Declan's Preschool Orientation

The day that we have been waiting for ALL SUMMER has finally arrived!  Declan visited his classroom and met his teacher and some of his classmates today.  This may actually have been the best day in Declan's life so far, although I'll bet that in 2 days he'll have the best day of his life again when he actually gets to stay at school without me! 
He is so ready for school and I'm so excited for him!  He needs friends his age - we have a few from Stroller Strong but Declan is a guy who wants a pack of friends.  He is happiest in a big crowd - I guess that's what you get for being the youngest of four!!  We cannot WAIT until Wednesday when he has his actual first day!!

Stroller Strong Family 5K

This morning I took all of the kids to the Jefferson Memorial for a fun 5K with our Stroller Strong family.  The girls brought their scooters and made it one loop around the tidal basin - not bad - it's 1 1/2 miles!  Aidan ran the whole thing and finished in 36.07 - pretty awesome!  He was tough during the last mile and kept going even though he wanted to quit!!  So impressed by his mental toughness!  Declan enjoyed being pushed on the stroller as usual - luckily he loves when we run!!!

 

 

  

  

Aidan finishing up the last 100 yards!

 

 

  

  

  

 

The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America

 Today we went with Adrianne and her little boy to The Franciscan Monastery of The Holy Land in America.  It's in NE DC so the area that it's in isn't the greatest but the Monastery itself is beautiful and the parking is super easy!!  That counts for a lot here in Virginia!!  We spent about two hours walking around, enjoying the beautiful architecture and the amazing gardens!  I think we caught the flowers right at their peak - just at the end of the summer.  Although it is a quiet and peaceful place, the kids were able to run around a bit and make a fair amount of noise since there were very few people there. 
It was a fun outing and a definite repeat for when guests come to visit!!

Great Falls National Park

 This morning we drove up to McLean to visit Great Falls National Park to meet up with some friends - unfortunately they went to the Maryland side so we didn't get to see them BUT we still had a really great time!  We have been here before with my parents but the kids were little and we didn't do any of the hiking trails.  The trails were great - there are some really easy and short trails that wind through the forest and lead to some ruins in the woods.  We saw some frogs and even came upon a family of deer!  The visitor's center was fun too and there were lots of things to see and do - it really kept the kids engaged and interested in what we were seeing and doing!  The kids are all at such a fun age right now.  We can go and do so many fun things!  I'm really happy that we've done so many interesting and different things this summer - it's been so great and I'm going to miss them all so much when school starts!