Mulberry Street

Memorial Day weekend brought heat, humidity, and hot dogs (well not for us, but I didn't want to break my alliteration with the h's).  We went to Viva Vienna at night this year.  We wanted to beat the heat and enjoy the lights of the carnival.  This year I went with a Gyro while Eric stuck with the Chicken Satay.  We shared cotton candy and ice cream and watched the kids take it all in.  We stayed until the end (10:00pm) since Genevieve had napped and we needed to run down her batteries.  Emory discovered his dance moves while we played on the grass of the town green.  It was a fabulous evening! The white church on "Church Street." The rides.

This is how Emory practices walking. Genevieve loves the attention and Emory thinks it is pretty fun too.  

Fairfax County has a wonderful program for classes.  We've taken all of Genevieve's swimming lessons through Parktakes, along with dance classes, and now gymnastics.  It makes me a little sad to see her enter classes without me.  She is sure growing up and becoming very independent.  I like that these classes give her a chance to try something new and develop new abilities. 

Genevieve and Daddy show that you don't need a big course to stage an intense triathlon. This one is particularly spectator-friendly. (Note Emory's splash zone seating.)

Waking up is hard.  Especially when you woke up early, ate breakfast, then climbed back into Mom's bed for another hour only to wake up because your brother is crawling all over you.  Life is hard.

When Brighten and Ben moved in, we knew it was for only three years.  That knowledge didn't make saying good-bye any easier.  Their new neighbors and friends are lucky to get them.  They are incredible people in so many ways.  For the past three years I have benefited so much from their friendship.  I can only hope that I somehow repaid them a small percentage during that same time. I am grateful for getting to know Ben, Brighten, Essence, Persia, and Diesel these past years.  I am grateful for their examples, their love, and their support.  I have enjoyed sharing meals with them.  I have enjoyed sharing adventures downtown.  We will miss our friends very much.  Although, I am not sure whether Genevieve will miss Essence or Ben more - she loves both of them very much.  We wish them the best of luck on the next chapter of their lives. Here are some of the good ol' times:  here , her...

We went on a family hike to Scott's Run on the Potomac River.  Genevieve walked a couple of the miles and hopped in the jogger when she was tired.  Emory happily tagged along either in the jogger, in the ergo, or on Daddy's shoulders.  The best part of the day, aside from spending it together, was teaching the kids appreciation for nature.  We looked at the trees, found butterflies, watched a snake swim (from a safe distance), peered at water skippers, and discovered sea shells.  The setting was beautiful and I hope the kids will remember it always. Genevieve thought the water crossings were fabulous.  She had a blast hopping from stone to stone and then finally forging the stream in her sandals.  I think she could have stayed all day. Emory enjoyed lots of graham crackers and a bouncy ride on dad's back.  He wasn't allowed to splash in the water since he is still unsteady on his feet, but more importantly, because I...

Ie Li said of her daughter, she “is growing up faster than I can record.”   Amen to that.   It seems that Emory cares very little about staying my sweet baby boy.   Instead, he appears to be in a rush to grow up.   I guess that is normal when you have an older sibling around to show you the ropes.  Here are some fun things about Emory from recent months. Emory lets out these high pitch screams that hit frequencies only dogs should be able to hear.   Each time the noise strikes my ear drum I question whether or not I’m going to loose my hearing.   It was cute the first two times, but now that we’ve heard it 150 times, it has lost all of it’s before mentioned quality.   Emory has learned to drink from a straw.  In hindsight, it may have been a mistake, because I am afraid he won't take a sippy cup now.  Doh!  He loves it though.  Regardless of how many times he sips from it, he is still surprised at the volume of water that come...