D.C. Visits

Our friend Misty, came to visit us for a few days. It was so nice to see her and spend time with her again. We went to the National Museum of Natural History one of the days she was here. We have been there a few times, but we haven't seen all of the exhibits. So this time, we went to the Ocean Hall, it's all about ocean life. It was very cool and the kids had fun seeing the fish and playing around with the interactive stuff they had there.

On Museum Day, a couple of Saturdays ago, we headed to the National Geographic Museum. This time with Scottie, since he had the day off. I guess, on Museum Day, you can get in to some museums around the U.S. for free...so we printed off our tickets and headed to D.C. although the National Geographic Museum is free, some of the exhibits aren't. This gecko exhibit wasn't free, but we got in for free with our pass.

It was fun learning about these animals. They are so interesting looking.

We all had a fun time.

They had a little section for kids to color. Brielle and Braden both love to color, so we spent quite a few minutes there.

They had these fun bean bags...they were so comfy.

After the gecko exhibit we had lunch in this little patio area in between the buildings.

After our little lunch, we went to see this AMAZING photography exhibit called "Simply Beautiful". It was so funny because, that is exactly what I wanted to say after admiring each of those photos! They were amazing!!!!

But...can you say that this one is just "simply beautiful"?

Rocky Run Trail.

This last Saturday, we headed to this awesome trail called Rocky Run Trail. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE how many fun trails you can find here in Virginia. It was so beautiful and we couldn't have picked a better day to go.

Trying to get a descent family picture...it wasn't working out so well for us.

We made it to the end of the trail and we stopped for some snacks before heading back.

Even though, these two fight a lot, they love each other so much. This is just such a tender moment. I'm so glad my brother captured it.

My Scottie, showing me a slice of his tangerine.

The kids saw this tree over the creek and wanted to go through it.

It has been so nice to have Kem here. Braden loves his tío Kemchu. He has taught them Chinese. Both Brielle and Braden see him and say, "Ni hao ma hen hao xie xie"

Almost a good family picture...Braden!!!

{Photographed by Kem}

On the way back to the car, the kids were hiding behind the trees...according to them, they were 'camouflaging'! So we would pretend like we couldn't see them. Then they would come out of "no where" and scare us.

They thought there were being so sneaky.

Sneaky, sneaky...

This little boy was having a blast "camouflaging"!!!!:)

Any where we go, Braden will find sticks.

It was a fun Saturday afternoon.

We got home just in time for the second session of Conference.

So many amazing talks.

In my mother's words, "we need General Conference every 3 months!"

Preschool.

Today, I understood why my mom bawled her eyes out when my brother and I left Miami for him to go to BYU and for me to go to Ricks College. I think she felt a sense of loss. You work all of your life as a parent teaching your children to fly on their own, and then they finally do. I think I felt an ounce of what my mother felt then, today when I sent my two sweet little children to preschool.

I know we have all been waiting for this moment...and I still have plenty of years ahead of us with them as my little children...but I can see how true it is when people say that they long for these years, this stage of life.

It's rather strange to me, because in the day to day sometimes I wish it'll move a little faster and I wish my kids were less dependant on me for their every little need. But then, there's this feeling. The feeling I felt today.

It's an overwhelming feeling of wishing that I could freeze time and really take in all the precious moments I have had as the mother of Brielle and Braden. They are both full of energy and they always offer me unconditional love.

But even though, I sent my kids out today with mixed feelings, I am also thrilled for them. It's good for them to go interact with others kids and have that classroom structure at this young age.

I'm also soooo happy that we will have our routine back and that I will have a few hours during the week of peace and quiet!:) okay, I'll admit it, I'm way excited!!!:) ha!

Brielle was beyond excited to start preschool again! She went right in without even saying goodbye. I had to call her back and remind her to give me a hug! Her new teachers seem wonderful. There are a few kids from her old class that she already knows and I know she'll have no problem getting to know the rest of her class.

Mr. Braden has been waiting and waiting for his first day! and it was a success! His teacher is Brielle's teacher from last year. So it's nice because they already know each other and Braden went right in without any problem. I was so proud of him!

