fireworks

July is not completely over so I guess it's not too late to write about our July 4th weekend.

I always toy with the idea of going to bed early on July 4th.  Parking and fighting crowds just makes me so sleeeeepyyy.

I decided not to cave, and we took my aunt and uncle up on their invitation to see their neighborhood fireworks show in Alexandria, said to be among the best.

Old Town was a great place to hang out before the big show.

I guess Carmen's feet rarely touch the ground...she's got lots of people fighting over who can carry her.

Did someone actually watercolor that sky in?

I often say TWO is my favorite age.  Yes, there are the embarrassing screaming episodes in grocery stores that don't have shopping carts that look like race cars, but that pales in comparison to the cute words like "fozzies" for flip-flops and sweet hugs and kisses at any time of day.

Diego has really just turned into a sugar monster, with Carmen close behind.  The kid's meal sold him with the tiny cupcake included, who cares if he'll actually eat the rest of it?

Carmen with her Abuelo and her Dad strolling along.

OK... does she look like my mom or WHAT?  I love the Charlie's Angels hair-do, too.  She was thrilled with all the planes flying by every minute or so.  Avión!!  Who am I kidding, I think I enjoyed it more than her!  Later in the day, JP tried to take us to a place where they fly right over you, but it was barricaded... maybe for the 4th.  We'll have to file that away for another trip.

Ohhh....how rare...Isabela and Joaquin actually getting along.  Pull that anchor up, kids!  It's time to set sail.

Carmen doesn't look so sure about this little path.  Now I'm just noticing that drink in her hand again...she sure did make that last a long time.

Her feet are dangling again...let's transfer that heavy girl to daddy.

We lucked out when we came upon a sand volleyball court right near our parked car...we had a beach ball in it just waiting to be punched around.

This was the start of the show that night.  I quickly realized it was much louder and closer than it looked.  Carmen froze in my lap with my hands over her ears and her hands on top of mine to make sure they didn't go anywhere.  That fireworks show won't be forgotten anytime soon.  It was magical.

All the kids got to try sparklers, too....since when did they become so dangerous?  The adults seemed very jumpy around them saying, "Be careful" on repeat.  OK...I might have been one of them.  But a dense fog of smoke from the fireworks and fog from the earlier storm had quickly descended upon us making it impossible to see and pretty hard to breathe, too.  It was eerie.

I was convinced to spend the night up there, lured by the event about Peru on the mall that was ending the next day.  Joaquin was going to be my tough sell though....walking around in hot DC and learning about stuff has never been his thing.  See his face?

And parking was pretty tricky, too....as soon as you see a spot and pull in, the third sign down on the post will tell you why you can't park there.  We went with 'permit parking only' and it turned out OK.

We detoured through a sculpture garden...this one reflects the world around it, unless there's a kid in it making faces.

This one was cool, too.  Diego had made up some story about how the world got destroyed that was pretty amusing.

And speaking of Diego...I think he manages to have an ice cream anywhere we go.  

That was an adventure in itself...we bought them from a street vendor in his ice cream truck.  BEWARE.  There were no prices listed on his ice cream pictures, so I diligently asked over and over how much each one was to get the best deal for our little bit of money.  After he'd passed out all the ice cream, he said the total was $20, but something wasn't adding up right in my head.  So I did the math out loud with him, and he was trying to gyp me out of $4!!  He played it off like he wasn't good at math, but I think this is pretty common with distracted tourists melting in the DC heat.

And finally, we arrived at the Peru event.

You can learn way more about the various exhibits at Latinaish, who clued me in that this was even going on.  

I was impressed with the colorful work of this artist that happened to be sitting there offering free samples.  We stood in line to get our names written on a piece of paper.  It was pretty simple, but maybe we'll frame them for their rooms later.

And here is the finished rope bridge.  Definitely read what happened on Latinaish when she volunteered her help to work on the bridge.  Maybe I wouldn't have wanted it to fall down as much, if I hadn't heard her story.

Posing on the mall...you can't see how MUDDY my feet are here.  I wore sandals and actually had mud between my toes! Ewwww.  I ended up washing my feet in the restroom of the restaurant we ate at.  Ewwww, again.

...Washington Monument behind these cute guys...

Who is that 10 year old in the stroller???  He always finds a way to get a ride.

Another good idea to get a ride.

While the boys were duking it out on the mall over which of them should be able to ride in the stroller, we pretended we didn't know them and posed for a family picture with the monument sticking right out of my head.  Typical.

Always a blast making memories with the family :)

where's waldo

I've got to admit, summer is just a little more daunting each year.  

The kids are harder to please the older they get; everybody disagrees about the definition of fun; and even I found myself completely bored one day--I didn't want to clean, cook, read, or knit (something I've just recently learned to do.)

And because *free* is the code word for 'yes, we'll do it!'--I drove the kids downtown to Carytown to search for Waldo today.  Everybody loves Waldo, everybody loves a scavenger hunt, and Carytown is pretty novel to us...usually too expensive and too breakable to take the kids down there very often.  

Our favorite bookstore, bbgb Tales for Kids, has organized a real live search for an 6" cardboard Waldo with 23 stores in Carytown.

Let me warn you, This. Is. FUN!

Now we went on a cool day, first thing in the morning.  (Beware, some stores don't open until 11am.)

We did a LOT of walking and got to see the most interesting stores!  I found a million things I wanted to buy (I guess that's the point) while the kids competed to see who would find him first in each store.  The clerks were kind and cheerful, something I really hadn't expected when you trot four excited children into specialty shops.

Here are some links to my favorite shops we visited today:

ORANGE:  This store has prints, decor, pillows and cool things all made by local artists.  I found a pillow with a squid on it that would have been perfect for Diego.

CREME DE LA CREME:  Another store with cool random stuff.  Memorable to me were the dessert plates with beetles on them and beautiful bird sticky notes.

WORLD OF MIRTH:  Of course, the best toy store in Richmond.  We've known this for a long time and definitely want one of everything inside.

WALKABOUT OUTFITTER:  Waldo was really hard to find here, but that gave us a chance to look at all the cool camping and kayaking stuff.  I need to go back for the pop up solar lights.  They float on water.  Enough said.

FOR THE LOVE OF CHOCOLATE:  Willy Wonka was my favorite movie as a kid, and I finally got to be in it!  I have no idea how I made it out of there alive with four children.  I just knew Carmen was going to grab everything off the shelf, but my firm hand holding hers must have said enough.

LADLES and LINENS:  If you need a cool kitchen gadget, this is the place to go.  I might start liking cooking if I could shop here.  They had some cool pirate chopsticks for kids and lunch bags that would be fun for back to school.

MERRYMAKER FINE PAPER:  I even found something cool at the paper store...beautiful turtle and elephant garlands.  I need to go back for those.

Each of us ended up with a favorite store:  Joaquin chose World of Mirth, Diego chose For the Love of Chocolate, and Isabela chose Ladles and Linens.

Carmen can now spot Waldo a mile away, and we were happy to pick up this discounted travel book of Waldo to help us through the rest of our summer boredom...I mean summer trips.

BBGB is a great store to visit anytime, but if you're local and need to entertain the kids for a bit (two and half hours for us!) we recommend you put on some walking shoes and take the challenge to find Waldo in Carytown!