The Nuttalls Are Coming! The Nuttalls Are Coming!

We always have a great time when the Nuttalls visit. A couple weekends ago, we were lucky enough to have Alex and Stacie and the kids and Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice (Alex's Aunt) is *the* Aunt Alice that hosts Tom and Alex in New Hampshire each year for their snowmobiling adventures. Anyway, it was great to be able to return the favor for once. Somehow, Aunt Alice escaped my camera, but I will catch her in action next time. As always, the kids had a blast swimming!

Cheers!

Wait a second... What exactly is Cole doing? Waving - of course!

Herndon Festival

I grew up in downtown Herndon. So - for years - the Herndon Festival was a huge event in our family. As I got older, it turned into a weekend-long party. Anyway, it's been a while since we've made to the Herndon Festival, but this year we did. In fact, we parked near my childhood home, threw the kids in the stroller, and enjoyed the festival family style. It was an overcast day, which was good because it was hot! And - I managed to catch some cute pictures of Tom and Syd. It was fun to see all the vendors and ride the rides. A good time was had by all.

Catching Up...

Wow. It's been a while since my last post. We've been really busy between work, the end of school, swimming lessons, and the beginning of summer. Here's quick recap:

We celebrated mother's day with a Bergemuda-style pool party. It was too cold to actually swim, but the day was perfect for playing at the water table, enjoying a good barbecue, and relaxing. The moms were lavished with wonderful gifts, and I even got a kid-free shopping spree!

We've been lucky enough to be invited to some really fun birthday parties. At this one, Sydney got to jump off some energy in the bounce house and get her face painted like a butterfly.

Sydney finished the first year of school the Thursday before Memorial Day. I'm so thankful for her wonderful teachers and the great staff at her school. She really learned a lot over the last year and is becoming quite the character!

The kids and I spent half of memorial day weekend at the beach with the Chabots. Although I ended up getting sick, and we had to come home, we had one really awesome day at the beach. The Chabots were fabulous hosts - as usual - and went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and the kids were having fun. We are so very lucky to have such a wonderful relationship with the Chabots. I have a feeling Jessie would be thrilled.

Roller Derby

Somehow, I've become a roller derby girl. It all happened so quickly, and before I knew it, I was wearing knee socks. A while back, my friend Misty, who I originally met through mommies' group, suggested I do roller derby. At first, I had mixed feelings, I thought it would be fun, but a little scary too. Then, it turned out that Loudoun County was getting their very own team, and the first "meet and greet" was in Leesburg. How convenient. It couldn't hurt to just go watch... right? I showed up in flip flips and khakis. Within minutes, I was loaned socks, skates, a helmet, and pads and was shown to the rink to start skating. What? Wait a second... And that was all she wrote!

I've been going to practice twice a week for two hours each time since then. People who know me know that I did not skate when I was growing up. All my time was spent in the gym doing gymnastics. Anyway, it's been extremely challenging. I believe everyone else on the team did some amount of skating growing up or had previously belonged to another roller derby team. Anyway, the girls have been very welcoming and patient with me. I've learned to skate, do crossovers, walk on my toe stops, stop, and fall correctly. I've eaten pavement more than once. But - on the bright side, I get to wear knee socks, short skirts, and hot pants - an awesome departure from my mommy-of-two-under-the-age-of-three lifestyle. And - the practices are brutal, so I'm getting in two great workouts a week! What could be better?

This weekend, Jodi, Bret, and I took the kids to see roller derby in person at the DC Armory. It was actually a lot of fun. It wasn't nearly as violent as I thought it would be. And I could see myself participating at some point in the future. For now, I need to practice staying on my feet and off my hiney!

Oh yeah - one last thing... my roller derby name and number:

Mary Lou Wreck'em, 10.0

Let's Go to Avery's House!

One of Sydney's favorite things to do these days is to visit her friend Avery. Avery's house never disappoints - there's so much do to and see. Usually, the girls start off playing with all Avery's fabulous toys. Then, Avery's awesome mommy makes them a wonderful snack. Then - it's time for a walk - my favorite part of the visit! As you can see from the following pictures, the walk near Avery's house is just spectacular.

Time for a walk! As you can see, Avery is very fashion forward and not afraid to take chances with her wardrobe. She looked great on this day with the rain boots, tutu, and pajama top. Awesome!Stop to take a peek in the creek!Cole usually naps on my back during our walk, but on this day, he was wide awake and enjoying the scenery.

If you look really close in this picture, you can see Avery's dog, Butters, swimming in the creek. She swims while we walk.

Could this be any more fun? I don't think so. We're so thankful to be friends with Avery and her family! We can't wait for our next visit.

Field Trip!

Sydney recently went on her very first field trip. She visited a local farm, where she learned all about strawberries, took a fabulous hay ride, and got to feed farm animals. Here are some pictures of her adventures:

Our Birthday Boy

Wow! At times during the last 12 months, I really thought I wouldn't make it to see Cole turn one! We had a rough year to say the least. However, Cole is really doing well these days. He's more smiley than ever and rarely pukes. He's still on two different types of medication for GERD, and he's allergic to milk, bananas, peanuts, soy, and amoxicillin, but I feel like we've been able to get a handle on things. He's dangerously close to walking. He can stand no problem, but doesn't like to take steps unless he's holding on to someone or something. He can climb like a champ, and I have to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't fall off the items (chairs, sofas, stairs) he climbs on. He plays very well by himself and really loves all the trucks and other "boy" toys he received for his birthday. His 12-month well baby check up is next week, and I think he'll still weigh in at around 20 pounds, but I've come to grips with the fact that he's not going to starve, and he's just going to be tall and slim - like someone else we know. Overall, Cole is just a sweet, sweet boy. We're so thankful to have him around! Happy birthday baby boy!