Lake Anne Fountain

The girls and I had a packed Saturday. We went over to the Reston Farmer's Market - where the girls played in the fountain and had a blast. We gnoshed on Kettle Corn and reminisced about how Alexa would ONLY EAT the Farmer's Market yogurt when she was a baby (this is not a joke!).

We went to a birthday party for Alexa in the afternoon, and then the girls played with their babysitter while Mom had a fantastic birthday date with herself. All in all, a packed but great day!

Margaret Thomas' Gardens

Right off the side of Lawyer's Road, there's an old lady who's lived in her house for years and years. She has a beautiful garden and each year, she tends to her flowers. Throughout the year, the patch of land is barren and green. As the weather warms up, I look over as I drive by each day, wondering when the flowers will bloom. And then, as if from nowhere, there's suddenly this vast expanse of colorful blooms - it's impossible to miss. Visitors are welcome to park and walk through her gardens - no fees, no expectations - just enjoy yourself. The flowers are only in bloom for about 1-2 weeks a year, so if you miss it, that's it until next year!

The girls got momentarily distracted when they spotted a wriggling worm:

Girls' Weekend

Margaret drove up from NC to visit us last weekend and we got a chance to hang out a bit throughout the weekend. Here we are at Clyde's for Sunday brunch. We missed Alison :(

Sea World and Shamu

Well we made it back from Disney - Arturo was our rock, who drove most of the time and never complained once. The girls did incredibly well with the ride also and everyone had a great time. We went during a heat wave which wasn't so nice, but getting to meet the "real" princesses was definitely the highlight of the girls' trip. Emma kept wishing that we would the family "chosen" to stay in Cinderella's castle for the night, and was very disappointed when it didn't happen. We ate out so much we are still in detox from the junk and will be for a while!

We spent our first day in Orlando at Sea World, meeting Shamu and seeing the very well put together shows there.

Waiting for the Shamu show to start:

This was the highlight of the day for Emma. There is a ride very similar to Splash Mountain at Sea World and if you stand in the right spot, spectators can get splashed by the boats coming down the chute. Emma spent about 30 minutes here, jumping up and down in anticipation of getting splashed by the boats. That's right - $70 entrance fee for a 5 year old, and her highlight is getting splashed every few minutes...

Disney World!

The famous Dumbo ride - this was probably the longest line we waited in the whole trip - and when it was over, Emma exclaimed, "That's it??!!" It did seem like an awfully short flight...

The Peter Pan ride was Alexa's favorite ride throughout the whole trip - and in total, she rode it 3 times during our time at Disney. To be fair, Alexa was fairly exuberant about every ride she did - in fact - she rode EVERYTHING twice.

Emma loved the "splash" factor and did Splash Mountain with Arturo. We think she liked it ok - but she looks pretty happy in this picture:

We waited it out for the evening parade - the girls were in awe - couldn't believe they were seeing the "real" princesses and characters...

...the only bad part was when Ursula (the "villain" in the Little Mermaid) also got her own float. I caught a picture of the girls covering their eyes and ears, but they still can't resist peeking at Ursula...

Meeting all the Characters!

We spent a lot of time meeting all the characters - the princesses were definitely the highlight of the girls' trip...

Emma and Alexa being the daredevils that they are - they jumped off the roof of Pluto's "House."

Alexa loved the speedway - especially getting to drive "by herself."

Yet another ride that she rode multiple times...

Choosing some sweet treats at one of the candy stores on Main Street.

We got to ride up front on the mono rail with the driver...