Memorial Day in Williamsburg

We had a fun family weekend in Williamsburg over Memorial Day weekend!

It was really nice to have a change of scenery for a couple of days

and to spend so much time together.

Kate was really excited to go on vacation

and stay in a hotel!

As usual, Matthew was just happy to be along for the ride.

Here are some of the highlights:

Certainly one of the most exciting parts of our trip

was riding the tram

from the parking lot to the Busch Gardens.

Seriously worth the price of admission!

Matthew thought the wind whipping through his hair

was really funny!

Another favorite was riding the skybuckets!

I think Kate rode them 4 times!

Although we didn't spend as much time

hanging around Colonial Williamsburg

as we thought we would,

we definitely enjoyed walking around the historic sites!

We hope to go back to explore it more

when the weather is a little cooler.

My beautiful baby!

Dancin' as usual!

On Monday morning,

we went back to Busch Gardens.

Kate loved watching Daddy

on the log ride!

By far, the biggest highlight of our trip was

Lunch with Elmo!

I've never seen Kate so happy!

She gave Elmo a big hug and said,

"You're may favorite furry friend!"

Awwww...

Dancin' again

(this time with Cookie Monster!)

Everybody Dance Now!

Kate brings so much fun and light into our lives!

She is very tender-hearted...

but can also be such a goof-ball.

Here she is, encouraging me to

"Take a break, Mom.

Let's dance."

Time to Visit the Elephants!

We FINALLY had a gorgeous Saturday morning -

so decided to spend the morning

re-connecting with our friends,

the elephants at the National Zoo!

Kate was so excited that she FINALLY let us take some pictures of her!

(There may or may not have been a bribe involved.

I dunno.)

So Happy Together

Kate is becoming a really sweet big sister!

This afternoon she wanted a turn pushing Matthew in the swing.

And Matthew absolutely adores her.

We've never seen him happier than this moment

with his big sis.

In case you're wondering

what's all over Kate's face and clothes...

The creative process requires deep concentration.

But the results are fun!

(Co-Created by Tim and Kate)

Look Who's Standing!

Highly motivated by the opportunity to knock down

the towers Kate makes with her blocks,

Matthew learned to pull himself up to standing

last weekend!

(And he's pretty darn proud of himself!)

A Very Happy Mother's Day

We had a very fun and action-packed weekend -

but the highlight for me was some special time I had with Matthew.

See, the trouble with being a second child

is that one-on-one time with Mom

is really hard to come by.

I am very blessed that my kids generally nap

at the same time

but, on Sunday, it didn't work out that way.

(Matthew boycotted nap time in the nursery at church

and got off the nap routine.)

So, I ended up with almost two hours of uninterrupted time

with my sweet baby boy.

See how happy he is!!!

Teething biscuits are Matthew's favorite treat!
And swinging is one of Matthew's new favorite activities.

Another highlight of the weekend was hosting my grandmother,

aunt and the rest of the NoVA Gleasons

for a Mother's Day dinner.

We love spending time with our family!