4th of July in DC

Wow!!  What an amazing experience to celebrate the birth of our nation!  We were so excited to join the many others at the National Mall downtown.  We went there with some of Shane's co-workers.  We found a spot right in between the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial.  I think we were a bit more excited about being there than most around us.  Shane and I just couldn't stop smiling because it was just so cool! 

Contrary to what you may think it wasn't that big of a deal getting there.  Shane dropped us off and then parked the car not too far away.  We got there about 3 hours before the fireworks and the kids had fun playing games. 

 We were close to a stage where the US Air Force Band was playing and also were treated to a performance by Jo Dee Messina! 

Just hanging out listening to the music and enjoying the scenery.

Lyla's First 4th of July!  Wasn't she cute!  She did great and fell asleep right before the fireworks started.  She woke up during the grand finale but didn't make a sound just sat back and enjoyed the view!

Then when the sun went down we got to see some amazing fireworks.  We were so close!  It was a good show! (the only thing to compare with would be the Kettley's 4th of July firework extravaganza!!!)

We had such a fun time.  It was amazing to see fireworks with the Lincoln Memorial in the background!  One of the fun perks to living here!

Update...

Just a few additions to Lyla's 9th month...

She is 19 lbs. 12 oz.  and has jumped into the 75th percentile.

She is 28 inches long which is again the 75th percentile.

Another big move...

SHE IS CRAWLING!!!! 

Everyone here is SO excited...well everyone but me!  She doesn't move fast but she finally figured out the crawling thing! She started crawling on June 23rd.  Soon I will have to post a video.  She IS too cute!  We all love her so. 

So here is to closed doors and gates at the stairs as we look ahead to Month 10!!

 

End of 3rd Grade

It was a great year at George Mason Elementary.  Alli and Andrew both did an amazing job and sported quite a lot of A's and B's on their final report cards.  We are so proud of their accomplishments this year.  We knew that moving to across the country and starting in a new school wouldn't be easy but they did great!
At the end of the year for Social Studies each 3rd grader had to do a project on an ancient civilization they had studied through out the year.  Alli and Andrew both picked Ancient Greece.

Alli chose to make a 3D map of Ancient Athens for her project.  We made it our of salt dough and she painted it with watercolors.  She did a great job!

Andrew made a game called "Zeus' Challenge".  This year he has been facinated with Greek Mythology.  So for his project he created a game that he could show off his knowledge of Ancient Greek and his drawing of Greek characters.  He did a great job and we can't wait to try out his game!!

The 3rd Grade picnic got rained out so we had lunch with Alli and Andrew in the classroom.  All of their classmates loved Lyla!  We set out a blanket on the floor and had a great picnic together!

With the end of the year comes Field Day!!  They were grateful to have a hot and sunny day.  They got to play lots of fun games and they even got wet!!  As an extra bonus their cousin Cassidy came all the way from WA to celebrate Field Day with them.

 

Alli, Cassidy & Iris (Alli's friend)

Andrew with Lyla his friend from 3rd Grade.

  Finally, the last day of school. 

Alli and Andrew both had great teachers that helped them all through the year to be the best 3rd Grader they could be. 

Andrew with his teacher Mr. Novelli.

Alli with her teacher Ms. Arthur.

And on our way home from the last day of school we had to get a picture with Wanda.  She is the crossing guard and helped my babies walk safely home from school every day!

What a great year!  Now we can't wait for 4th grade & Kindergarten!!!  Ty can't wait!

Lyla is 9 months

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO70FcqnmKA


Lyla is 9 months old today. We have hit the good times! After she overcame several ear infections she has returned to her happy cheerful self. And once again sleeps through the night! Here are some things about Lyla and above is a video of her "talking":

* She has 2 bottom teeth. Her top 2 teeth have broken through but aren't quite visible.

* She is eats solid food. She really loves to chow on the fruity rice puffs!

* She has 2-3 naps each day and goes to bed around 8pm. She sleeps until 7 or 7:30am.

* She can sit unassisted.

* She rolls over both ways now and is showing signs of crawling but not yet. Hallelujah!

* Her height and weight will have to wait until her doctor appointment later in the month.
* She has had 2 ear infections and the Dr. thought her left eardrum ruptured. She was very unhappy for a few days. Or weeks...or months...I think the ear stuff started around 6 months old.

* She is a very happy baby and as you can see she loves to talk!

* She is a lot of fun these days and does really well being hauled to different sporting events and activities that her older siblings are participating in.

Williamsburg with the Thornocks

Since our move to the DC area we have had the pleasure of hosting many guests.  This time we had the pleasure of welcoming Shane's sister and her family "The Thornock's" to DC!!  They came for a 2 week tour of the east coast sights! 

For Memorial Day weekend we decided to head down to Williamsburg with the Thornocks for some good ol' colonial fun!  We visited Jamestown, Yorktown, & Williamsburg in 3 days.  We had a great time.  It was very hot but the kids did good trailing from site to site.  It was fun for Alli and Andrew because this year in school they learned a lot about the early settlers of Virginia.  We started off the 3 day tour at Jamestown Settlement.
 

We saw a Powhatan Indian village. 

We also saw the early colonist's fort.  We found some of the early settlers sporting some pretty heavy armor!

Next stop Colonial Williamsburg.  This was quite the place.  We stepped back in time when we entered.  There was lots to do.  We toured the Governor's Mansion.  (Not sure if the picture below is the the mansion. I just thought it was a great picture!)

We were able to see a mock trial.

Then out in the public square we found this!

Don't worry it is all pretend.  Ty isn't crying, just has a case of sun in the eyes!

These kids however deserved to have one foot locked up!!! 

Too much walking.

We found some colonial divas!

We got to see the colonist put on a "play" I guess, about their lives leading up to the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

On to Historic Jamestown.  This was probably one of our most favorite spots.  We had a very dynamic tour guide who made the stories and info of the early settlers come alive!! 

Captain John Smith the most famous but was not the Captain of the ship when coming to Jamestown.  Christopher Newport was the Captain but doesn't get the same notoriety as Smith.  Christopher Newport was one of the people Alli and Andrew studied at school. 

The kids loved the Jr. Ranger books! 

Pocahontas statue.  Contrary to Disney she didn't marry John Smith.  She married John Rolfe and move to England.

And for those who were wondering if Lyla was having fun...She was!  She did really great getting hauled around from place to place in the heat!

Next, Yorktown...

 We found some cannons as we took a driving tour around the battlefield at Yorktown.

We found some soldiers from the Revolutionary War.  The kids even got to try out their shooting skills.

 We got to see a replica of a war camp.  This was really neat.  It was also really hot on this day.  Those tents were steamy!!

 We were able to hear about what it was like to be a physician during the war.  Here are the kids checking out the doctor's tools.

 At the end of our tour we found some facinating folks.  The kids had fun wearing colonial cloths.

 Kenzie actually found a crazy colonist!! 

  

As you can see above...We had a great time with the Thornock's!!