Happy Birthday Mia!

Mia celebrated her 3rd birthday with a Dora theme. Dora is still her favorite show, and the only show she'll watch.

She had a ton of presents to open, as usual.


Dress up clothes were the favorite gift.


Chocolate Dora cake, delicious!


Make a wish!

Halloween 2014

We had a visit from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Janet for Halloween again this year, we always love it when they visit! In the morning, while Ian was busy at Kindergarten, Mia's class had a Halloween parade at school.

Mia and her friend Charlotte were both dressed as ladybugs.

Time to trick or treat!

Joe had to match Ian of course.

Aunt Janet helped to carve some fancy pumpkins.

Eating all the candy.

Busy Sunday

Today we spent the day in Western Maryland exploring some places I went to as a kid.  Ian had been asking to go in a cave, so our first stop was Crystal Grottoes.  He was a bit disappointed the cave wasn't full of bears and bats, but I think he really enjoyed it.

Of course we threw some rocks in the creek while we waited.






Stalactites and stalagmites






Future spelunkers?


After meeting up with Emily and John for a pizza feast and some ice cream in Boonsboro, we all headed to the Antietam National Battlefield to run around outside.  We walked about 3 miles and Mia made it the whole way!






At the top of the observation tower

Hiking Great Falls

This morning we got up early to beat the crowds on the trails at Great Falls (the Virginia side).  The kids loved climbing on the rocks and Ian was in charge of finding the trail markers. Ian declared that hiking "isn't so bad after all!"





Checking out the great view of the Falls.


She's so pretty.






"Ta-da!  I did it myself!"








Pretty spot for a snack break


Climbing on the locks






No hike is complete without throwing some rocks into a creek.

Hoppy Easter!

I'm a week late with this post, but better late than never.  The kids had a great time hunting for the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid in the yard.  The bunny was smart enough to wait for Joe to give the yard the first cut of the year before venturing out to look for the best hiding spots.

National Arboretum

Spring has finally arrived in Virginia and the flowering trees are in full bloom!  We decided to explore a new spot with a picnic and some walking at the National Arboretum.  While there weren't nearly as many cherry blossoms or nice walking paths as around the Tidal Basin, there also weren't any crowds.