In the Family Way

Just a little recap on what we're doing these days and why.  Patrick will be getting out of the Navy at the end of June and is currently taking his terminal leave.  He has been job hunting in the Northern Virginia area and we've been enjoying an extended vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's during the transition.  We are hoping to end up in this area but we'll really dive into the house hunting once we have Patrick's next job lined up.  It's a pretty exciting time!  We are also expecting baby #3, due in October. =)

May Days

Brennan was excited to help Grandpa reposition cars and loved sitting shotgun.

Isla having a post-nap snuggle with Daddy and watching all the fun.

Celebrating the summer weather with some ice cream on the porch.

A visit to Great Falls.

Junior Ranger pins!

Patrick's former Navy boss from Geilenkirchen participated in Ride 2 Recovery, a long-distance bike ride/fundraiser to support wounded warriors, and we headed out to Manassas on Memorial Day to support him.  The first order of business was a quick picnic by this (drainage) pond.

Patrick grabbed a pizza box from Jerry's for our sign.

Here they come!

He saw us, (Patrick's hard to miss) and even stopped to say hi.

And to give Brennan a high five!

We stopped by the battlefield before we headed out.

Stonewall Jackson.

Cooling off in the shade.

The pools are open!  The kids have not ever lived in a pool-friendly climate so this is their first pool experience ever.  They love the water and look like pale little vampire children frolicking around.  Brennan will be attending some swim lessons in order to add skills to his confidence.

Happy Anniversary!!!  I don't think either of us can believe that 8 years have gone by already!  We celebrated with dinner and a movie. =)

Lake Accotink, Strawberry Jubilee & Colvin Run Mill

Here are a few of our recent activities.  During a visit with Aunt Dara she helped the kids practice some yoga poses and find their inner balance. 

Having dessert at GG's.

Aunt Dara took us to Lake Accotink where we stared down some geese, hiked around and looked at the dam.

Here we are attending a local Strawberry Jubilee.

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Fun wagon ride out to the strawberry fields.

Some people did more eating than picking.  I won't name names.

Isla was pretty excited about her first pony ride.

Brennan took a little more convincing but ended up having fun.

He was a little more enthused about this huge bag of kettle corn.

After lunch (hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches) we burned off some energy on this bouncy bubble thing.

All jubileed out.

The next day we returned with the whole family to Colvin Run Mill to watch the millers grind wheat.

This millstone weighs 2,000 lbs.  We had a lot of fun watching these two millers at work, as well as learning about the Millard family and their 20 children.  When we heard some of the other visitors speaking German we sidled up to them so that Brennan could get in a little playtime/German practice with their little boy during the tour.  He hasn't lost it yet!