First Trip to the Pool!

Today we made it to the pool! I had a to make an appointment 2 weeks in advance and I was nervous that this incoming tropical storm would ruin our plans but it didn't!! We were able to swim for an hour and then get lunch! It felt like such a treat and a relatively normal day - we really needed it!!!

Dinner on the Potomac

July has been a long month with lots of family time and lots of isolation. We've been fortunate to be able to eat dinner on our patio a lot but even that is getting a little old. Tonight we surprised the kids with take out from Chipotle and a picnic dinner along the Potomac. We drove down to the Lincoln Memorial and spread out a blanket right along the river! The ducks and squirrels thought they would join us! It was a nice night - a little cooler and breezier than it has been. It was really easy and fun - definitely will do it again!

A Hike with Declan

Today Declan and I took a hike down to the Potomac - just us! It was so fun to spend some one on one time with him. He is so funny and has so much to say and he really liked being the tour guide and showing me where to go. He is so sweet and was very concerned about making sure that I was OK and knew where all of the slippery or unstable rocks were!  

We hiked all the way down to the river - which is actually relatively challenging since it's not really a path but more of a pile of rocks that you have to climb over. We were sweaty but walking through the cool water made it really nice!

A Visitor to our Garden

I wasn't able to get the sunflowers to grow this year like we were last year BUT we do have a couple of really tall ones and this morning a beautiful butterfly decided to hang out for quite a while! It's always a little magical!

First Honey Harvest of 2020

Our adventures with the bees this year have been pretty unpredictable! From swarms to requeening, it's felt a little crazy! Brendan was able to get our first harvest out of Hive 1 today - it wasn't a ton of honey but really fun to see it and always delicious!! Hopefully we can do a full harvest of both hives in a few weeks.

Brendan's Second Attempt at Brisket

Brendan was successful today with his brisket! After a frustrating first attempt, today was much more successful. It's not easy and takes a LONG time but it came out perfectly today and we are going to eat A LOT of meat over the next few days!!

Emmy's Baking - Cream Puffs

Emmy has gotten really good at baking! Today we tried something a little more out of the ordinary - Cream Puffs!!  We got the recipe from King Arthur Baking - here's the recipe link. It was really fun and something that I hadn't done in a LONG TIME! They turned out great! We made pastry cream too - probably didn't cook is quite long enough - and filled them with it for day 1. After that we turned the remainder into ice-cream and filled the left over puffs with that the next day. They were delicious - very fancy looking and not hard at all!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

We made a pie today - there's been a lot of baking and cooking instruction going on around here. We don't have much else to do!! Everyone loved the pie - I think I need to make another one soon. Aidan decided he REALLY liked it! 

Summer Around the House

Things feel a little slow these days - what with the extreme heat and not being able to go anywhere to cool off or get a change of scenery. It's times like this that I really try to remember how lucky we are to be able to quarantine in our home - it's such a beautiful area and we have done so many things to make our gardens and house enjoyable!

A Hike on the C&O Canal Path

We went on a nice hot and sweaty hike today along the C&O canal path. We saw lots of turtles, birds and bugs! It was fun and nice to get out and get some exercise. 

Dinner On the Patio

We had a nice dinner on the patio tonight! It's so awesome that we have this beautiful outdoor space to enjoy!

Slip N Slide in the back yard

It's been so hot this summer and without a pool to go to, we've been pretty miserable! The Whiteheads got a slip n slide and it's been fun for the kids to be able to cool off and have fun!

Lavender Cupcakes

Emmy made delicious lavender cupcakes today! She is spending a lot of time in the kitchen these days whipping up delicious treats for all of us!

Seven Oaks Lavender Farm

Today we took a trip to Seven Oaks Lavender Farm in Dumfries, VA. It was a pretty hot day but we got there early and were able to enjoy the fields before it got really hot and before everyone else showed up! There were so many cute little bunnies to feed and play with not to mention the actual fields of lavender! We picked a bunch and then bought lavender lemonade and cupcakes and had a delicious snack before packing up to go home. It was really fun to get out of the house - it's been a long time since we've been able to do any of our normal field trips!

July 4th Food Drive

This year instead of having the normal 4th of July parade, the Garden Club decided to host a food drive for AFAC. Aoife made masks to help with the fundraising and she helped raise over $3000 for AFAC along with the two car loads of food that we collected. It was a great morning!

Pizza on the Smoker

Brendan made some very delicious pizzas on the smoker tonight!!  Now we're spoiled - can never make them in the oven again!

Lacrosse with Zoe Belodeau

One of the great things about having everything cancelled is that all of the college students are home. Zoe Belodeau is so nice to drive all the way to our house once a week to shoot on the girls for an hour. She is amazing and a fantastic role model for Emmy and Aoife - and someone fun and different to talk to as well!

Emmy's second birthday

We got to celebrate Emmy's birthday again today! She spent her actual birthday in the car on the way back from Florida so hopefully today was better than that!!  Happy 13th Emmy! We love you so much!

June Garden

Our flowers this year are stunning! Lots of our hydrangea plants didn't bloom this year but I'm sure I pruned them at the wrong time! Next year I think I just have to let them be crazy!

Emmy's Birthday on the Beach

We had to leave halfway through the day today to start heading back up to Virginia but we spent the morning on the beach and tried to soak up as much sun and sand as we could! Aoife and Declan built sandcastles and Aidan rented a kayak (which wasn't as easy as it looked!). Emmy and I hung under the umbrellas and just enjoyed being together on the beach. I don't know if we will get another vacation this summer so we really tried to just relax and enjoy the time!