Vacation - Part 2 - Washington, DC

We left Shenandoah and drove to DC on July 1. Nicholas kept saying how he'd never seen so many cars! :o)

Thursday I had to go in to work. My company moved to Fairfax, VA and I went in to see the new offices. We got the grand tour and the kids and Mike got to meet my co-workers but then I had to work the rest of the day. Mike took Nicholas and Emma into DC for a quick tour of the monuments. Here's Nicholas in front of the Korean War Memorial.

And in inside the Lincoln Monument

And in front of the very moving Vietnam Memorial

And the World War II Memorial


The next day we went to Arlington, VA to visit my Grammy and my Aunt Dolores and Aunt Dianne. It was so nice to see them all! Believe it or not - Grammy is 98 years old - she is as sharp as a tack and still quite spry with her walker!



Nicholas is so happy now that he's met my family! Now he finally knows the people he speaks with on the phone! :o) It's so hard to leave family. Nicholas kept telling me "don't cry Mom". We miss you all and love you so much!

After leaving Grammy's we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC. Of course - this is Mike and my favorite museum!

When we were in Shenandoah we went to see the "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" movie in the hopes Nicholas would be excited about spending a few days in museums. I've got to say - it worked! He was so excited when he saw Amelia Earhart's plane and the Wright Brother's plane (both were featured in the movie). And he was expecting to see a giant octopus in the Reflecting Pool! :o) I'd highly recommend this movie before traveling to DC with kids.

On July 4th we stayed at one of the hotels I work for in DC. And wow - did they treat us nicely! We actually had a room with a balcony that could see the Capitol and the Washington Monument. I wanted to stay in the room and watch the fireworks from there - but Mike and Nicholas would not have that! :o) So we ended up going down to the National Mall with everyone else.

Here we are in front of the White House. We didn't get to see the back side as the Obama's were having a BBQ for the 4th.

We then went to the American History Museum. Nicholas wanted to see Darth Vader's costume (since it was featured in the Night at the Museum move) but I'm afraid it wasn't there. I asked one of the guards and she said it was in storage. That was a bit of a shame - but Nicholas did get to see C3PO. They have finished restoring the American flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. It was nice to see the new display as the last time Mike and I were in DC it was being restored.

Here we are on the Mall - we got a great spot for watching the fireworks. We all played cards to pass the time.


Well we all played except Emma - she took a nice long nap.


The fireworks started at 9pm and were fantastic!


I know this photo isn't very good - but I just wanted to remember Emma - sound asleep even with all the bangs and pops of the fireworks!! Believe it or not - she slept through the entire show - and only woke at the end when everyone clapped!!

Here we are after the fireworks (and Emma woke up)


So - Emma - how did you like your very first vacation to the East Coast?

Vacation - Part 1 - Shenandoah Valley, VA

We flew back east to see my side of the family! Emma and Nicholas were both great on the flight. Nicholas was busy watching cartoons and Emma slept 3 hours! We arrived in the beautiful Shenandoah valley late Saturday.

Then Sunday morning the kids were baptized. My cousin Emily had her daughter and three stepsons baptized and we joined them - it was so great to all be there celebrating together. It meant so much to me to have the kids baptized here because my family has been going to this church for generations. I'm sure my Mom and Maw-Maw would have been thrilled!

After the baptism the ladies at St. Paul hosted a luncheon and they out did themselves yet again! The food was wonderful and my cousin Andi made two beautiful and yummy cakes. Nicholas had a great time running around and playing with all his cousins!

In front of my brother's house is a beautiful old magnolia tree.


Ever since Nicholas heard that my brother has a convertible he has talked non-stop about it. Well - his wish finally came true - Uncle Scott took Nicholas out for a cruise with the top down! I bet that as soon as Nicholas can afford one - and can drive - he will have a convertible too! :o)

We went to Luray Caverns to tour the caves. There are no longer tour guides - instead you now get a headset and listen to the tour at your own pace.


Uncle Doug and Aunt Pat invited us over for a swim. Nicholas swam for a bit and then gave the diving board a try. Well - it wasn't a dive but a pure belly-flop! Everyone thought he'd be put off by that landing - but he got out and did belly-flop after belly-flop! It's a wonder his tummy was still there by the end of the night.



Scott took the kids fishing and Nicholas caught 6 fish! Here he is showing off one of them.

We went to Uncle Bryan and Aunt Bobbie's house for dinner. My cousin Lisa is a middle school band teacher and she showed Nicholas how to play the trumpet and the tuba! Nicholas did really well - Lisa said he's got the talent to play a brass instrument.

