Going to the chapel...

The family traveled down to Richmond on Saturday to celebrate Valerie and Sean's wedding!  It was quite a family reunion with people traveling as far as California, West Virginia and Florida to attend. The girls were in their matching princess dresses, of course. 

While waiting to take a picture, Evie and Ellie played "Row, Row, Row your Boat". 

Whoa - Evie's boat tipped over! 

  

Later that night, the reception was held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  We were in the modern and 20th Century art wing.  Evie found a red picture she loved and did some dancing in front of it.  Mom was coaching her on some vogue poses. 

 Daddy liked this painter's use of colors, which Evie found pretty funny. 

Auntie Van, Uncle Diem, and Valerie thank everyone for joining them! 

 

Valerie and Sean kick off a night of dancing.

 

Evie's got the moves like Jagger in her white dress and "sparkling" shoes. She was wearing white heels but that only lasted from the parking garage to the front door!  Just like her mom, it's about comfort before fashion!

Dia and Aunty Amy enjoy the festivities. 

 

Valerie and Sean had a great idea for a photo booth where people could take some funny pictures, and then they would be glued into a scrapbook that would serve as their guest book. Evie loved it so much, she did it at least six times with various family members and made some new friends doing it too!

Finally, Ellie was up and enjoyed not only checking out the art but the band as well.

She hits the dance floor with Ba.  What an amazing fun night with the family! 

Evie's recital to end the year!

 

Evie was unable to attend the big recital of her ballet studio, but she was able to treat us to a lovely performance at her last class on Thursday.  Even Daddy was able to attend!  

Ellie was also a honored guest and was excited to be there to watch her sister's big performance.  

While the students rehearse, Mom, Dad, Ellie and Ba break for a picture outside.  

Evie is now wearing the dress from the Aladdin story which was the theme today. She and her friends are ready to dance! 

 

 

Evie and her classmates take a bow at the end of the performance.  Or they could be doing their princess curtsies, I really can't tell. 

Daddy surprised Evie with a rose bouquet.  Brava, Evie!

Ellie wanted to walk into the classroom - she is ready to don her ballet shoes and leotard and join her sister. 

We came home to lovely visitors - Aunt Amy, Uncle Karl, and baby Dia!  Evie loved hanging out with her little cuz. 

Dia is seven months old and is such a happy baby! She was full of smiles and laughs for everyone. We all enjoyed a great family dinner of lobster rolls from Hank's. 

Kicking off summer with some splashes!

Summer has officially arrived to DC, with 90-degree weather on its heels.  We headed to one of the spraygrounds in Arlington to escape the heat on Saturday afternoon.  Evie was a big fan of splashing in the puddles in her red bikini.  

This was Ellie's first trip to a spray park, and she was unusually cautious at first.  She did dip into the water eventually though... 

...as evidenced by her big smile here! 

 

Evie screams in delight as she runs around.  Spray parks are old hat for her.

The next day was Ellie's real birthday. We opened a couple of gifts at our place - she seems particularly pleased with Evie's choice - a Little Peoples toy for the bath.

Then it was off to Ba and Opa's for another celebration. First we spent an hour at the pool, where Ellie wanted to roam the baby pool on her own (she only went under five times or so, but that didn't deter her from running away from Mommy and Daddy). 

True to form, Ellie takes a break from opening presents to climb up on top of the gift boxes. She has a serious expression as usual - hey climbing takes concentration!

Family picture in front of the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins! 

 Evie digs in. 

Ellie demands that she feeds herself her ice cream cake.  Anything for you, birthday girl. We love you, Ellie! 

...the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true...dreams of a delightful 1st birthday party for Ellie, that is!

We were blessed with beautiful weather to celebrate little Ellie's first birthday at Clemyjontri Park in McLean. Over 60 people came out to celebrate, coming as far as San Diego, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Richmond.  Our little girl looked so cute in her pink polka dots (Ba always finds the perfect dress for the girls, and this one went with our rainbow polka dot theme).
 

 Amelia holds Ellie on her lap - she is an expert!  What a treat to have Amelia, Aunt Mel and Uncle Brian join us... Mom gets a lot of inspiration from Auntie Mel's party decorations and menu creations.  By this time, even Evie has picked up some hostess skills:  she greeted most of the guests with party hats and rainbow goldfish.

 Ellie is pretty blase about the whole thing, but that was *before* she took a walk around the playground. Opa gave her a lift to get a better view of the lay of the land.

Popi takes the birthday girl for a walk as she shows off her beautiful dress!



Evie blows some bubbles to create a festive atmosphere under the tent. 

 

Opa,Uncle Diem, Auntie Van, and Ba take a break to smile big for the camera (although Ellie looks distracted).

Carousel time!  Evie picks a lovely mare next to Amelia as she and Bebe wave to Daddy as they go round and round, up and down.

 

 Amelia and Evie decide to be co-pilots of their plane. Where to, ladies?

 Mommy and Ellie enjoying the sunshine before digging into some fruit salad... yummy, yummy.  Ellie is mastering the windswept hair look!

 

We all gather around Daddy's delicious cake as Ellie gets ready for her big moment! Wait to you see the surprise inside the cake!

It is the rainbow cake to end all rainbow cakes!

Evie helps her little sis blow out the candle and we take a family picture. Now it's time to dig in to a rainbow of colors!  ROY G. BIV, baby!  

Dad spent many hours baking the six layers of the rainbow and making buttercream frosting from scratch!  Every birthday he makes a new cake that will be hard to top for the next one!  We know Ellie certainly appreciates it! 

Bebe holds little cousin Bryn as she finishes her bottle.

 

Mel, Amelia, and Brian dig into some Mediterranean pasta salad. Would they like to try the rainbow jello cups (they only took Daddy 4 days to complete)?

 

Cousin Molly finds a balloon to play with - fun, fun! 

Aw, doesn't Molly look precious! 

The Kuczkowskis are ready for the Nats game after the birthday party - cute family picture!
 

 

Auntie Van, Tyler, and Becky enjoy some delicious rainbow cake. 

Daddy, Mommy and Ellie, in the second beautiful dress of the day (Opa picked out this one)! 

 

Ellie enjoys a ride around the carousel.  No fear, this little girl!  She was bouncing up and down on her horse, eager for the ride to begin.  

Tom and Andrew get a kick out of riding around in the carousel sleigh.  What a treat to have them here to celebrate Ellie's special day with us.

You can't have a rainbow party without the requisite picture next to a rainbow!

 

Our little munchkin couldn't be happier with her party!  Thanks to everyone who shared the special day with us!