Cheeeeese!

He has been so excited about his batman bag that I made for him!

"A characteristic of a normal child is he doesn't act that way very often."

-Author Unknown

(I saw this quote somewhere and it made me laugh out loud!)

It was so hard to get this little boy to take a serious picture! But I guess, the camera just captured his personality.

When I went to pick him up, he ran as quickly as he could as he was saying, "moooooommmmyyy"

It was the cutest thing, he gave me a big hug and then he told me,

"I missed you, mom!!!"

That is one moment I wish could have frozen!

I love these two more than I can ever say.

I love you Brielle and Braden...to the moon and back!:)

Catch up.

The last days of summer were spent mostly at the pool. The pool officially closed on Labor Day. We were all so happy that Scott had the day off that day. We have really been missing that man. As I've mentioned before, these rotations are crazy. He pulled a 30 hour shift last weekend. Needless to say, he is always tired and when he can keep his eyes open he tells me some of the interesting things he sees. He has lost almost 10 pounds since he started his OB/GYN rotation and the way they work him, he's pretty sure he'll be losing another 10!

Labor day was a blast and Mr. Braden, especially had the time of his life. He will be getting more pool time because I signed him up a swimming class. He literally is a fish and so not afraid of the water.

Brielle and I enjoying the nice sun.

We had some old friends stay with us over Labor Day Weekend. I've talked about Heather before, she was a missionary in Miami when we lived there. Her sister Carrie, lives in NYC so they decided to make a trip to D.C. since it's so close. We had a blast showing them around D.C. (a.k.a. our backyard!) :)

Carrie was sooooo good with my kids! She was so fun and they LOVED her.

Heather has 3 kids of her own, whom she left home in Utah with her husband so she could come make this trip! Ben and Heather both served in the same mission in Miami. Heather is such an amazing woman and we love her and her family! We are so lucky to know them! We had such a fun visit and hopefully it won't be too long before we see her again.

Braden pretending he's a homeless sleeping on the bench!!!:)

Some time, last week I dropped off my brother at school (he's going to GWU), and I decided to make a trip to the Sculpture Garden. It was hotter than I thought it was going to be but we still had so much fun. I always enjoy going to D.C. and just let the kids run around.

These two are obsessed with rocks, they are constantly picking them up, putting them in their pockets. Brielle took her shoes off and was storing the rocks in them! Crazy girl.

Since, it was kind of a hot day and the kids were complaining that it was too hot, I told them to go run through the sprinklers. It was so refreshing and in Brielle's words, she said,

"I feel happier now."

They had so much fun, they could have spent hours and hours collecting rocks and running through the sprinklers. It makes you realize how it is the little things that make children happy and adults for that matter.

I think, this was a little too graphic for my kids...Braden starred at it for a little bit and said,

"What happened to their heads?"

The garden really is a beautiful area, most of the sculptures are very interesting.

The kids said there were hot again, so it didn't take long for them to go to this fountain and get refreshed.

They LOVED it! I was waiting for the security people to come tell us to take their feet out of the water but they never did. Which made me happy because they spent a good 20 minutes there.

I LOVE this silver tree.

Artists are amazing people to me. Sometimes I look at art and I think, that doesn't look like anything extraordinary... or sometimes it's difficult to understand it...but then I start thinking if I could EVER come up with something like that....and the answer is NEVER. So, I respect artists for what they do. They create things and that creation came out of their brain and that simple fact makes it beautiful.

We didn't see half of the garden, so we are most definitely going back. It's the perfect place to go and bring a lunch and sit and enjoy a nice fall day!

Another day last week, we headed to Clemyjontri Park with a few of our friends. This is one of my favorite parks here in Virginia. It was THE perfect day. It was without a doubt the most beautiful day we've had in a long time.

It was so perfect that day, that we spent almost 3 hours there!

I love summer but I'm definitely biased to fall...no more humidity and no more bugs!!!!

I'm so happy my favorite season is almost officially here!