Big group at dinner after great day in DC!

C

Nice group in DC

And with attendance nearly double that of our other cities, it's been
a super fun group too! Much like Chapel Hill, the women FAR outnumber
the guys... by almost 10 to 1. Interesting. C

Sightseeing Day in DC!

We had an amazing day yesterday. We had a "day off" and Corey's amazing wife, Jill, came up to DC to meet us. We took a little breather on Friday night (for which I am very thankful), but on Saturday, we headed out at around 8:00 am, and tried to see as many of the sights as we could possibly see in one day!

We started off our morning at Mount Vernon (well, after a delicious McDonald's breakfast, of course). It was cool to see the home of our first President, and to learn various different facts about that time period in history. We took a special National Treasure tour, and were able to see a few places that the regular visitors don't get to see. (Exciting Bonus Number 1!)

I will admit that I would've enjoyed myself even more, if it were slightly warmer. It was 41 degrees, but we were down by the Potomac, and there were some pretty serious gusts of wind.



Thankfully, I was prepared... we took turns looking ridiculous, but at least we were warmer!





Well, I say I was prepared... but maybe that's a bit of an overstatement... I certainly didn't pick the most appropriate footwear ;)



What Corey saw...











What I saw... (not nearly as much!)





After the super frigid, but awesomely entertaining morning at Mount Vernon, we headed into the city to try to knock out a few Museums.

First stop was the Air and Space museum. There was an exhibit that Jill had really wanted to see at the American History museum... but that museum was closed for renovations. Imagine our excitement when we realized that that exhibit was currently being housed at the Air and Space museum! (Exciting Bonus Number 2!)

Corey was very excited to see R2D2 and C3PO!


From the Air and Space Museum, we booked it to the Museum of Natural History. Absolutely fascinating stuff! We were super excited about the opportunity to see an amazing photography display upstairs. (Exciting Bonus Number 3!)







After the museums, we headed over to see the monuments and the glorious cherry blossoms. Sadly, the weather wasn't quite optimal, but we still had an awesome time photographing these historic places!

Washington Monument.

What Corey saw...







What I saw...



(Corey and Jill)







Jefferson Memorial and cherry blossoms.

What Corey saw...

(The other side of the Washington Monument)







What I saw...





A few fun self portraits to memorialize an AMAZING day! Much love to both McNabbs... they're my very best friends. I will say that we missed my family very much :(







The master at work.



As we were walking back to the Metro station, we ran across a traffic jam. We weren't sure what people were stopped for until we saw the motorcade coming our way! How fun to see President Bush while in DC!?! (Exciting Bonus Number 4!)



We ended up at the best steakhouse ever for dinner. We deserved a nice, relaxing, spectacularly delicious dinner after such a crazy week. I can't express how much we enjoyed it. I teared up a little after having my first bite of steak. We had an amazing view of the Potomac... such a perfect ending to a perfect day.







The DC tour stop is going wonderfully... Corey's been speaking all morning, and it's almost my turn, so I must run. More later!

-amber

We saw the President!

Blurry iphone shot of the back of my D3, but GW waved right at us.

Great view of DC and the Potomac from dinner!

Top floor at Ruth's Chris Steak House
C

Back on The Mall

Cold and cloudy

Night at the Museum!

Corey's getting some awesome shots! Blog those soon!
-amber

Pretty Metro station

Man, history's cool!

And we still have tons of stuff to see today! I haven't been to DC
since I was a kid.
C

We're at Mount Vernon

-amber

Sightseeing day!

Starting with this line to get in to Mt. Vernon

C

Chapel Hill was awesome!

Thursday, we were so excited about not having to wake up at the crack of dawn! We started the morning a little later, and enjoyed a leisurely drive from Atlanta, GA to Chapel Hill, NC. While stopped for a quick bathroom break, Corey spotted this gorgeous butterfly, and captured this awesome image of it.



Friday snuck up on us so fast! We were excited to see the group arrive. It was an interesting mix of people... only four men in a room full of ladies! We were blessed to have such an awesome group. The dynamic was wonderful.

Our dear friend, Nicole (who came to the last McWorkshop)brought her cute little Rockstar notebook that Corey gave the attendees of that workshop. I loved watching her taking notes like mad... she's so great!



Corey is such a dynamic speaker!





People think he's hysterical!





After our lovely lunch, Corey disappeared for awhile. I had no idea where he was, but I thought nothing of it, as he has a lot of work to deal with right now. Imagine my surprise when, as I am speaking, he appears in the doorway with a birthday cake!











And no, I'm NOT 34... I'll let you figure out what age I really might be ;)
It has been sad to be away from my family at my birthday (although I did have a present a day for the whole week from my husband!), but if there is anyone else I would want to be with, it's my dear friend Corey and this group of absolutely amazing photographers!! Thank you so much, Corey, for the awesome birthday surprise.

(My wonderful family created a cool birthday surprise for me as well.... check it out here! I love you guys!)

After I collected my emotions and finished giving my talk about Lifestyle Babies, we busted out the Xbox and played a little RockBand! This group was awesome, and I'll just say that I was wishing I could find somewhere to do some karaoke later that evening, so that I could hear Shane Snider sing again!









After our concert time, we headed over to Top of the Hill for a wonderful dinner. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the company! Good times!





Ridiculousness...



I got a second cake after dinner! Fun :)





A few cool pictures of the happenings from the Chapel Hill folks... Thanks so much for sending these and blogging these, guys!

Kimberly Naranjo



Nancy Thomas











I also ran across this cool slideshow on Denise Skelton's blog. You can check it out here! Thanks Denise!

We are safely in Washington DC, and looking forward to a fun sight-seeing day tomorrow. Of course, we'll post that stuff as soon as we can!

Thanks to all who sent me birthday love... you guys are the best!

much love,

-amber