vacation at Grandma and PapPap's house and other happenings

Nicholas spent a week with Grandma and PapPap.   It was his first time going off without Mommy and Daddy for a week but he had a blast, and we got to Skype every night.  The kids missed each other, I think.  Claire kept wandering into Nicholas' room looking around and when we arrived in Ohio, Nicholas threw his arms around Claire and said, "I missed you baby sister!"  *melt*

We had a quiet week at home while Nicholas was off on adventures--Animal Safari, put-put golf, fishing (he caught his first fish), pony ride at the fair, new shoes, popsicles, milkshakes, waffles.... life was very good.

David and Christy even got a date night-- out to Brew at the Zoo with friends.  It was a fundraiser/beer tasting event, and we had a great time!

 sunflower that sprouted in one of the plants in our house  (we planted bulbs, which didn't come up, but hey, nice surprise!)

 the mustache beer (Traveler's something or other) tasted good too!

 annual pool photo at Grandma and PapPap's

 pretty girl, pretty flowers

 sidewalk chalk

 hanging out poolside with PapPap and Caesar

 her feet don't quite reach the pedals yet, but watch out next year!

building a fire for marshmallow roasting

train ride at the local mall--another regular event!

Happy (belated) Independence Day!

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!  Christy loves holidays and traditions in general, and knowing that our kids will spend a good part of their childhood living abroad, it's especially important that they learn about and experience American holidays and traditions.  We celebrated the 4th in a very low-key, traditional way-- BBQ'd ribs on the grill with friends, and fireworks at the local high school.  We were a little nervous about how Claire would handle the fireworks, but she wasn't scared at all!

We got last-minute 4th of July shirts on sale, and they are both a perfect fit for the kids' personalities right now-- "America Totally Rocks" for Nicholas, and "I Woof the USA" for Claire.

Nicholas just spent a week with his grandparents and loved it!  Now just one more week until summer camp (at his regular school) starts up.  In the meantime, I'm trying to take advantage of my shift schedule and being home on random weekdays to try to make his summer somewhat educational.  Hence, a trip to the National Building Museum last week!  We ended up having fun, but if I did it differently I would buy tickets ahead to the "Building Zone", which is the exhibit geared towards preschoolers.  The other exhibits were geared towards older kids, and the "Amazing Arches" and "Family Fun Kit" were not as cool as they sounded on the website.  We bought tickets when we got there and had a two hour wait, so we did make the most of the other options, and the Building Zone was a blast.

Fortunately some dads were there to help with the Amazing Arches, as it is definitely a multi-adult project.

 learning about patterns in the Family Tool Kit.  Nicholas also discovered stamps.

 Building Zone!

 That's all for now.  More about our trip to the Zoo without Nicholas for ... Brew at the Zoo! in the next post!

Around the House

Oops!  So much for more frequent blogging.  Where did June go?  I did a separate post with our June adventures, but here are a few "around the house" shots of our daily life:

 We resurrected the blow-up pool we bought while we were in Trinidad

 Play-doh is great for rainy day fun

 Nicholas got his yellow belt in Tai Kwo Do!  It's great to see his improvement.  He is so proud of himself now that he can hang on the rope for a full 10 seconds.

 Can't wait until they are old enough to vacuum for real!

 Both kids love Lego right now, and Nicholas especially loves making Lego airplanes.

 Claire is crazy about shoes and always has to have a pair on, or her slippers around the house.

 playing doctor

 Ants on a log!  I never liked this childhood staple myself., since I don't like celery or raisins.  Nicholas likes all three components though, so I thought it would be big hit with him.  I was surprised that he was really skeptical at first, but once I convinced him to try one he gobbled them all up!

 We are a waffle-loving family.  Nicholas has now decided that rather than choose one topping, he'll have a little bit of everything:  peanut butter, Nutella, jelly, and butter with syrup!

Claire, on the other hand, is decidedly a Nutella fan!

 Nicholas is starting to write his letters... "N" for "Nicholas"!

Loving the homemade snow cones (in a bowl)

Claire, too!

One Heck of a Weekend!

June 14-16 was an awesome weekend!  It started on Friday with Nicholas' last day of school.  Mommy and Daddy got to see Nicholas' class perform a "rockin' " presentation, and Nicholas got his "Diplome de Reussie".  Saturday, we attended a birthday picnic at Burke Lake Park for one of Nicholas' classmates, then headed deeper into VA for strawberry picking and even made a stop at Naked Mountain Winery, where mom and dad had been wine-tasting with friends back in those pre-kid days.  Sunday was Father's Day and while unfortunately Christy had to work afternoon shift, we made the most of the morning with a Pirate Cruise down the Potomac.  

Other activities this month included heading to Barracks Row for the Marine evening parade and yummy milkshakes at Ted's Bulletin (Claire and Nicholas split one, and Claire drank her entire half!)  We unfortunately didn't have the camera along, but Claire especially LOVED the music!  She started marching and swinging her arms whenever the Marine band started to play.  Soo cute.  Christy and David had a date night--for Father's Day, Christy got tickets to the Buddy Guy concert at our local theater.  We'd seen him perform before in Chicago so this was a lot of fun to see him again so close to home.  We started out the evening at Chasin' Tails restaurant, dining on shrimp, crawfish, and alligator.  Staying adventurous!  Other than that we've enjoyed some BBQing, lots of time at the park for the kids (I think Nicholas is ready for his school summer camp), a few play dates for Nicholas, and swim lessons that started last week.  

 Congratulations, Nicholas!  One year down, at least 14 to go, and then there is college and grad school so let's just give it an even 20 more years.

 #ourlittlediva #tributetothe60"s

 Train ride at Burke Lake park.  This will be a repeat when GG and Grumpa come to visit!

 Strawberry picking--beautiful scenery/delicious berries!

we picked 3 baskets; 2 for the pie and 1 to enjoy for breakfast

 and the Pirate Cruise!  Nicholas was in heaven and the rest of us had fun, too!  Aaarrgh, Matey's!

Happy Memorial Day!

This Memorial Day Weekend started out freezing with temps in the 60's on Friday, but as I write we are expecting highs of 90 all week so I guess summer did arrive.  We enjoyed a vary low-key and traditional Memorial Day weekend, BBQing and attending the Falls Church Memorial Day parade and festival, which felt very "hometowny".  We are thinking of the troops and their families at home and abroad, as well as our diplomatic colleagues serving in war zones, who had some scary moments last week in Afghanistan.  Thank you for serving our country!

In kid news, Nicholas has 3 weeks of school left and thinks everything is "fantastic." Swim lessons are on the agenda for the summer as well as trips to the library and community center with Claire, and French summer camp, which is basically just 4 extra weeks of school.  Mommy will also have to plan a few special field trips on her off days. Claire can identify doggie, kitty, horse, penquin, and bunny in her board books, although she still likes to call just about everything a doggie!  She also knows about 10 body parts and 3 animal sounds, all learned in the last month or so.  Go Claire!

Nicholas loved the fire trucks!

Claire had fun too, didn't mind the noise at all!  Plus, there were smoothies and funnel cake.

Nicholas is very interested in dragons right now; he tells us he wants a dragon cake for his 4th birthday (which is still a few months away!)

Ready for Sports Day at school!  Go Bucks!

bubbles are the best

first BBQ of the season!

Nicholas and mommy made mini-s'mores

Claire has been taking a Little Gym class and this week was their big "show" to wrap up the spring session.  Daddy took a few hours off of work to join in and see Claire summersault, swing on the bars, and walk on the balance beam.

Summer is also the time for.... short haircuts!  Nicholas visited Daddy's outdoor barber shop.