D.C. and Nationals Baseball

While we were in Virginia, we headed into D.C. for an afternoon/evening. We picked up the Metro train outside D.C. so we didn't have to drive, or pay to park, in the city. Best decision ever!It was Lily's first train ride, but Kevin and I are old pros. (Not really, we downloaded a map to keep with us, but we never did get lost.)

We walked around the American History Museum for a while and then headed out to the Mall for a little lunch.


It was pretty hot. The last time we were there we practically froze but I think I would chose the cold wind over the humid heat.

After lunch, and to beat the heat, we headed back into the museum.
There were quite a few hands-on exhibits that Lily could enjoy.



After the museum we headed over to a Nationals baseball game.

It was Lily's first ballgame and she was a trooper!

Hopefully this is one of the last times you see Beebee out of the house . . .

She loves her Daddy.


And she picks on Mommy . . .
Wonderful time!

Virginia in August

For Kevin's final class of the summer we headed to Fredericksburg, Virginia for two weeks. There is a lot a things to see and do, but not all are geared toward toddlers. We visited a couple of Civil War battlefield, the library, and a handful of other historic places.

One of our favorites was the site of George Washington's boyhood home, Ferry Farm. The property was large and green, and open to explore. We walked down to the river and were devoured by what I assume were mosquitoes. It was probably only 90 degrees, but these I.E. girls were not used to the humidity. Lily doesn't actually sweat yet, and felt clammy most of the time. But she loves to explore and has recently found her love of climbing. She has never been much of a daredevil, but if there are stairs, she is going to climb them.

Here she is on the stones added to show where the archaeologists believe the main house once stood. They are still doing digs on the property and the archeologists were very friendly, coming up to the visitors to talk about the current dig.

We packed a lunch every day we went out and at Ferry Farm we ate in the garden among the watermelons and the grape vines. To our surprise, a little turtle crawled out from underneath the bench we were sitting on. I may have shrieked a little. If you ask Lily what the turtle says, she replies with "snap, snap, snap."

We also visited Chatham. Originally a plantation on the north side of the river, and used as a hospital for the Union, the gardens have been restored to how it looked in the 1920's.

The property was beautiful and although we loved exploring, it was probably the hottest day we were there.

We had snack but didn't stay for lunch; it was just too hot and humid.

We had a great two weeks exploring and playing. We went to 2 of the 4 battlefield sites, but neglected to take any pictures. There is so much more we would like to see in Virginia, but agreed we should come back in the fall or spring.

Central Coast

For his birthday, Kevin's dad gave him an awesome gift certificate for a weekend away to Cambria. It has been a busy summer, but we were excited to get away just the two of us. We love doing things with Lily, and we have a great time, but not only was it great to reconnect just us, we were able to do things in the middle of the afternoon instead of just waiting for her nap to be over.

We headed us the coast on Sunday afternoon for a beautiful cool drive. We had a great dinner in town included in our getaway package.
The next day after breakfast at the lodge, we went for a stroll along the board walk path at Moonstone beach. We didn't follow the entire way but still had a nice long walk. We headed down to the water to look at the tide pools. I must admit, this is probably the only part where I missed Lily. We saw squirrels, rabbits, deer, elephant seals, crabs, sea anemones, and so much wildlife, I would have loved to have pointed it out to her. But I was quickly over it.

We drove up a little to Hearst Beach. The sun was shining but it was still pretty cool. I used my sweater as a scarf to block some of the wind.

We went even further north and found the Elephant Seal viewing. The beach was not as full as other times in the year, but we watched them flop around a play for a while. They reminded us a lot of our dogs when the wrestle.


We headed back to town to pick up mochas for a snack and took the back to the lodge. Just outside out room/cottage there was a private little patio garden with a bistro set. I was a beautiful location for a coffee break.
In the afternoon we joined up with Kevin's sister and brother in law for wine tasting. The package included tastings at 6 wineries, but we only visited two.

We took our time at Harmonie Cellars in Harmony, population 8. The view was nice and the weather gorgeous.

