Putting

Taken by the folks at Restion National during Golf Camp:

Birthday Boy

Little Golfer

Emma finished a week of Golf Camp at Reston National, ecstatic about the game. She comes home and talks golf jibberish with Arturo that I don't understand at all. Since she is still so interested, we got her a set of golf clubs over the weekend and signed her up for additional golf lessons. At Reston National, they have "Powder Puff Golf" - group golf lessons for girls only. She went today with Sydney - the two of them had so much fun!

Sydney helping Emma to remember to keep her feet apart

Practice Green. Emma is with Ms. Molly, the instructor, putting.

Caddyshack - The next Generation

Emma has been in Golf Camp this week - and is really loving it. She comes home, talking about chipping and pitching and greens - and I'm clueless as to what my child is talking about. After dinner tonight, she got our her mini golf clubs and Arturo and the girls practiced in the backyard.

Slipping and Sliding

We broke out the Slip and Slide over the weekend - and the girls had a blast. Emma is our much more adventurous one - she dove in head first with no fear - giggling the whole way. Alexa was much more reserved at first; she finally got the hang of it towards the end...

Leaving DeNile

So there's really a baby coming - and time is running out. Arturo and I have finally decided to get our acts together (sort of) and think about getting some semblance of a room ready for the baby. Over the weekend, the girls and Arturo worked on getting the room painted. I'm not sure how much the girls "helped" but they did have fun doing it!

July 4th Fireworks

We went to the Herndon fireworks on the weekend of July 4th. We met the Burkes there - alas the spinning rides which followed dinner did not sit well with Jed - so they had to leave a bit on the early side. We waited it out and got to see a great firework show. Well, at least most of us did. As soon as the fireworks started, Alexa fell asleep in Arturo's arms.

I love my girls

The first weekends in July were unseasonally comfortable. So we turned off the AC, opened up the windows and let in the fresh air. At one point, while I was working in the kitchen, I heard the girls playing in the dining room. Here is how they were when I found them:

Alexa's Party at Clay Cafe

Alexa had her birthday this year at Clay Cafe - a paint your own pottery studio. Each child got to paint a plate and then add then handprint (or footprint) onto it. It was a lot of fun, and Alexa really had a good time!

The kids started out with a craft where they decorated their own goody bags with foamy stickers

Let the painting begin!

Alexa decided to get her footprint done. Here Miss Grace slathers her foot in paint. Alexa loved this part!

Back at the homefront, the kids took turns hitting a princess tiara. (Alexa is never one for birthday "themes." She just goes with what she likes. She wanted a Diego Birthday Cake, and a pink princess tiara piñata. Go figure.)

My other baby

The veggie garden is really doing great this year. I got more adventurous this year, after we realized that the backyard gets great sun and that we have good hearty soil back there too. This year, we planted squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and sugar snaps. All have been very successful - although, we waited too long to put the peas on the vine, and thus, inadvertently killed them. But before they met their demise, the girls and I would go back there and snap them off the plant and pop them right into our mouths - seriously, they were delicious...

Alexa's new bike

Abio came to visit Alexa for her birthday. The day before her party, we all went out and got Alexa her birthday present from Abio - a brand new bike! This one is much more sturdy than her old one, and will let her practice without training wheels, which she's been asking to do for a while now...

Happy Birthday Alexa!

Even with Arturo away in Mexico, we did have a grand time on Alexa's birthday. The girls decorated cupcakes (baked by Ginny, thank you!) to bring into school. They came out quite delicious and pretty!

And of course, the birthday fairy did pay a visit the night before Alexa's 4th birthday. (For the history of the birthday fairy, see here) Believe me, being 6+ months pregnant, and trying to put up the decorations by myself, in the dark - was NOT EASY. On top of that I had to be super quiet so as not to wake the sleeping child. Let's just say I proved my love for the girl that night!

In the end, I was really quite proud of my handiwork, though the pictures below don't begin to capture how awesome it must have been to wake up to the festive look of her room!

Alexa celebrating her birthday later that afternoon with her friends at Chesterbrook:

After that, we visited a nail salon where the girls got their fingers AND toes painted. They were quite the dainty girls after that...

Weekend Days in the Backyard

Alexa and Emma decided to set up their Art Table out in the backyard and worked very diligently for quite some time there!