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.

Elementary Art Fair

Evelyn was chosen by her art teacher to represent her school at the Montgomery County Public School Elementary Art Fair, which was on display at a local shopping mall.  Evelyn was so excited to have her art on display, and we were so proud of her first art showing.

 She was one of eight students from her class to display chalk-drawn birds.  Here she is with her purple bird (what other color would she choose?).

 Here's a description of how Evelyn created her bird...

 ...and here's a glimpse of a few of the county's elementary schools, with various artwork on display.

Julia's 5th Birthday

After a lovely lunch for our birthday girl, we headed home to open presents!

 Evelyn had made a special card for her sister, and she read the carefully-written words to Julia.

 This afternoon's restaurant of choice should give you a hint as to what kind of gifts Julia unwrapped.....lots and lots of doll accessories.  Her smile tells you she was over the moon about all the new toys for her Rebecca.

 We grilled hamburgers for supper, and then it time for CAKE!  Julia requested a chocolate cake, decorated as a purple butterfly.

 Here's the birthday girl, carefully placing her five candles along the butterfly's body.

 Ta da!

 Once the candles were lit, we sang "Happy Birthday" to our new five-year-old.

 It took a couple of tries, but Julia blew out all of the candles.

 How was the cake?  In Julia's words, "Good and yummy and chocolate-purple everywhere!"

Juila's American Girl Birthday Luncheon

When asked where she wanted to go for her special birthday meal, Julia quickly replied, "The American Girl store!"  Good thing she told me about this several weeks ago...Saturday afternoon reservations fill up quickly.  Our dining time was 12:15, and we showed up early enough to do some window-shopping at the store.

 Then Julia's doll, Rebecca, had her hair done at the doll salon.  (A pony tail is a beautiful thing when your preschooler owns a curly-haired doll...)

 And finally our time to dine had arrived.  Here's the birthday girl with her doll and Troy.

 Both Julia and Rebecca got special birthday crowns to wear, showing off the reason for today's visit.

 Did Julia enjoy her birthday luncheon?  The smile on her face says it all.  :)

Preschool Birthday

Julia wanted to share mini cupcakes with her preschool friends today, in honor of her birthday tomorrow.  It shouldn't surprise anyone that she wanted purple frosting.  :)

Little Ballerina

This afternoon was parent watch day at Julia's ballet studio.  She was too wiggly for any decent pictures during class, but she gave me a couple of cute poses after class - 

Piggy-Backpack Ride

Evelyn had a hitch-hiker in her backpack after school today...

Springtime Preschool Field Trip

This morning was cloudy and damp.  But Julia had an outdoor field trip to attend.  We donned warm clothes and rain boots, and off we went!

 The field trip was at a landscaping place, so the kids were shown various gardening and landscaping tools.  Julia is applauding seeing a leaf blower in the picture below - who knew landscaping could be so exciting?

 Everyone had a chance to touch a garter snake and a baby chick.  Julia didn't need any convincing to touch the fuzzy chick, but I had to help her be brave enough to pet the snake.

 Everyone had a chance to decorate a little flower pot...fill it with dirt...

 ...and then plant three sunflower seeds.  Julia is excited about letting her seeds grow here in Maryland, and then transplanting the flowers to the yard of our new house in Massachusetts.

 Yes, we got dripped on by a bit of rain and it wasn't very warm, but we still had fun!

Springtime Preschool Nature Program

Julia went to the Flower Buds (aka preschool) program at Brookside Gardens this morning.  Even though it was a bit chilly and damp, the story time was held outside, in a gazebo.

 Then the kids went on a hike and scavenger hunt, looking for all sorts of plants and critters along the way.

 Julia loved seeing this baby (snapping) turtle, burrowed in a hole.  It was cute, but we weren't even the slightest bit tempted to try and touch it!

 The last activity of the day was planting a pansy in a rain boot pot.  At first Julia didn't want to touch the dirt.  But then she got over it and didn't mind getting her hands dirty.

 Ta da!  Dirty hands and a potted plant!