Joy in the Journey: Crazy-Awesome Vacation!

*Disclaimer: I'm going to be bragging about my crazy-awesome vacation, and I don't care.* Brian came home after being gone to work for a week and after a day of being home, he got a call from his friend Andrew Reichmuth who lives in Switzerland. (Brian was Andrew's helicopter instructor in Virginia back in 2004.) Andrew and his family came to Virginia for a 2 week vacation and were staying in their condo in Alexandria. Andrew asked if we wanted to come visit with them while they were in the states. Naturally, we said yes. Andrew then connected us with his credit card people and they arranged a direct flight for the next day as well as a hotel and rental car for 5 days. Apparently Andrew has a magical credit card that can make things happen for him that cannot happen for ordinary people like us. After we hung up the phone we started packing and making schedule arrangements. Kylie was so excited to go stay at a hotel. Less than 24 hours later we flew into Washington DC, enjoying the aerial views of the major DC attractions as we landed. We stayed at the Westin Hotel in Falls Church, Virginia. Here's the thing that I don't understand about our world: Because of Andrew's magical credit card, he was able to get this $400/night hotel for only $45/night...whereas someone like me, who actually does have a credit limit on my card, would be required to pay the full $400 every night. The same thing applied to the rental car. It's amazing how much free stuff rich people get, when in fact they are very much able to pay for it. In contrast, people like me who don't have a lot of money really don't get any breaks....except, of course, amazing vacations from great friends who visit from Switzerland.

After checking into our room and giggling over Kylie's gleeful explorations, we met Andrew and his family at a lovely Italian restaurant in Tysons Corner. Andrew's family includes his wife Jana (pronounced Yaw-nuh), Jessica (7), Dominic (5), and Jenny (1). They brought their nanny with them, but I don't know how to say her name. She doesn't speak English (she's from Czechoslovakia, as is Jana), so we didn't get to know her at all. Going out to dinner with Andrew is always an entertaining experience for me. When he walks into the restaurant, he simply expects to receive top priority and anything else is unacceptable. It is understandable, knowing that his time it spent with billionaires while they jet around the world. His 7 year-old enjoys a quality filet mignon rather than hamburgers and fries. Their top waiter is assigned to cater to Andrew's every need and begins with bringing out a bottle of wine for Andrew's approval, proceeded by an interesting ritual of pouring the wine, swirling, observing, and smelling the wine, and other things that I don't understand as I am not a wine drinker. It seems that on every dining occasion, someone at the table always orders something that is not on the menu, fully expecting the chef to create it. And if a dish is not precisely as they want it, it is immediately sent back with detailed instructions as to what is expected. As I watched this dinnertime dynamic, I couldn't help but wonder how the Reichmuth's would be received at a Cache Valley restaurant should they ever come to visit. Kylie ordered the spaghetti and meatball.

The next day we ventured up to Six Flags in Maryland. Jessi, the 7 year-old, is quite the thrill-seeker! That girl wanted to ride everything.

Cute little Jenny. She always got left at home with the nanny.

Kylie HATES roller coasters!

This is more her kind of ride.

Kylie and Jessica

Dominic made the most of an afternoon thunderstorm by cooling off.

Brian should be the new super hero for Doritos.

Somehow Jessica talked Jana into going with her on the Sky Coaster. That girl loves the crazy rides!

Brian and Andrew going for a thrill ride:

We had a very relaxed schedule. Everyone got up when they wanted to, which was usually 10 am. We took the kids swimming at the condo pool while Andrew and Jana did some shopping.

Then we left the kids with the nanny at the condo and we drove around the historic district of Alexandria, looking for a specific shoe shop for Brian. We finally ended up at the Pentagon Mall and did a little shopping. Ironically, I didn't buy a single thing for myself, even though we did a number of visits to the malls.

That night the kids begged to have a sleepover. Jessica really wanted Kylie to sleep over at the condo, but Kylie couldn't do it. So Jessi and Dominic came with us to the hotel and the three kids squished into one bed.

And of course you have to swim in the hotel swimming pool because they are so much cooler than other pools.

We had some time to ourselves the next day while the Reichmuth's entertained other guests, so we went to the Tysons Corner Mall to see what we could see. That's the largest mall I have ever seen. A cute little store had a dazzling assortment of hair accessories and the girls that worked there had a blast playing with Kylie's beautiful long hair. We ended up buying a few pieces for Kylie to take home. She thought that was the greatest thing ever!

The next day we drove out to Front Royal, Virginia to see the Skyline Caverns. I had forgotten how much I like Virginia. (We lived there from 2004-2005.) I have always been impressed by the energy of that state. I love the foliage and landscapes, as well as the building architecture. Walking around this small town reminded me of how much I enjoyed living there. This cavern goes over 200 ft into the ground and was discovered by a scientist in the 1920's.

By the time Monday rolled around, we were tired and ready to come home. I was hoping that we would take off over the route which we landed, but no such luck. So I snapped some pictures before we took off into the air.