Washington D.C.-Spring Break 2014

Abbie and her daddy reading the paper on the Metro

Abbie's 1st time riding the Metro!

Abbie near Ford's Theater

We ate lunch at Cosi while in D.C.  We were starving!

We saw Mr. Peabody and Sherman at the movies earlier that week!

Abbie and her daddy with the Swedish chef at National Museum of American History.

Abbie and Sophie at the White House.

Abbie as a unicorn.

Now, it's Sophie's turn to be a unicorn. 

Here we are at the Lincoln Memorial.

Sophie and Abbie with Mimi and Papa Tom before we left Virginia.

The girls with Aunt Leia.

Our family

I forgot to mention in my last post that when we first arrived in Virginia, Matt's Uncle Gary and Aunt Jo were visiting Matt's family too.  They stayed until Monday and then, they headed home.  We were glad that we could visit with them for a little bit because we had not seen them in a while.  One day, we went with Mimi to see the movie Mr. Peabody and Sherman. They really liked it!  We also went to visit Papa Tom at work so that he could show the girls off to his co-workers.  It was funny because Abbie really hit it off with one of the ladies who works in his building.   Her nickname is Sunshine and she let Abbie practice answering the phone and everything (she had another co-worker call).

Papa Tom was off on Thursday and Friday and it finally started to warm up at the end of the week.  We decided to drive in towards D.C. on Thursday and then catch the Metro.  It was still somewhat chilly in the morning and a very windy day, but we were able to see some things in D.C.  We took a tour of Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot, and saw the Peterson house.  Then, we ate lunch at Cosi.  We had definitely missed our normal lunch hour so some of us were starving.  It was very good.  Then, Matt's parents walked over to the National Museum of American History.  Matt and I walked with the girls to the White House.  They loved seeing it!  Then, Matt hired a man on a pedicart to bike us over to the museum.  This was great because the walking was a little too much for the girls that day for sure!  Sophie loved seeing all of the First Ladies Dresses and a few other things.  Abbie got tired and bored pretty quickly but she liked seeing a display of puppets that they had.

Matt's parents rested and had a snack there and then headed back on the Metro to wait for us.  Tom, Matt's dad, has a form of ALS disease (Lou Gehrig's) so he gets tired easily from walking and he is having more trouble with his balance.

Matt and I walked with the girls from there to see the Lincoln Memorial.  The Washington Monument is closed for renovations due to an earthquake in 2011.  We saw the WWII memorial as we passed.  It was   very windy as I mentioned before and kind of chilly.  I did not think we were ever going to make it there and back because it was a lot of walking for Abbie.  Matt carried her on his shoulders part of the way back.  The girls enjoyed visiting D.C. even though they were worn out!  Sophie has always loved President Lincoln so I'm glad she could see some things that interested her.  We told the girls that we'll have to bring them back and see more of the sights of D.C.!  We met up with Mimi and Papa Tom back at the Metro station at our car.  We had a very late dinner and then drove back to Richmond.

Snow Tubing over Spring Break

Abbie and Sophie are ready to go snow tubing!

Here's our crew before we went snow tubing. (our family and Aunt Leia)

Sophie loved snow tubing independently!

Here's Abbie-what a big helper!

Peace man!

We drove up to Virginia to spend time with Matt's parents and sister, Leia, over Spring Break.  They live in Richmond, VA and it was very cold for the 1st part of the week.  They even got some snow.  We have really been wanting to take the girls snow tubing lately but haven't had the chance (me in particular).  One day, we drove over to Massanutten, VA (about 2 hours away) where there is a ski resort with all sorts of activities.  It was a beautiful drive because we saw a lot of snow along the way!  We ate lunch on our way over and snow tubed in the afternoon.  They have a special lift that you stand on with your inner tube that is like a mechanical sidewalk from the airport.  It takes you back up to the top each time after you come down the slope.  We had a great time but as the sun came out more and more, the tubes started going a little slower and getting stuck before we got to the bottom of the hill.  We had dressed with lots of layers so our coats and some of the outer layers came off while we were there.  We had a lot of fun snow tubing!!  Each person rides in his or her own tube but you can connect them if you prefer (up to 4 tubes).  Abbie preferred being connected to other people most of the time.

Book Character Day

a piggy and a wizard!

Abbie as Mercy the pig and Sophie as Hermione from Harry Potter

Last Friday was book character day.  The girls had a parade at school.  Sophie knew that she wanted to be Hermione from Harry Potter.  I worked hard on doing lots of braids all over her head the night before so that she would have curly hair and it worked!!  She also wore my graduation gown from when I earned my master's degree.  It required lots of safety pins but her daddy made it work.  We couldn't decide who Abbie should be for book character day.  We debated between 2 or 3 characters.  She loves the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo about a pig named Mercy.  One of our neighbors had the pig accessories (including a little curly tail).  Put those pig accessories with a pink outfit and Wa laa-you've got your pig!!  =)  Abbie has always liked pigs.  I think they had a good day and then, they were able to come home and play outside.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Before I blog about the Daddy Daughter Dance, I just wanted to say that recently we welcomed a new nephew/cousin into the family.  Aunt Martha and Uncle Matt welcomed their second little boy, Monroe Daniel, on Thursday February 20. He was 8 lbs 10 ounces and 22 inches long.  Aunt Paula was able to meet Monroe the next morning (she did not want to go in midst of tornado warnings for the birth).  Uncle Matt, Aunt Paula, Sophie and Abbie were all able to go on Saturday, February 22, 2014 to meet Monroe.  He is a precious baby and I will post pictures soon.

Abbie's putting on some powder and getting her "do" fixed.

The girls are showing off their roses from Daddy!

They are ready for a special night out!

We have had an exciting weekend.  The girls got their daddy to be their date on Friday for the Daddy Daughter Dance at school.  We tried to make their hair curly, etc (with a little success) and they got all fixed up.  Matt was going to have dinner with just the girls at Jason's Deli and then attend the dance but Abbie really wanted her mama to come too so we ate dinner there as a family.  Both of the girls looked very pretty!  After dinner, they went to the dance where they took pictures in a photo booth, made a craft, had snacks and of course, enjoyed some line dancing, etc with their friends.  They had a a fabulous time and were worn out when they returned home.  Yesterday, Abbie scored two goals in soccer!  Sophie also played a game but their team lost.  We had lunch with Nana at Chick-Fil-A between the games.  After the games, Sophie was going to sell Girl Scout cookies with her troop but they sold out!  Last night, we celebrated Paula's birthday a little early with Nana and Paw-paw at Carrabba's.  It was wonderful and there was no wait!