Summer Bucket List #1: Strawberry Festival

Can you tell we're into strawberries? Between last weekend and this weekend, I think we've gotten our strawberry fill for the next couple of years. However, Drew was dead set on going to the Delaplane Strawberry Festival in Sky Meadows State Park. We came, we saw, we conquered. Not entirely sure I'd go back, though. The only strawberry-y thing about it was the stand that was selling them in the middle of the park (which had seriously delicious, mouth-watering strawberries, btw). The girls had a fun time, other than Addison getting sunscreen in her eye and turning into an uncanny smaller version of Hitch.


Sadly, this picture does not capture the severity it all. She was a trooper, though, and just kept trying to rub it out. Didn't cry once, big girl.


Other than that, it was pretty fun before we got rained out and mad-dashed to the car.













Can't wait for this weekend- CAMPING! First time in 6 years. First time ever with kids. Wish us luck.

Strawberry Fields Forever

We had such a phenomenal weekend, the perfect reward for a rather stressful couple of weeks (which included a talk in Sacrament meeting, a daunting day in Fairfax County Court fighting two bothersome and undeserved tickets, and a mild, but much-needed, confrontation with a doctor). I had been looking forward to this weekend for quite awhile because it meant all the aforementioned tasks were over with!

Friday afternoon: Lunch at Cafe Rio in Maryland with my fabulous friends. Oh, sweet pork salad, how I love and adore you! The 45-min. drive was well worth it to munch (read: devour) and mingle with these girlfriends.

Saturday: We finally went strawberry picking! After years of saying, "we should go sometime," we finally made "sometime" happen. We drove just across the river into Maryland to Miller Farms and picked to our hearts' content, gathering 7 glorious pounds of mouth-watering strawberries. Makenna was a natural, looking under the weeds to see if any berries were hiding there. Addison, on the other hand, floundered a bit with the rough terrain. After a while of carrying her around, Drew and I got sick of not having our hands free to pick so we plopped her down on the ground, letting her play in the dirt. Since we've come home, we have dined on such delicacies as chocolate-covered strawberries and strawberry milkshakes. And this morning I made a batch of strawberry jam...mmmm.






Saturday p.m.: On our way home from strawberry picking we stopped off at the National Harbor. Although we've passed by it many times, we have never stopped and walked around. Such a cute place! Reminded me a little of the Gateway (SLC) in San Diego. Restaurants and retail galore, with a random Peeps store thrown in for good measure (wha? That's what we said.). With our family sporting none other than tennis shoes and dirty jeans (thank-you strawberry fields), we felt a little under dressed. Nevertheless, we enjoyed strolling along the harbor and dreaming of our future yacht.
(Every middle-class, suburban, LDS family needs one eventually, right?)


What think ye of this strange, abnormally large foot protruding from the harbor sand? Before you form an opinion, you may want to know there were other body parts protruding from various places on the beach. Some sculptor paying homage to his fave TV show, CSI Miami?



This artwork here was going for $300 a pop. I, the #1 lover of Peeps in my family, JUST DON'T GET IT.







This picture makes me laugh. Makenna pointing the telescope into the middle of the sky and all she sees is black. "Mama, why I can't see anyfing?" "Because it costs 50 cents and I don't have any coins to put in." "But why you don't have any coins?" "Because we just spent a boatload of money on fresh strawberries. Now just keep on looking so I can get a picture."



Saturday night: We had a delicious BBQ with our friends, enjoying the beautiful spring weather we've had here.
Can I just say it again? LOVED this weekend.

At last...the pigtails have arrived!

We have some exciting news: blog-worthy news; baby-book worthy news. Addison can officially wear pigtails now!!! I'm not exactly sure why this is such a big deal to me. Probably because I'm a mother of two lil' girls and nothing gets me going like hair accessories. It is one of my personal life goals to learn how to make as many types of hair bows as humanly possible (don't judge, just accept). So to have my #2 of two girls have hair that's deciding to come in long enough to play with is beyond exciting.



And here's Miss Makenna posing like a goofball for me in our front yard. I'm taking another photography class right now and she's getting really good at saying, "Here Mama, I'll stand like this and you take a picture of me." She also carries around an old digital camera and says, "Here, look this way Mama." (looks at the camera) "Oh, shoot. We've got to do it again. That one didn't turn out very well." Then, "You want to see all my cute pictures I took?"

Oh, how I love this day!

Mother's Day, quickly becoming my favorite holiday! I just wanted to quickly share a few pictures of our recent visitors to Virginia, 2 grandmas and 1 great-grandma (Gigi), plus Aunt Donnalin. We had such a fabulous time with everyone all through March. We LOVE when they come to visit us. They spoil us unmercifully, we go see fun places, the girls have people who love on them 24/7, playing games, reading books, and cooking treats. It's a win-win for everyone!

I'm so thankful for my mom. Not only do I have so much fun with her whenever we're together, she's my best friend, and I find myself becoming more and more like her with every passing day. I am grateful for the beautiful example she is to me of a righteous daughter of God. I love you Mom!