That evening we had a beautiful dinner at the lodge, followed by some live entertainment. The entertainment wasn't stellar, but the company was great.


I always like to head to the coast in the summer and breathe in the fresh, cool, coastal air. It was not so great to head back home to the triple digit heat.

Manhattan Beach Pier

We spent this last week in Manhattan Beach. Kevin had a class in El Segundo this week, so Lily and I came along for the ride. It's a rough life in government work, but someone has to do it. As a disclaimer, most of the time Kevin's classes are in the middle of no where (Moline, Illinois, Hascom AFB, and some base in the middle of Utah.) And while El Segundo doesn't sound that cool, it's just a couple miles from the beach no matter how you cut it.
And like a typical beach week in California, it was foggy and overcast every day. We loved it! The high was 68 and the low 61. It was odd not to have a 30 degree swing from day to night. I grew up near the coast and while I really didn't think twice about it, I would give anything to have that weather back. Every morning, no matter if it was June or December, I would catch the bus wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. I have to admit, I was bundled up a little more this week no longer used to the chilly coastal fog.

Kevin and I attended a wedding in Universal City on Sunday night and then he had to be in class early Monday morning, so we left Lily with Grandma Peggy. They had a blast. While Kevin was in class on Monday, I drove back out to pick up Lily and bring her to the beach.

After dinner Monday night, we walked the mile and a half down to the pier. There were volleyball courts as far as you could see in either direction. The pier is short, but made a great stroll for Lily.

This picture proves that anyone who tells me my daughter looks just like me is a liar. She is her daddy's little girl.

She kept waving to the surfers but they never did look up.


As we were walking home, we got to see the final 3 minutes of the Kings game. At the buzzer, the town came to a stop. Every bar and restaurant went crazy. Cars stopped on the road and started honking. Lily was very confused as to what was going on.


We were warm from walking up the hill away from the beach, but Lily, not so much.

Vegas Vacation - Part 2

Here is a taste of Lily's mild tantrum in Vegas for you.


And a little more entertaining is Charlie swimming in the pool. We threw Bubba in a couple of times, but he panicked every time. Charlie just had a blast! He loved fetching the ball.

Vacation

We took our first family vacation last week. We have traveled, and done the getaway thing, but we had never done just the three of us. So we headed to Las Vegas to stay in my father-in-laws house. And it was truly a relaxing getaway. We played in the pool, BBQ'd and had dinner outside, watched a ton of movies, slept in . . . just wonderful. We believe in the true value of relaxation and unwinding.

One morning we headed to The Strip and walked around the Bellagio and Ceasars Palace. We saw the flowers and fountains and aquariums and enjoyed the sights.But most of the time we just hung out at the house.

She loved the porch swing.

Mommy and Bug.But when Mommy and Daddy took a picture together, she came running from the gazebo (in the background) . . . . . . screaming! She hates it when either of us give anyone else physical attention. . . including the dogs.So we had to take a couple family pictures since Bug wasn't about to be left out. Kevin let me sleep in and got up with Lily. I took long relaxing baths. We took naps. Read magazines and watched a lot of movies. It was wonderfully relaxing. We really can't wait to do it again.

Big Trees

Kevin may have lived in California his whole life, but there is so much he hasn't seen! On Saturday we headed over (up?) to the Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We had a picnic lunch just in time for the guided tour through the forest. It ended up being a little long and after Lily was done with her power nap, she was done with the back pack. But it was a great day trip.

She started out pretty content in the back pack.

Slowly she got a little more drowsy.

And finally conked out . . . for 30 minutes; definitely not long enough.

On our way back we stopped for a bathroom break and ended up with ice cream cones. Lily, who isn't allowed to have ice cream yet, was content to play peek-a-boo with Daddy's hat.

She was a trooper for being confined to her car seat for what felt like most of the vacation; a trip from Riverside to Sacramento, a day trip to the coast, a day trip to the trees, and then back down to Riverside. I'm still surprised that she get so excited when I grab my keys and put on my sun glasses; the girl loves to go!