Weekend Happenings

We are trying to take advantage of every weekend in the DC area! And, if I do say so myself, I think we are doing a pretty darn good job so far.

The weekend before school started I took the girls into DC to go to the Natural History Museum. They, once again, scootered to and from the Metro and around the mall and then we stashed the scooters in a locker and spent 3 hours at the museum.  A good 1.5 hours of that was in the Curious (spelled Quer?ios... or something like that) area of the museum where there are all sorts of microscopes set up and hundreds of drawers of natural wonders for people to pull out and investigate.  Both Evie and Izzy were fascinated by the grains of sand from around the world and Evie spent some time with a volunteer learning about gniess and other fancy stuff.  There was also a special exhibit on synthetic biology (which I am pretty sure is another word for genetic engineering... but maybe I am being too skeptical... or is that cynical) where the girls pasted together super heroes with whatever "parts" they thought would be best suited for rescuing a person falling from a building.  Izzy opted for a spiderweb hand and extra long hair and Evie went for extra long arms and extra long hair. Anyway, we all received pretty cool DNA tattoos for our participation, which almost made up for the slight creepiness of it :)

On labor day weekend we spent the weekend proper hanging around the house, or really hanging around outside the house, because it was so lovely.  One consequence of having a very low, see through fence, and a corner lot is that every kid who walks by sees the other kids playing in the yard.  This resulted in, at one point, no less than 10 children at our house dispersed throughout the inside and outside.  (Of course a good five of those 10 are "natives" aka our kids and nephews). Genevieve and Izzy have become particularly fond of our across the street neighbors, Rajni and Abani who are 8 and 5 respectively.  Izzy is exceptionally excited to be joining Abani's same girl scout troop at the end of this month!

Sunday evening we decided to take a walk near our house down to Rock Creek. So very fun to have running water (a creek!) about a mile from home. Dylan was out on a bike ride in the area earlier in the day and took a pit stop to leave a little message for us to find...

On Monday (Labor Day) we decided to venture further from home and drove for about 1/2 hour to Sugarloaf Mountain. Although you could drive almost to the top of the "mountain" it still turned out to be a pretty good little hike to the top for the girls. It met my marker of a good hike... by the end both girls were complaining of being tired but not in tears on the side of the trail because they are so tired (that there my friends is the mark of good parenting... just a little bit, but not too much of kid torture

Then afterwards we all went to a very nearby winery that was having its annual grape stomping festival and... you guessed it... all had the chance to stomp on grapes.  Yep, pretty much a life-long dream realized.  Now it was a contest to see who could stomp the most in 45 seconds, making it more like a fitness exam then a relaxed experience, but very fun nonetheless! (There is a video of all four of us competing, but it is on Patrick's phone so I'll have to upload that later!)

The labor day weekend finished with a bang at the annual dog swim at the local pool.  The dog swim is open to all "member" dogs and is the last hurrah for the pool water before it is drained for the winter.  It was a decidedly fabulous and bizarre experience.  We brought Sadie, but I am afraid it wasn't much fun for her...

Then this weekend, which was decidedly hotter than the weekend before, we headed out to the Chesapeake for a little bit of beach time. The girls played in the sand for a few hours, found a few shark teeth, scooped up river muck to add to their sandcastle (don't worry they bathed afterwards) and generally had a good time. We capped off the afternoon with a walk on the little main street and some ice cream.

Next weekend I think we'll be staying closer to home, but will still aim for adventure!

First Week of School

The girls had a great first week of school!

They both took the bus every day (I waited for them in the morning and then the got off at Auntie Vivi's... who just happens to be on the same bus route.... house every afternoon) and Evie was very excited to eat cafeteria lunch two days this week. It is novel now, we'll see what she thinks months from now, or perhaps cafeteria food has improved from my elementary school days. There are about 12 kids who get on at our bus stop every morning, and even three of them are kindergartners like Izzy. One morning it was pouring rain which was, once again, very novel to the girls and I, but I imagine, much like cafeteria food, come 3 months from now we won't think it is so cool. All three of us were so nervous about the whole bus routine that we showed up at least 15 minutes early every day (the bus stop is all of two houses away). I hear a report, however, that this was not the case on Friday when Patrick took them :)

