Tuesday December 29: Christmas in DC!

What a perfect opportunity - fly from Ft. Myers to Washington DC to celebrate Christmas with family - and not just our immediate family but nieces, nephews and their kids!

Turns out that Nora (from Charlotte NC), Mary (from Philadelphia PA) and Christy (from St. Louis MO) and their families were gathering in DC the weekend after Christmas.

Most of them we hadn't seen in quite a few years - and some of their kids we'd NEVER seen! It gets more difficult when families begin to spread out and move out of Ohio ....

We met them at the Gaylord National Hotel - situated on the Potomac River a short 15 minutes from where Matt and Wendy live. Perfect location. Although the weather was quite balmy for DC at this time of the year, the inside venue was very enjoyable.

The Dozzi, Torack and Fuchs crew!

One of the highlights was the Holiday Ice Sculpture - hence the group picture above ;-)  All of us in our matching winter coats. And those coats were REALLY needed! Inside it was 9 degrees - by the time we walked through the exhibits, my hands were turning blue - literally ..... well at least they felt like it.

The exhibit itself was quite amazing - basically the story of how the toys were saved from the evil burgomaster trying to stop Christmas.

The final exhibit was a full size nativity scene in ice. A total of two million pounds of ice was used in the whole ice sculpture - truly amazing!

It was really nice seeing everyone even though it was for just a short afternoon.

Monday: we sent Becky off to LA and send Matt and Steve off to the Military Bowl in Annapolis. Navy vs. Pitt.

Great game with Navy coming out on top to finish one of it's best seasons ever!

And Matt scored with a photo opp with Billy the Goat - Navy's mascot!

Sadly the unseasonably warm weather left the day before the game and it was a long and cold 3 hours watching the game. But the guys persevered while Wendy and I took the opportunity to enjoy some down time at the house - where it was nice and warm :-)

Wednesday it was finally it was time for us to head back to Ft. Myers. It was a great time in DC - with Matt and Wendy both going all out to make our stay enjoyable - including having flannel sheets on our bed ;-)  What a great family time with them and Becky!!