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!

payday fridge

I normally don't let our fridge get this low.

To be fair, the freezer has a bag of frozen peas and one piece of fish, and the bottom drawer has some radishes.

AND I was in the middle of cooking our final, AMAZING dinner without food-- to feed a family of six: one whole roast chicken, one cup of rice, one bowl of pesto pasta I found in the back of the fridge, and a delicious salad with lettuce, radishes, one tomato, one apple, and carrots.

I thought I'd hold out until payday and see if we could make it through.  I often come home from the grocery store with bags full of food, put them away, and have the kids come open the refrigerator minutes later and say, "Mom, there's nothing to eat!"

This is pretty close to nothing to eat.  But I realized there was still enough for breakfast:  eggs wrapped in tortillas, oatmeal made with water, and JP's old standby, leftover dinner.

We've had some unusual lunches and dinners in trying to eat down the fridge and pantry.  

The kids know me as the miracle cooker since I can make a table full of food out of nothing.

Even Isabela made an amazing lunch the other day: potato soup from two small potatoes and homemade bread bowls with our last packet of yeast.  They turned out amazing. Here's the recipe link.

We had grilled catfish with sautéed mushrooms and green onions on a bed of spinach one day for lunch.  I don't think I'd ever eaten catfish before, and definitely not like that.

We tried cornmeal mush with syrup.  Not a favorite, but something to head for if we're starving.

Along with the empty fridge, our microwave is somewhat broken because of the magnet idea...I've unplugged it so it won't smoke anymore.  (Others believe it is still usable, but I believe it will burn our house down.)

So we had homemade kettle corn for a snack one day.  (1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup popcorn kernels)...heat oil on medium until 3 kernels pop by themselves, then add sugar and popcorn all at once and cover.  Shake for 5 seconds, set on the burner for 5 seconds, alternating until pops start slowing down.  It's a great workout before eating your snack.

Another day I melted some chocolate chips I found in the back of the pantry and let the kids dip saltine crackers in the chocolate.  It's like homemade Nutella!

We cooked a box of JellO that had been in there for who knows how long and everyone ate it, too.

That's the thing about eating down the fridge...there's no other options so people are actually eating what's in front of them.

It's been challenging, too.  We are now officially out of fruit (nope, there's still some frozen blueberries!), milk, butter, rice, noodles, potatoes, meat, and just about everything else except condiments....plenty of mayo, ketchup and mustard to go around.

Well, payday is finally here.  The kids are asking when I'm going to the store.  

Today.  It's today.

I don't think I can make one more miracle.

fathers know best

 Why is it that the less a Dad wants for Father's Day, the harder it is to get?

Our Dad wants nothing for birthdays, Christmas, Father's Day.  Well, I take that back.  He often says he'd like a bull dozer or a backhoe or something equally outlandish that we could never actually find, much less afford.

I tossed around the idea of getting him a cheap charcoal grill or some cement blocks for our imaginary patio, but decided to get him exactly what he wanted: nothing.

Besides handmade cards, we bombarded him with TIME.  Friday night, we tried out an outdoor movie...Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good Day.  (Beware:  you may just have one of these types of days after seeing the movie, like I did.)  The pros of an outdoor movie: Carmen can come and walk and talk and really bother no one else.  The cons:  Carmen can come.  She whacked me on the head with a soda bottle, sat on me in the pokey grass, and was ready to go before it was over.

Really, I think outdoor movies are more for the experience than actually watching the movie anyway. Make sure it's one you've already seen.

After the movie, we went to pick up ABUELO for the weekend!  We got to celebrate Father's Day with two dads this year.  Abuelo is staying with some friends up north, so we'll be seeing a lot of him.  Carmen wasn't too sure of him at first, but she warmed up by Sunday.

Saturday night, all the boys headed out to a pro soccer game with the Kickers.  Pregame fun included a human foosball game!  I stayed home with the girls because of the threat of severe thunderstorms, and yes, they did hit.  The boys came home soaked and enjoyed every minute of it!

We played a little family soccer later on...

 

...but we had a new goalie who's still working on her skills.

Best time to go to the pool:  Sunday night.  

This was the first time my kids have actually enjoyed the outdoor pools all summer.  The water was warm, there was no one there, and the blazing sun was on it's way down.

I think our ol' dad is right.  Why do we always tend towards buying stuff for special days?  All we really need is time together with no pressures.

Thanks to our awesome DAD for reminding us about what's important!

Muaa! XOXOXO to all the Dads! 

BINGO

Are you making it through the first week of summer?

Carmen was VERY excited to get the kids off the bus the last day of school.  There's nothing like pelting them with water to put a smile on your face.

Looks like one of those balloons sprung a leak!

Even though we do vacation bible school the first week of summer break, I knew we still needed a plan, so Sunday, I had the kids make their own BINGO charts.  Each chart had to have two rows of chores, two rows of learning, and one row of fun.  (I don't need to make my kids have fun, do I?)

