Kellie Jo's Visit

This weekend, Kellie Jo, Jake's mom came to visit. We love visitors! It is so nice to see family when you have been away from them for awhile. We had a blast while she was here for a short little visit. Friday night, we went down to Fredricksburg and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the patio. We are beyond happy that it is finally nice enough for patio sitting. Then, we drove around downtown Fredricksburg for a bit.

Saturday we woke up early and headed to Panera for breakfast. After breakfast, we drove over to TBS to show Kellie Jo around and to grab something at the barracks. Next, we went up north to a huge mall, Potomac Mills. Potomac Mills has to be one of the best malls I have ever been to. It is just like a regular mall, but lots of the stores are outlets. It also has higher end stores you don't always see in regular malls. My favorite part is that it has all of my favorites, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods. I could literally spend days shopping there and still not go to all of the stores. I guess that is why we spent a good amount of time shopping. Yes, Jake actually was patient enough to shop with us. All three of us went a but crazy in the JCrew factory store. It was worth it though. All three of us combined got $400 worth of stuff for $250. We were pretty excited for a good deal and for lots of cute new clothes.

We were finally sick of the mall, so we headed back down south and went to mainside of the base to run a few errands. Kellie Jo was nice enough to brave the commissary on a Saturday with me. It was a complete nuthouse. I had never been to the commissary, though, and I figured it would be a fun experience. Jake waited in the car, of course. We headed home to drop Jake and the groceries off and then shopped a bit more just us girls. Saturday night, I made dinner for Jake and Kellie Jo. We were talking and thought it was interesting that this was the first time I had ever cooked dinner for Kellie Jo. She has cooked me so many wonderful dinners over the past 5 years, it was nice to finally be able to cook for her!

This morning (Sunday), we were up early to go up to DC. Our first stop was Eastern Market. My sister had taken Jake and I there when we visited her last summer and fell in love. It is an outdoor farmer's market, but also has an indoor area with butcher's stands, bakeries, flower stands, etc. I love seeing all of the fresh food. We ate breakfast at a cute little restaurant where had had the most delicious french toast. We then walked around the market and bought apples, corn, and some amazing apple butter. We then decided to walk down towards the National Mall. I have decided you can't go to DC without walking A LOT. The first stop on our walk was the capitol building. This was one place I hadn't seen yet in all of my visit. It is such a beautiful building. I was kind of amazed by it and how cool it is to see it up close. We also stopped by the national botanical gardens, which were pretty awesome as well. We then walked down the the tidal basin, where the Thomas Jefferson memorial is. This is all where all of the cherry blossoms are. I was a bit disappointed that we missed the peak of the blossoms, but they were still pretty. We were sick of walking at this point and decided to catch a cab back to the car. We ate lunch on the patio of a cute little restaurant before we got in the car and headed to Arlington Cemetery. After visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, watching the changing of the guards, and looking at JFK's gravesite, it was time to take Kellie Jo to the airport. Saying goodbye is always hard, but fortunately she will be back out here soon for graduation!

Today Jake and I felt truly blessed that we have been able to live so close to DC and get to explore it as much as we have. It really is a beautiful place and makes me proud to be an American. Thank you for visiting, Kellie Jo! We had a blast.

Until next time,

J and M