A day to remember

Continuing our DC-palooza, we headed downtown today for the National Memorial Day Parade on Constitution Ave.

I taught Lily how to do cat's cradle this morning, which came in handy while we were waiting for the parade to begin.

Meanwhile, Amalia gathered sticks in front of the Natural History Museum. 

 Sneaking a pic in the middle of the parade route.

 I don't care what the girls say, a birthday cake flavored popsicle is not a good idea.

 Amalia fashioned a flag holder with one of her sticks.

 We saw about 20 bands today, but this one was the best.

 RGIII! I did not ask him how his knee is.

 Gary Sinise

When these Clydesdales went by, Lily muttered, "I wonder what kind of horse I'll get when I grow up."

The gray-haired guy in the lavender shirt is American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. He didn't sing for us.

 Trace Adkins may be super nice, but today he seemed to have a bit of a stick up his rear end.

After the parade, we stopped for dinner and then dessert at Something Sweet. Because Amalia needs more sugar.

Wolfin' it down

In our continuing quest to cram as much East Coast stuff in as possible, we surprised the girls yesterday with a surprise trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. As Lily said when we picked them up at 2:00, "This is only the second time I've ever been pulled out of school early! The last time was in kindergarten when it snowed." Pretty cool.

 Of course we hit traffic on the drive down, but we arrived in time to make it to evening story time.

 

 

 Amalia got in some costumed characters time.

 The girls had fantastic woodsy-themed bunk beds.

 Climbing the walls after a four-hour drive.

 Bottom bunk.

 Top bunk.

  

Ready to hit the waterpark as soon as it opened this morning.

The CDC earlier this week released a new study about how public pools are contaminated with fecal matter, so what do we do? Take the girls to a giant indoor waterpark.

 Don't drink the water.

 Good-bye, Great Wolf Lodge!

The girls were zonked today and both promptly fell asleep on the drive back home and all was quiet. Except for the brief moment when we heard Amalia shout from the back seat, "Wait, wait, I have the thing!" I can only imagine what she was dreaming about. 

Of mole rats and blueberries

After reading books to Amalia at bedtime, I asked her to tell me something about her day. Here's how the conversation went:

Amalia: Today was a field trip day.

Me (knowing it was not, in fact, a field trip day): Really, where did you go?

Amalia: To a farm.

Me: Really, what did you see?

Amalia: Mole rats.

Me:

Amalia: And horses. I rode a horse.

Me: Did the horse have a name?

Amalia: Yes. Snowflake. She was white all over. Oh, and I saw a show. And then I went on a ride that was like this (holding up her hands at an angle) where you slide down and go poof on your bottom. You know that ride? Where you go poof on your bottom?

Me: No.

Amalia: Well. Then I had blueberries. We actually picked blueberries and ate them for our snack. I can't remember anything else.

Me: Well, maybe you can dream about your field trip and remember more.

Amalia: OK.

Cramming for finals

We have so few weekends left in DC that we're trying to cram in a whole bunch of social engagements for the girls.

 Amalia and her friend Riley playing Perfection.

 Hunting for roly polys in our curbside garden.

 Lily and her swim buddy, Eliza, at their last swim class.

 Farewell post-swim dinner at McDonalds.

Silly swimmers (plus Amalia).

The kids are back in town

Our local farmers market opened for the season last weekend.

We did, of course, get a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables (strawberries, English cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, golden delicious apples), but the live animals were the main attraction for the girls.

 Oh, and the hula hoops are always a big hit.

 Bunnies, too!

Later in the day, Lily went to the movies (The Croods 3-D) with some friends and a couple of Stoddert teachers.

Thanks, Grandma!

As I write this, Grandma Carol is getting on a plane to fly back home to California after pulling 10 days of grandma duty while Andy and I were in the Bay Area looking for a house. She single-handedly got the girls to school, violin lessons, swim lessons, play dates and birthday parties--and was my stand-in at the pre-K Mother's Day program. From all accounts, it sounds like the girls (and grandma) had a great week. So thank you, Grandma Carol! Thanks to you, we will have a house to go to when we arrive in San Jose this summer.