So here's a quick list of cool things that happened this week that I didn't even have to think of:

watched a sunset:

 Isabela and I pulled over at the lake and watched for 45 minutes.  We learned that the beautiful colors of the sunset sky actually happen about 30 minutes prior to the sun setting, which was at 8:38pm last night.  It was a cloudy night, so we also found lots of amazing things in the clouds, like pinocchio and elephants.

built a mud kitchen:

Two kids had 'build something' on their lists, so we moved some bricks and laid a board across them, added some stones and dandelions, and we finally have a mud kitchen.

went to a playground at 9pm:

Diego really wanted to cross this one off his list last night.  I didn't know that until we had gotten home from the sunset, so I ran up the street with him to swing.  It was just us, and it was really FUN.  A cool breeze was blowing, there were no bugs, and just enough light left to not be too scared.  But yes, I'm old, and swinging makes me nauseous.  Better to just dangle my feet.

sheet fort

Joaquin built an awesome one, with separate rooms for each child.  'Nuff said.

lots of sparkling mirrors and windows, some folded laundry, and clean tubs and toilets

dinner planned and cooked by Isabela

OK, so we did ruin the microwave for a bit.  She had a brilliant idea to stick the recipe on the microwave with a magnet.  It was out of the way, but still visible and not getting bits of food all over it.  How were we supposed to know that a magnet would cause the microwave to spark?  See, we're learning all the time.

spoke some French

Bonjour, je m'appelle Isabela.  J'ai 12 ans.  Au revoir.  I had her recite it to her dad who used to speak fluent French.  He laughs at my three-years-of-high-school-French accent.

Learned the Spanish alphabet

Two kids had this on their list, too.  I guess they wanted to start with the basics.

So the plan is to make a new BINGO chart each Sunday.  With the kids making them, I'm enjoying that it's not me telling them what to do.  So far, so good.  Wait.... what?  Summer hasn't even started yet?  Uh-oh.

rassawek

Do you ever think about just how much of the world you've never seen?

We discovered Rassawek vineyards last weekend at their annual Spring Jubilee.  I'd never even heard of the place, and it's less than one hour from my house.

It took some wrangling to get my one 'never-wants-to-go-anywhere' child on board with the trip.  I'm not saying who it is, but you probably already know.  I do question my lot in life when I'm arguing with my kid about taking them somewhere fun.

But we finally got there, and the first order of business was FISHING!

The kids grabbed the poles and worms off of the table and headed to the nearest water opening, right beside this boat.  It turned out to be the best fishing spot ever.

Once Joaquin figured out how to cast, he caught his first fish right away.  We were a little scared to take it off the hook, so a nearby pro fisherman of about nine years old offered to do the dirty work for us.

Isabela looks like a wild fisherwoman here.  Poor thing had a dud pole and ended up catching the boat.

And then Joaquin caught another fish!

Diego wasn't too far behind with his first catch.  It was really exciting for the kids to catch these fish.  It's always on our summer to do list each year, but we rarely get to cross that one off since we don't own any poles.

It got hot as the sun rose in the sky, so we cooled off with some milkshakes and water.  This bottle had sprung a leak at the top.  We ended up getting that bottle for free, but what a fun way to drink your water!

Rassawek I'm sure is known for it's wine, but I think most kids would know it for this cool treehouse. There's an easy way up to the top on this wooden ramp...

...but there's a fun way to the top through this special door.  Is it just me or does Isabela look like a GIANT in this picture?  Or maybe Diego looks like a munchkin.

The ladder inside the hollowed-out trunk leads straight up to the top.

Just what every treehouse needs, a trap door.

And one beautiful view from the top.

Nearby, there was a truck filled with corn kernels which overflowed onto the ground.

Carmen has very sensitive feet judging by this face.

Up to the bed of the truck to play.

By this time, the kids started getting hungry.  But there was so much exploring to do!  We headed across the lake to look for some food trucks.  Besides all the amazing artisans working on their crafts:  throwing pots, blacksmiths shaping iron, silk scarf dying, chair caning, and on and on...there were other interesting sights.

A goat herder walked by.  Odd.  He looked like he had spent the night under the stars like in the old days.

Some random children dressed like Native Americans were wandering around on these horses by themselves.  And later there was another kid about nine years old driving a golf cart down the path with three other kids on board.  My kids were jealous.

Diego caught sight of this little path that led to a log lean-to.  We all called him back up because, "There could be poison ivy down there!" (I fluctuate between overprotective and care-free.)

Joaquin really wanted to try out this bike.  As the guy rode by, Joaquin asked him, "Is that hard?"  He called back, "Kind of."  Apparently he couldn't stop, or it would have fallen over.

They were also offering free boat rides.  We didn't catch one of those, but we did ride....

...the steam engine!  The poor engineer was shoveling wood into a burning furnace to make this thing go.  And boy is that whistle loud!  Carmen was quite scared of it and kept her ears covered for most of the ride.  You never knew when it was going to blow!

And here's the little sprite now...I mean Coke.  I kept her happy with a bottle of Coke while the others decided to fish again.

 We tried various other spots, but none were as good as our first fishing hole.  Watch out for that tree, Diego!  Too late.

Carmen and I took selfies while the others fished.  It was nice to just sit in the shade and relax after all that walking around.

Diego ran out of worms at one point, so I sent him up ahead by himself to get some more.   That's me not hovering.  But really, the big kids were fishing over by the worm table so I knew he'd be okay.

This quiet shady spot was nice to sit in, but if the fish ain't biting, it's no fun.  So pretty soon we headed back to where the kids were catching fish after fish.

Carmen was in charge of the worms.

And most impressive, Joaquin learned to put his own worm on his hook!  I had to do it the first time we fished, but when I sent them on their own the second time, there was no one there to do it for him.  You can tell by his face, though, it's still pretty gross.

Rassawek does this event each year.  Kids 12 and under are FREE so I only had to pay $10 for this gorgeous day.  Well, then there was the milkshakes and food and my sanity later on.

This video is pretty hilarious.  It shows how it's not all fun and games.  When Joaquin's ready to go, he's ready to go.

A few skipped stones on the way out and we headed home.

We rode the tractor back to the car.  Starting and ending your day with a tractor ride, come on, kids, what could be more exciting than that?