Day 434 | Yards Park (Again)
/We spent another glorious morning at Yards Park today. Can you tell how much fun we had by the photos? And we've been giving our eight-person minivan a good workout.
Day 433 | Jason's Day of Fun
/The kids loved the time at the museum and the adults even got in on the action by successfully assembling the building block igloo (quite an accomplishment, I have to say). Then we retreated home for a lovely naptime and sushi with one of Jason and Erica's longtime friends.
You're welcome, Jason.
Day 429 | American History
/Day 425 | Yards Park
/Day 420 | Blueberries, Black Raspberries, and More
/Best day ever!
70 degree weather for the perfect berry picking morning. There were blueberries galore, black raspberries for days, sugar snap peas (that could have been a little more delicious, let's be honest), and our first chance to pick cherries (they were tart, but that's ok, it still counts). We love Butlers Orchard.
As if that weren't enough, we ate a delicious lunch at Noodles and then stopped at Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat to power everyone through the drive home (we couldn't let them fall asleep, after all). After finishing his ice cream, Chase declared (in his most official voice) that "Ice cream in the car is the best!"
Day 413 | Big Outing
/Day 412 | Emery Playground
/- A big hill in the middle with two slides coming down from it=super fun!
- A double-decker play structure with some really unique attractions (think slide with three turbo boosters, an "elevator" pole feature, two bridges, etc)
- Really interesting and addicting wall-mounted games that I haven't seen anywhere else. There was a construction-themed one where you had to manipulate four different gears to get all the marbles through the different machines. Very cool.
Day 407 | Beating the Heat
/Day 392 | Another Day, Another Playground
/I love that there are so many nice playgrounds in this city. Can't complain about that!
Day 391 | Splish Splash
/Day 387 | Strawberry Sunday
/Day 380 | Artsy Action
/Day 365 | Elephants
/Robbe got to meet his favorite animal up close: the elephant. He was over-flowing with excitement the entire time. And kept bellowing like an elephant for the time we were around them. So sweet.
Day 360 | Butterflies!
/Chase was a little uncertain about these flying beauties (are you surprised?), but afterward they were his favorite part of the outing. Robbe, on the other hand, could not have been more excited. He squealed with excitement and pointed at all the butterflies the whole time. His reaction to the whole outing (we also watched the fishies for a bit and looked at some other animals) made me realize we need to do stuff like this more. He's really starting to take in and enjoy the world around him.
In other news, our month of visitors has come to an end. We dropped Grandma and Grandpa G. off at the airport this afternoon. In Chase's words, "I'm so sad." Back to the real world around here...
Day 357 | Day Out with Thomas
/Have we taken the train enthusiasm to the extreme? Maybe, but it was totally worth it! Chase had a blast on his first Mommy-Daddy-Chase-Grandpa Day (thanks, Mom, for hanging out with Robbe so we could go sans-baby). Oh, and Thomas being there didn't hurt.
Some of the highlights from the big event:
- Meeting the big guy: Thomas, that is (middle photo)
- Meeting Sir Topham Hat (top-left photo)
- Riding on one of Thomas's coaches (top-right and bottom-left photos)
- Train-themed crafts (stamps, coloring, necklace-making)
- A petting zoo (What? Who would have expected that?)
- Three train-themed kiddie rides (including a carousel)
- Tons of real trains to tour and look at (we'll be back to the B&O Railroad Museum)
- A toy wooden railway (like the one we have at home), which Chase proclaimed was his favorite part of the day, of course
- And so much more!
Day 343 | Cherry Blossoms
/There are a large contingency of DC residents that strongly *strongly* dislike Cherry Blossom time in the District. True, traffic is a terror, the metro gets just a wee bit congested, and the Mall area (including the Tidal Basin) can be unnavigable at times.
Somehow all that disappears when you see the blossoms, though. They're just so pretty.
I won't say this year was an ideal cherry blossom visit, however. We were gone for a total of three hours and spent maybe 30 minutes on the Tidal Basin. The weather was a bit chilly and overcast. Chase, although super excited to go, was less-than-thrilled with the actual outing when we got down there. And Robbe, who still takes a morning nap, decided not to sleep in the stroller (not surprising since he's only done it once). He did sleep in the carrier, though, so it wasn't all bad.
After all that, Chris and I still considered it a success. We made it down for the Cherry Blossoms! And they continue to be worth all the trouble.