Teeth!!

On Monday, all of the girls had dentist appointments and no one had any cavities! YAY!

Sadie looks like such a big kid in that chair!
This summer, Elise has lost two teeth. Her first one fell out about three weeks ago. It was so loose, it fell out without her even realizing it. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it. We have a feeling she swallowed it with her dinner or spit it out after brushing her teeth before bedtime. Thankfully, the tooth fairy got her note and came anyway. She was VERY careful not to lose the second tooth and guarded it with her life until she could put it under her pillow!

Museum Day!

Today we went downtown to the Virginia Historical Society Museum and drove right down the street to Maymont's Nature Center. Admission is free thru the end of the month at the Historical Museum, so I thought it would be fun to check it out. They had a lot of great exhibits! It's a pretty quiet museum, so if you go, prepare the kids! Although I prepared them well, I still had to "shhh" them multiple times. Some of our favorite things were the covered wagon, Pocahontas portraits, arrowheads, old schoolhouse, streetcar, and the Native American canoe. Here is Sadie and her friend Nate dressing up in colonial clothing and here's Anabelle sporting her cap.

I really felt old when I saw an old toy bank I used to have on display!!!! I'm hoping I still have it somewhere and didn't get rid of it! I also saw a Dunn Loring firefighter's hat from the early 1900s. Dunn Loring is a town named after my father's family in Fairfax, VA.

After VHS museum, we hopped down the road to Maymont's Nature Center. Just in case you didn't know...they have a fee now. It was $3 for adults and $2 for kids 4 & up. The girls really enjoyed the otters, the owls, the fish, and the turtles. They provide you with a fish chart when you walk in and the girls did a great job matching the fish to their name. The entire time, they kept looking for a snapping turtle, but couldn't find it. Right when I said it was time to leave, Elise found it! It was HUGE and pretty scary looking! There was also an environmental educator walking around with a black snake. The girls bravely pet it and said, "It's not slimy!"

A Day At Kings Dominion

Last Friday, we spent the day at Kings Dominion. We've been trying to plan a day for weeks and we all ended up being able to go on my dad (Pop Pop)'s birthday which was perfect.


As soon as we arrived, I spotted Dora & Danny took Sadie over to say hello. She was super excited to see her, but very freaked out at the same time! She's never been a fan of large characters!




We spent a great deal of time in the kiddie area riding all of the cars & airplanes. Their favorite was Yogi's Cave now named Treasure Cave. They went through twice and simply loved the crooked floor! It's so fun to see my girls enjoy something that I too enjoyed as a child.



















Another favorite was riding the cars on the Toonpike. It was hilarious to watch them take driving so seriously. Elise said she learned how to drive from watching mom...lol! I was a little worried about Sadie crashing into someone else, but she did great!















This year, Anabelle & Elise were over 48" so they were able to ride some roller coasters!!! We started them out on the Rebel Yell which got mixed reviews. Elise didn't like the big hill, but the others were okay and Anabelle didn't like the tunnel. Here's Anabelle and her big smile after riding it with my dad.
Here's Sadie & Danny getting ready to ride the Scooby Doo! Sadie LOVED the small roller coasters. Every time I saw her ride, she had her hands up! You can see her in the back car in the picture below.









Other favorites were the Avalanche, Scooby's Haunted Mansion, the Log Flume, and Waterworks. We got there when they opened and stayed almost until they closed. When we got home, Sadie was asleep and the older girls were pretty close to it. As much as we wanted to just put them to bed, we had to put them in the shower first. I couldn't ignore the black feet & slimy skin...yuck-o! By the way...it's really not fun nor is it easy to bathe three exhausted kids in one shower at the same time...but we did it :0).

A Family Hike at Dodd Park

Last Saturday, we went for a hike with the girls. It was about two miles long, so it was a perfect length for their little legs. My favorite part, was the walk through the marsh. I've never seen so many dragonflies! I think the girls loved combing the little beach. They found lots of little shells & interesting rocks. It was also fun to watch the white cranes catch their lunch. On our hike, we were lucky enough to stumble upon some more animals. Along the trail, I spotted a big gray snake (I was a little freaked out & forgot to take a picture). Something was telling me as we hiked to keep an eye out for one & there it was! Everyone else just strolled right on by it. Then, at the end of the hike, we took the kids to the little playground & out came a family of groundhogs! Two of the ran away quickly as we approached, but the biggest one just hung around until we left.

Pocohontas State Park

This week we went to the water park with our dear friends Abbey, Naomi, & Claudia. It was a great day to go because it ended up being one of he hottest days of the year. We stayed wet for a full 4 1/2 hours, so it didn't seem that bad to us :0). The older girls spent most of their time on the waterslides & Sadie had a blast on the water playground. She was brave enough to climb to the top of the big waterslides, but the rushing water was a bit much & she climbed back down. I was secretly glad because I didn't want her to get turned around inside those big tubes!

The Waterslide!

We are fortunate enough to have two pools in our neighborhood. For the past 4 years, we've spent most of our time at the one with the fountains, but this year, everyone was old enough to go on the waterslide at the other one!! The older girls must go down at least 30 times in two hours. Elise has now mastered sliding on top of the water on her tush as she lands to make the thrill last just a tad longer. It's so funny to watch! Sadie goes down as well, but I couldn't get a picture of her doing it because I wanted to be in the water near her...just in case!

Here are Anabelle & Elise slippin' & slidin'!

~Luck's Sunflowers~

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to one of the sunflower fields off of Luck's Lane to pick sunflowers. The kids had their portraits taken earlier in the morning, so they weren't in the mood for more pictures. The afternoon heat & honey bees didn't help. However, the fields were goregous and we got a huge bouquet of sunflowers. They definitely brightened up our home! I could have stayed there all afternoon, but after a busy morning, the kids were ready to head home.