Field Day

This one was only for the Pre-K's and younger. There was much jealousy after the Kindergartner came home and saw the face paint. But the Engineer is doing well as the head-cheese.

  

Snow cones:

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Nature + Silence

DH gave me some silence this weekend (like 6 hours to myself on Sunday). The kid's are taking turns demonstrating horrible behavior. And, though we love them very much, we sometimes need a break from them in order to love them better. Someone said somewhere that at least 5 hours in a row were necessary for one's break to feel like a break. I think that's true. I drove in silence for an hour, sat in the chapel here, waved to my dear nun-friend, and stared in awe at nature. When I returned, there was a nice misty cover everywhere. :)

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"We Go On A 'Benture'?"

Sweet Pea has picked up my love of exploring. She asks every morning, "We go on a 'benture?" 

This weekend, we visited Clemyjontri a couple of times, the Mosaic District, Old Town Alexandria, Tyson's Mall, and lots of other places. It was raining Sunday and Monday; so, we avoided the spraygrounds.

Here are the kids at BGR:

A fenced-in playground:

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Back to Biking

I've realized that I'm not making my goal weight again (since disc herniation) without exercise. It's so easy to talk myself out of a certain type of exercise because of the work involved. E.g. Navigating the gym parking lot with toddlers, checking them in, finding a place for my stuff, getting to class, etc. It's just a lot of effort for exercise when I could just walk out my door and go.

I'd much rather workout outside discovering new sights and sounds, doing my mandatory stretches (hamstrings, hip flexors) in nature, without all the screens flashing and competing overhead music of the gym.

Last time I went biking post-injury, my back was sore afterward. So this time I limited the terrain to flat and pedaled slowly while focusing on posture. It still felt like a good workout. The only thing that bugged me afterward was my wrist; but I'm sure there's something out there that helps bikers with carpal tunnel. 

The kids loved it! We rode around the National Mall. Sweet Pea asked to go inside "the castle" and ate hot dogs and drank chocolate milk. The kids (esp. Mr. Serious) look so much bigger than they did last fall!

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Girl Things

She plays at being a princess, taking care of her babies, and dancing. "Can we dance?" she asks every afternoon. She likes spinning and twirling and stomping too. We can never pin her down. She is sweet and sassy and sensitive and tough -- all at the same time.

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Thunderstorm

I love a good rain storm. None of the kids is afraid of thunder so far...

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Food Is Love

Last week, I made mac n cheese for the first time in a while. When the Eldest saw it, he ran to the papers, made a note and brought it to me.

"Do you know why I love you mom? Because you made me mac n cheese!"

These little moments are the ones I will miss when they are older.

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Pentecost Sunday and Sandy Point!

DH was inspired to take the family to Sandy Point early Sunday morning. We avoided a bunch of traffic that was inbound for the blues fest because we made this an early morning trip. It was super peaceful, not crowded, and warm. Some of these pics are sequences because I can't seem to delete any more. I love photos with the kids! Evening (5pm) Mass was a perfect option today. The kids listened better; and we had the former warrant officer priest (who earned a distinguished service cross) offer the Mass.

Of course, we found a crushed "Natty Light" can on the beach, which Mr. Agreeable was determined to fill with sand.

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