Saturday Outing: Raven Rock

Our Saturday mornings are filled with gymnastics and ballet now, but we were feeling the need for an adventure a few weeks ago so we headed to Raven Rock State Park for an afternoon hike. It's located less than an hour away and was a great spot for a winter hike. The rock formations were really cool and many had icicles hanging from them. The kids loved climbing all over and exploring. They were distracted enough that they didn't even complain during the 3 1/2 mile hike. There weren't many other people out on the trail which was also nice.

saturday outing: scooters at the park

Every so often we head to a park with running trails first thing Saturday morning and Ben and I take turns running while the other plays with the kids. It always makes for a fun and productive morning.

It got pretty hot on this particular day so we got out the pool in the afternoon and the kids spent hours torturing this frog they caught in the backyard.

saturday outing part 3: yards park

The best part of our D.C. visit was seeing so many friends. We gathered a big group together and met up at Yards Park, one of our favorite spots, for a dinner picnic. It actually ended up being a gorgeous evening with no humidity and pleasant temperatures. It was almost too chilly for the fountains but it didn't stop the kids and they had a blast playing in the water. I didn't get pictures of all the kids, or any of the adults, but we had an awesome group of friends there. Perfect end to a fun day in D.C.

We got to visit our old Ward on Sunday and see many more friends which was so fun. And also a little sad since we realized how many great friends we miss. Kirsten made a killer dinner for a Father's Day feast and after stuffing ourselves silly, we dragged the kids away from their friends and had a quiet drive home with exhausted, sleeping children.

saturday outing part 2: hillwood

On a whim we decided to visit Hillwood, the estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post. It was such a gorgeous day, perfect for some gardens. I had taken the girls there last summer for the French Festival but Ben had never been. The gardens there are beautiful and it's fun to tour her mansion and see her various art collections. There was also a fun Cartier exhibit going on. Ben took Elsa through the house first while I explored the gardens with the others and then I went through the house with Elsa, Amelia, and Abi (Elsa wanted to see it again). (We didn't want to attempt to take Oliver and Simon in the house or into the Cartier exhibit.) It was really fun to walk through the house with the girls. They were loving all of Marjorie's fancy collections and picking out their favorites while imagining themselves living in her house. They loved seeing all of the fancy Cartier gems too.

Admiring her pink bathroom.