"But I'm having so much fun.."

Evie had a fantastic weekend up North in Philly - first stop was Chester Springs for cousin Molly's second birthday. The three girl cousins - Molly, Evie and Julianna - had a great time playing with toys, coloring, and eating cake.

Molly and Evie do some coloring while snacking on some goldfish and pretzel sticks.

All three cousins get into the action!

Everyone sings Happy Birthday to Molly as she blows out her "2" candle like an expert!
Popi and Julianna chime into the singing. At the end of the party, Evie said she didn't want to leave, she was having so much fun.


Next stop was Philly for a night of fun with Amelia! The two friends bonded over the caterpillar tunnel, the obstacle course of chair legs, and cooking in the kitchen.
Amelia checks out Evie's makeshift instrument - a necklace in a plastic can. For more (interesting) pictures of the two best friends playing, check out Amelia's blog: http://babydolizzo.blogspot.com/!

Evie's Punk Rock Period

Daddy got a big kick of the paint Evie got on her face and basically all over after an artist session last Thursday. It was into the tub!


In addition to the appearance of blue eye shadow, it also appears that some paint also got into Evie's mouth. Thank goodness for non-toxic paint.

"Get angry!" Daddy tells Evie to get the whole punk rocker effect!

Evie debuts her new room...

Evie is very excited about her new room, which we finished furnishing and decorating this weekend! Evie played a role in nearly every step of the process, from picking out the pink color of her walls to testing out the bed at Pottery Barn Kids to helping lay down the alphabet mat. Here she is demonstrating her expertise in turning on and off her bedside lamp.

Evie is yelling "Cheese" in delight as she poses in front of her new big girl bed and dresser. Evie helped Mommy place the animal and flower decals around the room. She also has a treehouse tent where all her stuffed animals will sleep, including her friend the Pigeon.


Here Evie is running around in circles because she is so excited. Now she will have plenty of room to practice her dancing like Angelina the Ballerina!

Another birthday for Opa...

We celebrated Opa's birthday last weekend with a festive brunch. Evie helped put together the decorations which included a paper chain streamer and a sign covered with her favorite Thomas the Train stickers.


Evie helped Opa open all his gifts - Ba is laughing when Evie pulls out Opa's boxers and says "Socks?!?"
She helps Daddy bring in the fruit tart with candles while singing Happy Birthday, Opa!

...and then helps Opa blow out his candles.

Evie brings out her artistic skills for Family Day at the Corcoran

What a fun morning Evie had at the Corcoran Museum of Art in DC for their Family Fun Day! The theme of the day was exploring color and light and Evie donned her artists smock and jumped in. First stop was the face-painting booth where Evie became a work of art herself with a butterfly on her arm. Then we stopped by the mosaic room where she helped contribute to the group project by gluing on pieces of paper - she is a master at the glue stick.


Then she had a DYE-namic time picking colors and creating her first tie-dye art. Evie wanted to use every color available.


Next stop was building an "edible color wheel" out of Nilla wafers and frosting - Evie mixed the primary colors together to make green, orange, and purple including the red, yellow, and blue... but the art quickly disappeared into her mouth.


Daddy helps her create green... but soon was partaking in the "edible" part of the project as well.

Another artistic creation - the icing around Evie's mouth! Art can be delicious?!?


Finally, Evie ended the visit by creating her own "stripe" painting using masked tape and acrylic paint. This time she remained mostly unscathed by her materials and only got a little paint on her shirt and forehead!

Evie plays hostess to our visitors

Evie had a big weekend last week, with many out-of-town visitors dropping by, including Auntie Jen from California, Aunty Michelle from Alabama, and Aunty Mel, Brian, and Amelia from Philadelphia. Evie was a wonderful hostess, usually inviting our visitors to sit down and have tea, and demonstrating the use of our many toys. Here she is with Aunt Mellie and Amelia, who is already showing signs of the potential to be a Miss Future Student Government President. Amelia learned everyone's names and would frequently cry out "Evie" during our brunch.

Evie demonstrates the use of her cell phone while Amelia watches on.

Happy Birthday George!

On the third Monday of February, Alexandria hosts the largest parade to celebrate George Washington's birthday... and Evie was there in 2011!

This looks like George Washington's old regiment. Man, how do they stay so young? Maybe they are vampires.

Evie was very impressed with the clydesdale horses.

It's the Shriners in their little race cars. Evie wished she had a race car like those.

The best part of the parade? The free lollipops! Yummy!