Amelia is 4!

Hard to believe my tiny little Amelia is such a big girl. Seems like just yesterday that she was born! We invited a few folks to celebrate at Great County Farms in Bluemont, VA. It was chilly and rainy, though the rain cleared just long enough for the party. So it was muddy and splashy--perfect chance to wear her new rain boots and rain coat.

Homeward Bound

Quick trip to Memphis to see some of our favorite people! Celebrated Amelia's 4th birthday with the Davisons, Trexlers, Blakes, & Kinneys, as well as all 4 grandparents. Saw Les Miserables at the Orpheum. Enjoyed a perfect late summer evening at the Levitt Shell with Papa, Pa and the Davisons--first dinner at Molly's LaCasita in Overton Square, then the Abigail Washburn/Bela Fleck show under the stars. Fantastic long weekend!
Amelia celebrating her upcoming 4th birthday with Nana and Granna

Birthday girl at Woodland Playground and Shelby Farms


visiting with Bom-Bom just before her 103rd birthday


Rebecca enjoys the swing in Nana and Pa's backyard

Smurf birthday gear for Amelia


seeing Les Miserables at the Orpheum--fantastic show, girls loved it!

Keeping Up with the Marsh-dashians

We are much more interesting than those over-rated Kardashians, don't you think? Here are a few Fall 2011 images from our northern Virginia adventures--not the stuff of reality shows, just the stuff memories are made of.
First Day of Pre-K, Second Grade & Fourth Grade

New Martin Luther King Memorial on the tidal basin in DC

playing Battleship with Papa on Labor Day weekend

checking out the new American Girl store in Tysons, to get a reading reward for all that summer reading

Sailing the flying scot on the Potomac, one last gasp of summer. Using sailing skills learned at sailing camp in June!




camping in western Maryland




hiking on the Appalachian Trail




Rebecca earns her low blue belt in karate!

How I Spent My Summer

In addition to our fantastic vacations to the Two Coasts, we spent 2.5 fun-filled months soaking up all our area has to offer. We have a fantastic neighborhood pool, and we went at least 2-3 times per week. The District offers so many awesome things for kids, it was hard to choose. We've done lots of DC things already, so this summer, we saw the National Archives (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Emancipation Proclamation), the International Spy Museum, the Washington Monument, Georgetown Cupcake (TV show DC Cupcakes is based on this bakery), the Kennedy Center and monuments at night with friends. We spent time with friends from church and from our neighborhood/school. We went to Trivia Night and Vacation Bible School. We went to Kings Dominion amusement park and the Prince William County Fair. The girls and Peter learned to sail. We saw movies, had at-home movie nights and at-home game nights. We tie-dyed shirts and painted pictures. The girls went to two daycamps. We went to baseball games. We grilled out and went camping. Enjoy these photos of our summer adventures!

Up in the Washington Monument--one month later the earthquake would cause the park service to close it indefinitely for repairs


At the pool

Washington Nationals game, with our Sunday School class. Second picture is the girls' sign on the Jumbotron as the Nats win!


Archives


VBS--Peter and I taught the Bible story, using props and costumes, games and sardines (don't ask!)



Prince William County fair--winning the Angry Birds stuffy!


Molly and I went to the Miranda Cosgrove (aka iCarly) concert at Wolftrap

King's Dominion with the Roberds!




Bike rides & swim lessons


Playing tennis together (cutest ball girl ever), Molly's art, and selling lemonade on Memorial day to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project