stomach bug of the trip.  And he had gotten Kevin's cough. Oh well.  

In spite of how it ended,  it was an amazing weekend, and I am so grateful that we were able to have the special time with Kevin's family.

Vacation Adventure: Going to Yellowstone

When we found out that our reunion was going to be in Island Park, only 30 minutes from the West Yellowstone gate, I knew that I wanted to go.  Even though I lived in Idaho for years, and Kevin had grown up there, neither of us had ever been, and so we decided to take the kids and go.  We were on the hunt for wildlife, but unfortunately, we didn't see very much.  I did see a crow, and a couple elk, but we were driving by them fast and I had to take my picture through the car window.  Oh well.

The real excitement was going to see Old Faithful.  Scott's family came with us, and the kids had a great time talking, and Kevin and Scott had a blast making jokes about what would happen if this was the first time Old Faithful didn't actually erupt.  It was nice to have Shannon there, as we rolled our eyes and laughed at our husbands' jokes :).  And yes, it was chilly enough that we wore sweatshirts.

Old Faithful was really cool, and it did erupt for quite a long time, although the biggest part of the eruption didn't last for very long.  We did have a few fake-outs at first though, which was pretty funny.  The kids thought it was awesome.

After Old Faithful, we took the path around the hot pots and geysers.  The kids had fun, although I may have inadvertently terrified Derek when I was trying scare Arthur into not stepping off of the walkway.  Oops.

As we walked around, I kept getting left behind because I was stopping to take pictures of all the beautiful geysers.

After our walk, we split up from Scott's family, and we headed to the Yellowstone Lake, which was beautiful.  The geysers there were spectacular, with amazing color.

The lake was so crystal clear, which was amazing.  And there were all these geysers just off the shore, making you realize how dangerous it would be to get into that water.  Crazy!

As we were walking around, it was no surprise that I was drawn to the wildflowers everywhere.  There were so many of them, and I tried to get a picture of every single type I could see.  They were so beautiful, and some even grew in the sulphur ruined barren ground.  Nature is amazing!

Soon, we were on our way out of the park, since Kevin had a golf date with his dad that we needed to get to.  It was a wonderful experience being in Yellowstone, and I'm very glad we had the chance to go.  And our trip was not complete without stopping for huckleberry ice-cream as we drove the town.  It was so yummy, and the perfect way to finish our adventure.

Vacation Adventure: The Brown Family Party - Part 1

On Thursday afternoon, we left Idaho Falls and headed to Island Park for a family reunion for Kevin's family, aka: The Brown Family Party.  Planned out almost two years ago, and the last reunion before Conner, the oldest grandson, will leave on his mission next summer, we were pretty excited about it.  Kevin's parents had rented out a beautiful lodge and some cabins on the lake for us all to stay in, and the setting was truly perfect.

After getting settled, we started things off with a family dinner, and as we all hung out and reconnected, it was perfect.

Soon after dinner, Kevin revealed his top secret project - the sewing project that had taken over our basement for the past few months.  He made his dad and his brothers, as well as the oldest nephew, special Tactical Rompers.  He took some of his old Army uniforms, shortened the sleeves and the legs, and then sewed them together and fixed the zipper.  They turned out pretty amazing.  And everyone loved them, and it was the perfect way to start off the party.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the view and the beautiful weather out on the balcony.  Then we headed back to our cabin for the night, just down the road.  We were really blessed to have a cabin all to ourselves.  We had a kitchen, washer and dryer, a room for the kids, and even a hot tub.  It was so nice.

The next morning, we got up early, and went with Scott's family to Yellowstone National Park.  We had such a great time with them, and it was our first time ever going there.  (I am going to post about that in a separate post.)  On our way back, we dropped Kevin off at the golf course with his dad.  A vacation isn't a vacation if Kevin doesn't get to play golf with his dad.

While they were golfing, Valerie broke our her new shaved ice machine, and we all had delicious snow cones.  Yum!

After being in crazy hot temperatures, it was so amazing to be in this beautiful place with highs in the seventies.  We were in heaven and spent as much time outside as possible.  Arthur especially loved getting to play with his cousins.

The lake was especially fun, and Arthur kept trying to skip rocks.

Kevin even set up the hammocks, which made a wonderful place to take it easy.  Dennis also enjoyed the peace and beautiful weather, falling asleep out on the lawn chair.  It really was so wonderful out there.

Even with as beautiful as it was outside, the kids spent plenty of time in the lodge playing video games together.  Playing with their cousins was my kids' favorite part of the reunion.  Not only did they play video games, but Kevin also taught our niece, Anna, to crochet.  Pretty fun.

