White House 4th of July

Celebrating the 4th of July on the White House lawn is a pretty special place to be. Amos Lee and the band Train played. We had a sitter. (smile)

Trip to Michigan

We headed to Michigan to see Granny for 5 days! Grammommy, Gramps, and cousin Alexis (12) came too. Uncle Kirk was there as well (he lives up there). The last day, the Benson's came up too -- Uncle Gage, Aunt Jen and cousins Lydia (5), Calvin (3) and Vivian (1). It was so fun! Here are a few videos from our trip (note my flip video screen is broken so I can't few what I'm filming, hence the strange framing).
The girls were very excited to fly on an airplane. On the return flight the pilot let Sylvia push buttons in the cockpit and they were both given wings. They both now say they are pilots! They did great on the flights there and back, which total 7 hours...drive to the Baltimore airport (1hr), flight (1.5 hours), drive to the cottage (1.5 hours), plus the airport check-in, getting rental car, etc. Our only rough point was on the drive to the cottage (it was 1pm) and they couldn't sleep, so there was a lot of screaming.
We did so much while we were there, including lots of fun at the lake and beach (Granny's lake doesn't have a beach, just a dock, so we went to the beach down the road for fun in the sand, even in cloudy/cold days it didn't stop them from running in with dresses on), trip to the Uncle Kirk's property to see his new chickens, petted many horses at the Horse Show, made butter and fed cows at County Dairy Fair (and enjoyed lots of free ice cream). We even got to celebrate Uncle Gage's 35th birthday.
Most importantly, the girls (and Mommy) got some quality time with their amazing Great Granny (age 90!). She's in great health and sharp as a whip. At night we played a family favorite card game (backward Rummy) and she always beat us. The girls even kind of sat still for her to read stories one night.
A special thanks to Grammommy for making all this happen. She brough the packnplays, seats for eating, lots of toys, bought all the food and even retreated to a bed and breakfast when we reached capacity. She made several trips to make sure the cottage was ready (hiding medicines and breakables was a very smart thing to do!). We all know how much effort it took and we appreciated every single thing.
Not to get ahead of ourselves, but I'm starting to think about us going back sooner than next year, which was our original plan.
Pictures coming in another post.

Trip to Michigan in Pictures

Yes, probably too many, but oh well! Can you tell they like to be buried in the sand?

What We've Been Up To

We've been busy and I don't even have cute pictures of the girls to post. It's hard when you're outside all the time and without the camera. David and I have been to several of his work-related functions recently. All have been good, but one was really good. I got to meet Jon Stewart and hear Train live (not like chatting with the Commandant of the Marine Corps and his wife, along with other heavy political hitters isn't also very cool!). See grainy picture taken from David's phone.

Other happenings...I got these wonderful floaties/life jackets and can take the girls in the big pool by myself (together!). It's liberating! We've had a ton of playdates with friends after work and lots of trips to our pool. We've also met a new friend (baby Olivia born 6 weeks ago), went to a friend's christening (baby Melina, sister to Max, the girls' friend who was born a day after them). David had a minor surgery, so we helped him recover with lots of snacks and time on the couch. David also took a trip to St. Louis for Marine Week and a sucessful bruch his Foundation hosted and our patio project is in full swing.

We are gearing up for a trip to Michigan to see Great Granny, Grammommy, Gramps, Uncle Gage, 4 cousins, and Great Uncle Kirk. Should be good fun! We took them on a choo choo (metro) to the airport to see airplanes. A few days later we went to watch them take out and land near the airport, which the girls LOVED, but it was awfully loud and it scared them a bit.

An update post-trip will be in order after the 4th.

Happy Independence Day.

Wildlife Haven at The Romley's House

We mentioned on Easter we had 2 ducks swoop in and spend a good bit of time while we looked for eggs. We've also mentioned there are fox that are often in the woods next door or just hanging around the neighorhood (we've heard, but not seen, the 5 baby fox!). Well, after dinner one night, we saw 3 deer in our yard! One kept hopping the fence for mulberries! The male was a 6-8 point buck! Very cool! Unfortunately, that video was so long, it wouldn't load. We love our house for so many reasons!

