Busy Weekends...

I really do have things to write about.  The trick lately is finding the time to write them down.  Fitzgerald said something clever about that, and he was totally right.  Anyway, a quick summary of what I've missed:
Two weeks ago, the girls and I went to Atlanta for a Mommy night out opportunity: My sister volunteers with March of Dimes down there, and had promised to fill a table at their first ever fund raising dinner and auction.   She was short a few seats, so we drove down to help her out by eating crazy good food and bidding on really cool stuff.  It was a real sacrifice... especially since the money was going to such a good cause...
Anyway, there was a silent auction while we all enjoyed wine and other adult beverages and some lovely cheeses.  I bid on a packaged that included tickets to a puppet show, zoo, and museum with IMAX because I thought Ela would enjoy it.  I actually won, too!  So that was pretty cool, and now I have lots of new reasons to visit my sister.
And the food, people, oh the food... March of Dimes had gotten four local chefs to each do one course using local materials.  I didn't think to start taking pictures until the third course because I rarely get the chance to eat food that is worth photographing.  As much as I'd like to be, I'm not really a foody.  Anway, the first course had eggplant croutons that were super good.  The second course had grits and a chicken croquette.  I don't even like grits, but these were amazing!  The chicken might have been my favorite part of the meal, except it was all too good to pick.  Here's course 3: duck, endive, and apple sauce with a pecan chip thingy (remember how I said I'm not a foody?).  Soooo good.

 

 The fourth course was dessert: a yam spice cake with carmel/chocolate mouse and a little bit of what turned out to be pear gelato I think (it wasn't on the description).  Tell me you aren't hungry just looking at it...

 The things they auctioned live were a little out of my price range unless I wanted to give Zack heart failure later, but it was fun to be there, eat and talk to other adults without trying to coax food into one child while trying to keep the other satisfied with the amount on her plate.  And let's not forget the super yummy food. 

Anyway... This weekend was equally busy, even though we actually stayed home for a change.  Friday, we took the girls to a little carnival.  I learned something very important: my girls LOVE rides.  We started them on this:

 The ponies rock and the carts go around the little track.  That's it.  Ela giggled so hysterically that I had to get video.  It was funny.  Lily didn't want to get out when the ride ended.  That was small beans, though.  From there, we hit a bouncy house, and then a rocket that also just went around and around.  Then Ela spotted The Hurler.  
The Hurler is one of those rides that spins in several directions at once, so you get super dizzy.  I actually like these rides, too.  It's fun to spin, right?  Anyway, Ela insisted she wanted to go on it.  I showed her that she was not yet the requisite 42 inches to get on.  But then I saw that kids 40 inches and up could go with an adult.
Uh Oh.
Ela is 40 inches.  Can you believe that?  I couldn't.  We got out our tickets and on we went.  I was terrified that she'd hate it and come out crying.  I hadn't been on a ride like that myself in 6 or 7 years, so I was also mildly worried I might be sick.  Good thing my stomach was empty.  But Ela loved it.  She laughed, squealed, and wanted to go again the minute it was over.  Lily, by the way, was totally offended that she couldn't go too.  Neither girl wanted to leave when we were done.  I made mental notes to not take them near an amusement park until they were both 42 inches tall.

Saturday, we took it a bit easy as I got ready for an afternoon 5k.  That's right, I ran a 5k.  I can hardly believe it myself.  The run was called the Pink Shamrock and took me around downtown Raleigh.  It started at 4:00, so I left Mom with the girls during quiet time and went down by myself.  They met me at the finish line when I was done.  I finished in 36 minutes 31.8 seconds precisely.  That works out to 11 minutes and 47 seconds per mile.  I was super proud!  Now that 8k on Thanksgiving doesn't look quite as scary...

Sunday we checked out the International Festival downtown again.  We timed it so we could eat dinner from around the world.  All Ela would eat was this:

 Which is Dutch, by the way.  I couldn't pronounce the name, but it had chocolate sprinkles, and that was all that mattered to her.  The rest of us had a much more balanced, if not entirely healthy, meal from the Phillipines, Columbia, France, Turkey and Vietnam.  Yum.  Ela decided to try the chocolate cake from France, too... Then we checked out the booths.  There were informative ones, such as this one on Columbia:

And also places where you could buy things.  All us adult girls got henna tattoos.  Ela got a balloon animal.  It was a good time all around. 

Next weekend, we're off to Ohio for a little family fun.  So there will be more to say, and I'll get better at carving out time to say it.

Road Tripping

Apparently, my mom and I are gluttons for punishment, so last week, we decided to drive to Moline, IL with the girls to visit my great-aunt, among other people. It's a 16 hour drive, and we did entertain the notion of flying, but have you seen plane ticket prices recently? Ugh. The girls did really well on our trip to Pittsburgh, so we decided to see how far we could get them.

