Founding Farmers

Rachel let Marie and Mina play hookie today. That was fun! We did get home super late last night and the school nurse did call Rachel and make her pick up Marie and Mina with five minutes left of school . . . so hookie today seemed reasonable. I helped the girls set up a new Webkinz account. My kids loved that website when they were growing up. Brett came home for lunch. We played this crazy balance game that I can't remember the name of. We also played a game of Dominion before we headed out to lunch. We went to Founding Farmers. It was delicious! Marie really wanted the turkey. She was excited about it. Although when she ordered it we were told they were out of turkey. Marie handled it like a champ and immediately picked something else. She picked Chicken Pot Pie, which was what I was planning on ordering. I leaned over to Marie and asked if we could split it. I then ordered chicken and donuts. Yummy, yummy lunch and the kids were great at this super nice restaurant. Marie does want to come back later and try their turkey.

Marie

 Eve, Brett, Mina

 Stephanie & Marie

 Mina by a wall I thought was beautiful.

Reminded me of the cherry blossoms in Japan.

 Stephanie & Mina

Brett called his work and was able to take off for the rest of the day. He said it was the perfect time to come because he had just finished up a big project and they don't really want to give him anything new since he will be leaving in a month. Works for me! We went back home and were able to get one more game of Dominion in. Sad to leave these guys, but at least I know I'll get to play with them this summer!

Stephanie & Brett

 Random picture Rachel took of me when I first got here.

Eve, Grace, Stephanie, Mina

 Grace, Rachel, Marie, Eve, Mina, Stephanie

I got to the airport in plenty of time. They had a couple of lanes of freeway devoted entirely to the airport. That was great! The non-airport traffic was moving pretty slow. My flight ended up being delayed a couple of hours. I knew there was no way I was going to make my connecting flight. Before we boarded they made an announcement that if you were going to Salt Lake City not to worry, they would hold the flight for us. Wow! I couldn't believe it. That made me very happy because I was not looking forward to sleeping on the Denver airport floor. I didn't pay extra money to be able to choose my seat. On the first leg I got an isle seat right at the front. There was a lot more leg room up there! Plus, I was able to get off the plane fast. They made an announcement when we landed asking to let all the Salt Lake City passengers off first. I don't think anyone listened. Luckily, front of the plane came in handy. I hustled to the next gate. All the passengers were on the plane. I'm so glad they held it! There were over twenty of us heading to Salt Lake, so that made it nice. Mike picked me up and we arrived home around 1:00 in the morning, 3:00 Virginia time. Today was a long day.Virginia was fun and it is nice to be home. All those things.

Nationals Park

I surprised Mallory at her school today. It really was a surprise because Cassie packed Mallory an empty lunch box. She packed me a giant lunch with food for both of us. Cassie dropped me off at the school about ten minutes before Mallory's lunch was supposed to start. The problem was, they wouldn't let me in. They started a new policy in the last couple of weeks. Cassie's dad was able to get in less than a month ago, I think, with no problem. Cassie had left her phone at home, so the school couldn't get ahold of her. John didn't answer his phone either. I told the office that I had Mallory's lunch. Finally the principal walked me down to the lunch room. She said she didn't want Mallory to go hungry. Mallory jumped up when she saw me and yelled, "Aunt Stephanie! This is the best day ever!" Pretty sure the principal got the point that I wasn't there to hurt Mallory. Mallory was eating school lunch. She said she opened her lunchbox and nothing was inside, so she went to get school lunch. She was pretty excited about that as well.

Mallory

There are doors to the bathroom in the lunchroom. You can see the boys' bathroom behind us in the next picture. What a great idea!

Stephanie & Mallory

 Mallory loved the Trip yogurt. I tried to get a recreation of her first bite....

 Mallory also loved these pretzel hearts.

John came home from work early today. It was so nice. I really wanted to go to a Nationals game with John and Brett. Today is the only day the Nats were playing at home while I am here. It's super nice because I know how crazy busy John has been at work, and it is always awkward getting time off at a new job. Because he came home early, he was able to greet Mallory as she got off the bus. I think Mallory was excited!