One of the favorite activities of all the kids, was fishing with Grandpa Dennis.  They each had a turn, and they each caught a fish. Of our kids, Derek was the first one to do it, and he caught a giant fish.  So fun!

another super fun activity, was going out in Grandpa's fishing boats.  Lily and Derek went out on the lake, and had a blast.  

And while we were out on the dock, we got to enjoy the fabulous sunset.

It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

Vacation Adventure: Idaho Falls

We arrived in Idaho Falls around 9:30 pm, and my sister, Cheryl, was all ready for us.  We all went to bed, because Kevin and I were getting up early the next morning to attend a session at the Idaho Falls Temple with Cheryl.  It was so wonderful to go to the temple, and it was really cool to see this particular temple, because it was our first time being there since it was recently renovated.

After visiting the temple, we enjoyed getting to spend time with Cheryl and her family.  Michelle was their only kid home at the moment, and she and our kids had a fantastic time playing Rock Band together.

Arthur and I went out to look at their amazing garden, and while we were out there, we picked some raspberries.  As we picked, I kept finding giant pockets of berries, and ended up picking about 2 quarts of berried, and Cheryl let us take them with us on our trip, which was wonderful and delicious.

After lunch, it was time to head to Island Park for Kevin's family reunion, and so we said goodbye to Cheryl and Michelle, happy to know that we would see them again in a few days at my family reunion.  It was another short visit, but it was great, and I'm so glad we were able to do it.

Vacation Adventure: A Fun Couple Days in Utah

After breakfast on Monday morning, we left the Taylors and headed out on the long drive to Orem, Utah.  The drive took a through a tiny corner of Colorado, and then through Southern Utah, with all of its beauty and rock formations.

We arrived at the Draper's house in Orem just in time for dinner, and it was so great to be with Rob and Angela.  After we got the kids to bed, we ate amazing cupcakes and played pinochle until it was too late at night :).

The next day was the 24th of July, Pioneer Day, which is a state holiday in Utah because it marks the day when the first Mormon settlers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.  It meant that town was a little busy, and so we decided to take it easy and hang out at their house - swimming in the pool and hanging out.  The kids all loved experimenting with swimming with mermaid (or mermen) tails on.  Pretty funny.

We also had a visit from our wonderful friends, Tony and Katie.  We got to talk and catch up for an hour, and it wasn't long enough, but it was fantastic.  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

After their visit, Angela and I took Lily and Ellie clothes shopping.  Then we picked up dinner for the kids, and Rob and Kevin took Angela and I out to dinner at this fabulous Mexican restaurant in Orem.  So yummy! After we got home, we got the kids to bed and ate more cupcakes and played more pinochle.

The next morning, Angela and I got up early and took Ellie, Lily and Derek to the Timpanogos Temple to do baptisms.  It was such a wonderful experience, and I loved getting to spend time with my kids in the temple.  

After the temple, we stopped at Waffle Luv and got waffles for everyone to eat for a late breakfast before we headed to Salt Lake. They were just as amazing as ever :).

After saying goodbye to the Drapers, we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake.  Arthur was finally old enough to actually enjoy and remember being there, and so we were very excited to share it with him - and Lily and Derek always love getting to go to Temple Square.

I also love getting to point out to my kids that the Salt Lake Temple was where their dad and I were married.  And we had to get a picture in front of the temple as a family.

The visitors centers were a big hit with all three of the kids, and I loved some of their new exhibits, like the family history one.  It let me discover how many people in the US have my name and where they are distributed throughout the country - it did my maiden name, which was huge enough.  I an't imagine how many more people have Brown for a name.

We also took the kids into the Tabernacle, and got there just in time for an organ recital by Richard Elliot, the fabulous organist for the Tabernacle Choir.  It was so good!  Talk about fantastic timing!

For lunch, we headed to The Lion House for lunch - I truly love their food - especially their rolls!  Kevin and I both had turkey and mashed potatoes, and it was so delicious.

Then we headed back to our car.  It was such a wonderful visit to Temple Square, and we couldn't have asked for better weather and smaller crowds.  With Pioneer Day being the day before, most of the areas were very empty, which was so nice.

After Salt Lake, we headed to North Ogden to visit the Jones family.  We were heading on to Idaho Falls later in the evening, and so we only had time for dinner and a few hours of talking before we had to hit the road again, but it was wonderful.  We even got to see their son, Jordan, and his wife and kids.  It was so amazing getting to be with them, and I am so grateful for their friendship.

All too soon, we were back in the car and headed to my sister's house in Idaho Falls for the next stage of our vacation.

