Weekly shout-out.

This week's shout-out is going to School House Rock. Grammar has never been so catchy. Saturday mornings just aren't what they used to be...

Summer swimming.

What happens when a water park is bordered by dense Virginia foliage? The lifeguard pulls a live snake out of the water. Despite the snakes and a little bit of rain, we all enjoyed a fun day at the water park yesterday.





Elsa thought the water was a little cold and did not like being posed for pictures.


Amelia wanted to go down all the water slides by herself. This is Ben and Amelia at the bottom of the slide.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

No more Amelia getting out of bed.

So Amelia has always been really good about going to bed. Even after she moved to her toddler bed, it took about a month before she was brave enough to get out of it after we put her to bed or in the mornings. But lately she has been coming out a few times after we put her to bed to get a drink of water, find a toy that she just needs to sleep with, or fulfill some other 3-year-old excuse. At her 3-year doctor visit, the doctor asked Amelia if she was staying in her bed at night like a big girl and getting lots of sleep. Amelia didn't really answer the question but ever since then, she has remained in her bed after we put her down each night.

This is a picture of Amelia at the cardiologist's office. She got to have an EKG and an ultrasound to check out her heart murmur. Everything looked fine and her heart murmur appears to be "normal". She enjoyed this visit much more than the urologist.


Elsa, two months old.

The business of sisters.

Amelia takes her role as a big sister very seriously. If we tell her she is silly, or funny, or too loud, or anything, she will respond "no, I'm a big sister." Everyday she points out new things she will have to teach Elsa and frequently states that Elsa doesn't know how to do anything. Yesterday, she said "I have to teach Elsa how to play at the beach" and she says it in an anxious and exhausted tone, as if she has so much work ahead of her to get this little sister up to speed on life.

At the very first peep out of Elsa in the morning, Amelia is the first one in her room, climbing into her crib to get her pacifier and talk to her. When Elsa is in her bouncy chair, Amelia makes sure that she has a blanket tucked around her. She loves to give Elsa a bath and works diligently to get her all wet and clean.

The other day when Amelia was helping Elsa in the bath, Elsa could not stop looking up at her big sister with lots of smiles and admiration. Elsa is finally starting to smile at Amelia instead of just giving her that "deer in headlights" look that she used to give when Amelia came near.

Weekly shout-out (by Ben)

OK. It's my turn. Michael Phelps has been getting a lot of attention in his quest for, like, a hundred gold medals. That's fine. But my shout-out goes to this guy. He's the one who chased down the French dude in the last 20 meters of the relay. I'm tired of nothing but Phelps' wide-open mug splashed across all the news outlets. This is the guy. LEZAK!!!!

Weekend highlights.

We went to Prince William Forest Park to do some hiking. We endured the usual I-95 traffic jam to get there but only encountered a few other people on the trails. We even scored some incredibly cheap gas on the way home...only $3.47/gallon.





We went for a Sunday evening stroll around Theodore Roosevelt Island. We had the monument all to ourselves and Amelia enjoyed getting wet in the fountains.






Ben and Amelia discovered a new use for the Jenga game pieces.

8.8.08 Beijing

Say what you will about lead paint, but China can do a seriously impressive Olympic opening ceremony. Ben loves the Olympics and has been humming the Olympic theme for the last few weeks. I have to admit it's a little exciting (the games, not his humming).

Here he is enjoying the opening ceremony, sporting the Olympic hat that has been sitting in our closet since we bargained for it in Tiananmen Square four years ago, just waiting for 8.8.08.

The photo shoot.

I thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot with Emma and Amelia before Emma moved. My friend Jill took some fabulous photos of the girls. (To see more of her beautiful photography, click here.) I had a hard time narrowing the selection down, but here are a few of my favorites. Well, maybe more than a few.

Emma and Amelia











Amelia and Elsa

Weekly shout-out.

This week's shout-out goes to Sprecher Root Beer. Straight from the brewing capital itself, this root beer is the best (and I'm not just saying that because I'm from Wisconsin). If you live around here, you can find Sprecher at the Dairy Godmother.