Backyard Fun!

School is getting ready to start, so we got in a fun afternoon of playing in the yard with water!

I love this action shot of Sage throwing the water up in the air!

The playhouse turns into an excellent water slide when paired with the pool!

This kid cannot get enough of hanging with the big kids...or the water!

LOVE this kid :)

A little pirate table fun too!

And, brotherly love that happens on a regular basis!

Jackson's First Theater Movie!!!

Jackson and I went to see "Planes," this morning!  He was super excited, and he even brought his own Dusty and Bravo to the theater :)

Jackson's never been to a movie theater, but he did so great!  He stayed in his seat the whole time and really seemed to enjoy the movie :)

Such a good movie buddy!

Our DC Getaway Part 2

Yesterday, we took our time getting ready to go in the morning, and then we actually set off to do some geocaching!  We found some awesome caches, but I have that all in a separate post...  Lunch was our next stop at Merzi.  It is similar to Chipotle in its set-up, but it's Indian food, and it was DELICIOUS!!!  From there we wandered around quite a few Smithsonain gardens--we never had seen most of these!  There are bunches of them tucked into the touristy chaos of the city!  There is even a separate website for the gardens!  

Pretty roses!

Cool sculpture!

After walking around we went back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner.  I may or may not have napped, and that was amazing to just nap, and not have to get up when someone else woke up!  We had made a reservation at Founding Farmers for dinner.  It was really eclectic inside, and they had the most amazing cornbread appetizer!  We took our time eating and then headed out to walk around the monuments.  

We spent awhile on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial people-watching and enjoying the beautiful evening!

Then we spent a while hanging out at the WWII Memorial.  Check out those sky colors!

The work to repair the earthquake damage is almost done on the Washington Monument.  In the meantime, this scaffolding looks pretty neat at night all lit up.

This was our first time seeing the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at night.  It was beautiful!

From The Mall we meandered back to where we had parked our car (to make sure Josh could find it in the morning to move it--we found a free spot for pretty much the whole weekend, but starting on weekdays there is a 2-hour limit), and we found dessert at The Shake Shack!  Another yummy find!

We took our time again getting ready this morning, and we checked out of the hotel on our way to lunch.  We ate at Cosi before heading to explore the National Archives.  I had been there a LONG time ago, and I never knew there were so many exhibits besides the three major documents!  Josh had never been, so this was a great outing.  We spent some time at this really pretty fountain we discovered yesterday before deciding to head out of the city and back towards Dumfries.  We actually did a little grocery shopping, a fair bit of geocaching, and dinner at Qdoba before heading to the Walburgers' to pick up the boys.  I was so happy to see them, and it seemed to have gone really well!  We could not be more thankful that our boys were in such good hands while we got a little respite :)

And, while we were walking around, we saw this:

What are the odds???

Our DC Getaway!

Our friends (who happen to be neighbors), Aimee and Dave, offered to keep the boys so Josh and I could get a little time away!  WOO HOO!!!  We dropped them off Saturday morning at 10 for a glorious weekend away in DC!  LOL  We were brainstorming other destinations, but this was PERFECT!  There was such a short commute time and we already knew our way around the city.  We also found so many things to do that we had never done!  How is that possible?  The weather was also beautiful :)

I wish I had taken a few more pictures, but we did a pretty good job!  We drove straight to Capitol Hill and wandered around the Eastern Market.  We had never done this, and we had such a good time!  There were tons of fruit and veggie vendors WITH SAMPLES!  Everything was yummy!  There were also tons of artsy vendors, and that was really fun to check out.  After the market, we ate lunch at Matchbox, which was the perfect first kid-less meal of the weekend :)  I had told Josh that we should pick somewhere really great, and we did!  So many of the restaurants in Capitol Hill have open air seating, so we sat inside, but right by the huge opened wall to the outside.  We had fig and prosciutto pizza, and it was AMAZING!

We were able to check into our hotel early, so we headed to do that and hang out.  We got a great deal on Hotwire, and we stayed at the Loews Madison Hotel not far from the White House.

LOVED this bed that I couldn't hear any kids crying from ;)

Such grown-up decorating

Fancy-feeling bathroom

After relaxing and enjoying the fact that we were on no time schedule, we headed out to dinner in Chinatown.  We walked by the White House, and then we ate at Jackey Cafe, and it was really yummy!

After dinner we wandered all around the Capitol.  We got some pretty views as the sun was setting.

From the Capitol we walked all the way back to Capitol Hill to have dessert at Ted's Bulletin.  They have adult milkshakes.  Multiple flavors.  We tried The Dirty Girl Scout and The Nutty Professor and they were sinfully delicious!