In terms of school life, Evie's teacher is Mrs. Leon. Her only complaint right now seems to be that they only have science twice a week (she is used to having it four times a week). Despite our assurances that we can supplement her science she remains skeptical. To prove my sincerity I even bought her, at her request, a periodic table of elements and tree of life for her room this week.  Evie sported quite the fashion statement on the first day of school and very proudly told incredulous kids at the bus stop that they were cowboy boots that she bought at a rodeo. (I am pretty sure only a handful even knew what a rodeo was....) The other bit of excitement is that 4th and 5th graders get to chose and instrument to learn and play in band or orchestra. After much internal debate (internal to Evie) this week she has decided to learn to play the trombone. (The debate was between the clarinet and the trombone). Apparently she was considering the clarinet because she thought it would be easier because she already knew how to play the recorder, but ultimately she chose the trombone because I reminded her that they will both require practice and that she should choose the instrument that she thought was cooler. She also said that the trombone will be a good instrument for her because you have to memorize the positions for the notes and she is good a memorizing :)

Izzy had an exciting week at school too. The school did a great switcheroo to determine what class to put each kid in. What this meant was that she was assigned a homeroom (bumblebee) but went around to each class and teacher throughout the week so the different teachers could all get a sense for the kids and then put together their classrooms based on a better understanding of the kids. Everyday she came home with stories about the different teachers and what she did in their classes. On Friday morning they had a great reveal and each child's name was called and they were placed in their forever (for the year) homeroom. So we now know that Izzy's teacher for the year will be Mrs. Bley, who was Pete's teacher last year and Vivian is very excited about her placement because she loved her. 

Auntie Vivi Camp and School Camp!

The girls first two weeks in DC saw two different (but equally fun) "camps".  The first week they played with Patrick on Monday (including their second trip to the Zoo) and then Tuesday through Friday, while Patrick was back in Tucson and I was in my first week of work, they went to Auntie Vivi camp! 

As I understand it Auntie Vivi camp involved many playgrounds on any given day, hours upon hours at the community pool, excellent cuisine, and even a trip to see Secret Life of Pets on Friday. The cousins have been having a blast hanging out together, with so I am told, minimal conflict even.  Miles in particular has taken a liking to Evie and calls her Eeee, very cute.

Then last week the girls went to Kids After Hours (also known as KAH, because really people everything here must have an acronym) while Patrick settled into his working from home routine. KAH camp was a huge hit, second best of the summer by Evie's estimate and either first or second of the summer (depending on what day you asked her) by Izzy's.  The best part about the camp (for us parents at least) was that it was at their school for next year and thus a quick drive or scooter away. I think the best part for the girls was the large water slides a la Izzy's b-day party everyday, except for Wednesday when they took a field trip to a local water park.  They spend so much time in the water each kid gets a KAH rash guard and towel (with a space for their name... brilliant) on the first day they go to camp. It is good though that they are spending so much time wet because it has been ridiculously hot and humid (so they'd probably be feeling like they were wet regardless... I certainly was every morning/afternoon walking to and from work!)

Now it is just one more week of the most epic summer these kids will ever have and then it is off to school!  I've already taken them shopping for clothes and school supplies at Target...where we all ooohed and ahhhed at the two story target complete with a special escalator just for your cart... who knew?! Ahh the large and small adventures of living in such a populous place!

Pictures from Izzy's B-day Party

The birthday girl in the morning before her party getting ready to open some presents

Evie and her friends!

Daddy on the slide!

Izzy in her "birthday (swim) suit"

Izzy and her friends

Blowing out the candles!

The Big Move - Part 2

Once I made it to DC the "only" thing left to do was unpack the Subaru, meet the movers the next day, unpack the house, buy (and assemble) a bed for Izzy and a new entertainment center, and prepare for my first week of work.  No big deal... totally feasible in one week.

On Saturday the movers arrived as scheduled. I still have no idea how the semi made it down my street and to its place in front of our house. (He did mention, however, that he struggled to avoid the "Beamers, Mini's and MiniVans" and asked me to re-park the Subaru in a very particular spot so he could extricate himself at the end of the day.) Hour after hour furniture and boxes streamed into the house. From 8:30 am to 3:00 pm to be exact. Fortunately by the time the rainstorm hit at 1 pm all that was left on the semi was the piano. The storm cleared by 2:30 and the piano even made it in (and up the stairs) unscathed. I spent most of my day following them around making sure each box was deposited in the right room. Nicole and Vivian (and Miles) were on hand to help in the afternoon, which was nice.

Once the movers were finished and the dust settled it was time to start (manically) unpacking the house because, among other things, I really wanted it to be at least semi hospitable by the time Patrick and the girls showed up on Monday. So I spent the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday (except for a very (not) relaxing trip to IKEA with Vivian to get curtains and a entertainment center). By Monday afternoon when I went to pick up the rest of the fam from the airport I'd say the house was about 70% unpacked....

