Memorial Day at the Community Fun Fest!

A local church held a free community fun fest for Memorial Day! They went all out with eight inflatable type toys (two regular bouncers, a huge "Boot Camp Challenge", a full climbing wall, a toddler maze bouncer, a water tag bouncer, a mechanical bull, and a Velcro wall you can jump up and stick to). They also provided a free hot dog lunch and popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones. Pretty amazing! Archie loved the fire truck (that sprayed water on everyone and helped cool the day down) and getting to "drive" a real police car.

Shower from a fire truck:

After watching brother get a car painted on his cheek, Grace decided she was up for a ladybug.

Archie liked the mechanical bull. Ride 'em, Cowboy!

DC FUN!

We're living like tourists here. We've been to two Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo! On Friday, we took advantage of free-parking-after-four and headed to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space museum, a Smithsonian museum that houses all the air and spacecraft that don't fit into the Air & Space Smithsonian on Capitol Hill. Pretty huge!!!

I'll post pics of our zoo trip yesterday and Memorial Day festival soon.

Proof of our DC life

Not that anyone is doubting me, but what better proof could I offer that Hunter and I are NOW IN DC for the summer. Technically, we're in Chantilly, VA, but it's close enough to where visiting these dinos in the Smithsonian isn't too much of a trek.

We're enjoying our Northern Virginia life so far despite all four of us living in one room. There are some good things to be said for coziness, I guess :)

Springtime Grace

Still in love :)

First Haircuts and a Pony Ride: WE LOVE GRANDPARENTS!

What does a first haircut have in common with a pony ride? Overcoming fears! When we were at Memaw and Papa's last week, Archie only stayed on this horsie one lap around the barn. Grace was too scared to get on but enjoyed patting him. Archie loved his first pony ride last fall, but I think this horse was just too big. Despite the horse failure, they do love their time at Memaw and Papa's. Grace, for easier pronunciation, has changed the name Memaw to Ma-moo. It seems to have stuck as her name for Grandma DeJ, too! My favorite quote of Archie's while we were there (falling on bed in sheer delight) "I LOVE THIS HOUSE!"

In DeJ land where we arrived yesterday, Grandma took us out for haircuts this morning. Grace, although not sure about it at first, did well with her first studio haircut. Archie refused (as usual) until sheer jealousy conquered him. When the realization hit that Grace was actually going to get a sucker and he wasn't, it was too much for him and he hopped up into Grandma's lap for a trim.

They presented Grace with this fun first haircut certificate (complete with a lock of hair).

There was even time for a quick trip to the park before lunch!

If you say that, I won't be your mommy anymore!!!

Don't worry. These aren't words that I say to my kids. I teach my kids I love them unconditionally. Who says these words, then? Archie, actually, and it's pretty hard to keep from laughing when he says them. A typical conversation when he's mad goes something like this...

Archie: Can I have candy, not take a nap, (or do anything else I won't let him do at the moment)?

Me: Not now.

Archie: Those aren't very nice words.

Me: Really?

Archie: If you say that, I won't be your mommy anymore.

Me: (Trying not to bust out laughing after his comment about "not nice words" and "I'm not your mommy) - You're not my mommy now. I'm your mommy.

Archie also has this thing for stripes (see above pic). He wants to wear a striped shirt everyday. Thankfully, he has a lot of them. Striped (plaid) shorts with a t-shirt are also an acceptable alternative. I'm not sure what they're doing in this pic below. I had the camera out and Archie wanted me to take a picture so I did. Cute smile!