Paul Ryan Rally

So last Friday morning, Paul Ryan came to Deep Run High School, which is about 5 minutes from our house.  It's actually the high school Rex will go to, assuming we're still in the area.  I wasn't planning on going until I woke up that morning.  I couldn't shake the feeling that this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I quickly found a babysitter, threw on makeup, and was ready to go in about 45 minutes!  When I arrived, I ran into some friends which made the 2 hour wait much more bearable.  

What else made it more bearable?  This guy.  He's awesome.

 

After the rally, he came by and shook hands with the people in the crowd.  Turns out he favors Republicans in Green Bay Packers uniforms!  And thanks to one such Republican who happened to be behind me to the right, I snapped this close up pic while they chatted.  

Hearing his speech made me excited and hopeful for what the Romney/Ryan ticket could do for our country.  I decided it's fun living in a swing state - they'll be back quite a bit over the next couple months.

Our Peach Adventure

A couple weeks ago we went on a serious adventure, just me and the kiddos.  I was a little nervous at first, but it was almost empowering to realize that I can do things like this with 2 kids and I SURVIVED!  Not only did I survive, but it was really fun.  Now on to what we did!  We went to Charlottesville, which is about 45 minutes away, to Carter Mountain Orchard to pick our own peaches.  We got there a little early and soon after some of our new Richmond friends showed up.  We had fun picking peaches and walking on the rotting, slippery, peach carcases.  Next time I won't wear sandals! :)

First of all, I was amazed at the beauty of this place!  The orchard sits on top of a mountain - there are orchards, vineyards and mountains as far as you can see.  

Thank goodness for this bad boy that helped us navigate the rows of peaches and kept Rex's feet mostly clean.

We found a few perfect trees and Rex helped me pick some really good ones.  He wasn't afraid of getting dirty or having to climb up the tree to get them, either.

And finally, he found a ripe one and bit right in.

And now I'm looking forward to apple season so we can go again!

Faith and Smoothies

Rex LOVES Danimals smoothies.  I started getting them for next to nothing when I used to coupon and haven't been able to stop buying them.  He just loves them.  Well, we ran out yesterday and when he wanted one today, we had a funny little learning experience:

Rex: Mom, do we have any more smoothies?
M: Nope buddy, I'll pick some up at the store tomorrow.  Let's pick a different snack.
R: Maybe if I pray, Heavenly Father will bring me some more smoothies.
M: (in an effort to manage expectations)  Probably not, buddy, let's just get some at the store tomorrow.

I hardly got those words out before he had started praying and scolded me for not folding my arms.  He specifically asked for strawberry-kiwi smoothies.  After his prayer he immediately went to the fridge exclaiming, "I hope that worked!"  I flinched as he opened the door knowing he was about to be seriously disappointed.    "What in the heck?" he exclaimed with a look of absolute shock on his cute little face.  Hopefully his faith wasn't shaken too bad.  It provided me the opportunity to talk about how our prayers aren't always answered immediately, but I'm pretty sure that fell on deaf ears.  Ahhh, to be a 3 year old!

Which reminds me, the other day he asked me why he couldn't have 2 mommies.  Laughing I asked him why in the world he would want 2 mommies.  He said, "so in case you get dead, the other mommy can bake me stuff."  I should have been offended that I am that dispensable, but I chose to look at silver lining, which is that he's already showing traits of being a dynamite planner like his mommy.  Just making sure his treat supply won't suffer if I happen to "get dead".  Such a funny little guy.

My Baby Girl

I am having the hardest time remembering to take pictures lately!  And it's giving me all kinds of mommy guilt, because (especially with Evelyn) these phases are going to pass quickly.  Here are a few things our little gal is up to:

At her 4 month appointment, her doctor thought that she seemed "a little petite" compared to her previous visit and suggested I start her on formula and cereal.  We went home and later that night I whipped up a formula bottle which I expected her to down.  I mean, why wouldn't she love it? She was taking a bottle PERFECTLY since week 4!  Well, she hated it, gagged, spit it out, she HATED it.  I thought it was probably just a fluke so I tried it again a little later.  Same thing.  Then I got desperate and tried breast milk in a bottle - she wouldn't take that either.  Silly little gal just decided she was done with bottles.  I think she decided she didn't trust us after that formula bit.  So, that was about a month and a half ago and she still isn't taking bottles.  Good times.

So we did start cereal soon after that fiasco.  She, of course, spit it out at first, but quickly took to the yummy stuff.

