Mum and Helen seemed to have a great time staying with us. It turned out not the be much of a relaxing time for them though, so they'll probably need to sleep for a week to recover from all their early mornings and late nights.
We ate out every night and had Chinese, Thai food, American grill and Itallian food. Helen had said that she wasn't adventurous when it came to food but she can't say that any more!
Wednesday morning, Mum and Helen went to another BIG Home store opposite their hotel and then Chloe and I met them in Borders the book store. In america it seems to be the norm to pick up a book and read it in the book shop while having your coffee, Mum loves this idea - can you imagine what the staff would do in the shops back home if you tried that!
We booked tickets online for a show 'Shear Madness' in the Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts and Mum and Helen really enjoyed it. Afterwards they made it back to McLean all by themselves byt getting 2 buses and the metro! i was impressed!!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The Zoo
Tuesday morning Mum, Helen, Chloe and I got on the metro and headed for the national zoo.
A baby panda was born in the zoo in July, we thought we wouldn't get to see it because you were supposed to get tickets but they had all been distributed for january and febuary already. Panda's like the cold weather and so the baby was outside playing and we got to see it anyway. It was a really good zoo with panda's, hippos, kangaroos, beavers and loads of other animals. Chloe didn't seem to be interested at all in any of the animals. After the zoo we went for coffee in starbucks which soon became a favourite with Helen and Mum.
A baby panda was born in the zoo in July, we thought we wouldn't get to see it because you were supposed to get tickets but they had all been distributed for january and febuary already. Panda's like the cold weather and so the baby was outside playing and we got to see it anyway. It was a really good zoo with panda's, hippos, kangaroos, beavers and loads of other animals. Chloe didn't seem to be interested at all in any of the animals. After the zoo we went for coffee in starbucks which soon became a favourite with Helen and Mum.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
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Monday, January 16, 2006
Engagement Announcement
Congratulations
CLAIRE & DAVID
We wish you both every blessing in the future.
Aaron, Rachael and Chloe
January 16th, Martin Luther King day
After a well needed lie in, Mum, Helen, myself and Chloe hit the shops today fot a little retail therapy. We did intend to go to both the Tyson's Galleria and the Tyson's Corner Centre but after Helen and Mum spent around 2hrs in a kitchen shop we didn't even get finished in one centre!!!
Dinner tonight was in the Tara Thai resturant which was really good!
Dinner tonight was in the Tara Thai resturant which was really good!
Malvern Free P Church
It was an early start for us all on Sunday when we set out for Phillidelphia to go to the Malvern church.
We made it on time, and after an enjoyable service we had a lovely dinner prepared for us by the Barnes family ( Aaron wants me to get all the recipes ti was soo good)!A lot of the families who attend the church stay on in the afternoons because of the long distances they travel to worship.
I think mum and Helen especially enjoyed the afternoon when they got to chat to lots of new faces and hear about American life.
Chloe also made new friends, and was exhausted after playing all afternoon with the Kearns' girls who looked after her very well!!
We made it on time, and after an enjoyable service we had a lovely dinner prepared for us by the Barnes family ( Aaron wants me to get all the recipes ti was soo good)!A lot of the families who attend the church stay on in the afternoons because of the long distances they travel to worship.
I think mum and Helen especially enjoyed the afternoon when they got to chat to lots of new faces and hear about American life.
Chloe also made new friends, and was exhausted after playing all afternoon with the Kearns' girls who looked after her very well!!
January 14th
Hey everybody!
Aaron's been giving off cause I haven't been updating you all on our progress!
Mum and Helen arrived on Friday afternoon in since then we've been doing loads ( Photos will follow).
Friday evening Chloe and i gave a tour of our local area then we all went for a BIG dinner to the Daily Grill - Aaron was loving it.
Saturday we got up early and after having an all you can eat breakfast together we went to D.C. for a little sightseeing.
Aaron was only with us for a while because he had already arranged to go clay pigeon shooting.
Our first stop was the mall which actually took us a long time even to see half of it!! We went up to capital Hill and then had a look around the Library of Congress. After that we headed for the Washington Monument which was alot harded than we thought because of the very strong winds.
The white house visit was quickly followed by some welcomed lunch and then it was off to the Renwick Gallery for a look around.
Aaron's been giving off cause I haven't been updating you all on our progress!
Mum and Helen arrived on Friday afternoon in since then we've been doing loads ( Photos will follow).
Friday evening Chloe and i gave a tour of our local area then we all went for a BIG dinner to the Daily Grill - Aaron was loving it.
Saturday we got up early and after having an all you can eat breakfast together we went to D.C. for a little sightseeing.
