Playdate with Sarah Catherine & Benjamin!

It feels like forever since we all were able to get together, when in reality it was only about a month ago. The little kids grow so much in a month, it's crazy. Vivi and Benjamin shared a little kiss before they had to head home. Owen & Sarah Catherine were shy when we pulled out the cameras, but we caught one with them both enjoying a snack. It was a fun playdate catching up with our good friends!

Feeding the ducks at the bridge

There is this place which Owen and Ben refer to as "The Bridge". I knew it as a place where Ben would take Owen sometimes on the weekends, usually after a trip to Home Depot or the grocery store, as a way to tire him out before his nap. I thought it might be their little secret, but this weekend they let us girls in on the fun. 

After dinner tonight, we decided to take the last two pieces of bread to the bridge to feed the ducks. I have fond memories of feeding the ducks with my parents and my Grandma at the Hershey Lodge after church some Sundays, so for me this was such a fun thing to do together as a family. 

The bridge is actually a wildlife preserve that was built by a home builder in our town as a way to set aside land for the animals. It's a long wooden pathway over a swamp area, and there are tons of birds that fly all around. At the end of the walkway, there is a small watching area with benches over the water where you can see geese and ducks. There was a mama duck and her ten little ducklings there which we fed the bread. We also saw a bunch of turtles and some turtle babies. The kids had fun and we definitely did the job of wearing them out before bedtime, as they both fell asleep very easily tonight, which is always a plus.

How Vivi does basketball

I think she just likes the shorts.

Aunt Hillary visits!

Aunt Hillary is dog-sitting for Kel & Matt, so we invited her over for dinner tonight. Ben made yummy veggie burgers on the grill. The kids had a blast catching up with their Aunt Hill. :-)

Pots & Pans and help with socks

I've never been a fan of letting the kids play with the pots and pans while I'm doing stuff in the kitchen. So much banging and racket - you know how delicate my ears are people. I much prefer plopping them down in front of the TV for an educational program like Super Why. 

But today I was feeling nostalgic, and while I was washing the juicer parts, I turned my head to find Vivian taking out my pots and pans, just like Mike and I used to do when we were kids. I let her play until my ears were bleeding, then told the kids to get their shoes on so I could take them to the library.

Next thing I knew, I hear Owen saying, "Here Vivi, here's your sock," as she lifted her foot for him to put it on. Had to grab the ipad to take an Instagram. :-)

Just another day at the playground

Loudoun Valley Vineyards

This morning was gorgeous, so we packed a picnic again and headed over to Loudoun Valley Vineyards to meet up with Molly, Tim, Nate and Drew. We stopped at a Farmer's Market stand on the way and bought sweet corn, radishes, and tomatoes. We also had time to stop at a small winery that sells fresh eggs. {Tried the eggs for dinner and they were AMAZING! So different than grocery store eggs.}

We got to the winery just in time - right when it opened - and enjoyed having the place to ourselves for an hour before the party bus arrived. Nothing like a group of thiry 20-somethings who were already happy before they got there. :)

We got to admire their circus tricks as you can see from these pics:

Vivian supervised Drew's nap. {Love me some baby rolls.}

Big Brother teaches Little Sister

Found Owen reading to Viv this morning. {cuteness}

Cheers to better health

Mike and Lindsey introduced us to juicing. They were introduced to it by our good friend Kenny and his girlfriend Ashley. This morning while Owen was at preschool, Vivi and I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy a juicer. We got the Breville Juice Fountain Plus which came with a free DVD - Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dying - a documentary created by an Australian guy who turned his life around with the help of juicing. He did a 60-day juice fast (we are not doing that anytime soon, but maybe a shorter one in the future) and lost 100 pounds and was able to get off all his medication for the debilitating skin condition he was suffering with.

The main point of the film was that Americans are so hooked on processed food and sugars, that they have forgotten that fruits and vegetables are the best food available to us. In an effort to help Owen and his #2 issues, and also to feel better, I've decided to take processed foods out of our diet as much as possible. I'm sure we'll have occasions when we'll have to eat it, but if we can help it, I'd like us to focus on eating whole foods and whole grains.

 {Backdating: at Mike's recommendation, we also watched Food, Inc. and Fresh - two more documentaries about the industrialization of the food industry {both on Netflix}. What an eye opener - I had no idea. I wish we would have watched them when they came out back in 2008 and 2009. Please watch them if you haven't yet, and tell me if your eating habits don't change. I dare you.}

Frying Pan Farm with Andrea & the kids

Today Andrea had some free time to burn since Tim is giving his presentation, so we met up at Frying Pan Farm to show them one of our favorite places to go on a nice day.


There were tons of baby animals out with their mamas! Three litters of baby piggies were born in March - they were so cute! But very stinky.


We had a picnic in the shade (Andrea took a great picture of us all on self-timer) and the kids played in the grass and dirt. Such simple fun, I loved it. So glad I had an extra day to spend with our friends. {love}