Not Much Labor But A Lotta Weekend

Okay, hold onto your hats this is going to be a long post, as the Harrison kids were out and about this weekend. (Many thanks to them and their significant others for sending plenty of pictures to populate this post!) But before we get into the weekend, let's go back a couple of weeks to Mary's birthday evening, the highlight of which was taking first place at a trivia night with team Stanford. It's the first time she's ever been on a trivia team in DC that took home a first prize, so it was pretty exciting to have it happen on her birthday.

Here in St. Louis, our weekend was pretty quiet. We stayed at home with Sirius while John and Troy were in New York City for a wedding. (In other words, it wasn't a very quiet weekend for Allie.) Sirius improved his squirrel chasing skills, and Allie continued to train him in how to protect the house.

Meanwhile, John and Troy had an extended weekend in New York for the wedding of one of Troy's college friends. Here they are on their way to the rehearsal dinner.

Not to be outdone, Peter and Jessa spent their weekend (just the usual Saturday and Sunday—no long Labor Day weekend for them) in Essaouira, Morocco. My handy dandy search engine tells me it's a coastal city (on the Atlantic) that's about 200 miles south of Casablanca. 

My handy dandy search engine (and a few hints on Peter and Jessa's Instagram posts) also helped me figure out that Essaouira is a Game of Thrones filming location. (I don't watch Game of Thrones but I think if I did this would be obvious.) Case in point: above photo.

Borrowed from Peter's Instagram, and I think the picture speaks for itself.

Another Instagram grab from Peter. Mary reminded me that when she studied in Madrid and took a trip to Morocco, they went to Essaouira (as well as Marrakech) and when they were in Essaouira they visited Cap Cod. So don't think you're the coolest Peter, your sister got to Cap Cod first. 

Here is another iconic Game of Thrones location, as modeled by Jessa and a friend. By the way, Jessa tells me that this coming week they have a five-day weekend due to the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. (For anyone who wonders, I looked it up and it's a holiday to celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. And yes, it really is a three-day holiday.) This time they're heading to Madrid. (Is this international teaching lifestyle now starting to make sense?!)

Let's check in on the dogs, who are staring intently through the front door. Allie devoted much of the weekend to Sirius' continuing education in house protection. He now reliably barks when someone's at the door. One day I was out front and needed Brad's attention so I knocked with the door knocker (which is loud) and the two of them came charging at the door—with Sirius barking quite loudly—and I must say they make an effective pair of guard dogs.

Back in our nation's capital, Mary spent Saturday touring around the city on foot, including her first visit to the National Archives. She later told me that she had the cast recording of Hamilton in her earbuds, so you KNOW it was a great walk! 

And back up in "the greatest city in the world" (three guesses as to which hit musical I'm quoting), John and Troy got all dressed up for a second night in a row, this time for the wedding. I know I'm partial but I think they look great!

When the New York visitors returned home yesterday, they brought us some fresh New York bagels. In case you're wondering, the bagels tasted at least as good as they looked.

And finally we had to wish Sirius a fond farewell. He was a perfect gentleman for his entire visit (at five nights, it was the longest he's ever stayed here) and we can't wait to have him stay with us another time soon! (I think Allie will even agree.)

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