American Girl Store, DC, and DC Cupcakes...OH MY!

The very next weekend after the beach/Daytona, we packed up again and headed to DC for the weekend. Back in June, an American Girl Store opened up, so we decided to take Boo to celebrate what an awesome job she did in school this year!  She was over the moon excited about going to the store!  Her eyes lit up and she didn't know where to start, once we got into the store.  She picked out a new doll, some clothes for her doll, clothes for another doll she already had at home, and a shirt for herself.  She LOVED LOVED LOVED this store, but I have to be honest and say I was quite disappointed in it.  Having been to the AG store in NYC, nothing compares to it...I guess Boo and I will have to venture to NYC to see the "real" AG store:)

The next morning, we headed out to the National Mall.  Mackenzie can tell you all about Lincoln, so our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial.  Zach was like Rocky climbing those stairs:)  Oh, and another cool thing we saw was Obama!  OK, we didn't really "see" him, but we saw his helicopters taking him to the airport!  We were walking towards the Lincoln Memorial, and you could hear the helicopter coming so we stopped to look!  Greg asked if I thought Obama was on it and I said "if he is, then there should be another helicopter coming very close behind it because they always fly 2 helicopters for safety."  As soon as I said that, here comes the second helicopter.  (And for those no-sayers, if you google to see if Obama was in dc on July 9th, it will tell you that he left the south lawn in Marine One to head towards Camp David...so YES, we saw Obama:) Back to Lincoln...after we walked around for a bit, we grabbed a snack and took a quick break, and then started the almost 2 mile walk to the Air and Space Museum.  It was so hot outside, but with just a few stops in the shade, we made it!  Zach LOVED all the air planes in the museum.  It was really neat to watch him take it all in.  Boo, liked it as well, but being my daughter, she was ready for the gift shop and to find a place to eat:)  We spent almost 2 hours at the museum and then had a quick bit to eat at the McDonald's (which the kids will tell you was the coolest part of the museum!).

The next place that Mackenzie wanted to go was Georgetown Cupcakes...the cupcake store that is on the TLC show called "DC Cupcakes."  It was a very short drive from the National Mall, so we went.  We really lucked out that there was no line, because we have heard stories of the line being wrapped around the block!  We took lots of pictures and  $17.00 later, we left DC Cupcakes with 1/2 dozen cupcakes!  Greg liked his cupcakes, Boo didn't like her's, mine was ok, and Zach the true food lover that he is, took one bit and said it was disgusting and threw his away!  These cupcakes were made from fancy ingredients and I think that threw the kids off.  I myself have had much better cupcakes (like Magnolia bakery in NYC...)but Boo really wanted to see the shop and it was so worth it!!

Vacation Time

FINALLY we have made it to summer!  Our first vacation of the summer was different than most of our trips.  You see, Daddy and "Uncle" Charlie and some other boys went to Daytona to see a race, so "Auntie" Marie and I packed up the kids and headed to the beach!  I must admit, we had the best time!  Our clipboard of fun was full of great ideas, and our first stop was the battleship in Wilmington.  It was super hot that day, but the kids did great.  At first, Zach was scared (I'm talking crying, shaking, and SOBBING here) about going down the ships steep stairs.  It took a lot of help to get him down the steps, but then I figured out the secret...I told him all about how Dub was on ships like this in the Navy (many, many, MANY years ago:)...and Dub would be so proud to hear that Zach climbed up and down the stairs like a big boy...totally worked! After that talk, Zach was a pro at the stairs!  The kids had a blast seeing all the guns, where the sailors would eat, where they slept, etc.  Later in the afternoon, we made it out to the beach, and to my surprise the kids literally dove right into the water.  They had NO fear...waves were knocking them down and they would bounce right back up and keep going.  The next morning we took the kids to the aquarium to see all the fish and sharks!  Mackenzie had been there before and she loved it again.  Zach wasn't to sure about the tanks that you walk through...especially when he saw the HUGE shark about his head, but once he figured out that he was safe, I couldn't get him away from the tanks:) 

Seems like the boys also had a great trip to Daytona!  Greg said that even though he is not a race car fan, he enjoyed seeing all the ins and outs of a real race!  Although if I was to bet, I would say the kids and I had more fun:)

February just plain stinks....

