EVL and DC

If you didn’t take any pictures, did it even happen?!

Must work on my picture-taking skills.

We took a quick weekend trip in August, and while I was a little frustrated about the timing of the trip–without it we could have had FIVE glorious weeks at home with no travel–it turned out to be just delightful.

First, we headed an hour south to Ellicottville to stay with friends there. It was their ‘Taste of EVL’ weekend, and we had a blast. I was uncharacteristically chill; the kids had ice cream for lunch and hot chocolate and they even got a toy. I felt like it was a YES DAY. I did capture this sweet moment with the girls playing in this giant hanging plant:

On Sunday morning, we got up early and continued south to DC, but not without a stop at Rita’s! It’s become our new go-to, and Maelle is HERE FOR IT. Can you tell?? She even has her order down: cotton candy ice with unicorn sprinkles and gummy bears.

We were heading to DC to attend the memorial for my grandmother, Bamma, who passed away in April this year. We’ve seen her briefly each time we’ve visited in the last few years, and we knew her health was deteriorating, but I still wish I could have jumped in the car when mom called to say she was in the hospital. (We were across an ocean on our London trip when she died. My parents had actually toyed with the idea of going with us, so it was a blessing that they decided to stay home.)

Bamma loved all of her grandkids and great-grandbabies so much.

The memorial was sweet, and was held at her neighborhood community center, which was also where my parents got married. So many memories. My parents and aunts and uncle did such a lovely job, both with the event and fixing up her house. I got to see the finished product, and while it’s certainly very different than when Bamma lived there, it was still very nostalgic to walk around and remember it how it had been. We visited MANY times growing up, and I have so many fond memories: spaghetti in those clear plates with the thin noodles on Friday nights after we arrived, Top (her husband who passed a few years ago) buying Dunkin’ Donuts every Saturday morning, Reader’s Digest in the downstairs bathroom, the butter dish out on the counter, Thanksgiving meals with turkey AND ham and enough food to feed a small army.

It was so nice to see familiar faces and family I haven’t seen in ages. Perhaps the nicest part was the following morning, when it was all over–the house prep and the memorial–and my parents could finally relax. My brother, Aaron, and his family (Sewon and baby Aiden) flew up, and it was so nice to spend some time with them. Joshua came for the memorial but went home afterward since he and Hannah have a newborn at home!

We all headed to my parents’ neighborhood pool and we had to ourselves! How nice. It was just delightful to walk there, enjoy a few hours in the water and sun, and then walk back. And then Sewon made bibimbap bowls for us for dinner, and they are always amazing.

The next morning we headed home and hit one of our favorite playgrounds for lunch! Maelle is getting so good at the monkey bars!