Hanging Out at the White House

A girl I went to Junior High and High School with works at the White House. Personally, I like to think I had a hand in her getting to where she is today because I was her 8th grade science partner. Together, we invented an "Aid for Arthritis" contraption that allows one to put lotion on ones hands without having to press the lotion pump. How's that for Health Care?
Anyway, she contacted me on Friday and wanted to know if I would like a couple of tickets to the Easter Egg Roll on Monday. I have wanted to go to this since Hadley was born (so all of three years), and I was very excited to have the chance to go.

Riding the Metro was a highlight for Hadley.
When we got on the Metro, there were quite a few people on already. As we were waiting to pull away, Hadley said, "Mama, do we have to be quiet?" I told her we could talk and this gave her the go ahead to scream, "Whheeeeee!!!" as we pulled away.

After a little walk and a little line waiting, we entered the Easter Egg Roll.

Once we got in, they attached a bracelet to Hadley. She didn't want to take it off until Jesse got home so she could show him.
We started with the Egg Roll. Everything had a line, but they moved fast. It was like being at a fair except you're on the lawn of the White House. THE WHITE HOUSE!

For the Egg Roll, Hadley needed to roll an egg down a lane with a giant spoon.
I was trying to explain the concept to Hadley as we were standing in line so she'd know what to do when it was her turn. These activities move fast because there are a million people waiting to roll eggs or what have you. And I knew Hadley wasn't going to "just do it." She needs time to prepare. What color is the egg? What color is the spoon? What is a lane? Will I be able to eat the egg? Is the egg chocolate? I really like chocolate, Mama. Do you have any juice? You get the idea.

Hadley completed the Egg Roll and wanted to do the Egg Hunt next, but on our way to that we saw:

No, not the President. Dora! Dora the Explorer! We stood in line waiting to say hi and take a picture.
I'm not sure, but I think from the look on Hadley's face, this will get on the "Top 10 Awesome Things I've Done Before I Was Four" list.
We had to take a picture of Dora's backpack for Harper.
While we were in line for the Egg Hunt, the cast from Glee was singing on stage and I had my own Dora the Explorer moment. Jesse and I love this show. I took way too many pictures of the cast, but I'll only post a couple.

Then on to the Egg Hunt.
Hadley liked this a lot, but was annoyed she could only look for two eggs. Once she filled her basket with two eggs, the ladies told her she needed to exit. Hadley was not happy. At least I wasn't the one who told her it was time to go this time.

One thing we didn't have to stand in line for was the Cherry Blossoms.
Hadley was trying to catch the pedals that were falling to the ground.

Hadley also got to do a little soccer, basketball, and golf while we were there.

Clearly dressing up for this is not the most practical idea.
Hadley had her own way of holding the golf club despite what the guy was trying to show her.
A hole in 45! With a little help....

Right before we left, Hadley and I got to hear Sara Bareilles sing.
Hadley loved her. After a few songs, Sara Bareilles said, "I was just told I have 2 minutes so I can either sing part of a song or tell some jokes." Hadley yelled, "Sing a song!"
I liked her too, but I still own a Tiffany cassette tape, so I'm not sure I know what I'm talking about.

Hadley got a souvenir egg that she held the entire walk to the Metro. She held it very carefully on the ride to Silver Spring, and "put it to sleep" while we ate lunch together (she covered it with napkins from the restaurant).

We had a great time. Hadley was so worn out she fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot.

(Yes, we took Goofy along. Goofy is the love of Hadley's life right now. I convinced her to leave him in the car while we were at the White House, but had to reassure her that he was just fine several times.)

Enjoying the Warmer Weather

Harper's walking skills have improved since last week in that she is confident enough to walk as her preferred mode of transportation. I haven't seen her crawl in several days now, and I think this means she is officially a toddler. She still falls down a lot, but this does not stop her from attempting to do all the things Hadley does.

We went to the park a lot this week, but I didn't bring the camera because watching two kids at a park is about all I can handle. Yesterday when we were there, I wondered how lifeguards at the pool keep track of all the kids when I am scrambling to watch two. I guess I shouldn't apply to be a lifeguard when I decide to go back to work.

However, one spot that the girls love and we have been monopolizing all week long is the blacktop on the side of our building. We've been doing hopscotch, throwing a ball around, blowing bubbles, and Hadley and I have even attempted to play baseball. Hadley, in her brutal honesty, told me, "Mom, you're not too good." And she's right. Anybody who gets their tooth knocked out in the dugout of a baseball game has no business trying to teach someone else how to play the game.

Here are a few pictures:

This is Harper trying to figure out how to blow bubbles.

Hadley's getting the hang of hopscotch. Last year, jumping over the square with the rock on it was a little beyond her comprehension I guess.
Hadley's telling Harper about the pine cones that fall from the tree. You can tell Harper's captivated.
Getting ready to rule the world.
Here's a short video of them hanging out outside:



Here they are in their matching outfits having more fun outside.

Hadley's working on her name.
Harper's doing a little writing, too.
Are the 90's calling, or what? These two look like they're about to be in a Milli Vanilli video.
Speaking of music videos, when we got inside, Hadley asked if she could workout. I said, "Really? You want to workout?" She said, "Yea, I need to workout." So I put a workout on from the On Demand listings and here's what she did:




Leaves you wanting more, right?

Glad To Meet You

We went to the zoo over the weekend, and the girls were excited to see the variety of animals.


However, their favorite part was playing on this:


Kind of weird.

And Harper's walking now. I've been trying to get proof on video for awhile, but it's been difficult because for a long time, she'd take a few steps and then crawl or walk on her knees (which you'll see in one of these videos). But I have a couple here for you all to check out.

