Bristol Holiday

One of my favorite pizza places is now in Bristol! 

Sweet Maeve. This gal sat in her car seat for 7.5 hours with nary a complaint. She's awesome.


Lack of sleep can be brutal. Jamie worked all day Thursday, took a two hour nap, then worked a 12 hour shift Thursday night. We left for Bristol about an hour after he got home on Friday morning and we both hoped that he would get some solid sleep during the six hour drive to Bristol. Not so much! He didn't sleep AT ALL, which is unusual for someone who easily earned the moniker, "Mr. Narcolepsy." By the time we got to Bristol and met family for dinner at Mellow Mushroom, Jamie was in rough shape. He was beyond exhausted and his back was tremendously painful. In fact, as soon as we parked he got out and laid down on the cement, which caused a few restaurant employees to come out and ask if he needed help. He managed to rally through dinner but was most grateful to finally get to bed.

I'm grateful for Jamie's willingness to suffer so that we could get to Bristol by Friday evening. We had a wonderful weekend with much needed time with family. Jamie's uncle Bill was in town from Arizona for the celebration of his mother's 70th birthday! We were happy to be part of the festivities. Asher and Soren were just thrilled to be with their cousins and Maeve was happy any time we left her alone to explore. 

Herbs

Aviva and Asher help me plant herbs (and tussle over the only shovel).

Our back deck is officially ready for summer. Jamie power washed the whole thing and we covered it with a new rug. Most exciting of all is the arrival of summer herbs: basil, cilantro, thyme, and oregano. Bring on the summer salads!

Date Night with my Cutie Cutes

I never would have guessed that a little park in the middle of a planned neighborhood in Alexandria would be the location of my first beaver sighting!

After work the other night I took the kids on a little date. We started at the library where I told the boys we would pick up Charlotte's Web and I would read a few chapters to them every night. I was hoping this would please them and their excitement was greater than I had expected! Soren told me that he was going to get a book on foxes, monster trucks and dinosaurs. He asked me if there were any movies about foxes (other than Fantastic Mr. Fox) and I thought for a second and answered, "The Fox and the Hound," which resulted in a million questions about plot and characters and I was completely at a loss because I remembered very little about that movie. I said we would try to get it at the library to which Asher answered, "Yeah, we can also get Firman Cat's World movie. It's a good one." If only such a movie existed! Based on what Asher tells me daily about Fireman Cat, it would be a very dynamic and entertaining film.


Asher told me that when Fireman Cat goes to college he will stay forever and cry every single day, which caused him to choke up and start to cry. I quickly comforted him and told him that college was a long ways away and that I would visit often and that he didn't have to stay forever (my attempts to encourage college have only upset the boys because they don't want to leave home and don't want to go to school in Utah!). Anyways...


The library was fun and Maeve loved to be chased up and down the stacks. That girl can RUN. We didn't find The Fox and the Hound but we took home an Elmo DVD starring Tina Fey and we are all pretty excited to watch it.


After the library we picked up a pizza and took it to the park for a picnic dinner. We found a perfect table surrounded by green hills on one side and train tracks on the other, which meant we got to hear Maeve say, "Choo choo!" on many occasions as a few trains passed. It was a delightful evening. All the kids were happy and they ate well and they played well. My heart swells with joy when I see my children run freely. Asher has been showing greater confidence in his running and jumping skills, even saying things like, "I can jump as high as Soren!" You go little man!


At the pond we saw turtles, fish, frogs...and a beaver! We were just at Huntley Meadows and could see the work of a busy beaver but no animal. Crazy that this little urban pond would make such a happy home for a beaver. We watched him swim to a cluster of lily pads and eat, eat, eat! The kids were not as amazed as I was and were more interested in going to the playground. I told them that I didn't have it in me but if they were going to run and play without prompting then I could rally. We didn't stay long at the playground, mercifully, and the walk back to the car was cute because Maeve said 'night night' to all the animals we passed.


The boys were super excited for me to read Charlotte's Web, so much so that they got into their pjs without me having to ask a million times. So nice. We are three nights and about seven chapters into the book and I must declare that it has been the perfect introduction to what the kids these days are calling chapter books. I love that having me read that book to them means that they are more eager for bedtime. The three of us snuggle and read and I field questions and simply could not be happier. Thank you Charlotte!

