So yesterday I woke up full of energy and ready for an adventure with Marisol and Gerry. I thought it was supposed to be another beautiful day, and the forecast for our neighborhood said 70 and sunny. Perfect!
We made the preparations. I made lunches. We got dressed. Loaded up the van and stopped at an ATM for some cash.
As we drove out of Alexandria towards Washington DC I noticed that although it was mostly sunny above us, the sky looked very foreboding and ominous where we were headed. uh oh. So I crossed my fingers and kept going - we couldn't stop now!
Leesburg Animal Park is almost an hour drive from us. Five minutes before we got there it started raining. Shoot. Of course I didn't have rain gear - it was supposed to be sunny and 70! Luckily I did bring some warm clothes. I ran through options in my head - go to a store and buy some rain gear? Or at least kill some time till the rain stopped?
We ended up hanging out in the car for half an hour or so then putting our warmest clothes on and braving the weather. The kids were awesome, especially Marisol, who does NOT like to get wet. I told her that I learned a lesson - to check the weather of where you were going, not just your home! She also learned a lesson on the way - 4 headbands in your hair can give you a headache. :-)
They both loved the animals and Gerry is following in his big sister's footsteps - he was brave enough to touch a donkey, pig, and feed some sheep. This surprised me since he is often afraid of dogs at the park!
After the animals we headed over to "Pumpkinville", had some free cider and did as many fun things as we could. I even took them down two huge slides on my lap to spare them wet bottoms (I on the other-hand look like I waded up to my waist into the nearby pond!) They really were troopers and we made the best of it. At least there were no lines - we were almost the only ones there!
Today we are all recovering and slightly sick. You can read about that here.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Pawleys Island
Pawleys Island, September 2011
She was in the ocean before we could even get into our house!
He was a little unsure of the ocean
Grandma attracts butterflies!
Following the map
I love these pictures - this walkway to the beach was just across the road from us! We walked to dinner this night 
NASCAR! Who's more excited, Daddy or Marisol?
Ripley's Aquarium
Mermaids!
Self portrait 
Reviving the Blog
I cannot believe that it's been since January since my last post! I wrote two "newsletter" type emails to family in January and August and thought I would post them up here to fill in some gaps of what we've been up to the past 1o months.
January 23, 2011
Hello Family!
Things have been quite busy here in DC since the New Year. Of course on my still uncompleted "to-do" list was thank-you notes for all of the wonderful gifts that were showered on our family over the holidays, especially the kids. I can honestly say that every single gift has been loved and used and has been making these long, cold, winter days a lot more fun! So thank you very much. Christmas was a very fun, busy, and memorable time for us this year with time spent in Florida with the Damaskes and Minneapolis with the Mays and Potters.
So, what have we been so busy with? Well, I have to say these two kids are keeping me on my toes! Marisol started dance class and absolutely loves it. We are regulars at our library's story hour and Spanish story hour. We also joined a "Preschool-homeshool" group and have made quite a few play groups and outings/museums for that. It is amazing the difference a year makes - this time last year we were basically "hibernating" as Marisol much preferred to stay home and play and didn't want or need to get out or see others very often. This year she is happy to have a play date or get out most days!
Gerry is often just along for the ride but fortunately he enjoys getting out of the house and seeing new things so it works out for all of us. He is our little "outdoors man" and wants to go out not matter how cold it is. A couple of days we've managed to entice his sister out to the park by pushing some of their babies in the shopping cart and stroller.
And I have been busy getting ready for a Hypnobabies training in St. Louis. I am going to be a Hypnobabies childbirth instructor! I'm very excited about it. I used a home study course while I was pregnant with Gerry and really enjoyed it and felt it helped a lot for his birth. Anyways, I have had to read some books and review them and also do a Hypnosis home-study course to get a background in Hypnosis. I've had to practice too (Thanks to Laura and Mike, my two lovely guinea pigs! :-) The training is 5 days in the beginning of March - Gerry will come with me and my mom is meeting us there to take care of him during the day. Nonna Gigi is going to come here to keep Mike and Marisol company for a few days too. Thank goodness we have such wonderful, helpful family!
And to top it off... we are thinking of moving soon (in the next several months) and have been searching online every day. We've actually seen about 7 places in person too, but nothing has been the exact right place yet. We are getting a good sense of what we want though - where we want to live, what our budget is, and what we are looking for. Hopefully there might even be space for me to have my childbirth classes. It is so much fun looking! I tend to get very excited about places but Mike is a good balance for me as he is more patient and "picky" (in a good way!)
