Friends

We are so sad so many of our friends are leaving us the beginning of July. We will miss them. One of Sienas best friends is Kaylee and she is moving too. We went to the beach house with them last year and Kaylee and Siena have been best friends ever since. They are both into the same thing and they have the funniest conversations that I don't ever understand. So today we got together for one of our last playdates in VA. We made princess crowns and put on princess music to dance too. They loved it. I think Siena is a little more princess crazy than any other girl but Kaylee and even Jacob were happy to indulge her. They had a great time dancing together. We will really miss you Kaylee but I hope you enjoy your big house in Texas and that you save the guest room open for Siena.

( I have no idea what they were talking about outside eating popsicles I am sure it was something funny and I love how Ben is trying to be so involved in their play but they just ignore him. poor Ben. )

Fathers Day and Fireflies

We love Dave so much and he is a great dad. We had a good fathers day and am glad that we got to spend time being together. Ben now prefers daddy. I went in this morning to get him from his crib and he ran to the other end and through a fit until daddy came in and rescued him from me. So sad for me and not a really good way to start a Monday. I am happy that he loves his daddy. He gets so excited when Dave comes home. He runs right to him and wants up and wants to be held by daddy. Dave plays rough with him and gives him all the attention in the world. Its fun to see. Siena is funny. She loves her daddy and knows that he is the one that will do silly things with her.

So last night we were out as the sun was going down and the fireflies started to come out. This is one of the best things about being in the East...honestly. They are so pretty. They are really slow so you can catch them but my kids didn't really like them crawling up their arms. The best time to see them is actually around 9 but we just couldn't stay out that long so hopefully you can find some in the pictures. It was fun to stay out there at night with my family and catching beautiful fireflies. I love summer!!!

5k

With the purchase of the double jogging stroller I have started running with the kids. It has been a good stress reliever and I am learning to like it. It feels good afterwards. My friend Marcy and I decided to actually do something with all the running we are doing. Saturday we ran a 5k. We got to do it without the kids which was much easier. When I go running with them it is like pushing 50 extra pounds so it was easier but I still hadn't run 3.2 miles with them ever. So I am a little sore today. Not as sore as I thought I would be though. So there was a festival in Alexandria and they had a 5k run for it. It was early in the morning and we were doubltful that the husbands would show up with the kids...but they came and everyone was dressed and happy. Siena didn't really know what was going on. The first thing she did when she saw me after the finish line was say she was tired. I guess it was too early for her. I thought it was funny that she was tired. I was exhausted. So right when we were waiting at the starting line it started to pour rain. It actually felt nice but I felt bad for all the people standing around watching. They were good for staying there. Marcy is a better runner than me but she helped push me along and I am happy to report that we ran/jogged the whole way! There were obviously all sorts of people there. There were good runners and there were middle age women that had little dogs and actual dog carriers like a baby carrier. We knew we could beat them and that was our only goal. It felt good to run and accomplish a run but I think I need a little rest before my next one.

Apparently Ben is hungry...

Yum!!!

Pohick Bay and Sprinkler parks

Friday Siena woke up at 8 am in her swimsuit and was ready to go swimming. I needed to get out of the house or she was going to drive me crazy by asking me to go swimming all day. So we were off to the sprinkler park. There are two fun ones in Arlington. We drove over there and she played on the swings for 2 hours. I am so glad I drove to a park so she could play on swings. It was a little frustrating. She said she didn't want to go in because the water was too cold but I think it was the millions of kids there. It was way too full I guess everyone needed to get out of their house. Then Saturday Dave decided to go golfing for the day so I knew I couldn't stay in all day so we decided to go to a little water park.To my surprise it was buy one get one free admissions day! (score for me!) We tried going last year and Siena stayed pretty close to me the whole time and Ben was really little and slept the whole time. This year Siena loved it! They have this little 1 ft. pool with fish painted at the bottom and they have a little kid slide. Siena even made new friends with some other kids there. Ben hated the water and sat on my lap most of the time by the side of the pool. There is also a pirate themed treasure hunt sand box and Ben loved that but hated getting cleaned up afterwards. It was a really good day and a complete turn around from the previous day where Siena was scared of the water. I was glad she had so much fun at the water park. We need to go back with Dave because there was a big pool with slides but I didn't dare go there with both kids by myself.