We started out Thursday afternoon, hoping they'd nap, and rolled merrily along until dinner time. We learned that Ela travels a lot like this:

And Lily travels a lot like this:

We stopped for dinner that night and then rolled on until we ran out of steam. The next day, we got up with the girls, and continued. We stopped in Effingham to visit one of Mom's cousins, which was a lot of fun. Then it was back in the car and we arrived in Moline in time to have a nice dinner with Aunt Margaret and my dad, who was in the city on business.

Saturday, we had a very fun day. We went swimming at the pool in the morning, then we went out for lunch at a lovely place owned by a friend of ours called Lagomarcino's. We got lucky and our friend was there, so we had a nice chat, too.

We had a little time, so we went down to the John Deere Pavilion to see the tractors, and instead we hit the jackpot. John Deere is celebrating it's 175th year, and they were having a "Farm Day", complete with animals...

...some of which wanted to eat the girls's skirts. But really, it was the very best petting zoo I've ever seen.

There were also games. Ela is still talking about milking a cow.

It was super fun.

After another lovely visit with some old friends, we headed back to my aunt's for another lovely dinner. The next day we went to see one more friend, had lunch with my aunt, and headed back onto the road. We drove until we hit Lawrenceville, where we stopped to visit Zack's Aunt, Uncle and cousins and have a quick dinner. Here are the girls with their second cousins. 

It was quick, but nice. We drove again until Lily ran out of steam, woke up a from a dead sleep and screamed until we stopped the car. So now we know exactly how far she can go before she's done. And it's really freakin far for a fourteen month old.

We had breakfast Monday morning with one more friend, and then it was back on the road for the day. We managed to make it to Winston in time to celebrate Zack's Dad's birthday with him and have another lovely dinner.

The girls liked the ice cream the best. After dinner it was a short drive home.   The whole trip went really fast, and we were busy non-stop.  It was actually a very good time.  I was really glad we could see so many people in such a short time.  And I'm also really glad the girls travel well.  I suspect it will come in very handy in the next several years. 

Beach Week

Last week, the girls and I headed out to Holden Beach with my family. The older Ela gets, the more fun this gets.  This year, we had rain for the first time in a long time.  So we decided to take the kiddos to the aquarium.  Ela could have spent the whole week there. 

We managed to pull her away by reminding her of the fishing trip we also had planned.  Ela was old enough to go this year.  Thankfully, the sun came out in time for that.  Ela giggled the whole time the boat was on its way out, announcing that it "tickled her tummy", and we had a great time catching mackerel. 

Minjee was a pro at getting our fish off the hooks.  Tristan got to be the shark catcher. 

We caught two, but I only got a picture of one.

The rest of the week we devoted to the usual beach activities: playing at the pool, hanging out on the sand, and dipping our toes (fearfully for Ela, excitedly for Lily) into the ocean.

It was a very fun week for all of us.

Ela is Three

That's right, people!  Ela turned three this week.  We celebrated with a trip to the zoo, which was lovely. I also gave her a little interview that I hope to make a yearly tradition. She was playing with a lot of her toys as she talked to me, so her focus was not entirely there, but I think that makes it all the more entertaining.  Here are the questions and her responses:

What is your name?  My name is Ela.
How old are you?  I am three.
What's your favorite animal?  My favorite animal is the cow.
Who is your best friend?  My best friend is the cow.  The cow is my friend.
What's your favorite thing to do? It's the firemens!
What's your favorite color? Blue
What's your favorite food? Chicken
What's your favorite book? My favorite book is the Kookaburra! (I see a Kookaburra!)
What makes you happy? A bear makes me happy.
What's the best part of your birthday?  Cupcakes after dinner!
What do you want to be when you grow up? (at this point she was playing with a firetruck, and had lost all interest in talking to me) The fire's got your finger.

Ela's Birthday Party

We threw Ela a birthday party last weekend so that her daddy could be there for it.  He left for his big adventure on Sunday, so on Saturday, we got the family together for a low key celebration.   Our intention was to hold it at a park near our house, which would have worked great on Thursday or Friday when it was in the 70's.  Saturday dawned windy and cold, though, so we went over for a little while to let Ela play...

...and then we went back to our house for lunch, cupcakes, and presents.  The cupcakes were decorated by Minjee, who did a super job as usual!

Ela had a great time hanging out with all her grandparents, her aunt Minjee, her great-grandma, and cousin Daniel. We were glad we could put something together for her so that Zack could be a part of it.   This weekend if the weather is more cooperative, we might head out to the zoo on her actual birthday.  I can't believe she's almost three already!  Where did the last three years go?

