Over the holiday weekend we also spent some time at the pool with Jack and Courtney. The kids have SO much more fun swimming with J & C for some reason, probably because those two are such water bugs. Court, in particular, is great motivation for Harper since she is two years younger, but much braver in the water!

Ada is hands down my most fearless swimmer. She just can’t get enough of the pool and isn’t bothered at all by splashes or even going under. She picks right back up and keeps on playing!

Roman fell under water a few weeks ago (waded too far out of the shallow end) and has been super timid around the pool ever since then. I need to spend the rest of the summer reassuring him that he is safe in the water with me!

Don’t worry. It may look like she is drowning, but she actually did this on purpose and got right back up to do it again! I think my 14 month old may be ready for swim team soon.

Taking a cruise around the deck. You know, just checkin’ stuff out:

Over July 4th weekend we loaded the bikes up once again and headed into DC. The day started off a little rocky when Dad forgot the piece to attach the trailer to the bike. The kids and I sat at Gravelly Point and ate our picnic lunch (at 10 AM!) while Dad drove home to get the piece. During our picnic, Roman informed me that he needed to pee, so I took the opportunity to teach him how to pee on a tree. When Dad got back, Roman belted out “I peed on my FIRST tree!” Very exciting stuff. Of course we saw plenty of airplanes taking off right above us, always one of our favorite sights.

Once we got on the bikes, it was a steamy 94 degrees and humid. That didn’t stop us from our longest ride yet. We biked first to Roosevelt Island, where we parked the bikes, popped the strolling wheels on the trailer, and explored the island a bit. We saw butterflies, bugs, and two deer that were incredibly tame and close to the path.

View of Georgetown from Roosevelt Island:

After Roosevelt Island, we biked back towards the airport, and crossed Memorial Bridge into DC. We biked all the way around the Mall: through the Lincoln Memorial (yes, you can bike right through it!), Vietnam Memorial, Iwo Jima and WWII until we got to the food trucks in front of The Elipse. Why? That’s where the best selection of popsicles is, duh. The kids wasted no time getting off the bikes and into line. Before we left, they had each sampled 3 popsicles (it was really hot and they were being good, don’t judge), and Ada was completely covered in blue from her first ever Rocket Pop! I didn’t know those things stain so badly!

Ada was absolutely determined to get in line too:

Baby’s First Rocket Pop:

Happy Independence Day from DC!

The snow cones are just gross. Don’t recommend. Bottles, however, are awesome. As are Ada’s Smurf hands.

Finally we cleaned up and got back on the bikes and headed back towards our car. The ride back along the Potomac was just breathtaking! We love DC!

Roman: “Lemme tell you a story ‘bout Toy Story 3. Once there were two friends named Woody and Buzz. They looooved ketchup. They played with Legos, then they ate all of their strawberries dipped in ketchup. Yumyumyumyumyumyumyum. And that’s all the story. The end!”

At Costco today I let the kids get frozen yogurt. Harper said that they wanted “squirrel, you know, the kind with both ‘banilla and chocolate together.” So we got “squirrel ice cream.”

Harper: “When we get home I’m gonna be like ‘Dad! We got squirrel ice cream!’ and he’s gonna be like ‘no way! where’d you get that!’ and I’m gonna be like ‘we got it at Costco!’ and he’s gonna be like ‘wow! I love squirrel ice cream!”

Harper and Roman are a team, that’s the best way to describe them. Roman likes to chant “how do we work, teamwork!” whenever they are working on something together. At a picnic recently another mom who we don’t know well asked me “are they always like this?” The answer is yes, almost always. I am so thankful for their friendship!

Harper often starts questions with “when me and Roman get married…” Yes, she 100% thinks that when they grow up, she and Roman are getting married! I don’t think she has any idea what that actually means, but we find it hysterical. But, she also thinks that when they get married will be “forever and ever until Chrismaswhensantacomes,” (all one word.) So I guess we have to wait awhile for the wedding celebration!

