Pioneer Celebration

The Mt. Vernon Stake Pioneer Celebration was really impressive.  I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into it.  Outside was pretty much Western-themed: Blue Grass band, free carnival foods, balloon animals, roping demonstration, lasso station, pie eating contest, nail driving competition, and so on.  Inside was internationally-themed: crafts from around the world for the kiddos, endless potluck dishes (I made countless trips to these buffets), and to cap it all off, the evening ended with a dance performance.  I think the dancers representing India were my favorite.

 

The girls wore the pioneer bonnets from Lizzie's Little House on the Prairie party.  Thanks again Nana!  Lizzie was also there, also wore her bonnet, but I have no pictures of her because she spotted a friend within minutes of our arrival and after that we almost never saw her.

The girls searched for candy amongst the hay.

 

 They didn't find any candy so we went to the cotton candy and sno cone stations instead.

 Bishopric Cow Milking Contest.  There were some issues with the udders staying on which really just made the whole thing more hilarious.  Another issue was the pigs.  There were supposed to be greased pigs for the kids to chase.  Liz was really looking forward to it (to watch or participate, I'm not sure).  Anyway, turns out the pigs escaped their enclosure the night before the event (also the only night they were kept outside).  Later on I heard that some people in the stake felt that chasing greased pigs was inhumane and had complained so maybe it's for the best.

 Andrew's favorite part was the Blue Grass band.  Pretty much all he wanted to do was sit and listen to them.  I knew he liked a range of music, but I had no idea he liked Blue Grass so much.  I suppose after 13 years of marriage it's nice that he can still surprise me.

The last few days (or so) . . .

FRIDAY- After noticing that sometimes Lainey danced with Ellie in the corner of the classroom, the dance teacher said that Lainey was welcome to participate in dance class well.  She said something along the lines of, "then I won't be dancing out there all by myself" which actually happens quite a lot in a two-year-old class.  So, now till the classes end, Lainey gets to be in two dances classes each week, hers and Ellie's and hopefully Ellie will participate more with her sister by her side.

I can't say that Ellie participated in class any more last week with Lainey in the mix, but I at least felt like I was getting my money's worth.  Our other big moments that day were Lizzie's dental appointment and her school's fall fiesta.  Liz had to have some work on a back molar that had not formed properly (crumbly tooth) and since she gets so anxious with stuff like this we opted for laughing gas.  Good thing too because she was pretty nervous about the gas--started silently crying as soon as she got in the chair.  The gas made all the difference--I love that stuff--and it's fancier than when I was a kid because I'm pretty sure I never got to pick the scent of my laughing gas.

Sadly, the outdoor Fall Fiesta was met with a torrential down pour.  I was working the food table which was under a covered walkway, but Ellie was in an ergo on my back and as every now and then as people came through the line they'd say, "um, your baby is getting rained on."  Oops.

SATURDAY - AMCAP Conference (Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists--I'm not a member, but I love that I can go to these things).  Really wonderful.  I just wish they were longer or more often (honestly, I schedule around this event).  In the afternoon I went to see Lizzie play soccer for the first time this season (she only has two more games left).  See how happy she is to see me with my camera:

Mostly I dealt with these two so Drew could focus on coaching:

Lainey said she was "a massage chair."  She had Liz sit in her lap, then proceeded to pound on Lizzie's back.

We finished off Saturday at our Stake's pioneer celebration.  It was really something special.  More on that later. 

 

MONDAY - I took the girls to Burke Nursery's Pumpkin Playground.  It was fun, but smaller than I remember it (last time I went was with Lizzie's preschool class) and it's weekday price is the same as Cox Farms, $9.  When we first got there my friend, Megan, and I commented on the size and wondered if the kids would even last an hour.  Three hours later we had to drag them away.  Still, I think I'll head to Cox Farm on November 5th since Liz is out of school.  Best thing about the pumpkin playground was Ellie and Lainey went down the slides on their own!

