Vienna, VA

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to catch-up with my wife, on her East Coast trip.  We managed to rendezvous at the Baltimore Washington International airport, to visit her brother's family in Vienna, VA.  Vienna is located just outside of Washington, D.C. - which is where her brother works.  Their family is such a treat.  We were gathered for the blessing of their brand-new baby girl.  Even Macy's father and stepmother were there, just to make it a party ; )

Me, G-Man and my awesome nephews. We LOVE to have fun ; )

Me and my little niece E - I haven't seen her face-to-face in almost 2 years!! We are now BFFs ; )

After the blessing, many of my brother-in-law's friends came over to the house.  There was a play room in the basement - where all the boys tend to be rowdy.  I made them all hug each other for the picture ; )

I had a blast, hanging out with the boys in the playroom.  I gathered them together and made-up stories on a chalkboard.  I used each boys' name - and would draw a picture of them eating some disgusting substance.  Gross always works with boys ; ) Here is G-Man trying to emulate me:

My In-laws with the newly-blessed grandchild

Here are two of the coolest grandparents with all the kids.  My youngest daughter is the one screaming in the picture ; )

Here is a quick video of my wife's father, playing with my youngest daughter L:

I normally don't work retroactively - but I wanted to introduce you to folks, before taking you on our wild apple-picking trip.  The day before the blessing, we drove out to the Virginia countryside.  It was beautiful!  We wanted to take all the kids to an orchard for a good ol' fashioned apple picking.  The trees were picked-over, so we had to use a tool that was new to me - basically a wire cage on the end of a 9 ft pole.  It was useful for reaching the apples at the top of the trees:

Yes, in fact, it WAS a gorgeous day..

G-Man was an excellent helper

One of my nephews, trying to grab the camera...

My other nephew, showing us one of the apples he was able to grab

This is me leading the boys on a hike through the orchard.  I'm sporting the diaper bag ; )

Me and the boys

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law, helping keep the trips in order

Wielding the mighty apple-picking tool

Grandparents with the grandkids

Our little apple-picking family

G-Man, leading his cousin down the road

L is shocked that her brother is actually holding her ; )

Representing the Cougars well ; )

As you can see - we had a great time.  When we lived on the East Coast, we always spent Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law's family.  We had some great moments in D.C., Boston and Nashville.  I really miss those times, now that we're all the way out in Texas.  I'm pushing for a renewal of the tradition...soon ; )