- Darr Family Blog - https://darr.org -

Almost an Entire Week Without Daddy

Weekly Happenings: This past week, Joseph and I were flying solo for the most part. Paul was in Washington DC so that he could accept his award for Library Technician of the Year. Starting Monday (when Paul left), Joseph would ask me if it was Thursday yet (the day Paul was due to be home). Luckily, Paul was able to do a video call each night so that Joseph and I could talk to him and see him as well. Paul was able to see a lot of really cool and historical places while out there. Joseph and I kept busy while he was gone. On Tuesday we went to the zoo with friends, and on Wednesday we met up with one of my cousins and his wife, who just happened to be in town (they won a free trip out here, of all places). We went out to eat at Augie’s BBQ and then walked around the Japanese Tea Gardens. Thursday, I was feeling pretty rotten (this baby is definitely calling the shots!) and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with Joseph. Then, one of my friends sent me a text, asking if I wanted to drop Joseph off at her house to play with her son while I went home and rested. She kept him for four hours. I have the best friends! Thursday night, Paul came home and it was back to real life. He’s spent the past two days catching up on homework and doing stuff around the house.

The Weekly Weather: We’ve had a couple big storms roll through. One was on Monday night, which sent Joseph into our room. He willingly shared the bed with me that night. Normally I’m not a fan of having him in bed with us (he tends to kick and roll a lot), but since Paul was gone, Joseph had an entire half of the bed to himself. I only had to move him back over a couple of times. The other one came through yesterday afternoon. I like afternoon storms better because Joseph doesn’t get too scared.

What Paul’s Been Up To: In addition to his trip to DC (which he wrote about here [1]), he also helped the Scouts clear a tree that fell down in someone’s yard. He also rearranged our upstairs quite a bit. He sold the guest bedroom bed and moved the dresser into Joseph’s room (moving the changing table dresser into our room for when baby comes). He also moved his desk and all his computer stuff into the guest room, turning it into a separate office. When the baby comes, he’ll either leave it all in there (if it’s a boy, we’re planning on having him share a room with Joseph) or he’ll build a shed in the back yard to serve as an office (if it’s a girl, she’ll get her own room). He also moved my desk so that it’s against the wall, opening the loft up a lot.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve mainly been trying to figure out how to deal with life while feeling sick almost every day. Luckily, Paul, Joseph, and my friends have been a big help.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a ton of fun at the zoo, Japanese Tea Gardens, and playing with friends. One funny thing he said was that if the baby is a girl, he wants her name to be Mrs. Joseph. 😀

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20160510_101326 [2]
Checking out the jaguar.
IMG_20160510_102404 [3]
He’s still a huge fan of the monkeys.
IMG_20160510_110118 [4]
We definitely needed to go see the giraffes.
IMG_20160510_112933 [5]
The best thing to do after walking around the zoo? A train ride, of course!
IMG_20160511_135633 [6]
At the entrance to the Japanese Tea Gardens. It was first opened in the early 1900s, but when WWII was going on, the owners of the gardens were afraid that people with anti-Japanese sentiments would vandalize them, so they changed the name to the Chinese Tea Garden. Even though the name has officially been changed back (I think that happened some time in the 80s), they left the sign up since it’s part of the history.
IMG_20160511_134053 [7]
Hanging out by some bamboo.
IMG_20160511_134040 [8]
It wasn’t too hot, but it was rather humid.
IMG_20160511_133106 [9]
This was a pretty spectacular waterfall.
16 - 2 (1) [10]
My cousin got this shot. I’m so glad he did! It’s one of my favorite current pictures of Joseph.
16 - 3 [11]
My cousin (Doug Hall), Joseph, and me. You can definitely see the family resemblance.
16 - 1 (4) [12]
It was so good to see Doug (we haven’t seen each other for around 20 years) and to get to meet his sweet wife, Michelle!
16 - 1 (5) [13]
Another shot that Doug got. This was at the top of the gardens. It was so peaceful there!
IMG_20160511_134432 [14]
It was so beautiful and green…
IMG_20160511_134651 [15]
We loved all the paths that crossed through that gardens.
IMG_20160512_183402 [16]
Paul brought home some fun magnets for me from DC.
IMG_20160512_183503 [17]
He also brought me this Jane Austen silhouette ornament from the gift shop in the Library of Congress. I’m thinking that I’m going to get some wood to mount it on and then hang up so I can see it all the time.
IMG_20160512_183603 [18]
Paul brought Joseph a Washington DC snow globe and a Superman book (also from the Library of Congress gift shop).
IMG_20160512_193611 [19]
The first big tomato from our garden.
IMG_20160512_193941 [20]
I couldn’t resist…I had to slice it up right away and sprinkle some salt on it. It was so good!
16 - 1 (2) [21]
A glimpse into what this next week’s weather will be like…wee.