Dude…totally!

Remember Crush and Squirt?  

You know…just keep swimming, just keep swimming.  Finding Nemo.  

My jaw dropped when I saw these HUGE sea turtles at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach. Actually, my jaw dropped the first time when we passed by the Komodo Dragon.  I thought I could skip the reptile exhibit since we are going to the "Aquarium", but nope!  It's there, and I think it was actually waiting for me.  Eewww!  

Anyway, from Washington, we headed to Virginia Beach for a week-long stay with my hubby's relatives.  The real purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of Raymond's cousin, Jake.  (More on that on my next post!)  It was a "short" drive; we even had time to stop by Maryland where Raymond's other Auntie lives.  

Since we were going to be busy helping with the wedding prep, we decided beforehand that we will do something special with the kids amidst the busyness of the event.  So we braved the crazy Virginia Beach weather (hot and humid one minute, raining on the next) and headed for the Aquarium.  A little costly, if you ask me, but totally worth it with the sea turtles. 

Enjoy the photos! :)

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A "Long" Blogpost

A "long absence" blogpost. That's what it is.  A long absence from the blogging world.  Not totally the whole blogging world, just this blog in particular.  Not that it's not important to me.  It's actually the most important blog, at least in my hubby's eyes.  And I have been slacking (neglecting!!!).  No excuses.  Just stories of what happened to us while we were not blogging for those three long months.

Now, how can I squeeze those three months of absence into one post?  Answer:  I can't!  So we will do a few blogposts this week to catch up :)

In today's post, we have Washington, D.C. as our subject.  We have never driven past Pennsylvania, so driving there was an adventure already.  Twice the fun, too because we were with Raymond's sister and her family.

We got a 4-star hotel Downtown Washington, a block away from the White House.  Such a huge blessing especially because we have kids in tow, so walking around DC will be so much easier.  Got the deal from Priceline's Negotiator.  Gotta love them!  3 days, 2 nights at J.W. Marriott Hotel.

Our hotel

Downtown Washington at night…and day :)

World War II Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Strolling to find a food court :)

Extremely hot day.  Perfect day for popsicles, except it ended on the ground :(

Three days and two nights are not enough to enjoy what DC has to offer.  Hubby already promised that we will definitely go back there.  

Oh, and on our way to DC, we got lost.  We missed an exit, and wanting to stay on course and be in-sync with our printed Google directions, I decided to be the expert and told hubby we can take the next exit and I will navigate to get back to I-29.  Bad idea!  We drove around for 45 minutes, uphill and downhill, looking for that elusive interstate.  Forget the map and GPS!  I turned on my iPhone and checked the maps, and we got back on track.  It was actually a good thing because we were able to meet with my sister-in-law for lunch, and we drove together from then on to Washington.  All went smooth after that.  But hubby made up his mind that we are taking the fastest way next time; no more scenic, "shorter" way.

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A Mother's Day To Remember

Beata has been thinking about getting baptized for quite a while, since last year actually!  We have gone from "Yes, this Sunday" to "You are not ready yet, darling!" stage.  We just needed to make sure that she is ready and that she knows the reason for being baptized.  Baptism will not save you.  Your salvation is not determined by your baptism.  Baptism is a way to show others that you are following Jesus' example, and your way of telling others that you are saved and you trusted Christ to be your Saviour.

She has been ready since mid-April, but her grandparents are away on vacation in the Philippines and she wanted them to come to church and watch her get baptized.  So we waited for six weeks until they return.  And they came and watch on Mother's Day.  And not just them, but the whole family on Raymond's side of the family.

She was excited.  She kept jumping while she wait to get in the baptistry.  I kept asking why, she said she doesn't know.  She's just happy.  It brought a smile in my heart.  It's amazing what faith little children have, and how much we learn from them.

I am sure the last picture says it all.  

Though she's out of focus and my flash did not recycle and fired on time, 

I just have to post the picture. 

It's certainly a Mother's Day to remember.

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