I was so great to see everyone at the airport! We then went back to the house (taking over an hour because of rush hour and my missing a turn for Rock Creek Parkway and having to instead drive on surface streets through DC and Maryland at rush hour...) At Evie's urging Patrick and I somehow mustered the wherewithal to build the castle bed that night.  The next day we trekked out to IKEA to get Izzy's new bed, which was, in contrast to the Sunday before, actually very pleasant and relaxing. The only hiccup was that the bed did not fit in the Subaru so we ended up having to have it shipped to the house... costing almost as much as the bed itself (sigh).  It's all good though because once set up it has turned out to be a fabulous bed for Izzy... and I even found some old gold curtains in our basement that were exactly what she wanted for the bottom part of the loft (and here I thought I'd have trouble finding gold curtains like she had asked....)

On Wednesday we continued unpacking and putting the house together, aided greatly by a trip to the pool for the girls with Aunite Vivi while Patrick and I put our nose to the unpacking grindstone. On Thursday, to give Patrick some uninterrupted work time and to celebrate having the house 95% put together, I took the girls down to the National Mall to the American History museum. We just scratched the surface of it, but saw the first lady's dresses, the original elmo and an interesting exhibit on transportation. The whole time Izzy scooted along on her birthday scooter that my Mom bought her, which turns out to be a great way for littler legs to make their way around DC! After a bit we made our way over to Mimi's house for a short visit and then back to home. It turned out to be a lot of walking, we are all going to have to get used to it!

Chasing elephant prints at the zoo.

On Friday we finished putting together the house and then spent the evening at the local pool. Complete with a visit from the local ice cream truck. Saturday we got out of the house in the afternoon (which turned out to be sweltering) and took the girls down to the National Zoo.  We saw the cuter than cute baby pandas, rejoiced at the rain, spent quality time looking at elephants, and enjoyed a local beer (well Patrick and I enjoyed the beer, not the rest of the fam). Saturday night we walked over to Vivian and Sean's house and hung out with them. Patrick got in some quality time with Vi's new 12 string guitar...

The heat (and issues with our internet/cable) kept us close to home on Sunday and then Monday morning it was off to my first day of work! Whew what a week.

The Big Move! - Part 1

No blog posts for July?! Well I guess I am not entirely surprised given that we had quite the busy July between Izzy's fabulous 5th birthday and preparing for our big move to Washington, DC. I'll pull together Izzy's 5-year interview today and post it, but first a little update from my trip across the country and the family's first week in our new house.

In order to get all of our living and combustible things that couldn't easily go on a plane (two dogs, one hamster, a 1/2 dozen house plants, batteries, matches, C02 cartridges.... ) we needed to have at least one of us drive the car from Tucson to DC. Originally we though we'd all go together, but then the reality of the pain and suffering associated with multiple 10 hour days stuffed into a car together made us reconsider. So a different plan was hatched. I would drive to DC, accompanied about 1/2 the way by a friend who wanted a ride to Kansas City, and Patrick and the girls would fly out and meet up with me a week later. All told it went pretty darn according to plan.  I even beat the semi truck full of our stuff here by about 12 hours.

In Hatch

Meow Wolf....

Meow Wolf....

Along the way, and especially while I still had a traveling companion, some fun was had. The first day we left Tucson at 6 am with the first stop goal of Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. We had prearranged a kennel for the dogs (who also said they would keep the hamster at the front desk for us) so we could go inside and explore. My cousin also drove up from Albuquerque to meet us and see Meow Wolf (yes it is just that cool) All told we made it to Santa Fe by about 3 in the afternoon (after a stop in Hatch for a chili ristra for my new kitchen) and then after getting a growler of beer from a nearby belgian style brewery hit the road for another 3 hours. The last three hours proved just a bit too much, made worse by a wicked thunderstorm, but we still made it (by 9 pm) to our first stop: the historic Eklund Hotel on main street Clayton, NM.   We went 716 miles that first day, and everyone was quite tired at the end of it:

The next day we set our sights on KC, out across a bit of Oklahoma and through the entirety of Kansas, but made a few random stops for the yellow brick road and "Dorthy's House" and for the most random set of metal sculptures in the middle of nowhere you could imagine  (it was pretty awesome).

It was acres and acres of metal sculptures, some of which were pretty darn offensive...

