Ice Cream Party

Aidan's class had an ice cream party last week at Will's house to welcome us all back to school. It was really fun - and the last really HOT day of summer. Aidan was really good about sharing his ice cream with Emmy - even though she just used her hands!What a good big brother!Apparently, sand is just as good as ice cream.Will's awesome "tree" house

Maryland Renaissance Festival

First of all - sorry for the lack of posts. We have been sick - yuck - first week back at school! It doesn't seem fair :(
The kids are both healthy again and today we went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Annapolis. We went with Aidan's friend Will and his family. It was a beautiful fall day and we had lots of fun. (If you click here and scroll down you can see two pictures from our trip last year to the festival.)
Here are Aidan and Will enjoying the huge bubbles from a bubble wand seller:Aidan got a fake glitter tattoo of a shamrock - what else?? Emmy playing in the kids area:Both kids took a pony ride:Emmy actually loved it, although she doesn't look too happy in the picture:Aidan climbed the climbing wall again this year and made it farther up!Aidan did the big slide by himself this year - I think it was faster than he remembered!

Aidan's First Day of School

Today was Aidan's first day of school! He is going 4 days a week this year from 12:45 to 3:30. He was so happy to be back - it was like he never left. He ran inside ahead of Emmy and me and was playing with his raincoat and backpack on by the time we got inside. I managed to get his coat off and he ran over to the painting area, threw on a smock and started to paint. I guess it's good that he has NO separation issues but I would like a little goodbye!

Emmy Sleeping

Here is a picture of the last time Emmy slept. It was taken on Friday - I have never been able to get a picture of her sleeping because she usually wakes up the second I open the door. On Friday she took a really long nap and I went in to wake her up - it took a while for her to actually wake up and I got a picture! Unfortunately, she hasn't slept well since then which is unusual for her since she has gone to sleep without a fuss since she was born. I'm sure it's just teeth or something but it's a little frustrating!!

Aidan's School Visit

Yesterday we went for a short visit to school to see Aidan's classroom, although it's the same as last year, and see his new teacher, Mrs. Lavernge. Emmy had a great time tearing the place up and playing with the little dolls for the dollhouse. Aidan was VERY excited to be there and so happy to see that his teacher was his favorite counselor from Nature Camp! School starts on Tuesday and we can't wait!!

King's Dominion

Yesterday we went to King's Dominion, an amusement park near Richmond. The day was nice - hot but dry and breezy - the best you can ask for in August in Virginia. Everyone had a lot of fun. Brendan and Aidan went on the log ride and on a kid's roller coaster. We all went on the carousel:There was a great play area that the kids loved - Emmy liked being out of the stroller!
Aidan took Emmy on some kiddie rides. I was really nervous that she would start freaking out but she was fine - she enjoyed the steering wheels and all the buttons .Aidan took driving very seriously - I think he thought he was really steering!!Emmy started this ride belted in but somewhere along the way she wiggled out and was standing by the time they came to the end. Talk about giving me a heart attack!!!

8 years

Today is our 8th anniversary. So much has changed since 2000 - 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 tours in Iraq, 5 homes, 1 year in Korea and 5 moves. We couldn't be happier.