Wenckus Family Visit

We had a quick visit with the Wenckus family as they drove back from sleepaway camp in NH.  They were with us in England and we haven't seen them since 2010!  The kids are way bigger and we each have a kid that we didn't have then!!  Here's a picture of Julianna with the girls.

Here's a picture of Julianna and Emmy in Bath, UK in 2009

Fossil Hunting at Purse State Park

 I had read this post on Kid Friendly DC and have been wanting to go for a while so this morning we drove down to Purse State Park in MD to meet the Sharps and do some fossil hunting.  It's about an hour drive from here - with no traffic - so it wasn't really that far!  Once we got there, there was a short (maybe 10 minute) walk from the parking area to the shoreline.  You have to cross the street to access the path - there's a small sign that says "beach path" and has two shark teeth carved on it!

Once we got to the water, we turned left and walked down the beach maybe 200 yards to where a small stream came into the river.  We started digging and found shark teeth!!  We ended up finding most of our teeth just lying on the top of the sand in the piles of small rocks.  It was very relaxing to just sit in the sand and sort through piles of pebbles.

The girls also fished for minnows and tadpoles in the smaller stream and swam in the river.  We had a really fun and relaxing day.  There were a few other people there but not enough to notice.  We had a nice picnic and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.  The kids enjoyed being with their friends and there was very little crying!

If you're thinking of visiting, just check the tide charts before you go (search for Potomac River/Liverpool Point).  We got there 2 hours after high tide and left right at low tide.  If you go at high tide, there would be very little beach to play on or look for fossils on.  There are also no facilities so make sure you bring enough food and water!  This website is fun to look at before you go to help you know what to look for!

Mt. Vernon with Amy

 Today we drove down to Mt. Vernon and met up with our friend Amy and her kids.  The last time we visited Mt. Vernon with Amy and Jeff, we only had three kids between us and now we have six!!  They have just spent four years in Germany and we are so happy to have them back - even if they live a few hours from here.  We're hoping to see them a lot! 

Dinner With Friends!

 We had dinner with some great friends from our college days this weekend!  Our friends, Day and Chuck hosted us, Tracy, Betsy and Evan and all of our kids for dinner at their newly renovated house.  It was so much fun getting together - it had been almost 15 years since I had seen Day and Betsy and I hadn't seen Tracy since we lived in Alexandria (6 years ago!).  Hopefully once everyone gets back from all of their summer travels, we can get together regularly.  Everyone had a great time!!

The girls making guacamole:

 Dinner!

 Dancing!

 Day, Tracy, Betsy and me!

 Emmy and Brendan

 Declan and Aidan