After a mere 540 miles of driving we made it to Kansas City by about 6 pm and to my friend's family's house, where we were greeted by a fabulous chaos of children, siblings, and guinea pigs. The next morning I went out to breakfast with my friend's family and then hit the most important strange sight in KC, the larger than life birdies and the glass maze:

It was then on the road solo (well I was now the only human in the car) with a goal of Terre Haute, Indiana and 410 miles. (I was trying to keep it to no more than 6 hours of solo driving each day I was on my own). I mostly just pushed through stopping only for the restroom.  But after we made it through Missouri and reached the Mississippi River the girls and I took a break near the river for a bit:

Just in time for the free dinner I made it to the fabulous Drury Inn in Terre Haute. Aside from the pasta with chicken, I am afraid the highlight of the evening was a walk around the block with the dogs... This was my first night solo, so I had to figure out how to get all of the valuables out of the car (including a massive at least 60 lb Tupperware strapped to a platform on the back of the car). I quickly discovered that my best option was to abscond with a valet trolley for the night and slide the Tupperware onto the trolley and then load up everything else (banjo, bag of clothes, cuckoo clock -the essentials) and then leave it all piled on the trolley for the next morning...

The next day we traveled a mere 385 miles to Tridelphia West Virginia. The highlight was a dog friendly lunch stop in Cleveland, Ohio. The rest of the day was less than pleasant, however, due to the hours and hours of traveling in the rain :P

By Friday I was so exhausted I was glad to only have a 4 hour drive to make it to Kensington! But made it I did... by noon... and was greeted by my sister-in-law and wrestling nephews in our big (and vacant) basement!

Happy 5th Birthday Isadora!

Happy Birthday Izzy!  Here is her 5th birthday interview:

Favorites
Color: Gold (she requested that her new bedroom in DC have gold accents...)
Animal: Black Jaguar (although then later she told me her favorite animal was a fox...)
Game: Duck-duck-goose - "Because you can say Kitty, Kitty, Meow instead."
Book: Skippy John Jones
TV Show: Goosebumps
Movie: The Odd Squad Movie (which she hasn't seen yet...)
Food: Pasta

What she wants to be when she grows up: A scientist who studies Black Jaguars.

Off to camp!

Izzy likes bowling... and Sprite....

Evie is in the midst of her much anticipated 2 weeks of sleep away camp. She has been looking forward to this for almost 6 months (and would have done 3 weeks if we had let her). Before we dropped her off at camp we got in one last family outing... a trip to the bowling alley.  I think I played the worst game I have ever mustered, but Evie, Patrick and Izzy were neck and neck... with Izzy eventually triumphing over Evie, but not Patrick. Certainly a milestone for us... family can now all go bowling together and actually enjoy ourselves :)

Getting on the bus for camp....

The first week of camp was all about outdoor survival skills (Kick it like Katness Camp) and this week is the Incredible Race Camp. We got to see her for a bit this weekend when we picked her up on Friday afternoon and then camped on Mt. Lemmon.  The original plan was to camp for two nights, but it was clear that she was exhausted from camp week one (and our campsite was decidedly anglely) so we headed back down to Tucson on Saturday so she could get a good rest before returning on Sunday.

 

Unfortunately for us, coming back down the mountain meant we were here in Tucson for a record 115 degree day... but don't worry, we just hung out inside and watched Scooby Doo all day :)

According to her reports the scariest part of camp was canoeing, which she was sure she knew how to do based on her "extensive" beaver pond experience. Apparently she and two other girls, who "didn't know a thing about canoeing", set off on Rose Canyon Lake and managed to get stuck out there (and rocked the boat in an unsettling fashion). She was eventually rescued by the camp counselors though.  She also got to stay in an outdoor "bungee" all week, which is basically a wood platform with a roof and screens, and work on her archery skills.

I can't wait to hear about this week!

The Catwalk Rises Again!

One of our favorite hikes, well really of all time, is the catwalk hike in Glenwood, New Mexico. It is this amazing hike up a canyon where much of the trail is a catwalk attached to the sides of a small slot canyon and then a series of bridges over the stream and access to little waterfalls.  All told it is about a 4-mile hike. 

Well, about 3 years ago now a huge flood completely destroyed the catwalks, and the whole hike has been closed. We've still stopped at the picnic area at the beginning of the hike each year because it was still a lovely place to visit, but every year it made me sad to think that we would never get to go on the catwalk hike again because there was no way that the Forest Service would be able to find the funds to fix it....  Well as it turns out they have! (Although only the first mile is now open... the rest they are still trying to find the money to fix) Totally the best surprise of the summer when on the way up to the cabin as we drove past my parents noted that it would reopen that weekend....

So anyway on the way back from our cabin adventure we stopped and hiked as far as we could.  It is different from before, to be sure, but in some ways it is even cooler now because on the way back you can access the stream and hike back in the water and under the catwalks.

Hooray for fabulous hikes! (Where the water is still cold despite the 90+ degree heat!)