So that is what we have been up to! I can't believe we are already in the last full week of January. I'm happy to say that I'm almost finished with my preparation work for the training so soon will be able to focus solely again on fun-filled days with the kids... and preparing Marisol and myself for our first ever separation!
Much Love to All-
Susan
August 16, 2011
Hello Family!
I just wanted to check in and say hi to everyone and give a little update about what everyone here has been up to. I suppose we aren't technically the "DC Mays" anymore, but "Alexandria Virginia Mays" just doesn't have the same ring to it ;-) And we are still so close to the capital that I feel like we are still right in DC - it is actually easier to get downtown now by metro than it used to be in our old neighborhood with a DC address. We can see the metro out our back window now!
It has been a busy, fun year already. Besides moving, probably the biggest change for our family as a whole is that I am teaching regularly now. I finished my first class series a week ago with 3 couples and am half way through another series with 1 couple. I already have some interest in my first fall session too. So it seems to be building slowly and steadily. It doesn't sound like much - teaching 3 1/2 hours once a week - but between getting the house ready, food, and preparation time, it is really taking a large chunk of our week/weekend. The good news is that Mike and the kids are making the adjustment really well AND I am enjoying everything about it. Also it should only get easier as I become more familiar with the material.
The kids are great! It is just so amazing watching them grow and change every day. They are starting to actually play more "together" which is so much fun. Gerry wants to be just like his big sister and follows her around doing everything she does! Marisol is (almost always) a very loving big sister. I love watching them laugh together. And I am appreciating how much more mobile we are now that they are getting a little bigger. Trips to the museum (or county fair, which we did last week!) with just me and the kids are even more "do-able" and enjoyable now than ever.
Gerry makes us all smile/laugh on a daily basis. He is adding words to his vocabulary every day and repeating us more and more. Some of my favorite words of his, because they seem so random are: step(s) ("stip!"), towel ("toww! - lots of spills around here), up high ("uphigh!" - he thinks it's one word :-), and no-way! (one of many ways he tells us no). He is just at such a fun age and stage of development. Favorite activities for him include running and jumping, pushing babies in strollers, putting the baby doll through the model pelvis I have for teaching, playing basketball, bike rides, watching "Dino Dan", and train sitings.
Marisol has turned into a real social butterfly and we make new friends every time we go out. We still play with our friends Sam and Josie almost every week and are adding new neighborhood and homeshcooling friends all the time. With all of the swimming we've done this hot summer she made some big strides and is starting to paddle around all on her own (no swimmies!) We were both excited (Did a happy dance together in the kitchen) about sending our NOI (notice of intent) in to the Superintendent last week so we are "officially" homeschooling. Passions of hers still include animals and fairies and we love to go to the library to get more books out from the series by Daisy Meadows. I think there are over 100 fairy books she has written and we've read over half together. It continues to amaze me how kids learn things from places you would never expect - their minds are amazing!
Mike continues to be our rock - enjoying his work and being fully present with us when he is not there.
We've almost survived our first full summer in the DC heat. We are looking forward to the fall though when we can get outside more! We're also looking forward to going to Myrtle Beach in September (I feel like I will have really "earned" a vacation!) and then the holiday season... We know that 2011 still holds a lot more fun and family time for us!
Sending lots of love...
January 23, 2011
Hello Family!
Things have been quite busy here in DC since the New Year. Of course on my still uncompleted "to-do" list was thank-you notes for all of the wonderful gifts that were showered on our family over the holidays, especially the kids. I can honestly say that every single gift has been loved and used and has been making these long, cold, winter days a lot more fun! So thank you very much. Christmas was a very fun, busy, and memorable time for us this year with time spent in Florida with the Damaskes and Minneapolis with the Mays and Potters.
So, what have we been so busy with? Well, I have to say these two kids are keeping me on my toes! Marisol started dance class and absolutely loves it. We are regulars at our library's story hour and Spanish story hour. We also joined a "Preschool-homeshool" group and have made quite a few play groups and outings/museums for that. It is amazing the difference a year makes - this time last year we were basically "hibernating" as Marisol much preferred to stay home and play and didn't want or need to get out or see others very often. This year she is happy to have a play date or get out most days!
Gerry is often just along for the ride but fortunately he enjoys getting out of the house and seeing new things so it works out for all of us. He is our little "outdoors man" and wants to go out not matter how cold it is. A couple of days we've managed to entice his sister out to the park by pushing some of their babies in the shopping cart and stroller.
