Cherry Blossoms

It's that time of year again! This is our 10th year going into DC to see the cherry blossoms. Our favorite place to start is at the Smithsonian Castle. There you can see, not cherry, but magnolia blossoms. They are stunning!

There is also a beautiful weeping cherry tree in a little side garden there.

Our other favorite spot is the FDR memorial. It is right off the tidal basin and another beautiful place to see the cherry blossoms. It was a beautiful day.

Our thought and hearts go out to the Japanese people who are suffering so much right now. These trees were a gift of goodwill and friendship from Japan. They are a beautiful symbol of peace and new beginnings. I wish both for the people of Japan.

Roller Derby

When was the last time you were on roller skates??

Thanks to Emma's girl scout troop we discovered a roller rink in Purcellville. Emma had a blast at wanted to go as a family. She invited her best friend, Olivia, and we had a great time. The entire floor is wood and they have little party areas with tables and chairs or lounge areas with couches. You can just skate up to all of it and plop yourself down. I don't know if this is how Roller Rinks used to be, I can't say that I have ever been to one.

Clay started a little conga line with the girls, the other kids wanted to join too.

Do you know, this was my first time skating on "quad" skates. I never could figure out how to roller skate on "quads." It wasn't until my good friend Cathy showed me in-line skates that I finally learned. Do you remember when in-line skates came out?

What's in a name? Part 2

Rebekah is a very determined little girl. This is what I found on her chair when I went to pick her up from preschool. She had replaced her name tag with this new one.

Sadly, her preschool teacher does not approve and Rebekah has been corrected (I have struggled with seeing the problem since she still has another 1.5 years until she is in kindergarten, I am sure the Rapunzel phase will pass like all other things kids get into). She still wants to be Rapunzel and can't wait to turn 18 and change her name.

Rebekah's new room

We are finally painting Rebekah's room for her. She has requested a pink room. Well, it's only paint and not that hard to change if she doesn't like pink anymore in a few years. Here is a BEFORE and DURING picture. It took me about 6 hours to get that simple Pooh border off the wall.

We like to paint in the evening when the girls are asleep. Emma said Rebekah could sleep in her room for the night. We got out her sleeping bag and put it on the floor of Emma's room. This is what we found when we went to bed:

Here is the AFTER pictures. I may still rearrange the furniture, so we haven't hung any pictures on the wall yet, but you get the idea.

Target was having a sale on furniture so we finally bought Rebekah a dresser, and a bookcase to match. I had fun building them. No, really! There is something very satisfying about taking a box of parts and building something out of it. When you are done, you get to admire your work... and you don't have to do it again... like laundry, dishes, or dinner. That's one of the reasons I like IKEA, the fun of putting it together. Maybe I should hire out to those who don't like to. :)

The eyes have it

Rebekah has very pretty blue eyes. Strangers are always commenting on her hair or her eyes. But what nobody notices is that one of her eyes is not entirely blue. Her right eye has a brown spot. It started as just a spot, like the head of a pin. It is slowly expanding. It is now across the whole top of her eye. It will be interesting if she ends up with David_Bowie_eyes (well, his aren't really different colors).

What's in a name?

There has been a recent change in our house. Rebekah has changed her name to Rapunzel. She has been telling everyone about the change. When she draws pictures of herself, she has REALLY long hair. She brought home some work from preschool and I noticed that she is now signing it Rapunzel too.