Road Trip, Day One

We were on the road again this weekend, headed to Lancaster, PA. I am still working on organizing the pictures, but here are a few from our first stop. We split the trip with a night in DC, which gave the kids a chance to hang out with their bestest friends Julia and Sophia.

Sophia, being curious:



(not sure what Benji thought, but several times over the weekend he asked "where phia?")

The girls, plotting:

Cherry Picking

We headed out to Batesville on Sunday to avoid the commencement crowds and pick some early cherries (ripe super early because of the rain and warm weather). The kids had a blast:






Just out of reach....


Got one!


After the cherries, we stopped at the Batesville store for lunch. Open and in continuous operation since 1880, it is a very cool country store with awesome food and homemade ice cream:


Lastly, we stopped at the new Albemarle CiderWorks to pick up locally produced cider made with vintage Virginia apples. Yum!

Birthday Party Mania

The last week and a half has seen a flurry of birthday parties. Abby has attended 5 parties since last Thursday (whew!), some of them even drop-off parties. Benji was also invited to a few, which allowed us to stay and snap a few pictures.

Reade's party at Bounce-N-Play:

On the bouncers:


Abby, with Nina and Jessica:


Watching Reade blow out her candles:



Benji, enjoying some cake:



Aiden's very creative parents hosted a superhero party, complete with a fight against the bad guys (with silly string):







And a (scavenger) hunt for a bomb (which turned out to be a pinata). Here is Abby with a piece of the pinata on her head:



And, last but not least, Kiley's 2nd Birthday Party:

Bubble Play:





Pizza:


And Benji enjoying some cake (look familiar?):

Daisy Scouts

Our troop is officially under way. At this week's meeting, Abby earned her first badge (the "center" of her daisy) for reciting the Girl Scout Promise:



The girls also planted their daisy seeds, which we will try to keep alive all summer:

Splash Park

The local splash parks all opened this weekend, to the kids' delight. Kristin and Jono were visiting with Ella and Will, so we bundled all the kids in their bathing suits and off to Greenlief. Here are some pictures of the fun:









In addition to splashing, the kids found their way to the mud on the edge of the sprayground, leading to a second round of fun:

End of K

Hard to believe that the end of the school year is approaching fast. Abby already had her last day of Sunday School, and is officially a "rising first grader" according to CBI. Here is a picture of her class (all decked out in PJs) on the last day of school. Her teachers and Rabbi Tom are in the back row.

Tomatoes!

The first of our early girls making an appearance. It is amazing how happy a single tomato can make you.