Summer is Coming

 Dan and I kicked off May with our 18th anniversary! It fell during a very busy week, but my parents babysat the girls one afternoon so we could enjoy a nice lunch and a long bike ride on the beach.

We had a gorgeous day at Virginia Beach. Being married to this man is a daily blessing to me. We love any chance we get to spend uninterrupted time together.

A week later, we celebrated Mother's Day! Dan's parents came to our house, and the plan was to take them and my parents out for an early dinner on Saturday. However, we weren't willing to wait 2+ hours to be seated, so we got take-out and brought it home instead.

We love and appreciate our wonderful moms!

And I enjoyed celebrating with my sweethearts on Sunday. They showered me with gifts and sweet pictures they'd made at school.

Dan and I got all gussied up in mid-May to attend his school, StoneBridge's, 40th anniversary gala.

I took a "before" photo at the gala with my friend, Jenna, because we had signed up to run the Muddy Princess 5k race the next morning.

Jenna, our friend, Lauren, and I, before we drove to the race. The three of us got to know each other through our 2nd graders who are in the same class at StoneBridge. The Muddy Princess race was Lauren's idea and she convinced Jenna and I to run with her. 

Aaaaand, Lauren doesn't get to choose what we do next time. Haha!

We laughed through the race and had lots of fun, except for a couple of truly awful, deep mud puddles that  came up to my chest. I went completely underwater one time and I was absolutely not okay with that. In addition to the nasty mud, I couldn't help but think about the hundreds of dirty shoes and sweaty bodies that I was now TASTING. 

There were 15 obstacles over the 3 mile course, and 2/3 of them didn't involve mud. Those were actually fun. Maybe we'll do a regular obstacle course race next time.

After the finish line! The. mud. was. everywhere. They passed out bags to all the participants that were filled with scented soaps and Vagisil personal wash, which I thought was hilarious, and yet so very appropriate.

I just threw away my ruined shoes at the end, but regretted it since I then had to walk barefoot through the rocky parking lot to get to the car. Who knew that would turn out to be the most painful part of the race?

Hallie's preschool class got to have a field trip to Blue Bird Gap Farm! It's such a treat after a year of having to cancel everything because of COVID restrictions. Hallie is 2nd from the left. Their teacher, Mrs. Baines, is standing on the right and their teacher assistant, Mrs. Edwards is standing on the left.

The farm had a big playground and lots of animals to see. Hallie loved the baby ducklings (behind her). I wouldn't let her get too close, since I wasn't sure how protective the mother ducks would be.

I loved getting to spend the day with my sweet girl!

The preschool classes performed songs during their spring concert this week. Hallie's doing awesome hand motions in the orange dress.

Emma's lost several teeth, but this was the first one she pulled out herself! She was so proud, and told us all about her fail-proof technique. First, you wait until the tooth is barely hanging on and is at risk of falling out in your sleep. Then you simply twist and pull, and voila! 

The weather's warmed up and we've enjoyed visiting parks

Playing in rain puddles

And bringing out the summer toys

Hallie and I are off on Fridays together, and we've had the opportunity to babysit 2-year-old Luciana, whose family attends our church. Hallie is already the best babysitter in the world! She's going to be in high demand when she's a teenager.

I took the girls to Busch Gardens this month. They were so excited about the Dragon Land area being re-opened, since it was closed for a long time due to COVID.

It's got the best net climbing structure to play on!

They have a huge sprinkler / splash pad area in the Sesame Street section of the park, which is perfect on a hot day.

There are a few animals to see at Busch Gardens, too. Emma was excited about taking a picture with the giant Clydesdale. Hallie took some convincing, but he was a very gentlemanlike horse.

Until I stepped into the photo and he got sassy!

There's one more week left of school, and we're looking forward to more summertime fun!

8 is Great!! And Other Spring Events

Emma turned 8 years old in April! We can hardly believe it! She's such a joy to us. She's smart, funny, and detail-oriented.  She's a great big sister to Hallie, and loves to play with her and teach her how to do things. She enjoys thinking through the things she reads and watches on TV and imagining herself in the story.  She names every animal she sees, whether they're real animals, stuffed animals, or illustrations, and then she writes a list of all the names so she can read them to us.  When she says she wants to tell me something, I've learned to ask up front how long it'll take, just in case what she wants to "tell" me is a list of 30 names she's written down, along with a description and back story for each animal.  Her favorite part of a game or toy is the set up. Sometimes she never actually gets around to playing, but the scene always looks perfect! Emma makes new friends quickly, and she's very loyal to her long-time friends and family members. Academics come easily for her, and we enjoy hearing her explain how she solves problems or remembers facts. She's a typical firstborn - a rule follower who needs to feel in control of situations, or she has trouble enjoying the experience. Dan's doing his best to help her get past all that. Ha ha! We love that she still wants us to be involved in her activities, and at this point, she says she's planning to live with us forever. We love our 8-year old girl, who is growing up way too fast!

