Times a flyin!

We've made it official.

Henry Jack Sanders

He was blessed on Sunday.

VERY sad for me, that no one but Jeff took part in the blessing.

No uncles, no grandpas and no great grandpas.

Lucky for me, he did look darling in his little outfit I made.

Oh how we love this baby!

I guess I don't feel like my kids are that close in age, its just how it is. But, when I look

at a picture like this, they really are all babies!!

Lucky me.

Not shown in the picture, the HUMIDITY!!! wow! Can't wait for the nice fall breezes!

What 7pm looks like at the Sanders home.

This is one of MANY times our power has gone out (for over 6 hrs!!!) and the best we can

do is sweat it out together, in the great out doors.

This is why I love Jeff. If he want to do something, he does it.

Even if that means taking a nap, ON THE COUTER, at 10:30 am. on Saturday morning.

Let your imagination run wild with this one.

Our popcorn picnic. The kids love popcorn, and don't usually have it.

So when we do, its got to be a big deal.

Oh, the people watching here is great.

If you can't get the candy open, just eat the wrapper too!

Thank you Virginia

Thank you Virginia for giving me the chance to wait in line at your DMV for

OVER 2 1/2 HOURS!!! WITH all three of my babies!!!

Luce, Chars and Henry were DREAMS while we waited.

While we waited, we

had our breakfast, toast, bananas, strawberries and cheerios,

went potty (thank you kind ladies who sat with Chars)

read the books I had brought,

played "eye spy"

rocked Henry to sleep

went potty, again (thank you other kind lady who sat with Chars)

made sure we left our fingerprints on the windows.

made double sure drinking fountains were working VERY well,

woke Henry up, (thank you Luce)

danced in the open space,

played hide and seek with our umbrella stoller

wondered why the security guard would not let the kids roam in the lobby (GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! YOU TRY KEEPING 3 BABIES AT BAY !!! They were not touching, playing or even looking at anything that may have been any concern to him )

Oh, and finally, while we waited, we did get our new license plate!!!

I was just about in tears when, truly over 2 1/2 hours later, we walked out the doors.

After thanking thanking and THANKING the kids for being so great,

I asked Luce to pick ANYTHING she wanted for a treat.

She picked, as she jumped up and down,

A SUCKER!!!

Easy.

We sat, in the shade, sucked our suckers, thanked Virginia, finally, that we had SURVIVED!

LOVE Love LLLLOOOOOVVVEEEEE these kids.

I am so blessed!!!!

Tears of Joy

The National Cathedral. Why is it that some amazing artists took such great care to

construct those unbelievable stain-glass windows? No picture ever does them justice.

Simply Beautiful inside.

I cannot think of the last time I cried simply because something was beautiful.

We fount ourselves at the front of the Cathedral, where we came to a quartet

practicing Mendelssohn, Wedding March. It resonated up to the beautiful beamed ceiling,

and floated back down to our ears.

It was so beautiful, I cried. The children, Jeff and even Henry were all silent, and motionless.

It was more powerful then I can explain.

This little sculpture sits on an island, on the Potomac,

just near the Lincoln Memorial (well, sort of).

Roosevelt Island.

It had great potential to be amazing, but the waterless fountains and dry river channels

led our thoughts to hoping this would be grander.

No worries, we still REALLY enjoyed our Friday night picnic, bugless,

and enjoyed the space to just RUN.

I never did read if this was a "to scale" replica.

Ah, the good old days.

Yes, these beauties (the chairs) were FREE, just near my FAVORITE

(well, one of them) places to shop. Its a dive of a food market, but sells produce at a fraction of the regular cost. Its called "Grand Mart" and I'm planning on taking ya'll on a virtual tour

one of these next days.

Love the prices, love the unusual products, love the location.

Are you kidding? This pumpkin is so stinkin unbelievable.

Look at those thighs. (oh, Henry's, not Jeffs)

Auntie Tessa came to town!!!

We've had a great time with Auntie Tess while she's been staying with us for the week.

She came to the Building Museum with us, and was great entertainment for the kiddos.

Its been SO fun for Luce to have family in town. (she's my cousin)

Tess has hung around with us, and put site seeing on the back burner,

which gives us all time to be with her, and helped us feel more like family, not a hotel.

Charlies chubby toes. Funny that i never told him not to wear my shoes, he just always

goes for Jeffs shoes, and Luce always goes for mine.

May cause drowsiness

Just to fill you in....

Our Friday night habits have turned into picnics at the park.

This park, Hayes, is probably our fav.

With a great splash park, even in hot weather (which we've had our share!!!) its nice and cool.

Anticipating the water turning back on. No, its not loud, just her reaction to most things.

We CAN do it all. Picnic, park, and exercise! Still got it!

Charlie hear there was "BayWatch" tryouts, so he's strutting his best.

The kids parade, which we did our fare share of spectating.

Looks like 3's the max.

We let Luce stay up to watch some fireworks with our neighbors.

She has NEVER stayed up this late (nearly 10pm) and after 3 days of catching up,

I'm not sure we'll do it again.

