New Orleans

We traveled to New Orleans to celebrate my birthday, and it was a great trip (despite the fact that the noise at night kept us awake).  One of the highlights was a tour of the bayous and swamp land by seaplane.  I did feel a little queasy by the end of the flight, but the bayous were very beautiful and definitely worth seeing up close.





Skyline view - Superdome on the left, Mississippi River on the right.


Landing on the water in the bayou


Swamp


Later that day we toured the Garden District, full of antebellum mansions, beautiful parks, and unique cemeteries.






For my birthday dinner we went to Restaurant August.  Joe had a ribeye steak, complete with the entire rib bone, and I got a special message on my dessert plate.




We spent a lot of time walking around the French Quarter, where balcony gardens seem to be mandatory.


We also took a walking tour of some historic bars where the famous cocktails were invented.  Here we are drinking a Pimm's Cup at The Court of the Two Sisters.


And some traditional absinthe at a bar where everyone was dressed like pirates.


And of course hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's.


St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson's Square


And the Mississippi River

Some Recent Activities

Lately we've been busy with outdoor adventures and experiments.  One evening we picked up the kids from school and walked up the W&OD trail to a BBQ restaurant for dinner.  The kids love their double stroller, and they had fun in the playhouse outside the restaurant while we ate.  On the way back, they shared a Klondike ice cream bar - Ian only wanted the chocolate and Mia only wanted the ice cream - and their messy faces show how much they enjoyed it.



Many evenings we go for walks around the lakes in our neighborhood and look for fish, ducks, frogs, and turtles.  Sometimes we stop at the playground.  Neither of the kids has ever liked swings, but once Ian discovered he could swing on his belly and pretend to be flying like Superman he changed his opinion.  And of course Mia had to do the same.



One afternoon we tried the baking soda & vinegar rocket Aunt Janet gave to Ian and Joe, but it failed at lift-off.  The kids had fun mixing up the ingredients and watching the fizz though.

Tulip Festival and Animal Park

We had nice weather again on Saturday so we headed out to Burnside Farms to see their tulip field.  We picked a nice bouquet of unique colors and shapes, and were careful to pull the bulbs as well.  We'll try to plant them in the yard and hope they come up again next year.











Mia was not very interested in the flowers but she loves trying on all of the traditional wooden clogs.




Our tulip bouquet:


After our tulip adventure, we stopped at the Leesburg Animal Park on the way home.  Ian liked feeding and petting the animals, but Mia wasn't too sure about any of it.  She stuck close to her Daddy.








We ended the day with the pirate ship playground and bounce house.

Trail Riders

Joe decided he wanted to get back into bike riding, so he got a double trailer so the kids could ride along.  They tested it out one evening in the driveway.





Mia had to get a helmet to ride on the sidewalks and trails, and Ian has been helping her test it out.

Locks of Love

Today at the hair salon I finally did something I've been wanting to do for a while - cut off my ponytail to donate to Locks of Love.  I also went a lot more red with the color than I usually do.  I figured if my hair is gonna be a foot shorter, then might as well go drastic with the color too!

Here is the before picture:


And a few afters:

88 Degrees in April

It's a sunglasses and bubbles kind of day!

Spring is Finally Here!

Warm temperatures have finally arrived in Virginia, and it looks like they're here to stay!  We had a very busy weekend and tried to take advantage of the nice weather.

Aunt Janet sent us a great new toy, which we have named Scribble Cottage.  Thanks Aunt Janet!

This morning we went to Clemyjontri park where we played all morning and had a picnic lunch.  Mia loved the twisty slide, and insisted on sliding down on her tummy, head first of course.

Of course Ian had to follow suit.

We also took a turn on the carousel.  Ian loved it, but Mia couldn't get off fast enough.

She recovered with a ride in the bouncy car.

This afternoon Joe scrubbed the deck and put all the furniture out while Ian played baseball and I tried to convince Mia that rocks are not food.

She eventually settled for goldfish, but I have a feeling we'll spend a lot of time keeping her out of the rock garden this Summer.