Baltimore, D.C, and Family Fun

The Lincoln Memorial. This was one of the highlights for me.
I was really dissapointed this was under construction. Still a neat thing to see.
At the end of the day after walking, and walking and more walking. They were HUGE troopers.
Jane was a happy girl and even took her afternoon nap right on schedule.
Justin and Juma trying to recover from the miles and miles we covered.
Us. How often do you have a picture just the two of you. Thanks for the idea Sarah :)
Abe Lincoln himself. Two shots basically the same, but it's good to have proof that I am part of the family once in a while.

The Washington Monument
The whole clan.
The White House, like you needed the label.

I think this was a treasury or something? Too long ago...
The first night we went down to the pier to see the boats and cool stuff like that. It was obviously chilly.
The sign where we had dinner. You had to laugh.


This is one of the best pictures of the whole trip.
Anna at the Pier

The kids sitting on a HUGE Anchor






Part of the campus at Johns Hopkins, it was beautiful.

These two hit it off quickly and had a great time. Too bad we don't live a little closer.

This was outside the farmers market we walked too. I loved the brightly painted row houses.
Justin and Sarah's apartment. It was really cool with a awesome sun room out the double doors.
the "nice" part of Baltimore, or not ;)

In April we had the chance to go spend the weekend with Rand's sister Sarah and her husband Justin and son Juma. We don't get to see them very often and hadn't seen them since we moved East. None of us had ever been to Baltimore and so it was a fun trip. Baltimore was very different than I imagined it. Some parts were really sad and broken down and other parts very charming and inviting. It was interesting how immediately the vibe there was much more relaxed than around here. Ethan and Juma are just 2 months a part and really got along great, especially for how little time they have spent together over the years. We love it when Ethan has the chance to spend time with another boy his age because somehow it seems it is always girls, girls, girls not just home but everywhere we go.

Friday or Saturday night we went down to Inner Harbor. They had an old Navy ship (I think) and a "pirate ship" that was fun to see. It was just nice to get out and see around the down town area a little bit. We also ate at a great little neighborhood pizza place. One of the favorite pizza's was a pear with gorgonzola and a balsamic reduction sauce on it. It was delicious. Sad that I can remember everything about the food but not the sites.... Saturday morning we went to a local farmers market which is always fun. There were many different kind of booths like home made soaps, honey, soups, fresh mushrooms, buffalo jerky ( a hit with the kids), flowers etc. I love me a good farmers market. The one here in Summit is on Sunday mornings so we always miss it because of church.

Then we walked down to see Johns Hopkins University campus where Sarah is currently working on her PhD. It was a beautiful campus and it makes me reminiscent for my days at University of Michigan. Later we went to the harbor and the pizza place. It's all coming back to me now.

Sunday Sarah and Justin were kind enough to take us to D.C. even though it seems with every visitor they get they have to do the tour. We Randall and I very quickly realized the D.C. is not for larger families with small children. As soon as we found parking Kate had to go to the bathroom etc, etc. By the time we found a public restroom and made a bottle for Jane and fed and changed her and met up with Sarah and Justin at the Natural history museum they kids were already hungry for lunch. Typical. So Rand and I were in the museum long enough to walk in and take a picture and walk out to find a nearby hot dog stand. It was really fun to see all the historical and and iconic things like the White House, The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial. It was pretty much a walk by quickly and say see, see, hurry see. But it was still totally worth while. The kids did amazing and walked forever without complaining. Needless to say we were all exhausted by the time we had to head home. On the way home I just happened to get a horrible migraine which never happens to me. I ended up throwing up in a big gulp cup for about the first 3 hours of the trip home. Needless to say other than the long and miserable trip home, we had a fabulous time with family, hurray!

Prima Ballerina

In April it was the end of Anna's first ballet and tap class. Something she has been wanting to do FOREVER! We went to watch her in "action" and it was so fun to see her in her element. Anna is very precise and perfect in each of her movements. She always has her toes pointed and arms gracefully extended. Even when she is dancing in the living room, which is often it is clear that she could be a natural for ballet. For her age she is incredibly graceful and just feels and moves naturally to the music. Even Randall blocked off a few hours from work to come see her last class.

One of Anna's best friends from her school class Molly was also in the class which made it fun for both of them. A perk for me was that Molly's Mom and I would sit during the hour long class and talk and now we have all become really good friends. Molly's Mom Laura, is now one of my closest friends here. Thank heavens for Ballet!

As one of the last units in school for Kindergarten each student in Anna's class was asked to do a "How To" presentation. Each child had to choose what they would teach, how they would do it, what supplies if any they would need etc. I thought this was so great. I suggested that Anna teach the kids the many ways to eat an Oreo :) but she being smarter than I, decided she would teach the kids how to tap. She made the plan, dressed in her ballet clothes that day and practiced her steps and we even came up with a little routine for her to do for her class. In her report card at the end of school year, her teacher included a special note about how well Anna had done at that and how much fun she had and that she was truly "in her element". I think Anna would be an excellent teacher. She loves to be in charge and make sure that everyone is doing the right thing at the right time. Now that Anna has done this dance class she wants to try gymnastics. I don't mind her trying that to see which she prefers, but I'm pretty sure she will want to go back to being our Prima Ballerina.

Jane Turns 1

If there has ever been a case of Mommy guilt, when it comes to Jane's first birthday there is a lot of just that, mega guilt. Her actual birthday was April 21st and we were down in Atlanta "buying" a house so needless to say the only thing that happened on her actual day was that she wore a cute little shirt that my Mom bought that said "I'm the Birthday girl!" We bought some cupcakes at the grocery store but when it came down to it, there really was nowhere for her to eat it and not make a huge mess since we were in a hotel and all. So... because of that I felt really bad and wanted to do a take II. About a week after we came home from Georgia and things settled down a bit, we again bought cup cakes and for a family home evening tried to have a little party. Sadly instead of great pictures and a great night the kids were all fighting over what color they got etc. Even as we were singing Happy Birthday the kids were fighting in the background and we would intermittently stop and yell "knock it off, it's your sister's Birthday!" Needless to say it was not a memorable day, at least not in the way I would have liked. In fact now two months later we never even bought her a gift to open. She opened some gifts from my parents in Atlanta since they were there with us, and the gifts from my in laws at her "second" party. I know everybody says she doesn't care, and she'll never know, but none the less I feel bad about it. I guess we'll have to do it up right when she turns 2!

Jane is now 14 months...and still a sweetheart, though admittedly she has just suddenly started showing she can have a real opinion about things. She now screams when she wants things her way. She is also trying to feed herself with a spoon like with yogurt and things. She does alright but if I thought she was a messy eater before, that was nothing to now. She still is not walking, and I'm ok with that for now. She is still calm and laid back. When we go to the park she is still mostly happy to just sit calmly in her stroller and watch the kids run and play. I know this is unusual and it won't be long before she will be having a fit and running around.

She hates to give kisses and will NOT give a kiss if you ask her. They are seldom and at complete random times on her own terms. Last night I was holding her and talking to Rand telling him I was sad about something and that exact moment I mentioned I was sad she whipped her binki out quick as a flash and reached up and give me a big, huge kiss on the mouth. I couldn't believe it. It made it feel so much better and I don't know if that was sheer coincidence or if she could feel I was sad, or understood somehow was I was saying. All I know is she is a sweetheart and we sure are glad she's a part of our family.

She is starting to say a few words and now says Dada, mama (on occasion, although she mostly calls me Fafa for whatever reason) says yum, wow, bye, hi and i think that's about it.