Vacation Bible School

The girls had a blast at VBS.  They even performed a little show on the last day.  It was so sweet.  Videos to come.  Here's their first "class" picture. 

He's not Bubba!

After caring for our foster cat a few days, I decided to reach out to the shelter and ask if Bubba was his real name.  Sure enough, it's NOT!  His name was Ashley!!!  Bit of a strange name for such a big boy, but he's definitely Ashley. He responds to it.  David somehow knew that Scarlett O'Hara's love interest in "Gone with the Wind" was Ashley Wilkes. 

He's a cuddler for sure and lights tight places (which is odd becuase of his size). He used to hide under our bed, then in the storage room, and now really likes to retreat to Angela's room.  However, he gets noisy at night and we all kick him out.  So, he's left to sleep in the basement. 

Our kitty lover, Sylvia, is most timid around him.  She thinks he's going to bite her.  Evelyn is in love. 

Vacation Bible School

We are gearing up for preschool and signed up the girls for 3 camps (soccer, Vacation Bible School and a kiddie camp).  This week they are attending VBS at a neighbhorhood preschool.  Their class has about 12, 3 year olds with 3 teachers.  I was a little concerned there may be crying, anxiety, but they ran off to their "tribe" to sit with their friend Kaitlyn.  They had a great time doing crafts (made a neat necklace), singing songs, dancing, etc.  Oh, I must mention that Evelyn's favorite thing was "eating goldfish."  You'd think these kids are so deprived (Mom, who do I sound like???).  Evelyn has never fallen asleep so fast! They were so tired!  It's seriously the best deal going!  Just $60 for both of them to attend 3 hours/day.  And, it's well run!  Will be an annual thing, I think.

Weekend Fun

The weekend was lots of fun.  Friday, David and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  I was a sport and agreed to a motorcycle ride to Great Falls.  Note that this was after a 14 mile run earlier than day and in 95+degrees.  We had a great lunch at the Old Anglers Inn.  Totally low key. 

Saturday morning, we celebrated a friend's birthday at her pool party.  Lots of pizza, cupcakes and swimming.  In the evening, our friends invited us and 2 other couples to their house (with kids) for a dinner party.  It was a house full of girls four, 3 year olds and 2, 1 year olds.  The kids ate first and the adults enjoyed an amazing meal while the kids played for hours in the basement. 

Sunday morning we hosted friends at our pool for swimming and a cookout. 

Lots of good fun! 

Bubba!

Watching Snookums the hamster for 3 weeks inspired us to become a foster family for Alexandria Animal shelter.  I filled out the paperwork and one day later, we had BUBBA!  He's a neutered domestic shorthair cat. He was given up by his military family because they had to move and couldn't take him.  He's been in the shelter 3 months and they are at capacity.  He's super gentle and purrs all the time.  He doesn't have any illnesses and is up on his shots; however, he is OBESE!  He's 24 POUNDS!  He can hop on the couch, but pants when walking up the stairs.  He's on a strict diet and with all the room in our house, he's surely to lose some weight.  We don't know how long we will keep him, but he's up for adoption if you're interested! 

Outdoor Fun

Silly Faces of Evelyn

She was hamming it up.  Notice the first two pictures, she's "feeding" her baby. 

Fun Outside

The girls like to put the babypool at the bottom of the slide for extra fun! 

2012 London Olympics

We are super pumped in the Romley household for the Olympics.  We had a opening ceremony party planned, but had to cancel becuase Sylvia had a little stomach bug.  We still had fun and made crafts, cookies and watched the opening ceremony. 

Drawing Characters

Big developmental step...the girls are drawing characters/figures.  The black one (top picture) is Evelyn's, you can see the S' (backwards) and E's to distinquish who made which card.  Don't you like the curly hair on the right card? 

