Saturday with Friends

My dear friend, Holly, was in town this past week visiting from Long Island, NY.  She came last weekend to see the new house and it was a loud, crazy afternoon as her four children and my two children ransacked the house and raised the roof with all the yelling. (Sorry Josh and Papa Dan!)  But since we don't see them that often it was worth any headache that came from the commotion.  Later in the week, Holly and I took in a late movie after we got kids into bed, and another night she came back to help me unpack my scrapbook room and set it all up!  (Love her for doing that!!)

So this Saturday we decided to get together one more time before she left for New York.  We opted to pack the morning with activity to avoid the mass destruction that occured weekend prior.  

We started our morning with a visit to the local farmer's market!  This was the 1st time I had been to the town's farmer's market since moving here.  It was nice and small, but it had a lot of variety. We bought some juicy cherries (Kate's pick), some garlic pickles for Papa Dan, some string beans, freshly made fettuccine and fresh bread.  I love local markets like this!  Oh, and we also grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies for road! (Nathan's pick.)

 Then we took the kids over to a neighboring town's park.  It was a perfect place to burn off a bundle of energy.  Kate loved the zip line and the swings.  Mia and Joel played on the slides.  Nathan adores the gravel box full of dump trucks.  Gabe was content eating grass and hanging on to his mama.  And Andrew, well he just chased the kids around the park and added to the fun!  (Andrew seemed to avoid the camera...so I don't have any shots of him...sorry, Holly.)

 Holly and Gabe!

 (Notice the matching dresses that Aunt Holly pick out for the girls!)

 After the park, everyone was hot and hungry.  So we had a picnic lunch on our front porch.  (I love my front porch!)  And then the kids played in our kiddie pool for a while.  There were lots of splashing and squeals of delight. 

We were sad to see everyone leave.  But we were so glad we got to see them so many times this past week.  Now if we could just get Uncle Neil to transfer his job to Virginia, life would be sweet!!

A Day in the Park

Literally we needed a day in the park today - a family day to focus on the kids and just being together.  It has been a crazy week for Josh and I.  Two weeks ago we found our dream house in Virgina.  So tomorrow our house officially goes on the market.  What is not being said is that everyday Josh and I have been busting our tails to de-clutter, pack, and do all those home improvement projects that we have put off!  We have been exhausted and haven't had a lot of extra time to focus on the kids.  After all, a trip to Home Depot everyday does not excite our Kate!

It was raining this morning, but this afternoon the sun came out and the weather was beautiful.  So we headed out for walk around the ponds that the kids love so much (and that we will miss when we do finally move).

Flowers are in bloom everywhere, and as I have instructed Kate to please stop picking the daffodils and tulips that are in bloom in our front yard (curb appeal is important you know!), I let her and Nathan have it with these pretty purple flowers we found on our walk.

 Kate loves the swing.  And as she clearly pointed out, Mommy does not push as high as Daddy.  (On purpose I might add.)  But today she got her thrill as Daddy let her fly through the air until her adrenaline fill had been met.

Nathan on the other hand would rather play with dirt - or mulch in this case.  Have at it big boy!

We are very excited about moving to a new house.  The new neighborhood has nice walking paths, but I must admit we have enjoyed our time walking around the ponds and exploring our little piece of nature just out our front door.

Are we in Maryland anymore??

I posted a few weeks ago about how mild our winter weather has been this year. Did I sleep through January and February and March, to awaken in April?   I keep finding myself asking if I am still in Maryland?  I think my dear friend Peggy has been having similar temperatures in L.A. as we've been having in Maryland.  Maybe our wind is a little nippier here, and the occasional flurry does awaken us from the dream that winter has disappeared from the calendar completely.  But in all my years of living in the Old Line State, I have NEVER experienced such a mild, beautiful winter!!  Today I just had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air.  So inspite of a little bluster here and there, we ran (or drove as the case may be) as fast as we could to a park to meet up with some friends.   Kate, Georgia and Laney quickly settled in on the tire swing, and there they stayed for most of the time we were there.  They called it their "girl party", and they screamed and yelled and sang as loud as they could. It was a picture of pure joy!   Have at it girls!  

While the girls dizzied themselves with laughter and circles, I chased after a very mobile Nathan!  That boy is fast!   But I loved that he got to get outside and run around today.

 
I did finally find a way to confine him, but much to my disappointment he wasn't too thrilled with the swing.  He was off and running again soon!

 

So I hear they are calling for snow on Sunday.   Snow. What's that?   I'll believe it when I see it.