Summer is Here

Being Memorial Day weekend, summer is officially here. As temperatures reached close to 90 today, we blew up the new pool in the back yard. Luckily, we have some nicely shaded spots as well as a slide. Nickolas went up and down the slide around 100 times. Once Lucy woke up from her nap, she joined Nickolas in the pool, but stayed near the shallow end. They both passed out relatively early tonight, so fun was had by all.


Weee!

Bathing beauty.

Nickolas's swim trunks kept slipping down.

Lucy's First Haircut

Lucy, at nearly 15 months old and with signature hair she was blessed with at birth (that never fell out!), had her first haircut today. She had the honor of having Dan's super-talented hairdresser friend Cherie trim her locks. All was done without any tears and she mostly sat still despite Nickolas exploring every inch of Cherie's room. We topped off the afternoon with a walk through nearby Dupont Circle and to a favorite park on R Street where Lucy was able to show off her new "do".



Look how pretty I am.


Bring in the reinforcements while the back is being evened-out.

Blowing off the excess.

Do you love it?

Cheri and Lucy

Loving the air on my neck.

Ta-da!

Flashback to Nickolas's first haircut at a similar age. Note how most his hair had fallen out except for a long tuft which Cheri trimmed.

http://weechitlin.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-haircut.html

Zoo

Thursday was a beautiful clear day after several days of cold rain, so we ventured to the National Zoo. Unfortunately, a big event was taking place later that night, so half of the zoo was closed off. We still had a fun little wild adventure, nonetheless.

Lions and monkeys and pandas, oh my!

Lucy intently watching the elephant.

Nickolas and the elephant.

Nicolas peaking over to the panda.

Silliness

Nickolas saving the day - or, the grass.

Girlie girl Lucy enjoying the gold Kate Spade handbag. She walks all over the house with it on her arm.

Firefighter in the rain. We need to get him his own umbrella.

Enjoying her yogurt - a little too much.

Richmond Children's Museum

Cousin Colleen had the great idea to take the kids to the Richmond Children's Museum. Ultimately, it's one giant indoor playground. There's a little outdoor area, as well, but that was a bit chaotic. Lucy had great fun in the toddler farm and play pit and Nickolas was extremely fond of the real-life ambulance and fixing pretend race car.

Grocery shopping.

This is Lucy Grace, reporting for NBC 12.

Big water table.

Fun fishing.

Fun in the play pit and toddler farm.

Future NASCAR Official?

Love this ambulance!

Excavating dinosaur bones.

Roar!

Virginia Governor's Mansion

Cousin Colleen used her "in" when we went to Richmond (state capital of Virginia) for a tour of the Governor's Mansion. Her dear friend from when she lived there is now the Chief of Staff to the new Virginia First Lady. The Executive Mansion has been occupied continuously since 1813 and had many similar interior features as the White House. It was lovely. Minus Nickolas running up a set of wooden steps leading up to a bed and getting one foot ON the bed, the kids were well behaved. Nickolas even had a treat in the Governor's kitchen when the chef gave him a chocolate chip cookie!

Crawling on the front lawn with state capitol to the left (in white).

The Gov's kitchen.

Yum!

Touring the back gardens.

For more information:

http://www.executivemansion.virginia.gov/

Walking

Lucy's walking quite a bit now around the house. So far, this is the only extended video of her walking we've captured. Even more funny, for some reason, she thinks she's a monster when she's walking, since she does have this zombie-like stride as she learns. She often "roars" as she walks, so in this, her and Nickolas are both being scary monsters. Luckily, at the end, Nickolas ensures the scary monster is really just him.

Water Taxi Ride on the Potomac

Nickolas and Lucy had a fun day with Greta and Henry on Friday with nearly perfect weather on a 2-hour water taxi ride up the Potomac. Originating in Old Town, Alexandria, VA we went north to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Each way took about 45 minutes. Along the way, we passed Reagan National Airport where planes were taking off and landing; the Naval Research Center that had cool Doppler radars which Nickolas thought were spaceships, all of the monuments (boat ride is also known as a monument tour); and passed underneath many bridges. We had a good time and Nickolas even met the Captain and steered the boat! Of course, at the end, he did not want to leave the boat.