Vacation Adventure: A Quick Stop in New Mexico

Sunday morning, bright and early, we headed out on the road to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Let me tell you, if you have never driven through west Texas and New Mexico, it is a pretty barren, sad drive.  Not that my kids would have noticed.  They were too busy watching church DVD's.  On our way, we happened to drive through San Angelo, TX, where Kevin lived for Army training two different times for months.  As we drove by, he pointed out the barracks, and the two golf courses there.  He said that those three places pretty much summed up his time there.  We also drove through Roswell, New Mexico, but we didn't see any aliens ;).

It was so exciting when we got to Albuquerque, because it meant we were visiting the Taylor family!  It had been years since we had last seen each other, but it was like we had never been apart.  Especially Lily and Abi - and seeing them together always reminds me of when they were tiny and just turning one year old and always together.

Everett especially, had grown a ton since we saw them last, and so I had to get a picture of the boys all together, so that I can compare the next time they are together :).

I was so happy to get to spend time with Saundra - I sure do love her!  She and her husband Beau, along with Kevin and I, had the best time talking and catching up.  It was a very short trip, since we arrived about 5:30pm, and then left Monday morning at 8am, but it was a fabulous visit!  I miss them tons already!

Vacation Adventure: A Wedding in Austin

After the craziness of our time in Arkansas and driving to Austin, I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I was when we finally arrived at our hotel in Austin.  I still felt awful, but the kids had been so great, and they had really been looking forward to swimming in the hotel pool, so I had them get ready, and then I sat on a pool chair in the 100+ degree heat and swim in the fabulous pool.  They had a great time, but by the time they were done, all I could bring myself to do was collapse on the bed in our room.  That meant that the kids had to scrounge from our travel food for their dinner, as I was not going anywhere.  Oh well.

Late that night, I picked Kevin up from the airport, and it sure was wonderful to be all together as a family again.  In the morning, we headed to my sister, Wendy's, house.  We were having a family breakfast, and not only was it her family, but my mom, my sister, Cheryl, and my brother, Preston and his two youngest kids were there.  The breakfast was delicious, and the company was even better - especially my adorable great-niece, Avery.  (And she looks so much like her mom did as a baby, it is crazy.)

After we ate, my kids all headed out to Wendy's pool to swim, and they would have stayed there forever if we had let them.  While they were swimming, Kevin, Tod, and Jon all watched golf on the patio - and I started putting together their patio furniture, because, why not?

When the kids weren't busy swimming, Arthur was chasing their puppy, Leo around, and Lily was hanging out with her grandma.  It was great to see my nephew, Buddy, who was home for the wedding.  It had been years.

After we left their house, we headed out to get some amazing Texas BBQ for lunch.  So good!  And one of my very parts of being in Texas.  

Then we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the wedding - it was fun to get dressed up fancy - and I had the best looking date there ;).  It was also really fun to have my sister, Cheryl, and brother, Preston, there.

It was very, very hot.  Anytime in July in Texas is crazy hot, but we were in a heat wave, and it was 106 degrees.  We were all melting.  They had people passing around water for us to drink, and I couldn't get enough of it.  In spite of the heat, the ceremony was lovely.  My favorite thing was watching my sister's face as she watched her kids come down the aisle - since all four of them were in the wedding - Buddy, Logan, Megan, and of course, Brooke, the bride.

Brooke and James were both so very happy.

I am so glad that I was able to be there for it.

After melting for the ceremony, we were all very grateful to be in an air-conditioned building for the reception.

The reception was very nice, with beautiful flowers everywhere.

And in true Texas tradition, the food was wonderful - a mac 'n cheese bar, brisket, and so much more.  Yum!!

My favorite part of the reception was holding baby Avery.  We were all fighting over who got to hold her, and she was just the sweetest little baby.

We also had fun in the photo booth - always a good time!

It was a very fun, albeit short, visit to Austin.  Austin will always have a special in my heart, and I am so glad we got to add this part of our trip in.  It was wonderful to be there to celebrate with Brooke and James, and I loved spending time with my mom and a few of my siblings. 

Vacation Adventure: Misadventures in Arkansas

We headed out from Nashville, on our way to a little town in Arkansas to spend the night on our way to Austin.  Everything started out great - the kids were great, I wasn't too tired, and although there was some construction traffic that was annoying, the drive was relatively uneventful.  After driving through Memphis, we crossed the Mississippi River and saw the craziest Bass Pro Shop I've ever seen.

