The McDonald-Foelsche Family works up a sweat

We had another delightful weekend and the family took full advantage of the summer-like temperatures by getting outside. Ellie had her first soccer class on Saturday and sister Evie was cheering her on from the sidelines and showing her support like a great big sister. 

Ellie sports her soccer threads and her new purple sneaks. She had a fun time with friends Ben and London and can't wait till next week. 

On Sunday we traveled down to the Jefferson Memorial to try something absolutely new for the family: paddleboating on the Tidal Basin!  The family donned life jackets and packed some sandwiches for a lovely picnic on the water. 

  

Mommy and Ellie enjoy the view but soon realized paddleboating is quite a bit of exercise.  We quickly abandoned plans to paddle to the other side to see the FDR or MLK, Jr. Memorials and decided just to float peacefully with the seagulls while we ate our picnic. 

The view is always great in DC!  We also saw what could have been Marine 1 fly over the basin and waved excitedly to President Obama.  Also, a flock of geese did a fly by just feet from us - it was cool to see!

Halfway through the trip Evie got behind the lens and took this stunner shot of the Jefferson Memorial.  

She also took quite a few pictures of the ripples in the water - Mom was just glad the camera did not end up in the waves.  She also helped Daddy steer the boat as well, a very competent first mate.  

So we didn't quite last an hour - Ellie quickly got tired of the life jacket with the grumpy face to prove it, so we headed back to shore.  What a lovely experience on the water! 

Showered with wonderful birthday gifts for mom...

The family had a relaxing celebration of Mom's birthday on Sunday, enjoying the beautiful weather with an outdoor picnic of meatball subs from the Italian Store and artisan cheese from Cheesetique.  While opening gifts, Ellie loved Mom's new soft scarf from Ba and Opa because it's her favorite color, of course!  Hmmm... Mom better keep a close eye on where the scarf ends up!

Evie was delighted to give Mom a special gift, a coupon for a "No Screen Time" Day. 

Ba is becoming quite the artist and presented another masterpiece to be hanged in the master bath, professionally framed by Opa.  

Another acquired piece of art for our kitchen, selected by Opa.  Ba and Opa are becoming quite the patrons of the local art world these days! 

The girls and Daddy get ready to help Mom blow out the candles on her traditional Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!  Another year, come  and gone, and it was a memorable one! 

Celebrating Mom's Birthday with Crabs

The family made our annual trip to Kentmorr across the Bay Bridge to celebrate Mom's birthday with a delicious crab feast. Ellie kept herself quite amused with some playdoh while Ba and Mom kept ourselves quite busy with our crab picking. 

Meanwhile, Evie enjoyed her crab coloring and mac n' cheese just like she likes it, a la Kraft. 

At the end of the meal, Evie practiced her mallet skills by cracking all of our crab legs...

...while Ellie used her mallet to create playdoh cupcakes, topped wiht a little Old Bay seasoning. 

  

Outside the restaurant is a beach area where the girls found plenty to amuse themselves, especially the hammocks. 

Which Ellie loved purposefully falling out of. 

Look at those happy, happy hammock smiles! 

Then we had a moment of panic when Daddy's wedding ring flew off into the sand during a competitive game of tetherball.  Thankfully, Opa found it before we went into a panic and had to frantically track down a metal detector.

Evie could not resist dipping her feet into the waves of the bay. 

She also took a shot of Mom and Dad, enjoying the beautiful day. 

September Adventures in Flight

We have been having some fun times on the weekends now that school is back in session, starting with a fun day at Six Flags. The park was pretty empty which meant no lines to the kid's delight.  They had no fear about riding nearly every ride, although after the first round of the rollercoaster, Evie was ready to get off - unfortunately there were two more rounds to go.  Flying together on the plane was a little more their speed.

Ellie and Mom take a ride on an old electric car, with Daddy and Evie at the controls. A little jerkier than our electric car, could use a little more zip. 

 They loved the waveswinger, particularly as they kept cracking each other  up as they yelled "pottyhead" to Mom and Dad as they passed by.

Evie gave a thumbs up to the train ride. Mommy and Daddy definitely needed a tamer ride after going down the Penguin's Blizzard River.  We had no idea the giant raft kept spinning down the whole ride - it felt like we were in a washing machine.  While Evie and Ellie wanted to go again and again, we quickly vetoed that ride.   

Then, last Saturday we checked out Family Heritage Day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum where the theme was appropriately Women in Aviation. The girls actually stayed engaged during the "Forces of Flight" demonstration, sitting in the first row eagerly calling out answers. 

Evie was one of the first volunteers, demonstrating that there is air pushing down on her arm *and* lifting it up. 

Ellie also got to demonstrate the propeller in action.  Duck! 

After creating their space mission patches and "Snoopy Ears," the girls made asteroids out of foil, mineral and gases, that also made great necklaces and bracelets. 

Ready to BLAST OFF !!!

Or simply do a dance with their handmade comets. 

We finished our museum trip with a paper airplane contest as we all perfected our folding skills and  aim.  What a fun day for both kids and parents!  

A Padawan Birthday for Amelia

Luckily for us, Amelia's 5th Birthday took place not in a galaxy far, far away but in Philly.  Some of her favorite movies are the Star Wars movies, so she was happy to lay on some bean bag destruction on the Death Star.  

Ellie too gave it a try and let the bean bag fly.  Concentrate, young Padawan. 

Mommy and Ellie get snuggly. 

Aunty Mel had put together this amazing punch box - the kids retrieved handfuls of candy treasure!

Ellie gets a little Darth when handed the light saber.  Maybe it was the effect of the lollipop. 

Amelia gets ready to blow out the candle on her sweet stormtrooper cake.  Next birthday Daddy has promised to make her a mini fondant cake. 

Aw, look at that sweet smile.  My how the years have flown by! 

Too Cool for School

Evie started First Grade last week, ready to conquer the world!  

Ellie was there to lend moral support...

...and gave big sis a big hug as we send her off to school (it was a sweltering day after a mild summer, so she and Ba decided to walk us only halfway).  

Jack (starting kindergarten), Ella (who will be in Evie's class this year), and Evie take our traditional picture in front of Belle View's big sign!  Here's to a great year ahead!

Meanwhile, Ellie was excited to start her second year at MHCP, where she will be in Mrs. Arthur's and Ms. Anahi's classroom. 

Mom and Ellie on her big day - no jitters for this girl!

Dad also was there to give our little munchkin a proper send-off, literally with some munchkins we provided for the Courtyard Coffee.

Ellie and London reunite on the MHCP playground.

Ellie proudly shows off her "Comfy Bear" picture, full of princess stickers and family pictures so she can visit the family should she ever get lonely at school.  She also kindly had placed some peanut stickers by "Comfy Bear's" mouth to keep him well fed.

Another year, another mommy holding back tears!