I made a number "7" waffle to celebrate her last day as a 7-year old. 

Her birthday fell on the best kind of school day - a field trip! Her class visited Jamestown that day.

I got to spend the entire day with my birthday girl, which was super special.

Grandpa and Grandma stopped in to say hi and happy birthday, since they live a short distance from Jamestown.

We got to see the tall ships, Jamestown fort, and a Native American village. Emma's favorite area by far was the Native American village. During their free time after lunch, I chaperoned Emma and a couple of her friends back to the village so they could pretend to live there. They had so much fun!

We made her favorite meal that night - pork loin, broccoli, rice, and Nothing Bundt Cake for dessert.

Generally speaking, Emma's not much of a dessert person. But she's developed a passion for Krispy Kreme glazed donuts recently.  When we celebrated her birthday with the extended family, we built a Krispy Kreme tower for her birthday cake!

Make a wish!

We passed out slime to the cousins, which was a big hit.

Emma's most exciting gift to open was a Treasure X Tomb set with tons of surprises to reveal. It was fun for all the cousins to see and play with.

Speaking of birthdays, we got to celebrate my dad's April birthday the same day we celebrated Emma's. He opted for a Nothing Bundt cake instead of a donut cake.

Earlier in April, we celebrated Grandma's birthday!

Her birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year, and she and Grandpa joined us for our church service and lunch afterwards.

And late in the month, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday! April is such a fun birthday month for our family!

The girls enjoyed having their grandparents at our house for Easter Sunday this year. They decorated eggs, had an Easter egg hunt, and received lots of small gifts from everyone.

Looking pretty in their Easter dresses before church. We had an outdoor service so our church didn't have to limit the number of people who attended. There were so many people who heard the good news about Jesus that day!   

This spring, Emma was selected to recite a poem at StoneBridge's Speech Meet. Her poem was titled "Little Tiger Cat," and we gave her a stuffed animal tiger to congratulate her afterwards.

Emma received a balance bike for Christmas from Grandpa and Grandma, and she's really taken off on it this month! She got the feel for balancing on this bike right away, and we're hoping she'll transition easily to a regular bike with pedals soon.

Hallie got a balance bike for Christmas, too. She loves it, but can't quite get fast enough on it yet to balance and glide. She'll get it soon, but in the meantime she's doing great on her tricycle, and working hard to keep up with her big sister!

The girls each had special days at school based on the literature their classes have read this year.

Emma's 2nd grade class had "Heidi Day," after they read the novel this year. 

The entire class dressed in costumes and parents got to lead crafts and activities related to the Heidi theme.

Hallie's preschool class participated in "Beatrix Potter Day" after reading several of her stories.

Even the teachers got into character! They were all absolutely adorable, and had a fun-filled day of tea parties, crafts, and play stations based around the Beatrix Potter characters.

The girls and Dan had a week off for Spring Break and he made sure they had a blast! He took them to Williamsburg to play with their cousins, to local playgrounds, and other special places every day.

He's such an amazing dad. They have no idea how blessed they are, but I do. 

Dan took them to the Virginia Aquarium, and kept me entertained at work with hilarious photos.

I'm sure Hallie's screaming under that mask!

He also took them to an indoor playground called Funville and got a monthly pass so we could visit several more times in April. In addition to the playground, they have bumper cars, an arcade, and a ropes course. The play areas are for kids only, but there are plenty of tables for parents to sit and watch, and they have wifi and a cafe that serves tasty pizza. Our girls play for a minimum of 3 hours every time we go, so it was a good investment.

Unfortunately, we had a casualty at Funville in the form of Emma's broken pinkie toe. It got very bruised and sore, but it felt okay if she kept her shoes on, so we didn't bother going to the doctor. Thankfully, it's healed completely now.

On one of their last Spring Break days, I took the girls to Bergey's Breadbasket and Farm. They had the best time meeting all the baby animals that were born this spring!

Sweet baby goats

Tiny fluffy bunnies

And little piglets who would run right into your lap to cuddle

We've enjoyed all the fun memories we've made this spring!