333 Steps

Last Friday we spent the afternoon at the annual Flower Mart at the National Cathedral. In addition to flower and plant sales, there was musical entertainment, crazy flower arrangements from around the world, craft booths, carnival rides, and LOTS of food. We headed straight for the Bavarian food tent where Ben picked up a brat, Amelia picked up a gigantic soft pretzel (which was SO delicious), and I went for the hazelnut croissant (also amazing).







After enjoying our food, I headed off to do the Bell Tower climb. Children weren't allowed so Ben entertained the kids while I did the climb. I have always wanted to go up to the top and they don't have regular tours that go up there so I was excited to take advantage of the opportunity. It was 333 steps to get to the top of the Bell Tower. The climb wasn't difficult, but did get dizzying in those tight, winding, enclosed stairwells.

We went up a few different staircases. This one was out in the open, but the others were enclosed:




View from the top...it's rare to get such great views of the city:











This was one of the 10 bell ringers for the tower (note the handlebar mustache). He was VERY excited about his job as a bell ringer and gave us a lengthy demonstration on how the bells work:






On the way back down, the tour took us inside the Cathedral for some nice interior views:






And back outside again:




Some of the flower arrangements from other countries:






The kids had so much fun checking out the kids area with Ben while I did the climb:

Mother's Day Tea

On Thursday I attended the Mother's Day Tea at Amelia's preschool. Her class sang a lot of songs for all the moms and then we enjoyed lemonade and treats. She also presented me with some cute gifts she made at school.











Amelia was disappointed that there weren't real tea dishes for the event. She prefers all things in life to be fancy. She thinks littering is called glittering (and to be honest, I haven't really tried to correct her because I kind of like it) and she started using the term "holy butterflies!" instead of "holy cow" because butterflies are much fancier than cows.

Camping!

We were so excited for our first camping trip of the year last weekend. The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect. We camped at Prince William Forest Park with 3 other families from our original babysitting swap. Even though we were stuck in traffic to get down there on Friday (expected) and even returning on Saturday afternoon (cursed I-95!), it was so nice to be out in the woods enjoying a gorgeous weekend, away from the traffic.

The girls had so much fun playing with friends and just running around in the trees and being outside. Playing in the tent is always a bonus.




Looking for bugs...Elsa spotted the first caterpillar of the day.





We made Chicken and Potato Delight in the Dutch Oven for dinner and the Dyckmans made a yummy Caramel Apple Crisp.




And this was before we added the cheese...


I can still taste that apple crisp.

I planned a bug hunt for all the kids and gave them bug kits from the dollar store. We hid a bunch of plastic bugs and they had fun searching for them. Of course we found some pretty cool real bugs as well.


Taryn, Amelia, Liz, Ethan




Found one!









In the morning the Nielsons and Pomeroys made a delicious pancake breakfast with sausage, bacon, and eggs. The kids had fun being chased by Corey and his lasso.





We went on a little hike down to the river. It was getting pretty hot so it felt good to walk around in the water. Amelia walked around in her clothes for a bit and then decided it was time for her swimming suit. Corey and Ben were brave enough to get very wet (it was COLD water) to transport the kids through some deeper parts of the river.














Elsa discovered her love for licorice.



Of course there was the usual post-camping tick removal when we got home. Amelia always seems to attract ticks, though we've all had our fair share since moving to Virginia.

We're already thinking about our next camping trip...