Aaron was only with us for a while because he had already arranged to go clay pigeon shooting.
Our first stop was the mall which actually took us a long time even to see half of it!! We went up to capital Hill and then had a look around the Library of Congress. After that we headed for the Washington Monument which was alot harded than we thought because of the very strong winds.
The white house visit was quickly followed by some welcomed lunch and then it was off to the Renwick Gallery for a look around.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Hi There
Hey Folks!
We're all still doing fine out here in the US, not sure if I mentioned this but we're actually staying in Virginia not Washington! It's only about 30Mins driving away form the city centre tho so that's fine.
On Sunday past we headed down to Philidelphia and went to the Malvern Free P church. We left around 3pm thinking it should take us about 2 1/2hrs but didn't make until bout 615pm.
We enjoyed the service and everyone was really friendly and chatted to us afterwards. We were talking to Megan (Joanne Greer's Friend) and so we're gonna go back there next week when Mum and my Aunt are over. Hopefully we'll get there before the service starts this time!!
We're all still doing fine out here in the US, not sure if I mentioned this but we're actually staying in Virginia not Washington! It's only about 30Mins driving away form the city centre tho so that's fine.
On Sunday past we headed down to Philidelphia and went to the Malvern Free P church. We left around 3pm thinking it should take us about 2 1/2hrs but didn't make until bout 615pm.
We enjoyed the service and everyone was really friendly and chatted to us afterwards. We were talking to Megan (Joanne Greer's Friend) and so we're gonna go back there next week when Mum and my Aunt are over. Hopefully we'll get there before the service starts this time!!
Monday, January 09, 2006
The Mall
This is Chloe and I in front of the Reflecting Pool. You can see part of it was frozen over- it was freezing on saturday
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This is the USA War Memorial also in the Mall
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This is the USA War Memorial also in the Mall
Saturday 7/1/06
Hi Folks,
Below are some photos of our trip into Washington on Saturday.
After we were given a tour of our local area we headed into washington D.C. (which is about 20mins drive) to do a bit of site seeing with Graeme and Leona (also from pwc Belfast).
Below are some photos of our trip into Washington on Saturday.
After we were given a tour of our local area we headed into washington D.C. (which is about 20mins drive) to do a bit of site seeing with Graeme and Leona (also from pwc Belfast).
Saturday 7/1/06
Graeme and Leona infront of the Washington Monument
Aaron's really pround of this photo - that's why he decided to put it in twice!
Aaron's really pround of this photo - that's why he decided to put it in twice!
Friday, January 06, 2006
A few photos
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This is the view we have from our apartment balcony..jpg)
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Here's chloe having fun in her new apartment, oblivous to the fact that she's now on the other side of the world.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
We've arrived
Hi everyone hope you are all doing ok and are not missing us too much!!(i'm sure it's been tough without us- haha)
We arrived at our apartment about 10pm U.S. time on Tuesday 3rd January. The apartment is really nice although we've only 1 bedroom so looks like any of you thinking of coming out will be crashing on the sofa -it's really comfy honest!!
Aaron's had too work loads already - he was supposed to have thursday off to 'settle in' but they changed that and so he had to go to work. Looks like he's going to be working around 12hrs a day :(
Yesturday (4/1/06) chloe and i walked around the local area, i found 2 shopping centres - 1 was a bit fancy, but the other is massive- think it is the biggest one in Washington with over 300 shops :)
Today i got the bus and tube into the centre of D.C. and saw the White House and the Renwick Gallery, i took some photos but can't seem to get them onto this page but willl keep trying!
We got a car today so that will be handy for driving around at the weekends - Aaron's been doing all the driving so far- i'm a bit scared, I'm bad enough driving at home!
Must go as it is time for bed!
keep in touch
We arrived at our apartment about 10pm U.S. time on Tuesday 3rd January. The apartment is really nice although we've only 1 bedroom so looks like any of you thinking of coming out will be crashing on the sofa -it's really comfy honest!!
Aaron's had too work loads already - he was supposed to have thursday off to 'settle in' but they changed that and so he had to go to work. Looks like he's going to be working around 12hrs a day :(
Yesturday (4/1/06) chloe and i walked around the local area, i found 2 shopping centres - 1 was a bit fancy, but the other is massive- think it is the biggest one in Washington with over 300 shops :)
Today i got the bus and tube into the centre of D.C. and saw the White House and the Renwick Gallery, i took some photos but can't seem to get them onto this page but willl keep trying!
We got a car today so that will be handy for driving around at the weekends - Aaron's been doing all the driving so far- i'm a bit scared, I'm bad enough driving at home!
Must go as it is time for bed!
keep in touch
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