Let’s hope so, anyway! My brother, Aaron, got married to his girlfriend in Korea last summer, and they are in the midst of planning a wedding here so that our family can attend. Two weekends ago, my mom threw his wife, Sewon, a bridal shower and we made the trek down to DC again. (‘Again,’ meaning that by the end of the summer, we will have driven to Virginia ONCE A MONTH from February to July, and then again in September. That’s seven times! The upside: we’ve FINALLY perfected our route, and marked all the playgrounds along the way.)
Andrew was already working in DC that week prior, so Maelle and I drove down by ourselves on Friday. We left nice and early, hit our favorite playground for a picnic lunch, and overall had an incredibly smooth trip down.
We met Andrew at his hotel in Alexandria, and stretched our legs with a little walk before sitting down to dinner.
The following morning, we spent a little more time in Old Town, hitting Starbucks for coffee, the famers’ market for pastries, South Block for smoothies and FatFace for some bug pants. (You read that right; I saw a pair of cotton gray jogger pants–jammies–covered with sweet, summery bugs. I had to have them. Bonus: they were on sale.) FatFace is British, so it felt appropriate so soon after our London trip two weeks ago.
We arrived at my parents’ house just in time to help put food out for the shower. As usual, my mom went over the top decorating and I’m so thankful she had the help of my other sister-in-law, Hannah, earlier in the week. The theme was ‘English tea,’ and we had scones and clotted cream direct from London, in addition to tea sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays, macarons, cupcakes and cake pops. The balloon arch always takes it over the top.
Between my mom’s Bible study friends and some family members who drove in, it was so sweet to see a group of women love on someone they’d never met before. It’s a true testament to my mom and her friends and how special a kid Aaron was (and still is!). In fact, the only person there (other than my mom) who’s even seen Sewon more than a couple times was her sister and her little nephew, who were both visiting from Korea!
In addition to the chaos of the party, Aaron and a bunch of his friends were staying at the house, too! My poor mother. They were supposed to be camping as a sort of ‘bachelor weekend,’ but it got rained out. Young men galore! Thankfully, he has cool friends and I really enjoyed getting to know a couple of them better, especially the coffee-connoisseur, Ryan. He and his wife own Pilgrim Roasters, a café in Manayunk, Pa. We drank well in the morning all weekend.
After church on Sunday, we went to 2 Silos Brewing for lunch. Dad and Andrew had gone the day before during the shower, and we always pass it on our drive to my parents’ house, so I was excited to try it. It was too hot for Maelle to play on the playground equipment, but otherwise we really enjoyed it. We finally scored a table in the shade and enjoyed beer and barbecue, tacos and a salad for lunch. Meanwhile, Aaron and Sewon and her sister and the baby headed downtown to see some of the sights and monuments. Her sister is from Korea, so she might as well see the nation’s capitol while she’s here!
The following morning, we packed up and hit the road before 10, which was later than we’d planned but still doing pretty well. Along the way, we got caught in a downpour leaving Starbucks and it felt like we stopped twice as many times as we did on the way down, but we made it home safe and sound. Only a few weeks until we make the drive again…
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