A Visit to DC

We went to DC last weekend to visit Brett's sister Susan and celebrate Brett's 37th birthday. It was a short visit, but we had a great time. On Saturday we enjoyed the National Zoo in 75 degree weather!

At the zoo, Sydney enjoyed her first ever cotton candy and spent some quality time with Aunt Susan.

Pierce practiced his toe stretches and watched tigers prowl and cows graze.

Then Susan got 2 dozen Maryland Blue Crabs for dinner for Brett's birthday celebration. He had been wanting to try a crab dinner for years, so it was a real treat for him. Since we have two young ones, and dismantling your own crabs takes hours, we opted for take-out instead of eating it at a restaurant on the water (sigh...). It tasted just as good, but when the kids are older, we'll have to go back for the full experience. I made Brett a peach cobbler (at his request) from our local peaches for his birthday "cake". YUM! Dinner ran from 8pm to 10:30pm and we felt really good about our decision not to try to take two young kids to a restaurant for the meal! Sydney tried a little bit before bed and liked it. Of course, having someone feed you delicious crab meat without having to do any dirty work yourself, who wouldn't like it?

They were oh so tasty, but breaking those little buggers apart and getting all the guts and bile out is dirty work! The claws and shells are sharp, too. I got two gashes on my hand as did Brett. Even though they were dead, they still got me!

On Sunday we visited the Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport. It was a really neat place with dozens and dozens of actual planes to see. We saw a space shuttle, WWII bombers, a Concorde, the SR-71 Blackbird, and all sorts of combat planes and recreational creations. Lots of fun for the adults, but it wasn't Sydney's cup of tea.

On the way home from DC I asked Sydney what her favorite part of the weekend was and she said, "When Susan gave me gum. That was the best part." Go figure! You take a kid to the national zoo, feed her expensive crab meat, show her an ACTUAL space ship and she just wanted a pack of gum.

Garden Update!

While we are not quite ready to open a stand at our local farmer's market, we have actually "harvested" a few things from our garden, and it is looking SO much healthier than in June.

So far we have picked: more basil than I ever thought I could consume, 2 green peppers, a couple dozen delicious sun gold (cherry) tomatoes, 4 jalapenos, one Asian eggplant, three miniscule carrots, countless pods of black-eyed-peas, and thyme and rosemary. We have one rosa bianca eggplant growing nicely and two beautiful (but still small and green) heirloom tomatoes on the vine. We also have one miniature Asian eggplant we are keeping our eye on. The sun golds keep appearing every day, and we have to fight with the kids over who gets to pop those sweet juicy things in their mouths! The kids usually win - I think I've only eaten one! But what parent can deny her begging pre-schooler and skinny toddler such a perfect dose of lycopene and vitamin A, C, K, E...? Not me.

So, while you could hardly feed a family on our little garden, we have gotten a little bit of productivity and have also learned a lot so that next year we can get more out of it. I have shelled enough black-eyed-peas to make the traditional southern dish for New Years Day, and I am quite happy about that!

Pretty in Pink

Sydney participated in a ballet dance camp last week and really enjoyed it! It was a princess dance camp, so they got to pretend they were princesses each day and make fun accessories like wands and crowns. We got to go see her performance on the last day and it was so special to see her in her element, following along behind her teacher and not missing a beat. What a beautiful ballerina she makes!

Oh, the things I can do!

Pierce has been learning lots of new things and going lots of new places in the last few months. He can walk very well now and loves playing rough with Sydney and Daddy.

He watches Sydney color with great interest, so I finally let him have a go with the crayons (while trying to keep them out of his mouth!). He loved it and was very focused. He'd pick a crayon, color, carefully put the crayon back in the cup, and get another color. I think he enjoyed the taking and putting back the crayons as much as coloring. What a cutie!

Pierce also watches Sydney do her gymnastics both at home and at the gym. He must be taking it all in, because now he tries to do his own gymnastics moves. So funny!