A full weekend!

Our weekend of celebrating the end of school year and Sarah's 15th birthday was pretty awesome!

On Friday night we headed to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse for our traditional end-of-school dinner.  We started going there after the kids completed their first year at Our Lady of Mercy (3rd and 2nd grade).  We chose that restaurant because it was near the school so it seemed fitting and because going to a Japanese steakhouse is like a little party in itself.

My mom and my brother joined us.  Part of our tradition is not making a reservation and waiting in the bar.  Lots of shenanigans ensue (anytime my brother is around there are shenanigans) and we made use of our wait time by trying to get some decent photos.  I won't tell you how many pictures we took trying to get these but trust me when I say that everyone else waiting in the bar area probably thought we were crazy.

 Because between my brother's eyes and my eyes being closed for at least 50% of the pictures taken of us and the fact that my mom hates 95% of the pictures taken of her, we have to take a lot of pictures just to get a couple of decent ones.  And you know who hates that?  Peter, Sarah, and Dan.

Here are a couple of pictures from dinner:

On Saturday morning, Dan's sister arrived from D.C. for Sarah's birthday.  We were planning on going to Hanging Rock for a hike but the weather was horrible. There  were a lot of storms and flooding so we decided to skip the hike and we headed to Reynolda House Museum.

We had never been there before.  It was the country home (even though it was literally only three miles from downtown Winston and the city home) of R.J. and Katherine Reynolds.  In case you aren't from around here, R.J. Reynolds was a tobacco magnate and founder of Reynolds Tobacco Company.

The house was built in 1917 and looks like it did then.  It also serves as an art museum with paintings and other works from American artists.  We had never been there before and we really enjoyed it.  Plus they are participating in the Blue Star program right now so because Dan was in the miliatry, we all got in free!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house but we did get a few around the grounds and indoor pool.

On Saturday evening we cooked out burgers and just enjoyed each other's company.  On Sunday morning, we headed to Mass and then met my mom, brother, uncle and family friend at a local restaurant to celebrate Sarah's birthday:

After lunch we came back to mom's house where we enjoyed punch and birthday cake and presents:

And then after lunch, I took Sarah to the nail salon to get a fresh pedicure.  She is headed with her Girl Scout troop to Colorado.  They leave tonight and I already miss her!!