Meet me at the zoo.

On Saturday morning Ben was mapping out a 12 mile run for his training. We were trying to find a fun meeting spot where we could pick him up. It turns out the National Zoo is just over 12 miles from our house. We dropped Ben off about a mile from our house so it would be exactly 12 miles and then we drove to the zoo and he ran and met us there. It was a pretty nice route for him, primarily along the George Washington Parkway and then through Rock Creek Park. The only downside was being at the zoo on a Saturday. Crowds!


(Watching the orangutans cross the O Line)

Illustrator

The other day Amelia brought me a picture she had made of a very elaborate treehouse. I thought it would be fun to make a whole book based on her illustration. I bought a blank board book over a year ago with plans to make a fun book for the girls, but it never happened. I figured I would have Amelia make it instead. She decided on all of the illustrations herself and then made them all. I took her drawings and digitized them and then added the text (Amelia helped me come up with rhyming words) and printed them out on sticker paper and attached them to the book.

(Click on each image if you want to make it larger.)

Dancer

Amelia has been wanting to take a dance class for a long time. I finally got her signed up for a ballet/tap class at a local studio. She was SO excited for her first dance class this week. She practically ran home from school and is already counting down the days until the next class. Her teacher, Miss Tiffany, told me that she asked Amelia if she had taken a dance class before and Amelia said "I dance every day at home." Her teacher said she was really excited to work with Amelia because she had a lot of potential. When I mentioned the dance class to my dad, he said he hoped they didn't stifle Amelia's creativity...knowing that she has a very, well, free style of dance.

I took some photos of Amelia after class in the studio. While Amelia was having fun posing, Elsa was busy hanging upside down from the bar. She's less the graceful type and more the, uh, Elsa type.

Kindergarten!

Amelia started Kindergarten! She has been waiting for this for a long time and was SO excited to go. She had no fear on the first day. She attends Cameron Elementary which is about a seven minute walk from our house. I have been really impressed with the school so far and her teachers seem really great (Mrs. Murphy is her teacher and Miss Chancey and Miss Higgs are the assistants). They have to wear uniforms at her school, which has actually been really nice, and her class is very diverse which is really great.

It has been strange to have her gone all day (school goes from 9:10 to 3:50) but I have noticed that the house stays much cleaner. Elsa asks for Amelia throughout the day, but I think she is enjoying her freedom to play with whatever she wants, however she wants.









It's fun to walk home with her every afternoon and hear her report from the day. She usually tells me she had a "really great day" and so far the only things that she has complained about are the fire drills and not having time to eat her pudding at lunch. She has already made a few friends and says "kindergarten is SO much fun." Phew.

There is a courtyard in the middle of her school with farm animals. Elsa loves to stop by and watch the chickens, goats, and bunnies when we drop Amelia off.

Genghis Gong

I was fortunate enough to see all four of my siblings in the same weekend. My sister Erin and her husband Abe drove down to D.C. from Michigan while we were in Utah and stayed at our house (Abe had a conference). We were able to spend a day with them when we got home and meet our newest nephew/cousin Jonah (affectionately nicknamed Genghis).

Amelia and Elsa were very excited to hold him. And then quickly got on with their lives when they realized he didn't really do much. Elsa did manage to drop a few things on his head while he was here, so I guess we know what we're in for with our next baby...

Weekend at Grandma's

We spent our last weekend in Utah at my Grandma's house. It's such a peaceful place to be and the kids always have fun running around on the farm. We were able to spend the weekend with 3 of my siblings. My sister Stephanie even drove all the way up from Arizona just for the weekend! It was so fun to hang out with everyone and Amelia and Elsa loved being with their cousins.




Naomi and Amelia

We spent an afternoon in Logan. We stopped into my brother-in-law's bike shop and then had a picnic up Logan Canyon. Then we hung out at my sister Jenny's house for a bit before heading back to Grandma's. We ended the night with a campfire and had s'mores. It was getting late and we were chatting around the fire when Rachel pointed out a skunk headed our way. We all slowly stood up and headed straight for the house. It was quite an abrupt and funny end to the evening.


James and Elsa trying out bikes.











Elsa was thrilled to find more cats at my sister's house. Luckily, they were patient cats. They also have lots of chickens...Elsa didn't know what to chase first, the cats or the chickens. The dog gave her a big lick on the face so she stayed away from him after that.









We took the scenic route from Logan back to my Grandma's farm:

Reunited.

I took the girls to Liberty Park one afternoon for a lunch picnic while Ben went out to lunch with his brother. My friend Micaela joined us and Amelia was so happy to finally be reunited with Emma. Even though they hadn't seen each other in a year, they started up right where they left off and got right to playing.


(Emma, Vera, Elsa, and Amelia)

We had a fun day with the Webbs...the kids got lots of play time together and the adults were able to catch up. We all had fun swimming at Phil's parent's house and then Phil and Micaela treated us to an awesome dinner at The Melting Pot (complete with babysitters for the kids!) where we devoured countless pots of cheese and chocolate fondue.








(Ben)








The neighbors had some new kittens that Elsa was completely obsessed with. I don't think she had ever held a cat before, but she ran right up to them and picked one up. Let's just say they were very patient kittens.






(Micaela and me + pregnant bellies)