Altrogge Family

In the midst of his crazy school schedule, my thoughtful, loving husband planned a surprise evening for my birthday, and boy was it a treat. We drove to Alexandria, and talking and being together in the car would have been enough for me, but it didn't end there. He had chosen a French restaurant for us to dine at. After enjoying a delicious meal, we walked the brick streets together. I am amazed that I am married to such a wonderful man. God is kind to me.

Saturday, a kind man in Covenant Life Church gave the pc families a tour of D.C. and provided lunch at Uno's for us all. Stephen and I decided to brave the trip with Charis, and luckily all went well. Answered prayers. I guess the given is that we didn't learn all that we could have had we left Little C, nor did I get many "touristy" pictures. For anyone interested, here's a picture of the dignified class (sorry for the head sticking up. . . I tried cropping it out but had some technical dificulties and gave up). In case you're wondering, the memorial that I chopped off in the background is Lincoln. Smooth move, Jen.

Problem: One baby drops his bottle while drinking, and the other baby inevitably snatches it quick as fox. Not a healthy habit to get into. . . drinking from other people's bottles.

Solution: The mom of the son places him in an empty laundry basket, and the little girl is left pushing and pulling him around. And yes, I realize this has the potential for danger as the little girl as some guns on 'er.

I know this picture is horrible quality, but I just had to share it.

This story begins a week ago. Good 'ol Stephen plans a trip for us to go to Harpers Ferry on his day off. We pack in our green wagon, fill-up the tank, pick up some Starby's, and we're off. Part-way into the trip, for some un-foreseen, unknown reason (in true Charis fashion) our little girl has a melt-down in her carseat. We stop, try to console her, but she wouldn't have it. So we turn around, head home and listen to the tune of a screaming babe the rest of the ride. Still, we have fond memories of that trip. We did have good conversation on the way...

Today, our schedule was eerily similar. We pack in our green wagon, fill-up the tank, pick up some Starby's, and we're off. It almost felt as though we were doomed from the start. But, I am proud to say that we did indeed make it to HF this time. The bonus was that we had a little bit of peace and quiet and time to walk around and enjoy bits of this quaint town before Charis broke-down this time.

Once exhausted Charis started throwing the temper-tantrum of all temper-tantrums (for a one-year old), I must confess I kept thinking of shots that would make cool pictures and of creative places to capture our day. That didn't happen though. Here are a couple from the beginning of our trip that I came away with. God is kind. We had a beautiful day, gas in the car, the love that we share and hot dogs for lunch.

Ahh, success!