John

 John & Mallory

 Mallory, Trevor & John

We drove up to DC and met Brett and Rachel at a park near the airport. We got there first and were able to spend some time walking around. Brandon loved it when the airplanes would fly over our heads. They were super close and loud!

Cassie, Brandon, Mallory, Trevor, Stephanie, John

 Collin was there too, just faced the other way. Isn't he adorable?

Brett and Rachel were able to park the cars in the Navy yard. We walked from there to the stadium. How fun to go to a ballgame with this group!

Brett, Cassie & Collin, John

Eve, Trevor, Grace, Stephanie, Brandon, Marie, Mallory, Mina

 Rachel's in this picture. :)

Trevor and Brandon LOVE superheroes. John pointed to this mobile like thing of baseball players and said to them, "Look! Superhero baseball players!" Haha! Sorry lady that I got a weird picture of you though. I just wanted a picture of the superhero baseball players.

 Brett, Stephanie, John

We did it! Nats game with two of my brothers.

It rained quite a lot. We were so lucky the game didn't get rained out. Lucky that Brett got us the best tickets in the stadium! They were high up, but were under an overhang. We stayed dry the entire game. Sometimes it was pouring rain, but we were nice and cozy. During innings they would drag the field and try not to get mud puddles. It made some crazy looking patterns. We did get to see 4 home runs today, including one from Bryce Harper. The Nats won the game 10-1. The poor Mariners picture had a low ERA at the start of the game. The Nats were hitting him like crazy. We were just watching his ERA getting higher and higher as the game progressed. The Nats scored 8 runs in the 4th inning. There was a single, triple and three home runs. Yikes. Anyways as the Mariner pitcher was leaving the field, John pointed out to me how he was walking in like Charlie Brown. Poor guy. 

 I tried to photobomb Brett and Marie.

Marie, Brett, Stephanie, Mina, Mallory

 Marie pretending the package of gum is a camera. Haha!

It was a cold, wet, late night for the kids; but they all did great. Yay! Cassie was a little worried about it. Brett talked her into going last minute. Chasing kids late at night in the cold didn't sound like her idea of fun. Luckily it turned out alright. Plus, Cassie and Rachel got to hang out in the Mothers' Lounge. Sounded like it was pretty nice in there. Great that they have things like that.

We walked back to the Navy yard. Brett and John and some of the kids went to get the cars. We walked around the block to the exit so we could meet up with them. I feel bad because I wish I would have given John a better hug before I left. I gave him a good-bye hug, but it was almost like a 'see you in a few days' hug. I wish I would have grabbed him tight and squeezed his guts out. Well, not literally. I was so sad on the plane ride home. I kept thinking about how I wish I had hugged him tighter. I know I'm going to see Brett again in a few weeks, but I have no idea when I'll see John. It's going to be hard for him to come back and visit. Virginia is a long ways away. At least when Mike was there we lived in Georgia and I knew Brett wasn't going to be there for more than three years. With John, I have no idea. It is super expensive to fly and driving is even farther than it was for us in Georgia. It makes me sad. I wish I could have a do-over.

While I was watching the Nats defeat the Mariners, Jorja had her last softball game of the season. Mike didn't record any of the game for me, but he got this. Jorja's coach said she would give a gift card to whoever scored the most runs during the season. It was a tie. Jorja and Raina, the two catchers.

Jorja then went around taking selfies and getting people to sign her ball. She even got the ump to sign it. She goofed around with him a lot when she would play catcher.

Ump & Jorja

 Jorja & Raina

 Jorja & her coach

Even though we got home from the game pretty late we still managed to get in a game of Dominion. Eve decided she wanted to be a night owl with us for a little while. Rachel ended up winning the game. I'm going to miss being here, although I'm excited to see my kids again.

Stephanie & Eve

One Hundred Years and One Day

I didn't get a chance to read my dad's blog yesterday, even though I knew it was up. I read it this morning. I wish I would have read it yesterday, because my dad mentioned how May 21st of this year would have been my Grandma Millburn's 100th birthday. That would have just been cool to think about during the day.