Just as we were crossing the bridge over the river, a metal ratchet strap winch came bouncing down the freeway at us.  There was no way to avoid it, and it crashed right into the car, hitting the front and the bottom sounding like it was ripping the bottom out of the van.  It scared me to death, and immediately, the air conditioner stopped working and it stopped showing the temperature.  I pulled over at the first gas station that I could, and checked the bottom of the van, and couldn't see anything wrong, and luckily the car was driving fine.  I called Kevin, and he looked up the nearest Honda dealership, and it would be on my way to Austin the next morning.

We eventually made it to our motel in Arkadelphia and got settled in for the night.  In the middle of the night, I got hit with a terrible bought of food poisoning, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night throwing up.  It was awful, and I was so exhausted and sick in the morning, I wasn't sure how I would even move, let alone drive six hours to Austin.

Luckily, Lily and Derek were very helpful - in fact, they packed up the whole car for me.  We got out super early, because I wanted to get the van checked out at the dealership in Texarkana, and we got there right when they opened.  They checked to make sure it was still safe for me to drive, and figured out a way for the AC to work without the temperature sensor woking.  He said to wait on the repairs for when we got back home, so we could report the accident to the insurance.

After getting the car checked out, we headed back out on the road, even though I was still feeling awful.  All I had held down all morning was a little water and some Sprite.  When I planned out our trip, all along I knew we would be driving through WACO, and so I wanted to stop at the Magnolia Silos for lunch and to look around.  I have been wanting to go there for years now, and it was finally my chance.  But I was sick, exhausted, and it was 105 degrees outside and crazy crowded.  We still stopped there anyway, and I found a bench in the shade (not that it mattered much, as it was still crazy hot), and sent Lily and Derek off with some money to buy lunch for them and Arthur.  I did still get a picture, even though I thought I would pass out.

I thought I was okay, but as we were heading out to the parking lot, between the heat and still not feeling well, suddenly I had to throw up again.  And again, and again.  Luckily I found a patch of dirt, but it was still so embarrassing.  And it was definitely not how I pictured my visit to the Silos.  And I never did get my cupcake at the bakery.  So sad.

Somehow I made it to our hotel in Austin, although I did have to stop twice to take naps because I was so wiped out.  Later that night, around 10:30pm, I was so relieved to pick up Kevin from the airport.  It was so good to have him with me, and after throwing up again on the drive back from the airport, he gave me a blessing, and not only was I able to sleep, but by the morning, I felt completely better.  And so it was a crazy couple day, but it all worked out in the end.

Vacation Adventure: Tennessee

Months ago, we started planning our summer trip out west.  We knew that we had to be in Idaho for a family reunion the end of July, and were trying to work out how we wanted to plan the rest of our time.  Then, we heard that my niece, Brooke's, wedding was going to be at the perfect time for us to swing down on our trip and attend her wedding. Suddenly, our trip began to look much different, and so besides going to Austin, we now were going to be able to stop and visit friends in Nashville and Albuquerque.  And it also made the trip a lot longer - an extra thousand miles and an extra week.

Well, we decided that to make it work, Kevin would stay at home and work the first week of our vacation, and then fly out to meet us for the wedding in Texas.  As it got closer, the preparations began, and on Monday, I started packing in earnest.  We needed to make sure we had Kevin's stuff for the rest of the trip, as well as all we needed for 3 weeks of travel.  By nine in the morning, I already had 15,00 steps, and by the end of the day I had over 23,000 steps.  Nice.

On Tuesday morning, bright and early, the kids and I were on the road and headed to Tennessee.  We had plenty of movies, audio books, and snacks for the road.  All was well, until Arthur told me his tummy hurt.  This was not what I wanted to hear, and although none of our kids get carsick, I had thought to bring a bucket along with me at the last minute.  Thank goodness I did, because Arthur totally threw up in it, about an hour into our 12 hour drive.  Good times.  Luckily, it was the only time he threw up.

All in all, the drive went really well - especially since I was the only driver and it was twelve hours long.  I sang really loud with music and chewed bubble gum to help keep me alert.  And it worked.  At dinnertime, we got to my best friend, Pamela's house, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.  It was so great to be there!  We had a blast talking and catching up, and stayed up until almost two am the first night.  Oops ;).

The kids had a great time playing too.  Wyatt and Houston, Pamela's boys, absolutely loved playing with Derek, and Arthur would switch off playing with the boys and playing with Lexy.

Other than talking to Pamela, I spent a lot of time trying to get in the good graces of her youngest daughter, Madison, who was an absolute doll.  I never actually got a picture of her, and so Pamela gave me this one.  Her curly hair, brilliant blue eyes and cherub face - added to her spunky personality - and I was wrapped around her finger.  Such a sweetheart!

