Big Meadows, oh how I love thee!

Such a perfect day.....I'm so glad I spent it with Sophie, Clara, Mom, Dad, Jen, Jose, Alejo & Sofia.

(The last 7 photos are courtesy of my Dad....thank you, Dad!)

Fun With Nature

So the girls and I are on the road yet again, doing our best to soak up every last minute of Summer vacation!  We're at my parents right now preparing for a visit to Big Meadows (oh my goodness!).  I'm very excited because Mom & Dad are coming with us.  As an extra special treat, my roommate from college is also joining us and bringing two of her children.  Sophie, Clara and I are thrilled to share one of our favorite places with some of our most favorite people!

Lately, the weather has been cooler (SO NICE!) and quite rainy.  My parents have a number of large oaks around their house and some of the roots have grown back above ground.  The rainfall created small pools in these exposed roots that were the perfect size for a Playmobil party!

 

 

 

There are also mushrooms growing everywhere.....all different kinds.  The oak pools and the mushrooms are too fun and great for a child's (and, okay, a Mom's too) imagination!

75 degrees.....sitting in the shade of a large oak tree....Mom & I sipping on hard cider.....Clara playing quietly......aaaaahhhhh, if Summer is like this all the time, I'll take it!

Lulu & Goose in D.C.

Our family spent last week in Washington, D.C.  One of my favorites places.  I've spent a lot of time there in my life (being a Virginia girl and going to college only 45 minutes away) but this was the first time our girls visited the city.  I'm not really sure what took us so long!

Honestly, it was too hot to take pictures. It was too hot to breathe.  Plus I was sick and/or recovering the entire trip. But I managed to squeak out a few photos. Here are some of my favorites....

  

  

{My nickname for Sophie has always been 'Goose' so I'm quite fond of this picture!}

{I gave Clara a dime and told her she could put it in her pocket.  She rarely took her hand out of her pocket the remainder of the day!}

{Alain found an awesome place called The Swiss Bakery.  Pretty authentic and SO delicious!  We may or may not have gone there three times during our visit...  On this particular day, I had Clara wear her "Heidi"/Switzerland shirt that was a present from her Tio Iggy and Tia Bianca (originally Sophie's present but it's now fitting Clara perfectly)!  Tio Iggy is always with us.  Always.}

Alain agrees with me that we will only return to D.C. during the cooler months of the year.  I'm looking forward to it already and I know the girls are too!

4th of July

The 4th of July is truly one of my favorite holidays.  That and Thanksgiving.  This year we spent the 4th of July at my parents' house in Virginia.  With a lot of work, we prepped a nice little July 4th cookout for family members and neighbors, 25 of us in all.  I was running a fever all day and spent part of it in bed but I managed to hang through the entire party.  Thank goodness....   Here are some of my favorite details and moments:

I couldn't bear that my Snoopy 4th of July flag wouldn't be flown this year so, to remedy that, I brought it with me and hung it at my parents. I mean, honestly, who on Earth is more fabulous than Snoopy?

The neighbors' dog, Riley, crashed the party.  Smile.

Kids enjoying Pop Its in the driveway.

When it comes to the 4th of July, I'm all about a traditional menu.....burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, chips & dip, brownies, cupcakes.  It won't be your most nutritious meal but it sure is good!  And, it never fails, the deviled eggs and brownies are always the foods that completely disappear!  Is that just a Southern thing?

My favorite part of all is that both of my 82-year-old grandmothers were at the party.  My grandma Nellie (above) is always willing to dress up and have a good time!  And my grandma Barbara (below) is indispensable when throwing a party.  I borrowed so many platters and dishes and chairs, etc from her.  She even called us early in the day to remind us to charge our camera batteries!  Trust me that having her two blocks away when you're planning an event is a godsend.

I hope all of you had a fun, safe, happy 4th of July!

PS ~ Any World Cup fans out there?  Did you watch the game on Tuesday?  Sophie & I dressed up in our finest USA gear and went to a local, family-friendly bar and watched the entire game.  We were there for four hours!  To say that we were crushed the US lost would be an understatement.  By the end of the game, Sophie was screaming at the TV along with everyone else.  My man, Tim Howard.....WOW.  He is a BEAST.  I remembered this post I wrote about him back in 2010.  I'd go crazy if he could play in one more World Cup!!! I remain his biggest fan!

