New Buffalo with the Bolton/Blackmans

We had our annual Bolton/Blackman family trip in New Buffalo this year, and as usual,  the cousins had an amazing time together.  From swimming, to s'mores, to the fair, to kayaking, to tie dying we stayed busy.  Hannah and Ella loved the cousin time, and when we packed up to leave yesterday,
Hannah decided to stay one extra night and came home today with the birthday girl, Aunt Sari.

Thanks to Softa and Zaydie for the wonderful family weekend!

New Lens - Dogs and Horses

I got a new lens for Mother's Day, and finally got to play around with it this week.  I LOVE it, and can't wait to capture all of our outdoor summer activities.

We had a great afternoon at the barn today.  Hannah rode with no reins for a while and learned to steer just off her legs and how to check and correct her diagonal.  Ella caught a ride on Jen George's golf cart and had a great time cruising around the farm.  Mina joined us, and we hit an old favorite restaurant on the way home, Golden Dragon.

Road Trip to D.C. - Jacob's Bar Mitzvah

We just returned from a D.C. road trip for cousin Jacob's bar mitzvah, and the trip was jam packed. We decided to drive instead of fly, because Jordan was worried about committing to trip dates with work being so busy.

So, Wednesday afternoon we hit the road and drove to Pittsburgh to stay with an old work friend of mine, Jen.  Her kids are close in age to Hannah and Ella, and they all had a great time together.  We had a nice dinner in their town, Mount Lebanon, followed by Pittsburgh Pride ice cream which was amazing.  The littles were up until after 10pm playing while the adults caught up.  

Hannah and Keller have certainly changed in this photo reenactment - not as easy to carry either.

We got back on the road early Thursday, and drove to D.C.   Unlike the extremely boring drive through Ohio, Pennsylvania was beautiful.  We stayed at the Kimpton Mason and Rook, and Hannah and Ella loved our hotel.  The big draw was one of the guys that worked there, Quan, who the girls immediately fell in love with (Hannah repeatedly told me how much she loved him after knowing him for all of 5 minutes).

In front of our hotel

 After pulling the girls off Quan, we headed to the National Geographic Museum, which was a bust.  Sadly, it was closed for changing out exhibits.  We shifted our plan, and took the Metro to the monuments (Ella's two DC bucket list items).  The metro was very exciting for Ella, but the walk to the monuments was long and totally wiped out both girls (apparently we got off at the wrong stop). Ella perked up to explore the Lincoln Memorial and to see the Washington Monument, and then we cabbed it back to the hotel and had an early night. 

Photo credit: Ella

Thursday we lounged in the room for a bit, and then went to check off Hannah's bucket list - the zoo to see the pandas and elephants.  There were nearly tears saying goodbye to Quan, with pictures, hugs, and he even got each of the girls cookies, and as we drove to the zoo, they fought over who loved Quan more.  These girls...

The famous Quan

The zoo was amazing, and we got to see the pandas and elephants, along with many other great exhibits.  Ella got face paint with dad, while Hannah and I rode the carousel.

We then headed to our final destination for the bar mitzvah weekend, Bethesda. The kids were so excited to see their cousins, and we took Larry with us to dinner and a nice little Italian market.  I loved my food, our first decent meal of the trip.

Saturday, the bar mitzvah celebration was lovely.  Jacob did a great job, and both girls sat so quietly through the service.  We went out to lunch, and then back to the hotel for a swim. 

After swimming, we had a family nap, and headed down to the party. We barely saw the girls all night, and Jacob's friends were so sweet with them.  Ella hung out with two of his guy friends, and Hannah alternated between the cousins, Ella (which was so sweet), and a little girl that was in a wheel chair.  Hannah spent the night collecting bar mitzvah swag and taking it to the little girl who couldn't walk or really use her hands.  Hannah put rings, watches and bracelets on her so she could be part of the celebration.  It was a really proud mom moment.  Hannah was a rockstar all day yesterday. The girls danced and collected party swag until 10:30PM, and both immediately passed out when we got back to our room.  It was a truly wonderful evening with family and watching the kids have so much fun.

Hannah's crew for the night

Yawning, but partying through the exhaustion

Ella's crew for the night - she loved the boy to her left and brought me over so she could introduce me to her friends

 The drive home was really easy, and the kids were great.  Jordan drove the entire way which was lovely, and the girls napped and watched movies.  We were all sad for our vacation to end.