Snow Play

Last weekend, we headed up to Virginia for what is becoming our yearly skii trip. Due to the crazy warm winter we've had, it was Lily's very first experience with snow (which the resort could barely keep on the ground). 

She was clearly unimpressed.  I think she might like it better when she's able to walk. 
Ela, on the other hand, was delighted to be back in the snow.  She remembered the "green sled" and wanted to go down the hill with Mommy first thing.  I happily obliged.   As it turned out, one trip down the sledding hill was enough for her, and then she was ready to revisit a few of her other favorite parts of the play area:

Making snowballs was her favorite part this year.  I still couldn't talk her into wearing her gloves, though.

We played for a little while, and headed home when a misty rain started falling. We met Zack back at our rooms and tried out the swimming pool. It was quite the popular place to be, since the weather was iffy for skiing. We had a good time watching Ela work up the nerve to play in the water while Lily took an extended nap.

In the evening, I got to leave the girls with their daddy and try out the tubing area, called The Plunge, with my sister, her boyfriend and Mom.  They have a hill set up with lanes for the tubes to slide down, and with the weather so warm and a whole day of tubers come and gone, it was a little icy and a super fast ride when we arrived.  We had a great time flying down the mountain. 

So it was yet another fun trip.  We're already thinking about how it will work next year.  Will Ela be old enough (or evening willing) to try skiing?  Will Lily enjoy the snow?  We can't wait to find out!

Christmas: A Summary

We all had a very merry Christmas this year. Ela is just getting old enough to really be a part of it all, which makes it lots of fun. She got to help her Grandma make cookies for the first time.

Here's the results of her sprinkling duties on the first tray:

Of course, we went to church.  We opted for the children's service on Christmas eve, and the girls looked adorable as usual:

Ela loved the kid's performances, and made it a point to tell them all... loudly... when everyone else was done.  It was great to see all the other kids all decked out for the holiday, too. 

And, of course there were lots and lots of presents:

Santa came through with the blue train:

Zack's been telling everyone that all Lily wants is her two front teeth.  She has the bottom but she wants the top.  Well, she didn't get teeth, but she did get hair:

Ela has mastered the fine art of unwraping, and enjoyed both the unwrapping and the playing this year:

Zack and I got Ipads in preparation for his upcoming deployment. It's hard to pull myself away from this new toy, but there's a lot to accomplish around here. We intend to kind of ignore New Years as we prepare for our upcoming move. We hope all our friends out there had as merry a Christmas as we did!

Zoo Lights

Every Christmas, the National Zoo puts up lights.  This year we went with some friends.   Ela wanted to see the animals, but when she saw what the lights were like, it totally left her mind.  Lily slept through most of the event.  I found it was really hard to take pictures with both people and lights, but here's what it looked like. 

 

 

Clearly, Ela had a super time.

And it turned out that there were a few animals still out and about.  Ela even got up the nerve to touch the donkey.

We had a great time both checking out the event and hanging out with friends. It was an excellent way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We started our day out with an 8 K turkey trot.  Ela loved the Turkey.

The runners did great!

Now on to the food!

Colonial Williamsburg

Over the Veteran's Day weekend, Colonial Williamsburg offered free admission to all active duty military and their dependants. That comibined with a super good deal on a hotel room convinced us to go down and check it out. On the way, we stopped and picked up Zack's sister. We had a crazy night in the hotel room (Ela decided to skip sleep), and got up early enough to be there when the gates opened.
We were all very impressed with the people who worked there.  Every place we stopped, they were informative and intesting.  We found ourselves wanting to stay and hear more at every stop, but Ela kept us moving.  At the court house, we heard three mock trials. Amanda even got to be a judge.

We also visited the shoemaker, the weavers, a blacksmith and a silver worker, among others.  Ela's favorite part was the animals.  There were horses, sheep, and even two baby cows.

We had lunch at a tavern on the main road in town.  I had a really yummy peanut soup.  I've since found the recipe on the Colonial Williamsburg website.  I made a pretty good replica this week.  I'm curious to try a few others from the site, too. 
After lunch, there were lots of little reinactments in the streets.  We grown ups enjoyed watching the actors, while the kids found their own entertainment. 

 

At the end of the day, Zack marched in a Veteran's Day Parade down the main road.  It was a beautiful day that went by very quickly.   We had a fantastic trip.

Treats and Tricks

Our neighborhood is not exactly one that inspires trust, at least after dark.  In fact, my husband says we live in the ghetto.  I disagree.  It's really a very nice place to live, with good people all around.  It's just a neighborhood in the middle of a big city, and as such it's a little less safe than, say, the average suburb.  I feel perfectly safe playing with the girls outside all day long.  However, I think twice about going anywhere alone after dark.  This says much more about DC than it does about my neighbors. 