 

TUESDAY - Today I took my first turn teaching Lainey's preschool class.  It went well.  I like the Mother Goose Curriculum so much more than the Joy School curriculum that we used last year.

Friday Field Trip: Oxon Hill Farm

We met some friends at the farm yesterday. It was very fun, very laid back.  There weren't many animals to look at, but it was sufficient for the little ones and they loved the long tractor ride.  I loved that it was all free.

Long Weekend

We really enjoyed last week's long weekend.  It was busy though (maybe a little too busy for Drew's taste).

Saturday morning we attended Lizzie's Girl Scout Junior's bridging ceremony.  I'm the troop co-leader, but some other mom's took care of the ceremony so all I had to do is show up which was nice (well, that's not counting the evening I spent attaching badges with my co-leader).  Anyway, I really liked the Junior Mints party favor.  Cute idea.

After our Girl Scout morning, we headed to Art on the Avenue in Del Ray.  Loved it.  Andrew and I found artwork we liked, but none that we felt we could afford.  There were some prints of DC painted in Van Gogh style.  We liked them but couldn't decide if they were cool or cheesy so we didn't purchase any.  The girls enjoyed kid's area. 

Lainey's highlight was her boat.

Liz really, really liked nailing bottle caps into this log.  We totally need one at home.

Ellie was pretty content just playing with a piece of twine that she found.

The little girls also enjoyed contributing to the sand drawing (Liz tried it out, but it wasn't for her). 

And of course, since we could hear a nearby band, Ellie finished the experience off with a little dancing.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent watching General Conference, but we did get some time with family friends for lingering brunch and a late on Sunday.  I'm really excited about the new missionary ages and I'm inspired to work on my genealogy again.  Maybe I'll finally start helping out with the indexing.

Monday morning Drew and I neglected the girls and slept in until 11 a.m.  It was wonderful.  Then we reorganized the basement.  I LOVE doing stuff like that.  Drew's not so into it, but he was happy with the result (and my commitment to cut the kids' toy collection in half).

The girls played while we worked.  They especially liked creating a "hall of (bubble wrap) bubbles" (bubble wrap bubbles, that is).

Friday Field Trips

I feel like the little girls and I have a pretty full schedule during the week.  We have something every day but Friday.  Well, actually we have something Friday morning but it ends early enough for us to get out and do something before I need to pick Liz up from school.  My plan is to do field trips every Friday.  For our first one we went to the National Zoo.

As always we visited the prairie dog play area.  It was the first time Ellie willingly crawled into the tunnels and played so it was pretty cool to see her be a little more brave.  During our visit she also spent some time hugging and kisses the coyote picture because she thought it was a "ruff ruff."

It was my first time visiting the new American Trail section and the Amazonia building--we liked them both.  Ellie especially liked playing the tidal pools.

The next week I took the girls to the National Book Festival on the Mall.  Technically it wasn't a Friday field trip since it took place on a Saturday, but I figured it was close enough.  It was our first time going and I really enjoyed it.  Definitely on my 2013 to do list.

 

Wells Fargo was passing out free stuff horses.  That was pretty much the highlight for the little girls.

Our next field trip was apple picking at Hollin Farms with Lainey's preschool class.  It as fun, but the place was crawling with stink bugs.  I pulled three out of my bra and swept two out of the van.  The best thing about Hollin Farms was that the trees were so short that the girls could do all their own picking.  All I had to do was carry the bags.

We went towards the end of the apple season so we had limited varities to choose from.  We went with Gold Rush (even though I don't particularly like green apples).  When we got home I canned some apple sauce and now I'm trying to get the girlies to eat up the rest.

 

Last week we went to Novak's Gymnastics in Dumfries for our field trip.  It was open play time and the kids loved it. If anyone in the area wants to go, it's $5 per kid, but your first visit is free. 

Next field trip: Oxon Hills Farm