Happy Memorial Day weekend!

This morning I was determined that Drew, Rachel and I get out and do something as a family, since I've been sick the last week and half or so, it was a gorgeous day (and promises to be a gorgeous weekend, not hot or sticky but a lot like Oregon in the summer) and I'll be working tomorrow and Monday nights.

But first I had to run over to Ivy's house and say goodbye to Billy, her dad, who is leaving on assignment to Afghanistan for the Foreign Service. We had a nice cup of tea together and talked a bit about the Foreign Service -- he thinks Drew and I would be great for it -- and they do take people up to 59 1/2 years old, so it's something to think about when Rachel is getting ready to go to college. We ended up talking for about an hour; Rachel came by on her own to "say goodbye to Billy, too," but, really, it was to play with Ivy. Ivy was in tears most of the morning because she doesn't want her dad to go; he'll be away for about a year but will be back for long visits. I promised Billy we'd look after Jenny and the kids and try to give her a night off once in a while by watching Liam and Ivy.

Then Rachel and I came home, ate breakfast and started setting up some Lego building kits that PopPop and Mammaw had gotten her (thanks again, PopPop and Mammaw!) When I tried to set one of the parts of the kit up and couldn't get it, Rachel cheerfully told me, "...and don't be afraid to make mistakes. We love mistakes! That's how we learn!"

I swear, she is so ready to be a kindergarten teacher.

Then we headed out to Mount Vernon, which I didn't get to see much of when PopPop and Mammaw were in town. This time we got to watch a 25-minute movie about Washington (which actually was quite good), I got to tour the house and we got to see the flower garden and a couple of outbuildings before racing home to meet Ruth, in town to take care of her parents. (Rachel could actually read aloud some of the signs near the outbuildings, which caused one couple behind her to turn to Drew and say, "we've decided she's very smart.") I bought a yearlong pass to Mount Vernon, which I am sure we will use again to visit in the fall and at Christmas, which I've heard is absolutely magnificent. I told Drew that I could happily take a book and sit on the back veranda of Mount Vernon, starting at the Potomac and returning to my book all afternoon....

Ruth and I talked and drank wine for a bit, then we met up with Drew and Rachel (who had gone back to Ivy's house) and headed to the Lebanese Taverna, our favorite restaurant in town and one we visit so often that they are getting to know us quite well and are always charmed by Rachel. We finished up the night getting ice cream at Tobey's, the local ice cream place, where Rachel saw Blake, a kid in one of her after-school programs.

When we got home we had a mini-crisis: Rachel had left Snowball, a piglet Drew bought for her at Mount Vernon, at Ivy's. She was upset that Drew didn't go right over to Ivy's to get it, but I told her she could go over there herself first thing tomorrow morning. She was still crying when she went to bed. I just hope it is, indeed, there in the morning.