Sunflower sunset.

There is always something new to discover around here. A few weeks ago I found out that there are acres and acres and acres of sunflower fields in the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Maryland. A trip was definitely in order. It was a ridiculously hot and humid week (can't complain much because this has been a beautifully mild summer for weather). We arrived near sunset to avoid some of the heat (of course that humidity never goes away at night) and it also turned out to be an unbelievably gorgeous time to see the sunflowers. The evening light was beautiful (proven by the fact that I could not stop taking photos). It turns out that a giant field of sunflowers is really fun to photograph.

 Pretending to be butterflies.

 Playing "What time is it, Mr. Fox?" (Oliver, in the background, had apparently given up.)

 "Hold you! Hold you!" (Meaning "hold me")

And some photos taken with my phone while the girls were taking pictures with my camera...

 Little House on the Prairie anyone?

memorial sunset.

We took my parents to see the Pentagon Memorial Saturday evening. The weather was more tolerable with the sun going down and it was a nice place for a stroll. The design of this memorial is really thoughtful and beautiful. I loved the sun's rays peaking through and casting a warm light on the memorial. It was also fun to see how much the Crape Myrtles had grown since our last visit a few years ago. And they were blossoming!

To two-year-old Oliver, it just appeared to be a giant playground since he immediately assumed the cantilevered benches were slides. Throwing rocks in water is probably his favorite thing to do next to tormenting Elsa. Each bench has a small pool of water under it and the ground is covered in gravel. So it was pretty much impossible to keep Oliver from throwing rocks into the water. I felt bad for the employee there who was sucking rocks out of the pools with a little vacuum and returning them to the gravel walkways. Kids like Oliver are surely his nemesis.

The Air Force Memorial is near the Pentagon Memorial so we stopped there to enjoy the great views of D.C. at dusk. Then we quickly headed home to light off a few of our own fireworks.

The girls had fun doing a little parkour in this long tunnel.

It was so great to have my parents here for the weekend and we were all sad to see them go the next day. Luckily we get to see them again in a few weeks!

 Robert with Simon Robert.