Visiting Breck & Iris in Virginia

July 10, 2020

Over the 4th of July weekend we drove to Virginia to visit Breck and Iris.

We left early Friday morning in order to maximize our time there!

The sunrise that morning was beautiful!

The "front" door to Breck and Iris' basement apartment (yes, it kind of looks like a tornado bunker, but it's a large two-bedroom apartment that is super cute inside).

Walking through the pantry area that Breck created, and then into the main living space.

This is Breck's favorite place in the house--the media room! Every time I Facetime him he is reorganizing it.

Breck does have has a very nice projector and screen--I don't know much about electronics, but I do know that 4K picture quality is WAY better than 1080P! The images are more vibrant and clear even down to the tiniest of details, which means you can sit closer to the screen without any distortions (how did I do Breck?).

It's a pretty awesome way to watch anything, and luckily for us, we got there just in time to watch Hamilton on Disney Plus.

Afterwards we took Beck and Iris out to eat at their favorite restaurant, to celebrate Breck's birthday.

Breck opening the birthday gifts we brought him (trying to decipher my handwriting).

We started off the day with snow cones from Mama Rosa's, Breck & Iris' favorite shaved-ice place.

All the different flavors, mix-ins, and toppings!

Breck and Iris' favorite topping is the Tamarindo jelly, which is made from the fruit of a Tamarind tree (according to Wikipedia). The jelly has pieces of the fruit skins mixed in so it is very sweet but also very tart at the same time.

The jelly was a perfect compliment to my blue-raspberry, coconut, and pineapple flavored ice topped with crushed pineapple and condensed milk (yes, it was a head-rush!).

Merinda only made it through half of hers since it was so sweet.

But it was a very refreshing treat since it was hotter than blazes outside, with heat indices over 100 degrees!

Enjoying our snow-cones under the shade of a tree, while holding onto our covid masks (Iris is always so good to look up whenever I am taking pictures!).

After our 'breakfast of champions' we bought some food at Walmart for a barbecue, dropped it off at Iris' parents house, and went to a park to paddle-board (because that's what you do when it's a million degrees outside).

I was really impressed with the employees at the boat dock. Even in the oppressive heat they were so nice and helpful, and wore their ppe's at all times.

Breck was a little disappointed when I told him it would be him and I paddling. So like a man, he had to paddle like a maniac...

Even though it was hot, it was nice to be on the water and look at the lovely scenery!

Little duck family

View of the other side of the lake

Another view of the lake

Everyone survived, and a good time was had by all (I think, well, at least I had a great time!)

After the boat ride Iris and Merinda went to the car to cool down and Breck, Brad and I went on a walk around the lake.

The good part is that it was all shaded!

It was a nice little walk.

After the park we went to Iris' house where her step-dad Diego cut up some watermelon for us,

and helped Brad and Breck get the grill fired-up for barbecue hamburgers.

I don't know why, but those hamburgers were some of the best I've ever had (maybe because it was the 4th of July)!

After dinner Iris, Merinda, and I chilled on the couch and sang karaoke songs.

On our way back to Breck & Iris' we drove through the quaint town of Clifton, VA.

Breck loves Clifton because of the mansion, and they were pretty awesome but too hard to see tucked-in behind all the trees. This was the best picture I could get of them.

Since it was so hot we just had to stop and get some ice cream from Petersons, especially since they claimed to have the best ice cream in Virginia.

Iris loved her cotton-candy flavored ice cream,

and I loved my graham cracker cookie ice cream (which was supposed to be Brads but it sounded so good so he let me have it instead and he ordered mint chocolate chip in case I didn't like it), but for everyone else it was just alright.

Breck being Breck, and Iris being Iris by smiling nicely at the camera again!

That night, in honor of the 4th, we lit off sparklers that Breck bought.

There is something about playing with sparklers that just makes you feel young again!

I loved trying to make a perfect circle with mine, like I used to do when I was a kid.

After the sparklers we just chilled on the patio, talked, and listened to all the other fireworks going on around us. It was a very nice 4th of July!

The next morning we watched a video for Church, and ate a delicious lunch that Iris and Merinda made.

We then went to National Harbor, on the Potomac River, in Maryland.

Brad and I forgetting that we had our masks on for the picture.

The harbor is one of Iris' favorite places to go with her dad.

With the cloud cover, the temperature was just perfect,

and the sunset was beautiful!

My favorite part was this statue called The Awakening, by J. Seward Johnson.

It was so cool looking I had to take a picture of it from every angle.

So fun fact: there's also a replica of it in Chesterfield Missouri, where Breck was born!

There was also an old Air-force One plane that usually gives tours, but it wasn't open probably due to covid-19.

Some colorful ducks just chillin on a log.

A pretty awesome candy store,

but we refrained from buying anything because it was Sunday.

I took this picture for Aubrey, a gummy candy extravaganzas!

The harbor also had a lot of interesting statues, these were just a few...George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass,

Rosie the Riveter, a cultural icon of women in WWII,

and Brad's work-out buddy!
We had such a great time in Virginia with Breck & Iris, my only complaint is that it wasn't long enough! We're already counting down the days when we can visit them again!