Weekly Ride/Scooter/Runs

Being on the trail with these two is my most favorite activity.  I love that they are often up for an adventure along the trail -- to a playground, through the rain, or just to let out some energy.  It is so fun to go zipping along this familiar path together.

Great Weekend in D.C.

Joshua was able to attend a Montessori conference in Washington, D.C. with his sister, Amy, who came out from Seattle.  The kids and I tagged along and had a great time visiting with Aunt Amy, touring the Capitol, hitting the highlights at the Natural History Museum (early humans! mammals!), and visiting the major memorials/monuments (MLK, Abe, Vietnam, Einstein, Korean War, Washington).  Alma was moved by the symbolism of the Vietnam Memorial, claiming that it was her favorite.   It was such a joy to have this special time with them.

James knows everything about the presidents, as he just studied them in school, and was a great tour guide for us.  For example, the lobby of the hotel had artist versions of the images of past presidents and Joshua and I could only name Washington; James, on the other hand, went along the images and named them accurately without skipping a beat ("Adams, Madison, Monroe, ...").  At one point, I started to tell him about Jefferson's estate, to which he said, "Are you talking about Monticello in Virginia?  Jefferson designed the building and it has 70 windows." While he is not sassy about his wealth of knowledge, it is a wonder James allows us to hang out him and his brain full of animal and presidential facts.  Ha!

Traveling with older kids is so fun.  We spent about five hours walking/touring on Saturday morning and then they proceeded to swim in the hotel pool for three hours in the afternoon = endless energy!  They are also very excited about a good deal, including free museums, analyzing which restaurants will give them the most food for the lowest price, and marveling at the high costs of hotels.  Sunday morning we enjoyed a feast at The Corner Bakery (a chain restaurant with tasty food) for only $17.  They thought this was fantastic compared to other recent restaurant bills they have seen (including my $16 oatmeal at the hotel the day before).  I'm grateful that both Alma and James love spending our family funds wisely.  It also makes me laugh how our perspectives on life are rubbing off on the children in a slightly exaggerated format.

Cousin Tara

A sunny day last weekend when we were able to visit with Cousin Tara and her cuties, Eleanor and Patrick, at the Doylestown Kids Castle playground.  What fun!

Flashback: Mrs. Cleary at Grace Montessori

This video was put together in 2013 with Alma's class. You can see her on the right, in her purple pants and pigtails.

Mrs. Singh

James's teacher, Mrs. Singh, has been out of the classroom recently as she recovers from minor surgery.  James has really missed her as they have a very sweet relationship.

Mrs. Singh loved having Alma in her class and always marveled that Alma was so well behaved, even though she was the child of a teacher (who Mrs. Singh believes are usually the worst children).  And, even though she had met James a number of times prior to welcoming him into her classroom, she was sure (as she has told us many times) that he would be especially bad -- not only was he the child of a teacher, he was the youngest child, and Alma was so good that he had to be a terrible child.  Ha!  This makes us laugh so hard.

Of course, James instantly won her over at the beginning of last school year and he continues to endear himself to her heart.  She adores him so much and is always singing the praises of both the children.  In fact, I've stopped going to parent-teacher conferences about James because it is just more of Mrs. Singh gushing over how great he is.

The other night, James told me that when he is working especially hard in the classroom, Mrs. Singh will recite a little poem for him that is something like, "James is so wonderful, I want to put him in a little box, and *kiss*kiss*kiss him for being so good."  I could tell that James treasures those moments of recognition. They have a very sweet relationship and I'm so grateful that both of my children have spent two years in Mrs. Singh's classroom.

Pictured above: James (top left), Geo and Alexander (top right), all 10 the students in kindergarten and 1st grade "Upstairs Classroom" (bottom photos)

Throwback: First Photo as a Couple

Somewhere along the way, I decided that the imprecise approximation of when Joshua and I started dating was March 5, 2005, which we refer to as our kissaversary.

For Joshua's Spring Break that year, we went down to Redmond, Oregon to camp along the Crooked River and climb at Smith Rock.  This is the first photo we took as a couple, using a cheap disposable camera on the top of a scrambling hike up to Monkey's Fist as the sun went down.  As you can see from the laundry detergent splashes, the photo has been in a cheap frame on our washing machine since we've been married. Even though it's a bit beaten up, it's a favorite because it reminds me of how grateful I am for that time in our lives and of how blessed I am to have met this handsome, smart, charming, and dedicated man on the climbing wall at the gym.

Chester Valley Trail

 The number one reason why we chose to purchase this house: easy access to this lovely Chester Valley Trail.

Lovely Mother

As a delayed birthday gift, my mom and I went to lunch and then to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company at the beautiful Academy of Music in downtown Philadelphia.  It was nice to have a day to hang out with my favorite lady!