A visit with Grandma and Grandpa Black

We had a fun visit from Ben's parents these past few days. Amelia loved the attention and had a constant audience to feed pretend supper to all day long. She also loved seeing her cousin Anna who lives in Richmond.


A visit to the National Museum of the Marine Corps


Amelia and Anna at the National Zoo


Amelia would not stop licking everything within her reach, including the hand rails on the metro train, the glass in front of the gorilla cages, and the statue of the bear.


A beautiful evening at the National Cathedral


Ben and Amelia at a Civil War battlefield in Fredericksburg


An amazing park in Richmond called Maymont

Amelia's Etsy Debut...

Amelia participated in her first photo shoot a few days ago (other than the daily photo shoot she endures when my camera is within reach). My friend Aubrey is just opening up her shop on Etsy.com to sell hair bows that she makes and Amelia got to be model for a morning to show off the cute bows. She was a pretty good sport to deal with multiple wardrobe changes and forced poses, and we only had to break out her precious camel at the end to keep her happy (and a few shots of gogurt). The address for the shop is www.bowsofakind.etsy.com and new bows are still being added. So check it out and good luck to Aubrey!

PUMPKINS

While Ben is busy fending off protesters at the annual World Bank/IMF meetings this weekend, Amelia and I enjoyed a trip to a pumpkin patch (or a "puckin" patch as she would say).

Fun on the farm...

We had a fun trip to Frying Pan Farm today. Amelia finally realized we weren't at the zoo and stopped looking for pandas. It's hard to get her to smile for photos, but put her next to a goat and she's happy. Some of my best pictures of Amelia are with goats. I don't know what that means.




Thanks to Micaela for capturing the essence of Amelia with her friend Emma. These two are quite the pair. Whenever we're going to do anything, Amelia always asks if it involves Emma. For example, I say "Let's go pick up daddy at the train" and she responds "and Emma too".

Solar Decathlon

Amelia and I took the train downtown this morning to check out the Solar Decathlon on the mall. (Because we all know how much Amelia loves learning about solar energy.) We toured some pretty interesting homes. The Solar Decathlon is basically an annual competition between different universities to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. (Mom, you should look into one of these since you're house hunting...you can take it with you the next time you move.)



Amelia was on the edge of her seat with the prospects of becoming more energy-efficient.




In the end, Amelia was a little more interested in the art than the science. She took a moment to interpret the giant Lichtenstein sculpture in front of the Hirshhorn Museum (she says it's a big bird).

Nature walk...

We usually head out on a nature walk every Sunday morning and yesterday we ended up at Hidden Pond. The pond truly was hidden (beneath a stagnant layer of green moss) but it was a lovely morning to be on a walk.

Big wheel not so big...

My semi-annual shopping spree at a local Baptist church's children's consignment sale was yet another success. I came home with a huge bag full of clothes and books that I don't even remember grabbing. (How did I end up with four pairs of jeans? oops) I was mostly excited about a big wheel for Amelia which turned out to be too small. So I went back for the 1/2 price sale and found another one that might be too big but she grows. And did I mention it was 1/2 price? I also found her a stroller for her dolls, which she immediately attached herself to. We officially have a little girl...dressing up in princess costumes, carrying a purse, pushing a stroller...when did this happen?

Ok, one more trip to the beach...

Amelia and I drove down to Williamsburg, Virginia, on Tuesday and had a fabulous time visiting our good friends the Dyckmans. My friend Sarah and I were able to enjoy a night out by ourselves, complete with shopping and delicious nutella crepes. Amelia and Ethan have grown up together and it was fun to see them playing together again. They showed us some beautiful places and thanks to the warm weather, we got to spend a few hours enjoying some sun on a little beach near their house. Amelia loved being in the water again and got a little too brave a few times, going out a bit far. She wandered into the grassy area at one point and ended up with two feet full of prickly stickers that we had to painfully remove. (I really should keep a better eye on my child.) She is still walking on her heels today but I'm sure she'll recover soon. It was a great way to get through our usual mid-week blahs.

The disappearance of Fall

It is nearly 90 degrees today and feels much like a humid July day. We had to break out the water toys in the backyard, and Amelia's favorite toy, the pile of rocks.

MY-KEA

I love cubes. I love cube systems. I can't get enough of them in my house. So we decided to ditch our broken dresser for something more functional. Enter the cube system. But it needed to be unique and classy. So we went to IKEA (the functional part) and purchased yet another unassembled piece of furniture and modified it to make it our own. It was a difficult process at times but after several trips to Lowes, we made it work. We're quite pleased with our collaborative effort. Next project: turning our old armoire into an entry way storage bench...

A presidential bike ride

My new favorite thing to do in the city is bike around it at night. Ben and I took our bikes downtown the other night and rode all around Hains Point and then to the Jefferson Memorial and all the way up the mall to the Capitol (where we had a show-down with a segway tour) and then down the other side to the Washington Monument and then down to the Lincoln Memorial. My favorite time to see the monuments is at night and we've finally lost the crazy crowds of summer. I've also decided that the Jefferson Memorial is my favorite.

Family Vacation, Southern Style

We spent all of last week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on our first official family vacation that didn't involve visiting other family. We had a condo on the beach and spent the week swimming, relaxing, eating, and mini-golfing. Amelia loved playing in the water and collecting sea shells. We took a day trip to Charleston and were amazed by the gorgeous architecture of all the homes. We had great weather and no crowds. I'm ready to make this an annual trip.

A Smithsonian Tantrum

Amelia loves to ride the train downtown. We met Ben at the Museum of Natural History a few weeks ago and Amelia was quite excited about the dinosaur exhibit. But the greatest treasure at the Smithsonian for Amelia was a public pay phone. She refused to leave and threw herself to the ground in a fit of rage, Amelia style. Which is to say she pretended to be asleep and started snoring. I like these tantrums.

A daunting task...

I'm not sure how to start this blog, so I guess we'll just jump right in with the most recent adventures. So prepare yourself...this could mean multiple posts in one day.

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