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!