I'm beginning to H-A-T-E the month of February, because it is turning out to mean sadness...

February 16th, marked the one year anniversary of Lulu's passing, and let me just say it feels like just yesterday I got "the" phone call, and it hurts, just the same.  This has been a rough year for me dealing with Lulu's passing.  It's just hard to accept that she is gone (I refuse to go to the cemetery because in my crazy little mind, seeing the grave marker will just do me in...).  The kids talk about her often, which makes me smile.  In fact, just last month, Mackenzie had to go to school dressed up like she was 100 years old, and what better place to get "supplies" for this project than Lulu's house!  Oh, how Lulu would have loved to see this!  On a happy note, Lulu had a great love for People Magazine...and when I say great love, I mean don't you dare think about touching her copy of the magazine until she read it cover to cover and did the crossword puzzle:)  Well, People magazine did an article about Elizabeth Edwards the other month, and in the article they included a picture of the cemetery where she is buried, which just so happens to be the same cemetery where Lulu is.  In this picture, you can see Lulu's headstone!  LULU IS FAMOUS!!! (I don't tell people this a lot, but I think it was a sign from Lulu to let me know she is ok). 

On February 20th, my brother-n-law lost his Grandmother who had been sick.  Then on February 21st, Greg's grandmother, known to the kids as Faraway Great Grandma passed away.  She had been sick for sometime, but that didn't make it any easier.  Thankfully, we took the kids to Florida last December (2009) so that Zach could meet her.  He had a great time with her and she really enjoyed meeting and playing with him.  The family had a nice little service for her in Florida and Greg and his family were able to attend.  The kids and I stayed home because Boo had school and the trip was really short.  Greg said that it was very nice, and it was nice to see family that they hadn't seen in years.

Here are a few pictures of these special ladies that we have lost.  I chose the one of Lulu because she was SO happy the day that she met Zach for the first time...and that smile on her face is how I remember her.  The pictures with Faraway Grandma are from our trip...you can she how happy she was to see her great great grand babies...

An Update

It has been months since my last post so here is what we have been up to.  You would think with me being a stay at home mom, that I would have all the time in the world to upload photos, organize them, and update a simple blog, but the truth is, most days I hardly have time to breath:)  The kids are busier than ever with school, choir practice, soccer practice, play dates, speech, and field trips!  Every time I turn around we are going in ten different directions (but the real secret is...I wouldn't have it any other way:)!


 Mackenzie:  Booskie is now 6 years old!  She can now offically use two hands to show how old she is (and she is super proud of that)!  She LOVES LOVES LOVES school!  She is learning to read on her own, with just a little help from us, and continues to love any type of art project.  She still loves riding the bus to and from school which is a huge blessing for me!  She is also really into reading chapter books.  Each night we read to her and her favorite books are the Junie B. Jones books...and to be honest they are really cute!  Booskie is still loving choir and has asked for next year to join our Church dance group AND do choir:)

Zach: Well, he is all boy!  My little man is into EVERYTHING!  He is going to speech therapy two times a week and he loves his teacher!  He is doing SO much better with his words...it is amazing how fast he picks up stuff!  He will go pack to his regular preschool in the fall, and let me just say, I CAN NOT WAIT:)  He keeps me busy for sure.  Zach is really into Transformers and is starting to get into Star Wars thanks to his big cousin Thomas.  It's kind of sad he doesn't like the toddler toys any more, he has moved on to big boy toys.

A few weeks ago, Zach learned how to ride his bicycle with no training wheels...he literally did this in about a two week time period!  Mackenize has been riding without training wheels for a while now...I can not believe how fast they are growing up.