I'm Still Here....

So - I'm still here. I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth or anything...but my little sister was in town last week and seeing as we are both big bad grown-ups now (cue hysterical laughter) and don't see each other on a daily basis...I took off work Wednesday afternoon through the rest of the work week and just decided I'd take off from blogging too. I spent time with my little sister and my family and it was oh so delightful. 

And now I'm back - for this week at least. I'm California bound in t-minus four days and some odd hours, but for right now that's neither here nor there...so, let me get back to this past week and all it's delightfulness... Also - spell check is informing me that delightfulness is not a word, which is pretty disgraceful in my eyes. Oh well. Onward!

This is what dedication looks like...or something like that...

I should start this post off by saying I took something like...0 pictures from Monday - Wednesday morning...oops. I actually had to work and I guess I was wrapped up in that. The only picture(s) I have from the earlier part of the week is my rapidly progressing bruise on my thigh...courtesy of being too engrossed in baseball. Oops. 

Monday night I was watching the Nationals game and after about an hour and a half, I handed the control of the TV over to my Mom and later, seeing that she was still watching Dancing with the Stars, I went upstairs to get ready for bed. I had my phone to keep my updated on the progress of the game and didn't think much of it... Until shortly after 10 PM when my entire family started screaming from downstairs in tandem with my phone suddenly going nuts... I dove off the bed and headed for the door, smashing my leg into my bedside table in the process. By the time I made it down the stairs to see the replay of Clint Robinson's walk-off home run (and Harper's ejection from the game) my leg was already turning a deep blue. Awesome! Hey - the Nationals won though!

Introducing Lindsey to the cult of Ice Cream Jubilee...

Bryce Harper MVP Bobbleheads? Check! Times Two!

It rained and rained and on Wednesday when I woke up - it was raining. Which was especially crummy since Lindsey and I had tickets to a Nationals game on Wednesday night. I left work around 12:30 and had time to eat and change before we set out...in the pouring rain...for DC and the baseball game. It poured all the way into DC and we had to set out with umbrellas on our trek to Ice Cream Jubilee...but no sooner had we gotten our ice cream and sat down to enjoy it, the rain started slacking off and was gone! Hallelujah! 

It was a bobblehead giveaway night - Bryce Harper - and let me tell you; those bobbleheads bring out the people! We joined the line of people waiting to get in, got ourselves each a bobblehead and perused the Team Store before realizing the wait time for the Brew House was an hour and fifteen minutes...we passed on that, grabbed some food from Shake Shack and settled into our seats to watch Scherzer and the Nats take on Zimmermann (a former Nats pitcher) and the Tigers. Of course I'm dedicating a whole post to the game...so to make it concise...Scherzer was ON FIRE; striking out 20 with 119 pitches, his performance Wednesday night allowing him to join only three other pitchers who have ever done that. Basically - it was an amazing game! Glad I got to experience it with Lindsey!

Mad Max feeling it after striking out 20!

Celebrating an awesome game...a historic game...and of course, a Curly W!

Thursday was lovely - Lindsey and I slept in, I was able to leisurely sip some coffee and take my time getting ready for the day...that's always so nice, right? We decided to have lunch at Pavemint and then head across the valley to Luray and investigate the caverns. Lindsey and I have always been big fans of caves...our parents aren't as interested...so we figured we'd take Thursday to do Luray Caverns without pestering them to go cave hopping with us, ha-ha!

Lunching at Pavemint

A very deep lake...or a very shallow lake? You decide...

Getting a little bit silly under the Shenandoah mountains....

Our tour guide was...a little intense...to say the least. And as always, there was that one family that just didn't seem to know how to behave - but then, isn't that always the case? We had plenty of fun taking in all the underground sites and sounds; Luray Caverns has a stalactite pipe organ and they turned it on and it played a hymn in the caves, so that was pretty cool. We cruised back home through the valley, taking in the sunshine (wait...what's sunshine...huh???) and the clouds rolling across the mountaintops.

Once we got home, we grilled and just sat around for a little bit before deciding to go grab some custard from Spelunkers - a place in nearby Front Royal. Watson even got to come along and for the most part sat at the table like he had some manners...he may have climbed onto the table a time or two...but really, who can blame him? There was custard involved and it's hard to be patient when you just want a teeny bite.

Caves are cool, right?

Clouds spilling over the mountains on the ride home....

Talk about a gorgeous rainbow!

Waiting patiently for a bite of custard on Thursday evening...

Friday morning the sun was out - at least, I think that's what that big ball in the sky is called...although having not really seen it for something like 15 days...I can't be 100% sure. We decided to head over to Hagerstown and do some shopping...at least, that's what the three ladies in the family had in mind. My Dad had another plan but was vetoed on account of 1) shopping...duh and 2) the weather was shady at best; literally, we had no clue if the sun would actually stay out. Outdoor activities didn't seem like the best plan.

We had a pretty big breakfast before leaving the house, so we shopped till we were about to drop...ha-ha...and then Lindsey found a barbecue place on her phone called Hempen Hill BBQ and we headed over for an early supper. It was basically to die for - everything was delicious and they even had bakery fresh desserts that were made on site - so of course, we got dessert! We made it home in time to watch the Nationals game on TV (they won!) before crashing for the night.

I can't even tell you what this thing is anymore...

A seriously killer cupcake - chocolate peanut butter - yes ma'am!

Saturday morning we parted ways for most of the day - my Dad and I went into DC for a Nationals game and my sister and Mom stayed in town to go to a tea that my Mom was in charge of putting on at her church. Yes - I went to two Nationals games in the span of four days - best week ever? Quite possibly. When can I do that again?? Hopefully soon...

The game started beautifully - sunny skies, fluffy clouds and a breezy temperature of around 75. Basically perfect baseball weather. Sadly, because the sunshine hates the DMV, it was not meant to last and by the sixth inning, the temperature had dropped about fifteen degrees, the wind was whipping napkins and straws and all manner of trash into the air and onto the field and then...the torrential downpour broke open on the field. We watched the final innings of the game from under the concourse, on one of the hundreds of TV's positioned near the field...as the puddles gathered on the field, the team played on...and eventually got another Curly W! Of course, as soon as the game ended...so did the rain!

From blue skies to a torrential downpour...blegh...

Scenes from Saturday at Nationals Park!

The Washington Monument without a single soul in the frame = miracle.

We all ate out together at Joe's Steakhouse - it was all pretty delicous - and then; of course, we all just relaxed after a long day of baseball and tea and such... Sunday morning my little sister went to Sunday School with my parents before we all piled into the car to make the journey to Reagan. It got a little crazy when we discovered that the exit was closed and a detour through even more DC traffic was required - suffice it to say that the drop off at the airport unfolded much quicker and more haphazardly than we'd planned. Lindsey got off just fine though and we made in to Manassas to meet up with friends so my Dad could take some graduation pictures and then we closed out the night with dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Lindsey & Watson snuggles!

Carrying the most important parts of any successful travel plan - petit fours & kleenex....

A gorgeous Sunday afternoon with that weird ball of light again....

And so - you see - I was busy doing all those awesome things this past week. So, I couldn't be bothered with taking a moment away from all of that. However, all good things must end and the past week is done with, memories filed away to be pored over for years to come...and now, we look ahead to this week and what it might bring.