Benny

We love Benny so much. He just had his 15 month check up today. Yeah a little late. He is doing well. He got two shots and did great, he only cried for a couple seconds. Of course we had his blanket ready and that makes everything better. I have made two little washcloth size blankets that we can take around so he doesn't have to carry around his huge blanket and get it dirty. He loves loves his blanket. He is 80% for his head (that seems huge and I don't think he has a huge head, but o well), 20% for height and 15% for weight. Both kids have usually been around the 20% for everything. He just in the last week has started throwing tantrums but we are trying to ignore them eventhough they are really kinda funny in hopes that they will stop. He thinks that he is 3 years old and tried to keep up with Siena in climbing and playing with everything she does. He is always watching her and anything she does he has to do too. If she has a snack he has to have the same one too. He loves balls and to read books and gets so excited when daddy come home. He also loves to dance and can march but it is only with one leg so it's more like stomping his foot. I think ball was his first word. He can say bye bye, hi, thank you, ball, no, me, go go go, mama and oh oh and he can make the sign for more and all done. Whenever he sees a dog he gets way excited and starts barking. He loves dogs. If you ask him what a dinosaur says he can roar and its the same sound for a lion. We are working on what a cow says. He knows where his nose and mouth are but he usually points to ours instead of his. He loves to sing and loves to get the singing book out at church and sing along really loudly. He's so much fun and we love him and as Siena says it's not baby Ben anymore it's Benny boy!

My husband...the rock star!!

Dave is so excited (and I guess me too). He has started playing in this band, Heather's Headache. He has performed twice but Friday was the first time I got to go see him. It was at a fun restaraunt/bar in d.c. called Skye. They did a good job and there were a lot of people there which is always a good sign. I was a crazy wife trying to get around everyone so I could take photos and video. I realized the flash wasn't on so you couldn't see a lot of the pictures I took. I promise I won't take pictures again Dave. He is playing the bass behind the lead singer. I even got a shout out by being the wife to the new band member. Pretty cool! Enjoy and go see them play sometime.

Bouncy House

So it has been raining a lot around here and I have been trying to get out of the house. It was one of those no good, awful days. My kids woke up unhappy and unwilling to help me get out of the house. Ben didn't want to be put down all morning so I couldn't get anything done. Dave and I had switched cars and I had to go put the carseats in the different car while it was pouring down rain and two kids were inside by themselves screaming!!!!!! So I finally got out the door and tried to go to this bouncy house. My gps told me to turn the wrong way direction so I finally called Michelle and found my way. I go in and they say the gym is filled to capacity and I would have to wait till the next session!! I was so mad!!!! My friends were in there because they had arrived on time and Siena had already taken her coat and shoes off and was ready to play. I pleaded with the lady to let me in and she said she couldn't. Then I took my kids and went to the car as I started to cry. It was an awful day and I felt dumb for crying but it was all I could do. Stupid day. Siena was so sad she really wanted to go and was way excited for it. So we went out to lunch and I pulled myself together and we went back for the next session. I am sure they saw me cry and I felt so dumb for going back but Siena would have been really dissapointed if we would have just gone home and I would have been mad all day. We finally got in and she loved it. It was awesome. She was probably one of the oldest kids in there which was good and she did all the bouncy toys by herself. I didn't even have to help her. There were balls there and little tyke playgrounds for Ben to play in so he loved it too. I just wish I had some friends to talk to while we were there. It was a great morning playtime and outing and the kids were exhausted afterward. Siena didn't even wake up when I transfered her from the car to her room, so we all got a long nap!!!! My day got a lot better once we got in and I was glad that I went back even though I felt dumb.