Grandma Millburn

I stole these pictures from my dad's blog. Yesterday also would have been my Grandma & Grandpa Millburn's 75th anniversary. I love this picture of my grandparents. Someone watched my grandpa hold the drinking fountain for my grandma and thought it was so cute they snapped a picture. She talked to my grandparents afterwords and sent this picture to them. How nice! When the lady complimented my grandpa for being chivalrous he replied, "I'm not being chivalrous. I just wanted the water to get cold." Haha! Grandpa Millburn was so funny!

Grandpa & Grandma Millburn

Anyways, I think I will copy what was written on my dad's blog here when I get a chance. My kids check my blog more frequently then my dad's, and I think it would be nice for them to hear some stories about my mom. Even the sad ones.

I also forgot to write about Mallory yesterday. Cassie went into the end of singing time because she was going to teach Trevor's class. Mallory was crying. Tears were streaming down her face. Cassie went up to her and asked what was wrong. Mallory said, "These are happy tears. We just sung a beautiful song." Cassie wasn't convinced so she went to the teacher and asked her if Mallory was okay. The teacher told Cassie that she just thinks Mallory was feeling the spirit. When we got home we asked Mallory what the song was and she said that she couldn't tell us, then she pointed secretly to John. Must be a Father's day song.

This morning Cassie and I went to Costco with Trevor, Brandon and Collin. We then stopped to see John at his work for a bit. The first picture I took of John you could see more of his office, but you could also see what he was working on on his computer screen. We thought maybe that wouldn't have been the brightest idea.

John

Mallory and Trevor had a baseball game. Luckily it wasn't rained out. Mallory got to be pitcher the first inning. The coach pitches, but Mallory got to stand on the mound. Boy did she love that! She would throw her arms up in celebration, sometimes even while the play was still going. It was so funny!

Trevor ~ shortstop, Mallory ~ pitcher

 Mallory

 Trevor just smacked the ball!

 Trevor was the last batter, so he got to have a homerun!

 Mallory

 Trevor got to be pitcher too, the coach is giving him pointers.

 I had Mallory recreate her pitcher's mound celebration after the game.

Cassie ran home during innings and put lasagna in the oven. After the game, John pitched to Mallory, Trevor and Brandon. They had fun running the bases. Mallory did a 'slide' into home. Really she tripped and had quite a fall. We cheered about her awesome slide, but she has been limping on her leg sense. Brandon also had an awesome slide. He was running to first after he hit it. He decided to slide about halfway to first base. He did a diving slide. What a nut! Cassie had a delicious lasagna dinner ready for us when we got home. My kids are never that lucky!

I read Goodnight, Baseball to the kids before bed. I don't think I have ever read the book before, although I have given it to three of my nieces and nephews.

Stephanie, Trevor, Mallory

Brandon, Collin, John

Tonight I'm sleeping in Mallory's bed. I will have slept in all three beds in the kids room. Cassie wanted to move Mallory's mattress down because she thought it would be better on my back. John and I convinced her I could sleep on the top. The memory foam does seem really comfortable.

John & Stephanie

John defeated me in 5 Straight, then I defeated him in Ticket to Ride. It was a weird Ticket to Ride game. Both of us concentrated on the East coast. I have never done that before. This is what the board looked like when the game was over.

I asked John if he had read Dad's blog. He hadn't. John looked it up and read it. We then talked about mom for a long time. Mostly about the day she died. What we were doing. Nice things people said. Weird things people said. Teachers that were nice to John. Like how John didn't do his big science project and his teacher just told him it was okay. Teachers that were mean. Like how one of Mike's teachers gave Mike a really bad grade and had no sympathy about what he was going through. Didn't matter that he had to spend his after school time getting ready for the funeral, going to the viewing, dealing with hard things that most adults struggle with. Didn't matter at all. Annoying because Mike was a junior in high school and his grades really mattered at that point. Anyways, we talked for a long time again. We went to bed around 1:30 in the morning. Cassie fell asleep on the couch before we started games.

John was telling me about something Stockton had written when he was Mallory's age and how funny it was. John showed it to me and we were laughing so hard. I was crying. It was so funny. I will need to show the kids when I get home.

Oh! That reminds me. John and I were talking about baseball. John wants to eventually go to all the Major League ball parks. He would really like to go to at least one new park a year. I told him we should make a tradition to meet at a new ballpark once a year with the six siblings. How fun would that be!?!