Easter festivities...

We had fun celebrating Easter with some great friends and family. Jeff and Rachel came up from Richmond and the Webbs and Marches joined us. Everyone has little girls so it was fun to see them all playing together. The girls got to hunt for eggs in the backyard and then we all enjoyed an Easter feast.






We have also enjoyed having my cousin Cami and her friend Liz visit during this past week. Amelia has loved having a new audience and lots of attention. We had a delicious dinner at King Street Blues on Friday night and then walked around the Jefferson Memorial, which Amelia still calls "Jefferman". We went to Eastern Market on Saturday and enjoyed tasting the fresh produce and picking out some daffodils.

The week in review.

Amelia's schedule appears to be busier than mine lately. She goes to an awesome music class on Mondays, which she loves. On Thursdays, she has an art class and always brings home something fun to show dad. On Saturdays, she gets to go to a swimming class with dad.

Amelia found a new hiding spot this week.


Ben and Amelia threw me a great birthday party and then Ben took me to see "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center. Our much-abused babysitter Micaela helped out once again. Check out Micaela's blog to see a cute video of Amelia with Emma.

We made countless trips to Lowes this past week since we finally started the remodel of Amelia's new room.


Sometimes I get a little freaked out when I walk into a room and Amelia has lined up her toys or dolls or anything in some strange formation. The other day, I walked out to the car and noticed that one little rock had been neatly placed on each stepping stone. Definitely the mark of Amelia, the little organizer.


We flew a kite! And had a picnic.



Amelia ate almost my entire box of Girl Scout thin mint cookies, her new addiction.

Seriously?

Micaela and I headed to our local rec center bright and early this morning at 6:00. To work out? Uh, no. To sit in a line of moms and dads trying to get their children into preschool. I initially thought Amelia would really enjoy going to a preschool class two days a week this Fall, but until Micaela noticed that registration was already starting, I had no idea how involved the process was, and how behind I was in preparing for this. Apparently, you don't just sign up. You wait in lines to get your name on waiting lists. So the doors opened at 5 a.m. and registration started at 8. We arrived around 6 and took our places at #30 and #31. Those in the front of the line had lined up outside the rec center as early as 3:30 a.m. We thought our chances seemed pretty good, until the lady in front of us announced that she had triplets and was trying to get into the same class. Really? Triplets? Come on. But as registration began and the line progressed, we thought we actually might make it. Then the lady in front of the triplets made it known that she had twins. It was down to the wire, when we noticed a lady try to sneak into our line. Thanks to Micaela, she was sent back to her seat (and no Micaela, you shouldn't feel bad about that) and Micaela and I scored the last two spots in the class.

So Amelia, you better enjoy this preschool class. And you have 6 months to get yourself potty trained.

Trip #3: Titletown

We had a fabulous week in Green Bay enjoying family, old friends, butterburgers, frozen custard, snow, and all other things Wisconsin. We even came home with a suitcase full of cheese, courtesy of my dad, the cheese scientist.

Alpacas, shovels, and bathrooms. A video retrospective:

Inseparable.

We love it when Emma comes over. And an added bonus when Micaela brings over hot chocolate and pastries and we get to sit back and enjoy the morning while the girls go crazy.

It doesn't get more presidential than this.

We celebrated Presidents' Day by taking part in the free admission day at Mount Vernon. We ended up with fabulous weather this morning. When we headed out before 9 this morning, it was already 60 degrees. We actually broke a sweat walking around the expansive grounds of George's estate. We passed a Krispy Kreme on the way home and couldn't resist. And to top it off, we got some Chinese take-out and enjoyed it on the backyard patio. Some rain made its way through this afternoon so we settled down to watch a ridiculously funny documentary, "The King of Kong". It ranks right up there with "Trekkies".

For the Grandmas

So I realize this is a blatant "look what my kid can do" video, but really, isn't that what the blog is for? I try to post about other things, but it always comes back to "the kid". One of my favorite things to do with Amelia is snuggle up on the couch with a big pile of books and read. Some days I read the books to her, but some days I get to read my book while she slowly goes through her pile. The other day she really wanted to see what I was reading, and then read it for herself.

Trip #2: Italy

With the help of some very kind people (thanks Jeff & Rachel and Micaela & Phil!) who were willing to watch Amelia for a few days, Ben and I took an amazing trip to Rome. We were able to spend four days seeing some amazing things, walking a lot, enjoying some fabulous weather, eating a lot, and spending too many euros.

Some highlights...



Walking around the beautiful streets of Trastevere.



Climbing the 320 (sometimes slanted and cramped) steps to the top of Michelangelo's dome in St. Peter's Basilica...amazing view of the city.



Posing with the baby belly all around Rome.



Eating.



Checking out an Italian opera/ballet at a pretty cool opera house.



The pantheon. An architectural anomaly. Amazing.



Strolling around the colosseum, the roman forum, and palatine. So old.

Best husband ever.

I think that everyone should know just what Ben is capable of, culinarily speaking. We had a babysitter Saturday night, but felt like taking it easy with our recent and upcoming trips. So while I was taking Amelia to the babysitter's house, Ben created a fabulous multi-course feast at home for us. This is what was waiting for me when I got back:

A spring salad with tortellini (in an Italian dressing)
Butternut squash soup and warm bread
Lamb chops served with roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade and a side of wild rice
And for dessert? Creme brulee with raspberries



And yes, it was all delicious. We even topped off the evening with a private round of mini golf (private because apparently nobody else wanted to go miniature golfing when it was 42 degrees outside).