I took this tonight. He played happily on the floor for a good 20 minutes. I think for most of it he was staring at Marlo's purple "my little pony" trying to figure out how to get it. I'm sure the girls will come to terms with him eating their toys sooner or later. 

Trader Joe's

We have found a new cookie at Trader Joes called Joe-Joe's. They come
in vanilla, chocolate and a ginger sandwich cream cookie- our
favorite. No hydrogenated oils, all natural flavors and very tastey!

I like Trader Joes.
Michelle

Zoe has little fear of most things. Even if Marlo won't hold the bugs, she still finds a way to get in the picture. ;) 

In the Natural History museum they have a cool insect section and skeletons of SO many animals. 

We are so blessed that even though we are here in far away Virginia, we have had- and are expecting- so many visitors. We love it. 

We had lots of family there. We missed all the rest of you. 

We blessed Teac yesterday. He did very well and only started to cry when James said "his voice will be heard above the tumult." His outfit stayed clean until we got home and he had a MAJOR blowout all up his back. I am grateful for small blessings... like a bathtub close by. 

Friday night a family in our ward watched the girls and the 4 1/2 of us went to Ford's theater where Lincoln was shot and watched the play Shenandoah. Scott Bakula (of Quantum Leap) played the lead complete with singing and dancing. It was fabulous!! We all really enjoyed it- I even cried. 

Not all pieces of paper tied to a string will fly, even if a storm is blowing in.... Ours did better after it bent in half and turned into more of a triangle with a tail. 

At the kite festival they had a table set up for kids to make their own kites. They had run out of most supplies so we taped some things together and tried to fly it. 

Notice all of the people accross the water at Jefferson. This was opening day of the cherry blossom festival and kite festival on the mall. It was insanely busy. Grandma and grandpa took the girls on a peddle boat ride. 

Marlo created a desert cookie. First you open it, put chocolate chips, a squirt of whip cream, and then put the lid back on. She plans on opening a stand to sell them in the future. :) 

After Jefferson, we took a driving tour (sometimes it is the best kind with 5 small children) of DC. We saw: the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, WW II memorial, the White House, Smithsonian museums, the Capitol Building, the greenhouse, Iwogima (sp) memorial, Arlington Cemetery, the Kennedy center, National Archives, Pentagon, Korean War memorial, Roosevelt Memorial, the Mall, Einstein statue, and numerous other buildings ... :) and we managed to get back to the airport on time! Phew! 

The Russells had a layover in DC for a couple hours on their way back to AZ. We went to the Jefferson Memorial to have lunch with the Corbetts. It was a fabulous, beautiful sunny day, in the 80's. The kids had so much fun running on the grass and just hanging out. 

Picnic at Jefferson memorial. Two more weeks 'til cherry blossoms. 

They created a giant non-flying tinkertoy airplane. Unfortunately Zoe tried to fly it just a few minutes later. Complete destruction. 

James making delicious homemade frozen yogurt....the low fat desert solution. 

Here we are at the Jefferson memorial. Chilly day :) 

If this works you can all see my cute little guy smile and try to talk to me. 

I call this "Einstein in Blue." 

Check-up

Ok, so I was getting a little a head of myself. It was only his 2
month check up. He is 15lbs 4.5 oz, 24 in long... nice and healthy. He
has been sleeping a good 8 hours every night for the past week! It has
been fabulous. Poor guy got shots and wasn't very happy about it. His
little legs are still tender, but as long as I don't touch them, he
seems to be coping well.
We are trying to settle into a routine of some kind being in the new
place. I love our ward, but getting in and out of the car when you
live in an apartment complex is just more complicated then it should
be. It certainly makes me think twice before I run an errand. If you
are curious about what our apartments look like, here is a link to
their website. http://www.windsorcommunities.com/property/propertydetails.aspx?PropID=44&region=VA

I just had to share... I have been looking for an all white outfit to bless Teac in and I haven't been able to find anything until now. I didn't want a little suit or anything, but something soft and cozy. This is perfect. 

This is the angel boy who slept from 9pm to 7 am last night. He goes for his 3 month check up tomorrow...shots, yuck.
He is trying desperately to talk with us. He will click his tongue at me if I click at him first. He makes all sorts of contortions with his tongue and mouth trying to make sounds and copy me. So fun. 

James kept Marlo and Teancum on Sunday while Zoe and I went to church. It was a nice break. Marlo had strep and so we were desperate to find things to do so that we didn't go totally crazy.
James finally found someone willing to play KOTR 2 with him. 

This is the inside of our new place. We are all still adjusting to the loss of space. We have 3 bedrooms still, but no basement and the living room is much smaller. It has also been interesting getting the excursion in and out of hte underground parking garage. I find myself ducking in my seat as we drive through it. The advantages are that we have access to a workout room, all of the things in the city, James' commute is only 10 minutes, and we are back in our original ward with several other families that live as crazy a life as we do. I can't complain- we have much more space than our original apartment, new furniture and paint, and all the silk plants we could want. (There are like ten of them spread around the apartment.) 

Well, Saturday we moved from Warrenton back to the city. This is now the view out our back window. Hello rush hour traffic. The move was much easier this time and we have the Corbetts to thank. They kept the girls, took a big load of our stuff, and lent us their trailer. We couldn't have done it in one trip without them. Marlo is back in school and loving it. Zoe and I are exploring and trying to find grocery stores etc. We are near where we were in the fall, but not in the same neighborhood so there is a lot to figure out. The best part is that we won't have to ever move ourselves again. The next time we move it will be to China and they will come and pack everything for us!! 

Last Tuesday we woke up to this view out of our back window in Warrenton. Unfortunately it was mostly gone by the afternoon.