Daily Schedule

The girls stay busy. Angela puts together a program for them focused around skills -- motor, language, social/emotional -- music, circle time, and an outing. They have a program for each day of the week. For example, on Monday, they focused on lacing beads, pulling up their pants, a memory game (the old flip over the cards, which they do really well at), making father's day cards, learning ABCs, singing a few songs including "you're happy and you know it," and going to Mount Vernon (they toured the farm, learned about Ox and ran around on a beautiful day). Other activities this week include following 3 part directions, learning days of the week (they are good at this and months). Other outings include going to play group (a usual Tuesday and Thursday occurance -- two different groups), checking out the local farmer's market and library, visiting our neighborhood pool and going on a train ride (metro) to see the airplanes at the airport. They do a lot in the morning, come back for lunch at Noon and then take naps at 12:30. They are up by 3pm, have a snack, and then Mommy comes home. Mommy usually has 2-3 play dates arranged each week after work. We play outside, at the park across the street or at a friends house.


I'd say they have a pretty good life. Since most preschool programs at age 2 are glorified play programs (or full-day day care, which we don't want/need), we will start them in two or three day a week half day preschool in the fall of 2012, when they are 3.5 years old. Thankfully with two kids, they are always have learning about sharing, taking turns, and not being the the full focus. So, I don't think they will miss anything!

Bribery Works

After about a month of very successful potty training with few, if any, accidents. Evelyn had a setback. It lasted about 3 days and she had several accidents. So, knowing stickers as rewards didn't really work for her, I decided to reward her with something she's had just once. ICE CREAM. We picked out her Tinkerbell undies and told her that she should keep Tinkerbell dry and if she does all day, she will get ice cream after dinner. Sure enough, she did! She was very proud of herself. Tomorrow, she will get a popscicle if she keeps Nemo dry.


We are very proud of Evelyn.

Here Mommy

On Saturday morning, I was sitting next to Evelyn on the couch. She loves to cuddle up in a blanket. She looked at me with sweet little eyes and said "here Mommy" and handed me a DEAD MOUSE! I freaked. Leaped out of the couch and Daddy quickly rushed Evelyn to the sink to wash her hands. Then, Mommy called Orkin. It was kind of cute. We speculate the patio project has caused them to come inside. Yes, pretty gross, but that's what happened at the Romley's on Saturday morning.

Visit to Firehouse!

Angela called up our local firehouse and asked if it would be ok to bring the girls by. They LOVE "woo-woos that help people!" They were a little shy when we were there and didn't want to sit in the driver's seat and honk the horn (can you believe that!?), but they had a good time and talked about it all day. It was pretty cool. A woman figherfighter spent a lot of time with us and was very sweet. Thanks to Angela for making it happen!

Counting and ABCs

Good news! Evelyn counted to 10 on her own (without repeating or saying "what's after 3") when she climbed the stairs. She did it again this morning, but skipped 7.

Sylvia can say her ABCs to G without help, but she sometimes misses D & E.

Great progress for 25 months, if you ask me! It's funny because the counting is great up the stairs, but when you have two kids, you can't just climb the stairs with one at their pace, you're often just trying to make sure they get up/down safely. So, we do a lot of counting before extra pushes on the swing, up the ladder, or before we do things. They are also very into the timer "set timer, Mommy." They like to brush their teeth for 2 mintues while singing ABCs. And, when they take FOREVER to eat dinner (my girls can eat!), we set the timer (3 more minutes to eat).

Making Pizza

The girls made pizza for lunch and had a great time. They even picked corn and peas to put on it. What good little eaters.

Fun in the Sun!

Although Daddy was working all weekend (and even stayed in DC Friday night), we had a great time. Friday afternoon, the girls had a playdate with their good friends Wyatt and Chip (of course Baby Gresham was in tow). They played in the pool and sandbox. That evening, Mommy's friend Melissa came over in time for baths and an adult dinner. The next day we all went to the pool (how about these cuties!?). Saturday night, Mommy and Daddy went to a black tie gala for Daddy's work. Sunday, Mommy took Sylvia to visit a friend who just had a new baby. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the humid, sunny day in the back yard!

Hot Summer Days

The girls love to have their good pals, Wyatt and Chip, over for play dates. Here they are enjoying a popsicle on a hot, summer day.

Let's Play

Nearly every day when I get home from work, this is what we do. Mommy changes, the girls put on their bathing suits and we play outside in the pool and sandbox. It's living!