Enjoying our time at the Smithsonian, while we waited for the parade to begin.

We did watch the parade, got GREAT seats in the shade, heard some great bands,

loved the blow up balloons, and we'll think about doing it next year.

Wasn't there some rule about running with sparklers?

Lucy like them, and chars, we didn't let get close.

We took the family swimming at this great little pool.

We had a great time, and decided this has GOT to be a

new tradition for the weekend of the 4th.

Henry is such a cuddler!

He does this a few times a day, which I can't get enough of.

Remember when?

Remember when I took this picture of Henry?

I think he must have just been a few days old, and fit so perfectly in that little stroller.

Well...

today, my sweet baby Henry couldn't even fit his large head under the shade cover.

Yes, I know, the classic saying that time goes SOOOOOO fast, and well, it DOES!

Gobble this pumpkin up, we do!!!

Still calling him Happy Hank, and kissing his face off.

Remember when I spent a few weeks searching for a play kitchen for Luce and Chars?

Well, some great lady on Craigslist

was GIVING hers away. (I think an unusual thing for out here)

And by a small chance, I was the first to call, so we snatched it right up.

They've loved this.

Remember when you could eat and eat and eat french fries?

Well, give Luce the choice over ice cream or fries, its no question.

Fries take first place!

Remember that great park in Arlington? There are quite a few splash parks (ones w/water)

around our general area. You can find us at one of them on a Friday night.

Chars usually likes the water more then Luce, and the swings are always a hit.

Remember how fascinating air planes were when you were little?

There is this great park right by the runway of Regan Nat. Airport,

that you can watch the planes come in.

You can tell by Luce plugin her ears it gets quite loud, but SO cool!

Remember the record breaking heat wave (over 96 deg.) we just suffered through?

To celebrate the brake in temperature,

and highes only in the 80's (GLORIOUS) we picnicked in the back yard.

Remember Baby Betty? Well, by the looks of things, Henry and her are dating.

Thought I'd take a peek at what was keeping them so quiet.

The Potomic

Saturday was Soap Box car racing, down capitol hill.

Since we arrived bright and early,

we had some time to see the capitol, and do a bit of our own touring.

Lucky for Chars and Luce there was a broken sprinkler,

which kept them both VERY entertained (and wet).

Just down the hill from the Capitol is a little brick structure/cove

with a decorative fountain and fresh flowing water.

Great place to cool off and enjoy the shade.

Trying to teach the kids "the wave".

Luce has really been into holding Henry, and he LOVES it.

He's at a perfect age to recognize faces and voices.

He for sure knows mine and Jeffs, but its so fun to see him light up when he

sees and hears her.

A dreamy evening!

I'm surprised that along this particular stretch of the Potomac,

on a beautiful friday night, that not more people were out having picnics.

Weather was perfect, water was perfect (well, actually stinky) and we had ourselves a picnic.

We were on our way back from Leesburg, from picking up a FREE play kitchen

I found on Craigslist.

Lucy and Chars have been very buys making many creations.

Love this photo! It reminds me of a generational picture.

Chars is heading towards the light (or the river...)

We can't wait to plan s'mores and a camp fire for next time!

Q and A

Question #1: Does Virginia and the DC area always have fun things going on? YEEEEESSSS

This is "Imagination Bethesda" A created for kids event. Had everything from planting flowers to decorating cookies. Besides the humidity (STILL not use to that), it was a great event!

Question #2: Why did Charlie decide just this last weekend that taking off his shoes

in the car is hilarious?

Questions 3,4 and 5: Is it summer time at our house? Yes.

Is it the middle of the day? Yes.

Are those FLANNEL pajamas that Lucy is wearing, in the middle of the day, in summer time?

Yes, yes, and yes. Its HOT, HUMID, and really, if Lucy wants to change out of her clothes into her flannel pj's (or as she says PAY JAYS) I let her. What the heck.

Oh, super fun that she's getting to the age to play games.

This is our pre-nap ritual. Its just a match game. She's obviously VERY intrigued!

Question #6: What makes a tourist? Hawaiian print shirt and crocks?

Well folks, there you have it. Our little tourist.

Question #7: Business in the front, or PARTY IN THE BACK??????????

Henry rockin' the mullet!

(Yes, he has no hair, except right here, and oh how we care for these precious few!)

Question #8: How did this little pumpkin get his nick name, Happy Hank?

Oh how this baby makes me smile!

Question #9: Is that a soccer uniform Lucy's wearing?

Nope, just a long sleeve shirt that her mother was to lazy to cut and sew properly, so I just cut the sleeves off, and gave her the scraps.

Question #10: How many bikes have we now seen go by mama?

We went to a bike race on Sat. It was in the city, and the coarse was only 1K, which means they

did several laps (like 40) to complete the race.

The kids were quite entertained by the almost constant flurry of bikers,

lead cars and police men.

Question #11: How old was Picasso when he first began?

Its never to early, right?

Question #12: How can I ever decide what creations to keep, and which ones to toss?

LOVE THEM ALL