Memories of Summer 2013

The summer of 2013.  I don't know where to begin. I will always think of it as a hard summer. The realization that we would lose Hubbell before summer's end overshadowed everything else.  I can't help it ~ that's just how I roll.  Because we'd paid for two surgeries for our furry guy earlier in the year, I decided to keep both girls at home for the bulk of the summer to save funds that we would've used to pay for summer camps.  Yeah.  Not easy.  There were days I was sure I'd lose my mind before summer ended.  But, as with most things in life, when I look back at photos afterward, I see all the amazingly beautiful moments.  Even today, after uploading all the summer photos from my phone, I see only fun, smiles, giggles, happiness and love.  I tried my very best to make summer memorable for my girls even though I was sad and lost inside.  After looking at these, I'm overwhelmed and sentimental.  I did good, I think.

For Sophie's first day of summer, Clara was still finishing up her last week of school.  I was so happy to have some time alone with my Goose.  I'd missed her during her first year of Kindergarten.  I dubbed that first week "Butterfly Week" (more to come on that) so, for her first day of summer, we went to Discovery Place.  One of the things we did there was watch two 3D films.  Soph looked so adorable in her 3D glasses! 

When Clara finished school, we celebrated the first full day of summer by having breakfast together at one of our favorite restaurants.

And I realized how good it would be for my two girls to get to spend some real time together again!

I did my best to keep them outside as much as possible, and away from the screens, and often this was accomplished by just throwing pebbles/rocks into the creek at one of our favorite parks.

Oh and there was ART.  Lots and lots of art.  Sometimes we even invited friends over to join us.  My favorite thing about Soph's age now is that I don't hesitate EVER to bring out the art supplies.

I was finally able to take Sophie to the SK8 Park which was so much fun.  A highlight for both of us, I think.  And it's one of my top ten blog post favorites.

Mom joined Sophie in the art projects most days. It was nice to tap into my own creative energy too!

  

We spent a lot of time with Soph's closest friend, Aiden.  They are so sweet together!

We went to story time here and there.

And, once, this guy made an appearance!!!!

Sometimes Aiden's little sister, Alyssa, joined us too.

When Daddy returned home after a week in Switzerland, we made a Welcome Home sign to give to him when we picked him up from the airport.

We had lunch at Mac's, Mommy's favorite lunch spot, a couple of times.

And there was more art.

We went through some paint.

Even though I tried to avoid it, sometimes this happened.....

We checked out a few parts of town that aren't frequent haunts of ours. And it was in one of those places that I took what is probably my favorite picture of the summer.

We made our own star-shaped crayons.

We gardened and ate tomatoes until they came out of our ears.

Sophie finished the reading program at Barnes & Noble and got to pick out a free book.

We lingered in places longer than normal.

And Mom may have had a few of these here and there when the going got rough.

I took the girls to Discovery Place KIDS for the first time.  A big, big hit.

Sophie stayed in the restaurant play area for over an hour......

....while Clara played in the pretend grocery store.

They had a blast while I wore a path in the carpet between both areas.

Clara also enjoyed the tractor there.

Sometimes, the big one fell asleep too.

Clara went for her two year doctor's appointment.  During the hour wait (!!!), Clara tried to entertain me with games of Peek-A-Boo.

I took Sophie and her friend, Addie, to the movies to see Smurfs 2.

And our friends, Ethan & Jacob, came to visit from Florida!!!

The highlight for me personally was our trip to Big Meadows. I still can't get over the nature and the beauty and the wildness of the place.

In my Big Meadows post, I mentioned we didn't see any bears.  Somehow I TOTALLY forgot about this one.  So cute.

Before I knew it, it was time for this.....

.....and school supply shopping.

Oh, these girls.  On the last day of summer, we hung out in the driveway for our last afternoon together. I was so happy I took this picture.  We had some hard moments but I wouldn't trade the three months of the Summer of 2013 for ANYTHING.  Not one moment.

Life was good.