Rex really got a kick out of feeding her and seeing her scrunchy face when she didn't know what to do with it. 

He kinda looks like the devil in this picture, laughing at her disgust.

One morning I went to get her after her morning nap and she just looked so pretty.  So I grabbed my camera and did a little photo shoot, right there in her crib.  

If you look closely you'll see she now has 2 teeth.  I was in denial when the first one started coming in at 4 1/2 months, but I've accepted it now.  She is growing up too fast!!

Quick trip to D.C.

The grand finale of all of our summer trips was to D.C. just two short days before we had to say goodbye to Josh forever (not really forever, I'm just being dramatic).  Just goodbye for 2-3 years is all.  More on Josh's crazy choice of job later.

First stop was the D.C. zoo which was kind of impressive for a free zoo.  I couldn't believe how many different kinds of animals they had and was really impressed what they had done (with taxpayer dollars, of course).  Then we left and had to pay for parking.  That was where we realized that it's not really a free zoo after all.

Then we headed to the mall to check out the museums.  We were planning on just going to the Natural History museum until both kids fell asleep in the double stroller at the same time.  We sneaked into the American History museum so Josh and I could get our NERD on.  BONUS!

In all seriousness, some of the stuff in there was amazing.  Just standing in front of George Washington's jacket alone was enough to almost make me emotional.  Very, very cool.

Rex loved the natural history museum, especially the stuffed animals.  After seeing the zoo, I think this was all a little confusing for him.  He had just seen the live ones, now we're seeing the stuffed, dead ones?!  He thought that was pretty weird.

And now for the real reason we went to D.C.

See that little "Short Pump, VA" sign at the bottom?! Yep, we are getting a Cafe Rio in our neighborhood in Richmond next year.  Now I KNOW we picked the right place to move!

Busch Gardens

After our beach trip, we had about 3 weeks before Josh was going to start work.  We wanted to make the most of them so we found a few fun things to do in and around Richmond.  One thing we did was drive out to Williamsburg, VA (about 45 minutes) to go to Busch Gardens.  Since going twice in one year was more expensive than a season pass...well, we bought ourselves some season passes!  We had a lot of fun and now we have a reason to go again soon.

The first thing we did once we were in the park was head over to the Sesame Street section where they had a roller coaster for kids over 38".  Rex just made the cut and he was thrilled!

I wish we could have captured his face during the ride because he was scared out of his mind.  It went much faster than he (and I) had expected.  Afterward, he got off and jumped up and down exclaiming how awesome it was.  Guess he kind of liked the thrill factor.

Josh and I were able to ride 2 adult rides while taking turns.  Here Rex is eating an entire bag of cotton candy while he waits for Mom to finish riding.

And the best ride of the day award goes to this roller coaster.  You can see Josh in the front row in the white shirt.  If you want a serious thrill...this is your ride.  It was an absolute blast! Definitely worth every minute of wait time and having to ride without my significant other.

The Alger Family Beach Trip

Because you guys haven't seen enough pictures of our family at the beach in recent months, I thought I'd add a few more.  We took a third...yes, a THIRD trip to the beach in June to spend a week with my family (the Algers).  It was a much anticipated trip since we did it two years ago and it was one of the best vacations of our lives.  We had so much fun this time!  I really think the combination of my favorite place on earth (Outer Banks, NC) with my favorite people (family) was just what I needed!  

The first couple days we had great weather and we spent them entirely at the beach and at our pool.

 

And then we had some not-so-great weather days and we spent them

At the aquarium

Playing rock band

Playing inside the house

And eating, eating, eating.  Did I mention we ate a ton?

On our night to cook, Josh and I made sand pudding for dessert.  Thanks Pinterest!

And we picked the windiest evening possible to take family pictures.  About 99% turned out horrible, here is one that will have to do.  Still, there's hair flying EVERYWHERE.  Never wished I was a boy with short hair more than I did that night.

We all (yes, all 24 of us) went out to dinner together to a pretty fun seafood restaurant.  They had a tank outside with different kinds of fish and animals you could pick up.  I would love to know what Rex was saying to this puffer fish.

And that about wraps up our trip.  Josh and I had fun, Evelyn had fun (we know this because she NEVER complains) and Rex has probably never had more fun than he did this week with his cousins.  He can't wait to see them all again.  

It was such a fun trip and we look forward to the next time we're all together at the beach!