Names, Crafts and Silly Times

We have been good.  Took the girls to a cool water park for 5 hours on my day off (videos to come), Mommy and Daddy had a date night, we hosted friends from DC on Saturday night and hit the pool on Saturday.  The girls are totally swimming under the water!  Here are some cute pictures of the girls writing their names, making crafts and having a silly time with Daddy.  Plus, pictures of hula time at the libary with their friends. 

Last Day of Soccer Camp

Evelyn and Sylvia did a GREAT job at soccer camp!  Their got their first report cards from the coaches.  So fun!

Picnic Dinner Date

The girls their own date when Mommy and Daddy were on ours -- a picnic dinner and movie. So cute.

Water Park!!!

The girls, Wyatt and Gresham had a blast at the water park!  Despite the rain and chilly temperatures, we stayed for FIVE HOURS!!!

Soccer Camp

The girls are in soccer camp this week.  Or, as the British soccer coach we're hosting says "football." [We're hosting Philippa for 2 weeks! She's great]  The first day required some warming up, but today they were good to go.  They HAD to wear the t-shirt they gave them; as you can tell they are a little big! 

Saying Goodbye to Friends

The girls' pals, Anna and Noah (also twins!) are moving away to San Antonio, Texas and we are sad.  Of course, no one was sad when they were munching down extra yummy cupcakes.  I think Evelyn was a little miffed I didn't give them a whole cupcake and they had to share.  ha! 

White House 4th of July

What a spectacular time!  We are so lucky to spend it on the south lawn of the White House!

New Pet

Our backup nanny, Miss Jennifer, was awesome.  She is a kindergarten teacher and did a great job with the girls.  She brought her own crafts and had lots of fun activities for them.  On her last day, she brought her classroom pet, Snookums the hamster.  The girls were in LOVE.  When I got home, she was telling us how she was going to Denmark for 2 weeks and I offered to watch the hamster for her.  So, we have a new pet until August 1st.  So fun! 

Lot's of Happenings

Here's what we've been up to:

• We have spent a LOT of time at the pool since it opened. Evelyn loves to slide down the slide and swim back up.  They are both asking to be let go so they can swim to the ladder from several feet away.  They LOVE using kickboards and jumping in.  David is convinced they will be full on swimming by the end of the summer.  Gone are the days of using their puddle jumper life jackets and entering the baby pool. 
• Angela is on vacation -- yeah for her for taking one full week off!  She's in FL and GA.  Mommy took off Thursday (and already had off Friday).  We have a back up nanny Monday-Wednesday.  She's with White House Nannies and a kindergaten school teacher!  Here's a picture she emailed me after praising their sorting and counting (she will learn they've been doing this for a long time...they were probably bored).

• We have a British Soccer Coach staying with us through the Challenger Sports Program. They bring nearly 1,000 coaches in for the summer. Phillipa is very sweet and is staying with us 2 weeks.  The girls are enrolled in the camp next week. 
• Mommy started week 2 of a 16 week Marathon training program.  She's running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th! 

Happy Independence Day

We love July 4th in our house.  We have an annual tradition of spending it on the south lawn of the White House.  This year was the first year we brought Evelyn and Sylvia.  After a full morning at the pool and bouncing in bounces houses brought in for the occassion, the girls power napped and got ready for an evening in DC.  We dined at The Hamilton (picture above) and then enjoyed face painting, balloon artists, country music star Brad Paisley perform for over an hour, and then watched the Nation's best firework's show!  So fun.  More pictures at the White House to come! 

Back Yard Fun

The girls' trip to Oxon Hill farm was cancelled because of a service visit from our sprinklers, so they invited their best pals, Charlotte, Mackenzie and Avery over for some good, old fashioned back yard water fun!  [They were drying...not laying out!]

Another Friend's Birthday Party

Always lots of fun parties to go to.  This time it was the girls' friend, Alex.  He turned 3 and hosted his party at the Playseum in DC on Sunday.  They dressed up, did a few crafts, played grocery store, looked at bunnies and birds, had story time, ate pizza and cake.  So fun!