Spring Lake continued

Aw, look at these cute pictures from Grandma Bebe of the two cousins. Isn't it funny how little kids hold hands at this age? Both girls had their "Baby Ellies" in tow.

Family picture of Evie enjoying her ice cream cake and Ellie looking enviously at Daddy's ice cream cake.

A wonderful week in Spring Lake...

The family headed up to New Jersey this week to spend some QT with Grandma Bebe and Popi. It was nice being by the beach as the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT, and we would get a nice breeze from the lake/ocean. We also had some fun times with the family...


Here is Grandma Bebe with Julianna and Ellie, relaxing on Bebe's favorite chair. Julianna had named her new baby doll "Baby Ellie" and was very good at feeding her applesauce.


Evie joins the fun - somebody must have said something funny...The girls would then have a great time having some stroller/grocery cart races with their baby dolls down the driveway.


The next morning we piled into the strollers and walked to the playground. Evie was a big fan of climbing around and then walking along the wooden barrier - her big thing now is keeping balance (something she learned in ballet?).


Popi gives Evie a big push on the swings. "Higher!" she calls!


That night, we celebrated Aunty Casey's birthday one night early with Popi's famous spaghetti and meatballs and ice cream cake!


Stan had a very serious look until he got his piece of cake. He was also great at singing Happy Birthday to his mom!


Daddy and Ellie enjoy the rendition of "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" sung by Grandma Bebe. I think Ellie has her eyes on the ice cream cake.

We got some great shots of Ellie that night - all smiles as we sing her favorite song, "Your Nose," on the Sandra Boynton "Blue Moo" CD.


The next day was going to reach 110 degrees in the heat index, so we found a great place to escape inside at the Monmouth Museum. Evie enjoyed being a pirate captain and asked Mommy and Daddy to be her crew.

Daddy readily accepts and takes the wheel with Ellie strapped on (and sleeping). Land ahoy!


Evie enjoyed checking out the fishies in the aquarium. It was also a good opportunity to practice her fish kisses!


At the Tiki Theater, Evie dresses up as a hybrid zebra mermaid and twirls her new friend around.


She and Mommy had a fun time playing with the puppets too.
Mommy and Daddy were very proud when Evie conquered her fears and crossed the rope bridge all by herself! What a great pirate!

A jammin Thursday!

We had a fantastic and fun-filled Thursday - first stop was Jammin Java, where Evie danced, sang and jumped to nearly every song by Oh Susannah. We were joined by her friend Izzy, who had quite a few moves of her own, and her mom Kate.


Afterwards, we stopped by McDonalds. The girls were feeling silly so tried on their Happy Meal boxes as hats.


Fun times!

Then we got a surprise visit from Aunt Lillian. Ellie was wide awake and had some big smiles. Evie had a great time playing with Aunt Lillian - showing her how to race, shoot rockets, and dress up her magnet dolls.

Evie's First Ballet Class

Evie had her first ballet class today at Tiny Dancers and wore her special tutu for the special occasion. Here she is before class started, perhaps pondering if she should wear the blue tutu the next time.



We all watched outside the classroom on the monitor as Evie stretched, leaped, twirled, and curtsied through her first lesson. After a couple of dances, the teacher read a story and then the girls got dressed in costumes for their final leaps and twirls.


Afterwards mommy and Evie took some pictures in the studio.


Evie knew exactly where to go when mom told her to go to the barre. She did a great leg lift before twirling away.



What a great start! We can't wait for next week!

An Old Town Tradition: Alexandria's Birthday Party

The family loves the annual Alexandria and America joint celebration that takes place the Saturday after the Fourth of July! We had a very busy Saturday which started with a trip to Hooray for Books for storytime and then a trip to the playground. We rested at home before heading down to the birthday party at 4 - and Ba and Opa joined us, too. New this year was a train that took us around twice in a circle. Mommy and Evie proudly hold up their tickets!


Evie proudly shows off her heart painted on her arm and her preppy summer outfit. She was taking a break from dancing to the folk band as part of the pre-show.


Ellie also shows off her patriotic accessory - a balloon heart bracelet - while in Ba's arms.


Evie feeds Opa some kettle corn. Ah, can't get enough of that kettle corn, and maybe a little soft serve ice cream as well that would later turn into "ice cream soup".

With all this heat, Evie felt the need to fix her hair in the middle of the concert. Gotta look our best!


Speaking of good hygiene, Evie also checked out the dentist tent's giant toothbrush.

On the way home from the waterfront party, we stopped by the town square fountain where Evie took advantage of an empty stage to show off some of her dance moves. We finished the nights by watching fireworks explode over the Potomac. It was another great birthday party for all!

Celebrating the fourth in Centreville...

The family headed over to Centreville to eat some crabs, light some fireworks, and spend some wonderful time catching up with the family. Mommy, Ellie, Auntie Van and Ba pose for the camera - we had just missed a big Ellie smile!

Evie and Uncle Pierre's son Elias check out their glow-in-the-dark necklaces.


Uncle Pierre's daughter Elizabeth and Evie enjoy some fun with play-doh!


After dinner, we set off some fireworks in the driveway. They made a lot of pretty lights, but they sure were loud! Evie had to plug her ears.

An exciting start to the holiday weekend

The family has been celebrating the fourth of July holiday weekend with many fun activities. On Friday, we packed up a picnic and checked out the Latin jazz/mambo band concert at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden. Mambo is after all Evie's favorite dance, as she knows how to cha cha cha from her Classical Baby Dance DVD.


Evie was a little shy about dancing in front of the crowd, but did a couple of twists and twirls with the encouragement of Mommy. She also wanted to climb the pyramid sculpture in the background, although she says she just wanted a "closer look".


All smiles after sharing some cheese with Daddy. After the concert the family had our first taste of gelato and it was delicious!



Ellie slept through the concert in the shade, chill as could be.


On Saturday the family met Ba and Opa at Pearmund Cellars in Middleburg for a private barrel tasting. After a delicious BBQ lunch with sangria, the family headed inside to the barrel room to sample the wines. Evie was fascinated by watching the wine guy use a funnel thingee to take the wine out of the barrel. She also found that the barrels made good drums.


While Ellie was not tasting the wine, she had a dopey smile on her face all the same. Everyone surprisingly liked most of the wines we tried, and therefore were a little dopey ourselves at the end of the tasting.


Evie checks out the grapes with Ba and Opa and explains they are used for the chardonnay that the winery creates. Opa is particularly very happy with the wine - he sure bought a lot of it!


The four girls pose in the vineyard... Ellie had a good idea to take a nap - after this outing, the whole family needed it!