Last week I set up the kiddie pool on the back deck. Ada LOVES water, so I thought it would be a fun way to spend a hot afternoon. I couldn’t keep her out of it! Ada and Roman played in it for over two hours. Harper was not so into the pool, but I literally had to pull Ada away from it kicking and screaming. For the next few days I left the pool on the porch, and as soon as she would hear someone open the sliding door she would make a beeline for it and jump right in, shoes, clothes and all! I finally had to empty the pool because her shoes were getting moldy from going in the pool so many times!

Roman showing her how to splash and dump water on his head. Big brothers are so cool!

Ada’s entrance into the pool was the best:

Pool water wasn’t enough, so she started drinking it off the bench:

Daddy has been travelling a lot this summer, so we have filled our schedule with plenty of activities to keep us busy. Last week we met our friends Lyla and Anamarie and their new baby sister at Burke Lake Park. The kids had so much fun playing with their preschool friends, and of course riding the choo choo and carousel!

We harvested our first veggies from our garden last week! We picked two gigantic zucchinis (“kini’s” according to the kids), a tomato and two cucumbers. We already made zucchini fritters, which were a huge hit with the kids, and marinated cucumbers. Everyone has been very enthusiastic about eating vegetables from our own garden – it’s much more special when you grow it yourself!

We have had an incredibly busy summer so far, and I feel like I am just coming up for air! Harper had her ballet recital two weeks ago. I was so nervous about how it would unfold. At the dress rehearsal, she told me she didn’t want me to volunteer, so I dropped her off and ran errands while she danced. Well apparently she cried for about 30 minutes after I left and was not happy that I “abandoned” her! Once she got on stage she was fine, but she was pretty upset backstage. I immediately volunteered to be a backstage mom for the actual recital, and I am so glad that I did.

Volunteering meant that I didn’t get to watch the whole recital, but I was able to sneak into the auditorium to watch Harper’s performance. For the rest of the recital (almost 3 hours!), myself and one other mom were in charge of 11 three and four year olds, which meant keeping them entertained and distracting them from missing their moms, keeping them fed but without food on their costumes, fixing their costumes and hair as needed, not LOSING any of them, and managing the frequent potty breaks. It was exhausting, to say the least, but I’m really glad I got to witness the backstage scene.

I was so impressed with how the older dancers took care of the little ones. They played with them, helped us out when we had too many to take to the potty, invited them to sit on their laps and watch the live feed of the show, and most importantly gave them a standing ovation when they came back into the room after their performance. It was so encouraging and so special for Harper and her classmates, and Harper has been talking non-stop about how when she is a “big girl ballerina,” she is going to help the little ones.

The performance itself brought me to tears! I distinctly remember having horrible stage fright as a kid. My mom said I loved ballet, but when recital time came around I was so nervous that I would practically throw up and run off the stage crying. Harper was exactly the opposite. She thrived on that stage! I watched many rehearsals leading up to the recital, and I have to say that she did not once do the dance correctly. I was so nervous that she would mess up on stage and cause the whole thing to unravel, which did happen once in rehearsals! However, when the lights came on and the music started, she was one of the few kids who did it absolutely perfectly, and had an enormous smile on the entire time. She was so happy out there, and is already talking about her “next” performance!

I was so proud of how she performed in such a professionally produced show. It was a big auditorium with a very large audience. It started with an exhibition dance by the Dance Company, then the director gave an introduction to the show, then the lights went down and the room was pitch black. When the lights came back on, the spotlight was on 11 toddlers in the middle of the stage, standing hands on hips and smiling at us. The whole auditorium erupted in a big “awww!” then started clapping along with the music. It was such a joy to watch!

After the show, Daddy and Nona gave Harper flowers and a balloon, and she walked out of there as proud as a peacock, like she owned the place. Needless to say, I am very excited that she has found an activity that she really loves, and she is so excited to keep dancing!

My one big mistake: I forgot my camera! I did buy a DVD of the performance and hopefully will be able to put her dance up on the blog when it arrives. I have one photo of Harper and Nona after the recital. We got home at 10:30pm, and Harper was still wired!