And I have been busy getting ready for a Hypnobabies training in St. Louis. I am going to be a Hypnobabies childbirth instructor! I'm very excited about it. I used a home study course while I was pregnant with Gerry and really enjoyed it and felt it helped a lot for his birth. Anyways, I have had to read some books and review them and also do a Hypnosis home-study course to get a background in Hypnosis. I've had to practice too (Thanks to Laura and Mike, my two lovely guinea pigs! :-) The training is 5 days in the beginning of March - Gerry will come with me and my mom is meeting us there to take care of him during the day. Nonna Gigi is going to come here to keep Mike and Marisol company for a few days too. Thank goodness we have such wonderful, helpful family!
And to top it off... we are thinking of moving soon (in the next several months) and have been searching online every day. We've actually seen about 7 places in person too, but nothing has been the exact right place yet. We are getting a good sense of what we want though - where we want to live, what our budget is, and what we are looking for. Hopefully there might even be space for me to have my childbirth classes. It is so much fun looking! I tend to get very excited about places but Mike is a good balance for me as he is more patient and "picky" (in a good way!)
So that is what we have been up to! I can't believe we are already in the last full week of January. I'm happy to say that I'm almost finished with my preparation work for the training so soon will be able to focus solely again on fun-filled days with the kids... and preparing Marisol and myself for our first ever separation!
Much Love to All-
Susan
August 16, 2011
Hello Family!
I just wanted to check in and say hi to everyone and give a little update about what everyone here has been up to. I suppose we aren't technically the "DC Mays" anymore, but "Alexandria Virginia Mays" just doesn't have the same ring to it ;-) And we are still so close to the capital that I feel like we are still right in DC - it is actually easier to get downtown now by metro than it used to be in our old neighborhood with a DC address. We can see the metro out our back window now!
It has been a busy, fun year already. Besides moving, probably the biggest change for our family as a whole is that I am teaching regularly now. I finished my first class series a week ago with 3 couples and am half way through another series with 1 couple. I already have some interest in my first fall session too. So it seems to be building slowly and steadily. It doesn't sound like much - teaching 3 1/2 hours once a week - but between getting the house ready, food, and preparation time, it is really taking a large chunk of our week/weekend. The good news is that Mike and the kids are making the adjustment really well AND I am enjoying everything about it. Also it should only get easier as I become more familiar with the material.
The kids are great! It is just so amazing watching them grow and change every day. They are starting to actually play more "together" which is so much fun. Gerry wants to be just like his big sister and follows her around doing everything she does! Marisol is (almost always) a very loving big sister. I love watching them laugh together. And I am appreciating how much more mobile we are now that they are getting a little bigger. Trips to the museum (or county fair, which we did last week!) with just me and the kids are even more "do-able" and enjoyable now than ever.
Gerry makes us all smile/laugh on a daily basis. He is adding words to his vocabulary every day and repeating us more and more. Some of my favorite words of his, because they seem so random are: step(s) ("stip!"), towel ("toww! - lots of spills around here), up high ("uphigh!" - he thinks it's one word :-), and no-way! (one of many ways he tells us no). He is just at such a fun age and stage of development. Favorite activities for him include running and jumping, pushing babies in strollers, putting the baby doll through the model pelvis I have for teaching, playing basketball, bike rides, watching "Dino Dan", and train sitings.
Marisol has turned into a real social butterfly and we make new friends every time we go out. We still play with our friends Sam and Josie almost every week and are adding new neighborhood and homeshcooling friends all the time. With all of the swimming we've done this hot summer she made some big strides and is starting to paddle around all on her own (no swimmies!) We were both excited (Did a happy dance together in the kitchen) about sending our NOI (notice of intent) in to the Superintendent last week so we are "officially" homeschooling. Passions of hers still include animals and fairies and we love to go to the library to get more books out from the series by Daisy Meadows. I think there are over 100 fairy books she has written and we've read over half together. It continues to amaze me how kids learn things from places you would never expect - their minds are amazing!
Mike continues to be our rock - enjoying his work and being fully present with us when he is not there.
We've almost survived our first full summer in the DC heat. We are looking forward to the fall though when we can get outside more! We're also looking forward to going to Myrtle Beach in September (I feel like I will have really "earned" a vacation!) and then the holiday season... We know that 2011 still holds a lot more fun and family time for us!
Sending lots of love...
And with that, I pronounce this blog REVIVED! Haha, I hope to start posting some pictures and blurbs a little more regularly again. We'll see how successful I am!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)