Last week was near perfect weather. Some coolness, some sun, some rain, lots of beautiful clouds . . . which was especially nice, since Lu has chosen to study about rain and clouds the last couple of weeks.
We headed to the Arboretum.
The clouds reminded me of something Dad would have painted.
I know. Lots of pictures. But the colors seemed so vibrant, and it was such a lovely day.
Enjoy the last week of July! We'll be back in a week or two with pictures of California.
About a month ago, Lu overheard me talking on the phone about the progressive difficulty I was having getting the kids to eat various foods. If I remember correctly, the conversation went something like this:
Lu was in charge of the Family Home Evening treat tonight. She couldn't decide between sand dollar cookies, a recipe she read about in the Friend, or a flag cookie cake.
After I showed her a picture of the flag treat again, it didn't take her long to decide. She was pretty meticulous about the design of the flag.
"Does it need another blueberry? Hmmm, perhaps another marshmallow there."
Ohhhh, the wonder of it all. You can just see the magic reflected in his eyes.
I just ASSUMED we were making an American flag. Lu had other ideas. She actually came up to me with a Union Jack she had created with markers on paper to show me the pattern that we should follow (you can see it in a corner of the top picture).
. . . of the bike variety have consumed our lives this week. The kids came home from D.C. anxious to practice their biking skills after watching their cousins handily trounce on them in this area. Who says peer pressure isn't good? Just as Phx was practicing on Lu's bike, in anticipation of getting his own bike for his birthday, Lu decided she was ready to ride without training wheels. What do we do? Tell Lu to hold off for another two months? Or let her take the training wheels off and get Phx his own bike? You can guess what we decided.
Voila, a new birthday bike from Grandma and Grandpa (who had already offered to get it for him). It's the boy's version of Lutece's bike, which has served her well for the last two years and still has *at least* two more years left in it. It's called the Schwinn Gremlin, a very appropriate name. Instead of the little basket Lu's bike has, this one has a more manly water-bottle carrier. He stops every 10 seconds or so to take a drink.
And he's off!
Back to Lu. This is quite an exciting milestone for us. We've been asking her for a couple of months if she wanted to try riding without training wheels, but she hasn't responded well. She informed us last weekend, on her own, that she was ready to try. Stayc took them off, ran around with her a bit, and let go. She's been going ever since.
Sigh. She's getting to be so grown-up.
We went camping with friends last month and the only pictures I got were of Phx covered in mud. Sometimes when you're having fun, you don't remember to take pictures until something so crazy happens that it reminds you to record it.
Our campsite was situated near a small stream (more like a trickle), and it had rained the couple of days previous to our outing. Phx found his element.
As dusk fell, he became more and more covered in mud. Delicious!!
The next day we took a short hike with all the kids. We will definitely do this again . . . next year.
The kids got lots of cousin time on vacation. This, however, worked out best for Lutece, who found herself a new playmate (Nick) and quickly discarded her old one (Phoenix), who is not yet as adroit at making new friends.
Nick and Lu are just two weeks apart, and while I was apprehensive of whether they would get along, I needn't have worried. They were as thick as thieves. They formed a "club" and allowed the "little kids" (Phx and Ryan and occasionally Gavin) to participate in the clubhouse activities.
They also had a club "room" in the bedroom Lu occupied at Grandma's house, into which they did NOT allow the little boys. They even created a secret knock . . . although I think they each had their own and they didn't correspond. Details!
As thick as thieves, I tell you.
I was able to capture one of the Club activities on film, one in which all were included. Here they are digging holes. The purpose? Does there really have to be one? Did you not read the "digging" part of that sentence.
Between trips to Mt. Vernon and the hospital, we also managed to make it into downtown D.C. for a tour of the White House and a visit to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Alas, we have no pictures of our tour of the White House since cameras, purses, food, strollers, and well, just about everything, are not allowed on tours of the White House. We (the adults) found it highly enjoyable, especially since it was just the five of us and our own personal tour guide, a friend who works for the government. I wish the kids had been able to appreciate it more, but they got bored pretty quickly.
Luckily, they really enjoyed the Museum of Natural History.
I think they both could have stayed longer, but this time the adults were worn out and hungry.
It was a long day (morning) of lots of walking.
Considering the two days previous were filled with more blood and throw-up than I care to think about, the kids did pretty well!
After a failed first attempt, we decided to get back on that horse, and try to enjoy a less-eventful visit to General and Martha Washington's home. So while Stayc took a conference call, Grandma and I took the kids to Mt. Vernon for the second time in five days.
Notice that Phoenix wore tennis shoes instead of flip-flops.
The reenactors were out and about, perhaps rehearsing for the 4th of July (the next day). And General Washington himself walked the grounds. When I asked the kids if they'd like to get their picture taken with George, he said to me, "Madam, not even my wife calls me by my first name." Oops.
Maybe one day I'll photoshop these two pictures together. Ah well.
Phx kept his ticket in his hand for the entire visit, much like a talisman. I noticed it because he did the same thing on his first visit. He didn't let go of it until he got to the hospital. Not a great lucky charm, but some source of comfort for the little guy.
Most of you have already heard the story, and I don't have the heart to retell it in its entirety, but here it is in a nutshell:
We were all excited and the kids were engaged.
As it happened, Phx tripped in the small gully and face-planted right into the corner of a stone step. He started screaming, I started crying (well, not right away), Stayc scooped him up from my arms, Grandma took charge of Lutece, and someone from Mt. Vernon immediately appeared to lead us to the nearest first aid unit. As it turns out, he had hit an artery in his forehead, resulting in the profuse bleeding that covered all of our shirts by the end of the incident. There was a sizable hole in his forehead (about the size and shape of a third eye) and lots of blood and crying (Phx and me).
Seven hours and eight stitches later, we arrived home, all bandaged up. Don't even get me started on the stomach flu that hit at 3:00 a.m. that night. Lu spent the next day throwing up and Phx? Well, it came out the other end.
Here he is, one week later, at home. This one's for you, Scott.