All the same, last year for Halloween, I decided to take Ela to North Carolina to trick-or-treat.  I did this for several reasons, one of which was that I didn't want to knock on strangers' door in DC.  I felt much more comfortable doing so in my parents' neighborhood, where at least they all knew each other.  It was Ela's first trip out, and I didn't want anything scary to happen.

This year, I decided to give DC a chance.  I know a few more people in my neighborhood, and I didn't figure that Ela would be up for a big run anyway, so I made plans to go out with Ela's best friend, Audrey, who lives up the street.  Zack found out last week that he'd be on a business trip, so I felt better going with at least one other adult.  We'd hit a few houses and call it a day.  After all, people do trick-or-treat here. I didn't want to be totally snooty when I know and like people around here and trust them to help my girls celebrate a fun holiday. 

So Halloween arrived and I managed to convince Ela to put on a costume.  She chose her lady bug one:

In the time it took me to get Lily into her outfit...

... Ela was ready to take the costume off again, but then I reminded her that we were going trick-or-treating (which she'd seen on Dora the Explorer), and that (more importantly) Audrey would be there, and she stuck it out until we got outside, only insisting on losing the headband.

We left the house around 5:45, with plans to meet a bigger group at six for a short trip up a few streets.  We met Princess Audrey at her house and then the rest of the group at a playground, which was nice because the girls got to play on the equipment before we headed out. 

As it turns out, Ela liked trick or treating this year.  She said the right words, and got her candy, and insisted on carrying her own bag.  She loved all of it except getting down steps, which was hard because she couldn't see her feet in her tutu.  We were out for roughly an hour, and it was getting dark when she announced that she was getting tired and wanted to go home.  As we were on our way home at the time, it worked out perfectly.  It was a super experience.  I was very glad I had decided to stay in the area.

I sent Ela inside with a piece of candy (her only one for the night) while I waited on the porch for another neighbor friend who was coming by to trick or treat, since we'd bought candy before I knew Zack wouldn't be home.  His mom was watching him from across the street.  Audrey and her mom were still hitting a few houses on our street.  I saw a police car pull up at the end of our street.  That alone didn't phase me. I'd seen them out and about while we were trick-or-treating, and I actually like that they were so visible on a night that begs for minor mischief.  Then I saw the cop come running down our street from the car.  That was when I decided it was probably time to call it a night.

Apparently, my neighbor decided the same thing, because she started hurring her son along. I met him on the sidewalk with a handful of candy and walked back up to the house to close up shop.  I was closing myself in the house when Fiona called.  She had just gotten home with Audrey and she informed me that the owner of one of the houses she and Audrey had been visiting on their way home had called the cops I'd seen.  Some men had been doing some work for him in his back yard and were held up at gunpoint. 

See? I knew there was a reason we didn't trick or treat in DC last year.

So I turned off the porch light, locked the doors, and pretended we weren't home.  I bathed the girls, and put them to bed, and when I came back downstairs, there was a cop car parked right outside the house.  I figured that meant I was pretty safe to take the dog out one more time, so I did.  My neighbor across the street informed me that they had put up crime scene tape at the end of our block.  I thanked her for the information, and hurried the dog back inside.  Then I set the alarm for the night.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened, but I was glad we did our trick or treating earlier rather than later.   I'm also glad that next year we'll be in Cary, where the odds of running into a mugging are much much lower. 

Reunion Time

Every year, my family tries to set up a weekend where we can get together and hang out somewhere. Last year, we had a super time in Pittsburgh, so we were really looking forward to this year. My mom and aunt set up a trip for us all to the mountains of West Virginia, which was a central location for all of us.   They rented some cabins, arranaged meals, and even researched some activities for us to do. 
On the first day there, Ela got to catch up with some of her second cousins. Sammy gave her a "make-over" with some help from Maddy.  I was strongly reminded of the times when my cousins would give my sister and I make overs when we were young. 

The next day, we all went out to see a bridge.  If I wasn't so busy chatting with family, I might be able to tell you all why. I know it's very high off the ground, and I can tell you that next weekend it's Bridge Weekend there, and people will be parasailing and bungee jumping off of it.  I was pretty happy to just look at it. 

We took a group picture at the bridge, but my camera seems to have gotten passed over in the hubub.  Then we split up and half of us went white water rafting (and had a blast from what I hear), while the rest of us took it easy and got a tour of a coal mine and town.  Ela loved it.

I'd have a better picture of that, but my camera battery died.  The weather was perfect all weekend long, and we spent a lot of time just catching up with family.  It was very relaxing, and a lot of fun.