And here's Emma and her Daddy reading a bedtime story. Which of them looks the most sleepy do you think? :o)

We had a great time! Nicholas wants to know when we'll be going back again!

I'll post the second part of the trip another night (we went to DC to see my Grandmother and aunts and toured the museums and see the fireworks on the Mall).

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!

June 18 was Nicholas' 10th birthday! Nicholas opened his presents after he got home from day care. We got him a new bike with gears! He loves it. He and Mike went out for a ride and Nicholas is now able to make it up the hills in our neighborhood. It's going to take a bit more practice with changing gears - but he did a great job!

After their bike ride we went out for dinner to celebrate Nicholas hitting double digits!

Friday was his party...and what a party! Nicholas wanted to have a sleep-over and Indiana Jones themed party. Well - Mike heard Indiana Jones and went crazy planning activities for the boys!! Mike, one neighbor, and I decorated Emma's room into the "Room of Doom" and we decorated the far corner of the yard into the "Forest of Fear".

When the boys arrived they had fun just playing and then we had dinner and then the adventure began! The boys found Dr. Jones' diary and had to find the "Trail of the Broken Tablet"... Mike was their helper and showed the boys how to use a compass to find the direction their way (based on the clues in Dr. Jones' diary).

The boys found the four pieces of the tablet and then had to find the "Rosetta Brick" :o) to decipher the hieroglyphics on the broken tablet.

This then eventually lead the boys to the Room of Doom...which Mike, one neighbor, and I decorated with brown paper crumbled to look like vines and spider webs and snakes (nothing was too scary - the snakes were purple and pink! :o) ).

In the room the boys had to find wooden blocks that spelled "Forest of Fear". The blocks were hidden in jello and wet noodles and pudding and other icky things!

When the boys went to the Forest of Fear they found their final idol - a pinata! :o) They had fun bashing it and collecting all the candy. Then we had cake and ice cream on the deck....followed by a movie and popcorn. It was a fun (and tiring!) night! :o)

I think Mike missed his calling...instead of being a programmer - he should have started a business planning kids parties!!

Here's Emma wearing one of the paper Indiana Jones hats and Nicholas wearing his Indiana Jones hat! I love this photo!


And ... here's Mike on Father's Day morning opening presents! Happy Father's Day!!


And last but not least....here's a couple of Emma.

Weekend at the Lake

Nicholas' friend had his birthday party at a lake north of Ft. Collins this past weekend. We bought a life preserver for Nicholas as he doesn't know how to swim yet (we've got to work on that this summer!). Nicholas was tentative about walking into the water and it took some convincing that the preserver would keep him above water. Once he trusted it - he had a great time playing in the water....as you can see by the joy Mike caught in this photo...


Here's Emma watching all the kids run around...you could tell she wanted to be running with them!

Nicholas went tubing and had a great time! Of course Mike and I were telling stories about how my Dad would drive the boat at mach 2 to try and throw us off the tube. Nicholas had an easier time and easier driver!

Nicholas slept by the lake in a pup tent with his friend (Kelton's family were there with them in an RV). Mike and I stayed at a hotel in Ft. Collins. We wanted to take Emma into the pool to see how she like swimming. But the pool was just too cold - I didn't want to scare her! So I sat on the edge of the hot tub and we let her feet dangle into the water. She seemed to enjoy it - and really liked Mike rolling a ball on the water toward her. Here is Emma and her Daddy

Teeth - coming and going!

We've had some beautiful weather - the sky was so wonderful we just had to take Emma outside for some photos. I'm certain Emma is going to be an outdoor girl. Whenever she gets upset all I have to do is walk her to a window or take her outside. She's instantly happy again!


Nicholas' last day of school was May 30. We joined him for the last day picnic lunch.

I'm afraid a thunderstorm moved in and we didn't get to spend much time outside - but moving inside allowed us to get some nice group photos of Nicholas and his friends. Here he is with his teacher.

I cannot believe the school year is over already. It seems like just yesterday we were out shopping for school supplies! Nicholas' teacher was really impressed with the progress he has made this year - both academically as well as socially.

