Founding Farmers

Who's ready to try a new restaurant?  This girl!  I have been wanting to eat at Founding Fathers for well over a year now, and I finally made it a reality this evening.  I treated Julia and Kat to a delicious dinner, and all three of us enjoyed our delectable meals.

 Our waiter suggested that we give the kitchen a 20-minute heads-up if we wanted beignets for dessert...which we totally did.  These guys were amazing.  And the sauce?  Fabulous.  Highly recommend.

 As we were leaving our upstairs seating area, Julia told me to look out for the mouse.  I wasn't sure what she was talking about.  I mean, this is a fairly new, higher-end eatery.  A mouse?  Well, yes, there was a mouse in its mousehole at the bottom of the stairs:

Birthday Party!

Who's ready for a duckpin bowling party?!?

 Julia, Evelyn and all these friends are!

 Duckpin bowling involves using grapefruit-sized bowling balls to knock down ten shorter pins.  It's perfect for kids of all ages.

 Since kids were playing, the bowling alley put up gutter guards.  Thank goodness - those balls were bouncing off the gutter guards like crazy!

 Here's Evelyn with a bowling ball.

 After the kids had bowled a game, it was time for pizza and birthday cupcakes.  First everyone sang to Julia...

 ...and then everyone sang to Evelyn.  Such a fun time for the girls and all their friends!

Mommy, take my picture!

Pinky Toe Surgery

Once upon a time, a bad podiatrist tried to fix the hammertoe on my pink toe by cutting out some of the bone.  Fast-forward 12 years.....and that little bone in my pinky toe has grown back, making it painful for me to wear shoes.  So this morning I underwent hammertoe surgery number two to cut out the bone that had grown back.  Having a surgery with local anesthesia was icky for me, but I loved the recovery - none of the wooziness that accompanies general anesthesia.  (And HUGE thanks to Kat for coming up from Texas to help with the girls while I recovered!)

Free Cupcakes!

Julia and I went to our favorite cupcakery (which is Georgetown Cupcake, just in case you didn't already know) this morning to pick up an order of tasty treats, and we got there early enough to get two of the cupcakes of the day.  That's code for free cupcakes.  Chocolate toffee crunch, anyone?

Julia's 5-Year-Old Checkup

Julia went to her 5-year-old checkup today.  She gladly donned a paper gown and read a couple of books while waiting to see her pediatrician.  Naturally, the doctor said Julia is developing just fine.  She weighs 49 pounds and is 46 inches tall.  The best part about today's appointment?  No shots!

Hiking at Great Falls

It was a beautiful afternoon, with weather too nice to stay indoors.  It's been awhile since we've hiked at Great Falls National Park, so that's where we headed.  We just went on a simple hike on the Maryland side, staying close to the C&O Canal and only hiking out to the two islands in the middle of the Potomac River.