jam packed June

I hate to have to bundle up an entire month in one post, but I'm afraid it has to be done this time.

After a nice visit with my mom and sisters...I had just enough time to strip the sheets off the beds {okay, air mattresses} and clean up so Steve's parents, brother, and his friend could settle in for a short weekend visit.

My Bussells with the other Bussells- Lynn {Steve's brother} and Mom & Dad.

We are loving all the visitors.  It's not as easy to get people out to visit us living in the California desert , but I think the attraction of our temporary home in DC seems to lure everyone in a little easier.  

Then, the kids finished up their last days of school with Field Days for each of their grades.   Evan's was first:

Hana's came just a few days later.  Unfortunately I was too busy helping with the field day game to take many pictures for hers.  But rest assured, it was a good time. 

Then Hana's last day of Elementary School was celebrated with a Graduation Ceremony.  It included having the kids share what they want to be when they grow up.  Hana said she'd like to be an Elementary School Teacher.  And I can totally see her doing that one day.

Hana with her 5th Grade teacher, Mrs. Lombardo.

Hana and her friends- Gigi, Ashlynn, and Danbi

We took her out to lunch at Panera {her choice} and gave her a necklace with an "H" on it as a gift.  We joked that there's a recording device and a tracker in it.  She didn't think that was too funny.  But wouldn't that be a great idea.

Father's Day we took Steve out to lunch.  As soon as I read about Chasin' Tails {the name refers to their specialty- crawfish} in the Washington Post, I knew he'd love it.   It's a fairly new restaurant in Arlington that's centered around the food of the New Orleans Bayou.  I told Steve just a little bit about it and it didn't take much to sell the idea to him. Now, I can't eat shellfish because I'm allergic...but I'm honestly alright with that.  Now if you said I couldn't have one of their delightful beignets, well then, I might've had to throw a fit.  What a great find!

Crawfish in a bag

We also squeezed in a couple of days at the pool with some friends and a visit to a winery with some neighbors.  Finally, we had less than a week to get ourselves ready for our big vacation to Europe- covering London, Paris, and Rome!  It took me the week just to settle on what to pack as we decided to just do carry-ons.  I was quite proud of myself for managing to get 12 days worth of clothes {with plans to wash clothes along the way}, shoes, and all that other stuff into 4 carry-ons comfortably.  I'll break down our trip by city in the next posts.  

At London's Heathrow Airport

June was very good at getting our Summer off to a wonderful start.  But I'm realizing we're already in July- and once again, the days are going by too fast.  It's nice to be back at the house, slow down for a bit and catch up.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...