We've had Nicholas in therapy and I think it really is helping. We've had quite a lot to deal with over the past few months. We did a bio family search and we recieved a very detailed report about Nicholas' bio family as well as photos of Nicholas as a baby and his bio Mom and Dad. We also broke the news to Nicholas that his bio Mom passed away. She died in 2007 and we assumed he already knew. But after the search he started asking questions that made us realize he didn't know (or had blanked it out). So - we sat down and told him. It was so hard and we all cried with him. Even Emma woke to see us crying and she started crying too. It really impressed Nicholas that Emma cared about his bio Mom and I think he really bonded with her that day. At church this past Sunday Pastor Vera said a special prayer for his bio Mom.

Nicholas has quite the busy June. The first week he was in soccer day camp. He learned a lot and we're hoping maybe we can start him on a team at some point. I just think we need to stop another activity before commiting to a new sport. He is starting to complain about going to Taekwondo and we're wondering if he will want to continue that much longer...

This week he is in softball day camp. When I signed him up for the camp I looked hard to see if it was co-ed and I couldn't find anything. Well - Mike took him this morning and sure enough - he's the only boy. At first he was a little embarrased but then seemed to eat it up so I think he'll be fine for the week. He came running in the house jabbering away about all he learned so I think it will still benefit him!

Next week he is in theatre day camp. I'm certain he will grow up to either be a stand-up comedian or an actor so I thought it might be best to hone his skills early! :o) He's really looking forward to this one. I had hoped there would be more weeks of this but there is only one camp for his grade level.

There have been quite a few events in the past two weeks. Nicholas lost another tooth. Not one with a crown this time - but he's still very excited!

And Emma had her first tooth come in! Here's an extreme close-up of the little thing. It is unbelievably sharp!


One Saturday I went out scrapbooking and Mike and Nicholas fed Emma that night. Mike had to take photos to show me what a great time they all had!! :o) You can see by Emma's smile she loved getting dirty!


I forgot to post that Emma rolled over! It happened May 9 and I'm afraid no one actually saw it... I had her on the changing table and she decided to surprise me with a splash when her diaper was off. I got her cleaned up and then put her on our bed. I turned around for just one minute to change the cover on the changing table and when I turned back around she was on her tummy! Way to go!

Late Mother's Day Tea

Last weekend I decided I really wanted to go to the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse for Mother's Day. Apparently every other mother in Colorado also wanted to go there...they were booked solid all weekend. So - we went this weekend! Our friends John and Wendy first told us about the Tea House and we were so happy they could join us!

Here is the inside of the Tea House

As you can see it is beautiful!! Dushanbe, Tajikistan is a sister-city for Boulder and in 1987 Dushanbe's mayor decided to send a handcrafted tea house to celebrate the relationship. The ceiling and columns are hand carved and painted. Artisans spent years in Boulder reassembling and putting the finishing touches on the building.

We had a fantastic time and had a wonderful tea. Picking from the menu of teas took quite a while!


I think we'll be going back to sample the other teas and the plates of pastries and sandwiches were awesome!


There was a festival going on right outside the teahouse and Nicholas had a good time playing and then gave fencing a try. He looked a bit more like Luke Skywalker swinging a light saber than a fencer - but he had a really good try at it!

Circus Play; Cub Scouts, and Prunes...

Nicholas was in the school play again this year. The play was about the Circus and he was in the band. He got to play a kazoo and he was thrilled! Mike made his top hat out of poster board and I made his vest out of an old t-shirt and gold braid.



Nicholas had his Cub Scout crossing over ceremony. He is now a bear cub. When the leader painted their cheeks they each got a new name. Nicholas' is "Young Deer".




Emma tried applesauce - her first fruit. She liked it so much she wanted to lick the jar! :o)

And here she is after trying prunes for the first time - quite a mess! She decided she wanted to suck her thumb after each spoonful - and got the prunes everywhere. But this is nothing compared to the mess in her diaper the next day...we won't be having prunes again unless she's backed-up...!


Here is Nicholas' new hair cut! We think he looks very handsome. He had decided he wanted to grow his hair long like a boy from his has Taekwondo class (the boy is in high school). We said we would try it - but wow - did it ever get messy looking. We finally convinced Nicholas to get a trim and he could tell the barber how he wanted it cut. I think he picked a winning cut!

Thanks everyone for you suggestions for tv shows for Nicholas. We've set up tivo to record many of them. I'm still looking for a tv show about a family though - I think it would really help Nicholas as he still needs to learn about the dynamics of family life. The concept of a family is still a bit new for him and it only recently dawned on me that watching a tv show about a "nice" family would help him. But I want a show where the kids respect the parents. Tami suggested Little House on the Prairie and we're going to give that a try. Please let me know if you think of any other family shows. I'd like something more "modern" if possible.