We had walked A TON, so we went ahead and rode Metro back to the hotel where we didn't have to put anyone to bed!  LOL

Family Waterpark Night and Girls' Night Out!

 Yesterday we met Sarah, David, Maddie, Brodie and Mary at the Ida Lee Waterpark for some hanging out and catching up!  It was pretty hot when we pulled up and got started, but it quickly clouded up and got a bit chilly.  We still had a great time :)  Mary and Graham were good sports while the big kids thoroughly enjoyed the water!

 Snacktime during breaktime!

 These were their responses to my request for silly faces...  We brought picnics to munch on while we swam, but as it got later, we decided to pack it up and go get ice cream!

 YUM!  Lots of bright colors in those ice cream cups...

We were eating our ice cream right by this motorcycle, and the rider asked Jackson if he wanted to push the start button to turn it on!  How cool!  I was so proud of Jackson for actually doing it!  Photo credit to Sarah for being prepared in this situation :) 

While we had a fabulous time with the Bascoms (especially since we hadn't seen them all summer!), tonight I went out with the other girls in the neighborhood for Talon Drive Gals' Dinner Out :)  We went to Not Your Average Joe's for dinner, and we had SUCH a good time!  We got to chat uninterrupted and have our dinners brought to us instead of running around like crazy people at dinner time.  I feel SO blessed that our neighbors by chance have become friends by choice :)

Shopping Cart Fun and Storytime

Uncle Larry gave Jackson this fantastically awesome shopping cart with a mini-Cozy Coupe attached on the front a few years ago.  We got it out for Graham, and he LOVES it!!!

 He pushes it all over

 He loads it up pretty well too!  The picture didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but he loaded up the cart and the car with my shoes!  Flip flops in the front part, and shoes in the back!  LOL

 Jackson can read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? all on his own!  He loves to read it, and we love to listen :)

Jackson's First Dentist Trip!

 FINALLY Jackson had his first trip to the dentist!  I found a dentist I really liked last summer, but then we changed our insurance, and I wanted to find a dentist I really liked before taking Jackson.  That took forever, so I just took a leap, and made us both appointments for the same day!  Dr. Toyer at Lifetime Dental Care was awesome!  Jackson did SUCH a good job--he didn't act nervous at all!  They have a special pediatric room with a floor to ceiling mural of fish and underwater life along with a TV on the ceiling so he was able to watch a movie!  

Miss Meg (the awesome with children hygienist) took X-rays (using the cute smiley smock on the wall), counted his teeth, brushed his teeth, put fluoride on his teeth, and then Dr. Toyer came in to check things out.  Jackson does have two small cavities we have to go back to get filled, but overall he got a great report!!!  I was so proud of him :)  

After his exam, Jackson got a goody bag with toothpaste, a fun dinosaur flosser, and a Transformer toothbrush he got to pick out.  He also got a special coin to use in the waiting room to get a prize.  Of course, that was his favorite part :)  He also got a balloon with a tooth on it, AND he got to play in the fun toy area while I had my exam!  SCORE!  We are happy campers :)

Perfect Weather and Good Friends

Rebecca and I have been friends since junior high when we went to Sunday School together!  And, she lives in DC too!  My mom just reminded me that our families actually met when our brothers played soccer together in 2nd or 3rd grade.  Those boys are now in their late 20s...  Anyways, we don't see each other nearly enough, BUT, we had made a date to play at Clemyjontri Playground about two months ago.  Who would have known it would have been THE MOST PERFECT August day ever???  We had a glorious morning together :)

Jackson riding his first carousel ride!

Rebecca, Eloise, and Wes is tucked in there too!

Happy Grahammers :)

Here we go!

It was a weird sensation standing still on the moving carousel as the boys' horses went up and down and I tried to make sure Graham was steady...  They loved it :)  So much that we did it again later!

Silly faces!!!

Trying to climb the rainbow!  We all had a picnic together before we said goodbye to our friends and stayed to play a little extra at the playground before Graham got a nap in the car on the way to Barnes and Noble.  We played at the bookstore for a bit before heading to the Rooneys' for dinner!  (Yup, we know how to pack the fun into a single day!)

I didn't get many pictures, but we continued enjoying the beautiful weather with Owen and Keira and played outside for a while.  Graham wanted to try on the bike helmet :)

Maybe he should wear a helmet all the time?  LOL  We had such a great time relaxing and hanging out!  Karen and Stuart made a delicious summertime dinner of grilled burgers and hotdogs, corn on the cob, fruit and orzo salad.  There was also a fantastic concoction of Milky Way bars, chocolate, peanut butter and Chex...  Thanks for the invite and the wonderful company :)