Here's one of Harper yelling, "Hadley!" when she walks in the room.




Don't you love how Hadley scrambles to "hide" the toy she's playing with. We have some issues with sharing in this household.

Here's another video of Harper walking a bit, but then deciding she'd rather "walk" with her knees. This is what she'd been doing for about 6 weeks before she ended up walking. If she ends up with knee problems, we'll know why. Or maybe she's just getting ready to be a Drill Teamer.




I love the stage Harper is at right now. I'm no good at the infant stage. They scare me.
When Hadley was around 14 or 15 months, things seemed to just click for me. It was still difficult, but I felt like I had a better handle on what she needed. Plus, Hadley began to communicate in other ways then screaming her head off. I remember hearing or reading about the 5 or 6 (or maybe it was 4,000) different ways infants cried and each one meant something else. "I'm tired." "I'm hungry." "My diaper needs changing." "I'm concerned about global warming." Well, they all sounded the same to me. Anyway, it has been a lot of fun for me to get to know Harper in these last few months. She's very different from Hadley in a lot of ways, but they compliment each other well. And they enjoy each other's company for the most part. I love hearing them wake up together in the morning. Hadley always finds a way to make Harper laugh, and that is the best part of the morning for me.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Today the girls and I went to Brookside Gardens for a St. Patrick's Day walk. The weather was beautiful. I have not been to this park before, and it's quite impressive. When we got to the Visitor's Center, we received a map showing us the layout of the park. The object of our outing this morning was to find leprechauns. There were several stops along the way with activities we needed to complete in order to get us closer to the pot of gold and the leprechauns. At one stop, we flapped our arms like birds. At another, we danced an Irish jig. At another one we played "Leprechaun Says."

Here's Hadley running away as fast as she can:

They don't look like this at Notre Dame.
Playing "Leprechaun Says." Harper is about to say, "How much longer do I have to sit in this?"


We followed green footprints in the greenhouse to the Pot of Gold. Each kid got a green carnation, but what they all were most impressed with were the bubbles. Hadley tried catching the bubbles while Harper yelled, "Bubble! Bubble!" I think this was their favorite part.

Looking for the Pot of Gold.

Still looking.
Here it is (I don't know why the picture came out sideways):
But who cares about gold when there are bubbles?

You can't see the bubbles because Hadley and the girl next to her are trying to stop them from coming out of the machine. You can see how Harper feels about this from her face. She's thinking about throwing her raisin box at Hadley.
This is a picture of Hadley "giving Harper some bubbles." She "caught" some and wanted Harper to have them. Harper's like, "That's fine and all, but do you think you could get me out of this stroller?"




We're a long way from "The Lord of the Dance."


This was such a fun morning, and I have so much appreciation for Montgomery County and all the activities they plan for little kids. I can't believe how much preparation must have gone into this. Not only did they have all these activities to do on our walk, but each child got to make a craft (Hadley made an Irish door hanger), and there was a snack at the end of our hike. It was the perfect thing to do on this very nice spring day.

Easter Eggs: Take Two

Hadley wanted to decorate Easter eggs again this year, so we bought a kit this week. I feel guilty that this is what Hadley associates with Easter, but I have to say, trying to explain the Easter story to my kid is really hard! Christmas is pretty easy, but with Easter we have sin, death....all sorts of stuff that's tough to understand. We have a book that we are reading to Hadley about the Easter story, but we have a lengthy discussion about why the guards that take Jesus away are frowning in the picture. It is really hard on Hadley when someone is angry or being mean, so I guess we'll have to just ease in with the concepts of the Easter story. So this year we're doing Easter eggs. Maybe next year the girls and I will decorate Easter eggs and watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Or The Passion. That'll be a nice afternoon.

Hadley picked the glitter Easter egg kit. Last year we did Sesame Street, but this year it's glitter. I really hope next year it won't be Hannah Montana.


Getting ready to sprinkle glitter on the painted eggs:

I think sprinkling the glitter on the eggs was Hadley's favorite part.
Harper read books while Hadley worked on the eggs.

Since we got back from Georgia, Hadley has been interested in cooking because she got to do this:




Doesn't that look great? Hadley made up another concoction this week.


Here's what she made:

Harper wanted to help, too, but she got a little distracted with the Chef's hat.

Home to: Paula, Flannery, and Bitch Moss

We were on Tybee Island, just outside of Savannah, Georgia last week. I don't recall ever being on an island before, and it was pretty cool to travel to it. We drove down roads that had water on either side of it to get out to Tybee. The interesting thing was that the water level changed depending on the tide. Jesse said that Tybee Island is the most susceptible (and maybe unprepared as well, I can't always remember when he starts talking storm surge) areas in the nation if a hurricane were to hit. There's really only one road off and on the island, and if it floods....well, there's no getting off.

And that's where we hung out last week.

Outside our place there was a lighthouse that Hadley and my dad climbed up. Hadley climbed 180 stairs to the top all by herself. She really liked the lighthouse. When we were walking around throughout the week, and she'd see the lighthouse, she'd say, "There's the lighthouse! That means we're almost home!"

My dad and Jesse took the girls to a little zoo one day and now Hadley is all about buffaloes. She said, "Mama, those buffaloes are ENORMOUS!" when she came back from the zoo.



I don't know if it's just me, but that cow looks crazy.

And here's Miss Cool.

We also found a park nearby to hang out at for a bit.



And we celebrated my dad's birthday with delicious jambalaya that my mom made. I'm pretty sure she could give ol' Paula Deen a run for her money.

Hadley's drinking apple juice in the pictures below in case anyone was concerned.


Here's a shot of our family:
And one of where we stayed: