Frequent Flyer McGuires: Loving Our Time Back in the States

Our time here in the states seems to be slowly slipping away, but that doesn't mean we haven't made the best of it. Since being in D.C. we have had several visitors. Nana (my mom) was the first to stop by, followed by S's mom, (Grandma) and then S's sister and young son came for a long weekend. Most of our everyday schedules seem to revolve around working (for me), studying (for S) and preschool/daycare (for the boys) but we always save time for fun.

First stop was the National Geographic Museum to see Spinosaurus. It was a cold and rainy day, so we tried to come up with something fun to do indoors. This seemed to be a hit with the boys.

Checking out the cave with dino bones

Spinosaurus!

Then we finally got some nice weather. It warmed up a bit, so we headed to the Mall and Air & Space Museum.

Checking to make sure it's not actually made of tin foil.

He says he wants to be a pilot now

Managed to capture this beautiful moment

And then tried to get one of the boys, but someone refused to cooperate

But that's okay, I got this one instead.

We battled some illnesses in our house for a couple weeks, which was no fun at all. Seriously, there were days and days of fevers, coughing, vomiting and lots of sleepless nights, but we muscled through it and came out fine on the other end. I blame the good old American daycare germs. There's just nothing like them, right?

For now everyone is healthy (knocks wood) and we managed to celebrate Easter with friends and family without infecting anyone. One thing that we've learned during all our transitions is that it is very important to keep things as normal as possible for the kids. We just can't skip over holidays and birthdays and whatever else because we're afraid to accumulate too much junk for fear of being overweight in our UAB. Or because we accidentally packed the Easter baskets and decorations in HHE that is now on it's way to Bogota. We just bought more. The kids need that. It's their normal and it's fun for them, and S and I want to make sure they get what they deserve, even if it adds extra stress (and pounds) to the move. We enjoy it too. We love to see them happy, and we want to continue to give them the normal celebrations and holiday traditions no matter where we are or no matter how long or short the transition. A friend was just telling me the other day, "if you don't put down roots in every place, make every place feel special, your kids will never feel like they have a home." And I believe that is true. So, we are doing our best. So far, the kids are doing great and enjoying themselves. And that makes me happy.

But wait-- what's that sound? Oh yeah, it's the clock ticking...