My Pretty Girl

What a lovey!

The Week's Highlights

I have been so busy this week that I haven't had a second to post what we've been doing as it happens....so her are the snippets........
The nice warm weather allowed Elizabeth and Patrick to play garage hockey while I was getting waffles ready for breakfast. I really hope that either likes hockey beyond the garage.
On Saturday we made an appearance (in the last hour) at the Family Fun Festival at Patrick's school. We got there so late there were no more snacks for the kids and the ice cream man had left. Nevertheless, Pat and Sis had fun on Westside's playground (built as an effort to combat Nature Deficiency Disorder.....google it). Pop-Pop met us there on his way to pick up Grandma at the airport. Patrick was really excited to show Pop-Pop his school, especially his classroom. Patrick did great on the rope swing....way better than I thought he would.
Elizabeth isn't quite ready for the rope swing, but loved the slides built into the hills and the HUGE sand pit. Real smart of me dressing her in a dress??
We ruled out Rickshaw driver as a possible career for Patrick.....he couldn't keep he and Sissy on the "road".
The Louer kids gettin' ready for the summer.....good times.
Patrick was excited for us to finally make it to the Spiderman park. He has been asking forever to go. We gave him the option of going to see the movie Earth or go to the park. Wow.
Elizabeth had a lot of fun too. She really liked going down, I mean pushing Daddy down, the slide.

We ended many nights this week with ice cream cones. One more sign that summer is quickly approaching!

The Four Kids

Kate and I didn't take any pictures of the four kids until we were all running out the door on our last day. To make matters worse, there was a water drop or something on the lens of my camera and it was all foggy. Anyway, our last day was beautiful and I wish the picture was better.....we'll get a better one when they are all in Maine together this summer!

National Zoo

Finally, our time at the National Zoo........it has been a zippy time since we got back, can you tell by the late post?
Mom wasn't very smart and didn't pay any attention to the weather forecast before we left for Virginia. We did the indoor museum on the nice day and the zoo on the rainiest. Oh well. Patrick and Elizabeth still had a blast and really didn't complain at all about the rain. Elizabeth spent a lot of time in the stroller....what a trooper, as she was on the front lines absorbing the rain for Pat and Mom.
A monkey man at home with his monkey peeps. There were all these cool bronze chimpanzee statues that the kids loved climbing on. Would have gotten' more pictures but I was paranoid with the expensive camera and the rain.
Patrick and Elizabeth are watching the orangutans play and investigate milk crates coated in maple syrup. Below you will see a few of the animal highlights from the zoo.

Luke the Lion....of course

Tiger

Giant, old tortoise

This is a mama Gorilla. I couldn't get a good picture, but she has a two month old baby (super cute) asleep on her.

And Mom's favorite....Happy the Hippo.

It was a fun day for the three of us, but we were happy to get into dry cloths and a warm car at the end of the day. We can't wait to bring Daddy back there.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Our first stop on Monday, before arriving at Kate's house, was the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. Patrick was SOOO excited to go and see the dinosaurs, animals, ice age, everything.The first thing we saw right when we walked in was Dum Dum......the kids we're really excited to see something so familiar and Rain man, I mean Patrick, immediately started reciting lines from Night at the Museum (funny flick if you haven't seen it)
It was hard for me to get many pictures - Patrick was so excited he could hardly pose for any pictures and I was super paranoid because there were a lot of people there. Oh, and Elizabeth threw the biggest fit in the history of fits. It was impressive, and long, and loud!
Patrick wouldn't even hold still to pose with a Mammoth skeleton. He really enjoyed the Ice Age room.
Patrick wanted me to take a picture of this caveman because "It's Daddy" :)

Patrcik is climbing to get a closer look of the grossness......lions attack!

Here is the view from the thrid floor. We walked all around the third floor to see the elephant from every angle....and to get good shots for Daddy, because we really missed him.

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter.........a little bit like Christmas as the Easter bunny seemed to be out of control this year....oh well. Here are the highlights.....Patrick LOVED his new Spiderman bike. He rode it all over the house, well as much as Mommy would let him ride it around the house.
Elizabeth loved all her new goodies, especially her Dora jammies and dishware. She was officially eat a whole Dora meal - from placemat to utensils to cup to bowl to plate. Just need Dora napkins.
We even had an Easter egg hunt, and yes, there were Spiderman Easter eggs.......we have a fancy Easter bunny 'round these parts. I should have posted the egg hunt shot with the dark window.....our hunt took place at 5:45 am.

Pat and Sissy looking at their new books waiting to go to Pop Pop's house.

Elizabeth was gardening in the living room - cute, huh?

How lovely.

Sissy rocking in the kids chair at Pop Pop's and eating some of the treats the Easter bunny brought there.

Patrick, Elizabeth, and Mom left Pop Pop's to drive to Harrisburg as a half way stop for our Virginia vacation. We had McDonalds in the hotel because Mom was not braving the two kids in a restaurant. Sissy and Pat each had their own "tables".

Have Patrick and Elizabeth been this good??

That's what Mommy and Daddy asked after seeing all the loot the Easter bunny left. I guess what they lack in good behavior they make up in cuteness!

Friday....just as nice

Friday was also a beautiful day, so we spent most of the morning outside. We played on the swingset, played in the fort in the woods, and rode bikes....well, bikes and tractors. After all that playing we had a great surprise from Aunt Di.......fun Easter bunnies and an Easter basket cookie cake - YUM!

Dancing Queen

A random ballerina moment.....

The Real Easter Bunny

After coloring Easter eggs, Patrick wanted to be the Easter Bunny. Daddy had to "go to sleep on the couch" while Bunny Pat filled an Easter bucket with animal treats and left it for Daddy. Gathering the loot.......

Peeking around the corner to make sure Daddy is "asleep".......

and dropping the goods quick so to make a fast hop away!
(the pink skirt is the tooth fairy!)

Getting ready for the Easter Bunny

While we were waiting for yummy lasagna to bake tonight (thanks Grandpa), we decided to dye our Easter eggs.....as to be prepared for the bunny!
Patrick did a great job mixing the colors very carefully. He made sure the tablet was "fizzied" away before adding the water.
And he cheesed it up nice 'cause Mom was taking pictures.
Patrick even taught Elizabeth how to put the eggs in gently and not stick your fingers in the dye....for the most part.