Pentagon Memorial

I had been wanting to visit the Pentagon Memorial for years. Sunday afternoon I finally decided to go. Jamie was sleeping after a night shift and I needed something to occupy the early evening. I figured it was as good a time to go as ever. Before leaving I felt it necessary to talk to the boys about what had happened and why a memorial even existed. I started by telling them that six years before they were born something dreadful happened on their birth day--September 11th. Soren stopped me to explain that there were bad guys who died flying their plane into buildings. Whoa, whoa, whoa! I was surprised that he had such a remarkable association with the events of that day. I am certain most of this was learned from a book we bought at the Fire Museum last year on their birthday, which was the story of a fire fighting ship that helped put out fires in New York after the twin towers fell. I tried to tell the story as gingerly as possible but I guess that wasn't necessary and I guess he understood enough.

Anyway, I explained that the same thing happened to a building close to us and that we were going to see a memorial, which is a place to remember the people who perished. They were agreeable to my suggestion.

I was first astonished at how quickly and easily we found and accessed the memorial. I was hoping to have the place to ourselves but we managed to arrive at the same time as a high school tour group, which meant lots of neon striped shirts and clustered of giggling teens. We circumvented them and found our own little corner to take in the beautiful memorial. The design of it was actually very stunning in its simplicity. The benches resting over pools of water were quite becoming and I imagine that at night with the illuminated water the impact of the place is unforgettable.

The water was irresistible to my children and since Maeve already finds great joy in throwing rocks--that fact that the place is covered in gravel meant that I was constantly trying to block Maeve from filling every pool with fist fulls of rocks. I was unsuccessful and it was exhausting. I also like to believe that the designers of the memorial had a place in mind to be enjoyed and appreciated and wouldn't be too bothered if countless rocks found their way in the water via little guests.

Towards the end of our little visit I could not control my emotions, especially when we got to the bench for a little three year old who perished. I looked at my children and looked at the bench of the little one and felt overcome with gratitude for their healthy existence. I have often had mixed feelings about Asher and Soren having a birthday on September 11th but they truly bring joy to that day and remind me of what is most important: family. 

Sarah's Party Skills

Sarah made the tree stump cake stands, the bunting, and the cake from scratch. 

The burlp sign and some of the food! The kids had such fancy cupcakes.

Amelia hid plastic bugs around the yard and each child was given a bug jar to catch as many as they could! Soren captured over 20 and Asher man had about six. ;)

Marshmallow toss! Two teams, two bags of big marshamallows and the challenge to throw as many on the other side as possible.

The spoils of the game.

More spoils.

Sarah read, "Going on a Bear Hunt" and took the kids all over the yard in search for a bear....

Oliver ate whatever he could find.

I joked that Ben was probably hiding with a bear costume and I was kind of right...he was hiding and he was the bear but no suit!

The kids FREAKED and LOVED the thrill.

Sarah asked Ben to get a knife and a cake spatula for Elsa's cake. He produced a butter knife and a wooden spatula. Classic.

The cake of my dreams: malted buttercream frosting, six layers of cake, and layers of marshmallow too. Divine.

Sarah made two decadent cakes--this one had a graham cracker layer and a ganache layer.

Maeve doing her happy dance.

Sarah had a mason jar with each child's name written in chalk on top. Sarah excels at details.

Honestly, he's super happy to be covered in cupcake.


My friend Sarah is one of those gifted women who just knows how to do it all and remarkably, with grace and kindness. She has a myriad of talents but is absolutely unassuming about her many gifts. As a graphic designer she has an eye for all things beautiful and lovely, all of which were manifest in the party she threw for Elsa's 4th birthday! What a fete! It was a camping themed party with a fire pit for roasting hot dogs (veggie too) and marshmallows.

Sarah's design of everything--from the invitations, the birthday banner, the screen printed gift bags, and everything in between--was stunning and FUN. Not only can she design and plan like a professional but her cooking is superlative!

The kids had a blast with all the activities and I was happy to just revel in the details. Sarah had a drink bar complete with Torani syrups, ice, club soda, and lemon/lime slices. My favorite!

The kids watched a movie in the tent at the end of the party and Soren really loved that part but was a little sad that he didn't actually sleep over. That's the last thing Sarah needed after throwing a mega bash.

Elsa's party was one to be remembered and Sarah's effortless orchestration of it all is to be celebrated too!