Other than hanging out at their house and playing, we took the kids to a splashpad.  It was so hot out, that it was the perfect activity.  The kids had a blast, and Lily even played for a little bit, but then she got tired and hung out with us.  (It may have had something to do with the fact that she threw up that morning.  Oops. I felt so bad that we inadvertently brought some sort of stomach thing to Pamela's house.)

Right next to the splashpad was an awesome playground, and so we let the kids play so that their suits would dry off before we got into the cars to go.  If it hadn't been so crazy hot out, they could have played there forever.

On Wednesday night, Cliff, Pamela's husband, took care of the kids so that she and I could have a girl's night.  We went to The Melting Pot, since she had never been there and had always wanted to go.  It was so much fun, and the food was delicious - especially the dessert.  We were so full, but we managed to eat every bite.  Yum!!  We had such a wonderful time.

We really had a fabulous few days, but we did have a couple setbacks.  On Wednesday afternoon, Arthur went outside to eat his popsicle, and within a minute, had been stung by a wasp!  He was screaming and crying, "Why did this happen to me?"  Poor guy!  And on Thursday morning, his toe got caught under a door and it ripped a huge chunk of skin off - it was so gross and bleeding everywhere.  Luckily, both times, Pamela and I worked together to doctor him - or rather, I held him and tried to calm him, while she cleaned and bandaged him.  Nothing that watching a little Paw Patrol couldn't solve though :).

On Thursday, before we headed out of town, we stopped by the Nashville Temple, so that I could take eight year old portraits of Wyatt, Pamela's oldest son.  It was noon, so the lighting wasn't that great, but we still managed to get some great shots.  He is such a handsome boy.

After the portraits, we stopped at Sonic for lunch, and to say goodbye.  I hate goodbyes.

I sure do love this beautiful lady!  Twenty-two years later, and when we get together, it is like we have never been apart.  I will always be grateful that the Lord put Pamela in my life.

Hamilton . . .

Let me tell you a little story.  You see, I love Broadway musicals, and I am so lucky to be married to a man who also loves them.  Ever since we have lived near places where Broadway tours come (and actually had a little money to be able to buy tickets), we have tried to catch good shows that have come our way.  We have seen tours that came to Atlanta, Raleigh, Denver and Colorado Springs of Wicked (a few times), Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables (a couple times), Camelot, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jersey Boys, Annie, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly, Cinderella, and Spamalot (which Kevin took Lily to see).  

Every time we move, I get on the email lists from theaters nearby so I can see their Broadway line-up.  So when last spring I got an email from the The National Theater in DC telling me that if we got season tickets, we could also get tickets to Hamilton in the package, we were intrigued.  The other shows in the package looked pretty good - Mean Girls, Les Miserables, Something Rotten, and Waitress - and so we looked at the price.  We were able to get pretty good seats for the two of us, and it came to $625 per person, and that was including the Hamilton tickets at the Kennedy Center.  We couldn't resist, and so we got the tickets.

Over this past year and a half, we have had quite a lot of big and unexpected expenses come up that made us think that we should try and sell our tickets - that maybe we needed money more than the experience.  So Kevin put the tickets on Stub Hub, and we asked a lot of money for them.  We decided if we were giving up our tickets, it was going to be for lots of money.  Luckily, because the run in DC is for four months, the demand wasn't big enough to pay what we were asking, and so we decided to go.  I was so happy - I hadn't wanted to get my hopes up, just incase we sold the tickets.

And so yesterday, Kevin and I headed to Washington DC to the Kennedy Center Opera House to watch Hamilton.  The building was beautiful!  Kevin had wandered around it back when he was touring DC when he was on a trip to the Boy Scout Jamboree twenty five years ago, but I had never been there.

I loved how they had a photo-op area right in the main doors.  It was fun to get a picture of us all dressed up.

Then we headed up to the terrace for lunch at their cafe.  The food was only ok and was overpriced, but the views were fabulous!

After lunch, we wandered down to the grand lobby to go through security and wait for them to open the doors.  The lobby was so beautiful, and so was the theater.  We were also very happy with our seats, since we had no idea what they would be when we bought our tickets, since they were in a totally different venue.  All we knew was that they would be in the orchestra section.

The show was fabulous!!  The actors were all wonderful, and some of them just blew us away.  The story and music was wonderful (Although I am really glad that I read the biography that the play was based on, so I knew more of the history and what was accurate - I'm a nerd, I know.).  I totally cried more than once - poor Eliza.  And then when their son died - so sad!  We both loved it and I am very grateful that everything worked out for us to get to go.  It was such a wonderful date with my Kevin, and I am so glad we got to be there together.