Flowers

We didn't make it to the Cherry Blossoms this year because of weekend activities, the delayed bloom, and the weather.  The one weekday I planned to go with a friend the temperatures soared into the eighties.  I just couldn't imagine pushing a double stroller by myself around the basin in that heat so I skipped it.  We did make it as a family to see the bluebells which is much easier and often more pleasant (easy parking, no crowds, and no worries about children falling to the water).  The girls especially liked climbing on a fallen tree.

 

 

Color Me Rad!

I did the Color Me Rad 5K in Richmond last weekend with some friends.  

So fun.  I can't imagine doing just a regular 5K after this one.

 Wendi and Hillary were kind enough to walk the whole route with me.

I saw Sharon at the end because she was running with the rest of the group.

 First (and probably only) profile pic for pregnancy #5 (25 weeks).

 Our race packets included t-shirts, sunglasses, and temporary tattoos.  I thought the tattoos were fun, but they ended up being pretty hard to get off (I had to wear my hair down for a few days to cover the neck one).

More baby belly. 

Party at the end of the race: music, dancing, and paint powder periodically flung in the air.

Next up: The Electric Run in DC this fall.

My birthday

My birthday was a week ago today and it was quite nice.  Andrew pampered me: massage certificate, balloons, flowers, three nights in a row of not having to help put the kiddos to bed, and I woke up to a homemade apple pie that he got up around five a.m. to make.  Liz also made (and decorated) a birthday cake for me.  I had to teach preschool that morning, but I spent the afternoon with my feet up which was lovely.

Novaks with our cousin

After a tiring day at the National Art Gallery Carrie and Wayne took me up on my offer to leave Clarissa home with my girls.  While they visited the Holocaust museum the little girls played and we took an excursion to Novaks gym.  The girls had a lot of fun.

The favorite spots/activities for this visit seemed to be the foam pit and the trampolines.

 

 

 The girls were so active that they had to take a short break midway through (and then it was back to running around like crazy).

 

 

 

Family Time

The best thing about having Carrie and her family in town was the hang out time.  All the kids slept in the basement together so it was pretty much a nine-night slumber party.  They giggled and told stories and whatnot.

 

 The kids played with toys and with the wii together.

 

We also got to celebrate Clarissa's birthday with her (starting with a cinnamon roll breakfast).

 

We even got to go out for an adults only meal since Carrie has teenagers who could babysit.  Fabulous.  Makes me wish we lived closer to our families.

Lizzie's days off

I kept Liz out of school of few days while her cousins were in town so she could go sightseeing with them. The first day we went to Williamsburg.  It was a first visit for my girls, a third for me.  I'd been gone first with my parents and one of my brothers when I was in fifth grade and then again with Drew about a month after we married (so nearly fourteen years ago for the last visit).  It was nice.  I sprung for a season pass so now Andrew will get the chance to go back with us.  When I texted him the news he wrote back, "Great I'm looking forward to it."  I suspected that he was being sarcastic, but he insisted that he wasn't.

 When Liz saw the houses she said (a little disappointed), "These look just like our houses do now" and had to explain that it was actually just the opposite.  I suppose she was expecting log cabins.

My favorite quotes from the day:

Watching some chickens peck at the ground my niece said, "They should name that one Pecker."

While Lainey and Ellie were standing behind me I heard Ellie exclaim, "You hit me!  You're going down!"  I turned around just in time to stop her from hitting Laines.

I suspect Ellie may have heard that from her cousins while they were playing wii (a nightly pastime for them and Liz).  Elle also ran around one night saying "Run for your lives!"

On the way home we stopped at a barbecue place for dinner.  Lainey ordered a hot dog then happily told her cousins, "I'm getting a hot dog that means I'm going to be eating a pig!"

 

 

 The second day Liz played hooky we went with the cousins to the National Gallery of Art.  It'd been so long since I'd taken Liz there and she didn't seem to remember it (my bad).  She loved the visit and I loved that she was so interested in viewing the artwork and reading about various pieces on my phone.  Her favorite was the Thomas Cole Voyage of Life series.  I really enjoyed seeing the Pre-Raphaelite exhibit.

Lainey liked pictures of pretty ladies in fancy dresses.  Ellie like pictures that had babies or animals in them.  Of course their attention span was extremely limited.  The little girls spent most of their time playing with their cousin and her stuffed animal (I spent much of my time trying to keep their feet off the furniture and their fingers of the artwork). 

 

The kids didn't last as long as the adults.  Lainey feel asleep in the stroller before we even left.  I took the three little ones home early and the other two little girls feel asleep soon after we pulled out of the parking lot.

On Lizzie's final day out of school we went to the National Zoo.  My favorite animals to view were the otters and the seals because they were so active.  Lainey squealed with delight and surprise every time they swam past her (and Ellie twitched or jumped in fear).