Memorial Day Fun - NOVA Style!

A great perk of living in Northern Virginia (NOVA), is that you really don't have to "go" anywhere to find something new to see on a holiday weekend.  This Memorial Day we went on three different "adventures", as Lauren and Nate call them...

We went to the National Harbor to play with "the Man in the Sand" at the riverfront sand pit, as well as to check out the brand new carousel.  We didn't ride the carousel though, as we decided to save that adventure for Nana Barbie when she comes out June 13th! But we had a great time feeding the ducks cheesy crackers off the pier, as well as practicing our letters on the walk to and fro (National Harbor is spelled out on the pier). Don't you know that Lauren loved the "L"!

We also visited the Oxon Hill Farm in Maryland, where the girls got to see cows, pigs, and horses.  Oxon Hill Farm evolved from a plantation home during the War of 1812, to a hospital farm for St. Elizabeth's, to the national park it is today.  It was crazy that this place was literally right off the beltway/I-495, because it didn't feel or sound like it after you entered the park.  We were enveloped by dense forest and green grass...and not a traffic noise could be heard.  It really was amazing.  To get to see (placards placed throughout the park) the history that was lived here too was pretty impressive.  We even had a rooster chasing Lauren down for her apple, but I neglected to get pictures because Nate had Olivia down visiting the pigs, so I had to pull "protector" duty.  And when I say "protector" duty, I mean I grabbed the apple out of Lauren's hand, bit off a piece and chucked it about 15 feet away to divert the rooster from my delirious toddler's path.  You really would've thought she was missing a limb!  But first-time animal fear may feel pretty close to that yeah???

 

Our third adventure of the weekend took us into D.C. proper, blocks away from the Washington National's Baseball stadium, to a place called The Yards Park.  It's located on the Anacostia River and is known for it's interactive wet/water features.  Lauren was out-of-her-mind excited, even though it wasn't the warmest of days.  Olivia on the other hand, well, she needed some warm up time (metaphorically and literally); but she got into the swing of things after an hour or so.  We ended up spending about 3 1/2 hours here, having lunch on the grass right in the middle of everything.  I definitely see repeat trips to The Yards Park in our future; but next time I'll make sure the Nats are playing out of town so parking isn't such a beast!

The word ecstatic doesn't even begin to capture how excited Lauren was...

 

Olivia is finally acclimated and having fun!

 

Lauren is always able to make a friend wherever we go!

 

Why Am I Dressed Like...

...I'm going on a motorcycle ride you ask?!

Long story short, we are carrying out a poison ivy-excavation in our back yard! :0(
We had a repairman come to assess the damage done to the back fence of our rental house on Tremont Court (damage sustained last fall from fallen tree), and he informed me that we have a serious poison ivy infestation along our back fence!  Say what?!  So we've been playing amongst poison ivy for nearly two months now?  And neither Nate nor I noticed this?! AND neither of the girls has touched it yet?!  We are ripe for a "lesson" from Mother Nature, that's for sure!

So that's why I'm covered from head-to-toe in 90* weather with 80% humidity, looking to get a case of heat stroke! We've toyed with Mother Nature for nearly two months now and I don't want my luck to run out this week. So I've been digging out decades old ivy vines and poison ivy from our fence line (this poison ivy is DEFINITELY older than the 10 months we've been here) for approximately six days now...and we're still not done.  Even with Nate coming home and pulling evening ivy-excavation shift after he gets home from work...we're stiiiiiiiiiiill not done. *agh*

Hopefully we'll get it all dug out by tomorrow...and then we'll have to figure out how to get rid of the 40+ yard waste bags (no lie) that we've accumulated.  On the bright side (if there is one), Nate and I can spot poison ivy from 20 yards away now!

Oh! And we've experienced our first run-in with the Virginia tick...well Lauren has anyway.  With all the time we've been spending outdoors excavating this week, it was bound to happen.  I don't have pictures to commemorate this event though, because it took me to hold her down and Nate to pry the tick off her back with tweezers...and then the second one off her thigh.  Oh poison ivy, I guess you did "get yours" via your little tick friend!

Delaplane Strawberry Festival

So Nate has a thing with finding us new, never-been-done-before activities (by us) each weekend we have free.  With it being strawberry picking season, he stumbled upon the Delaplane Strawberry Festival advertisements, and he knew what we were going to do this weekend.  So we jumped in the car about 9AM, and a little over an hour later we were navigating the rolling hills of Delaplane, VA, being traffic-controlled to our "parking spot" out in the middle of a field on a slightly descending hillside.  It was beautiful. 

 

And even more beautiful in that the car-ride up wasn't a train-wreck, minus Lauren asking, "Where are we going Daddy?", literally every three minutes.  You just have to stop answering after a while, right??? 
So in that hour we went from the warm, densely populated city of Alexandria, to the sweeping views and rolling green hills of rural NOVA.  But it seemed that we went through not only a culture warp, but a weather warp as well.  People were not rushing at 100 MPH, nor did they give you the impression they felt that they themselves were more important than you (oh East Coast, don't get me started)... 
At any rate, at this slightly higher elevation on an unseasonably mild day, it was a bit chilly and the wind was definitely cooling it down that much more.  But it was completely tolerable with a jacket, which unfortunately Nate forgot to bring. *insert goose bumps here*  So he wore his goose bumps with pride and toughed it out Colorado-boy style.  He was not about to let the wind and chill get in the way of the girls' fun-day. 
So we went straight to the hay bale maze!  It was a one-way maze, so of course sweet, energizer bunny Lauren tore through it like it was on fire.

Then she had to be redirected by the staff not to go in the exit a couple times, in her attempts to go find Olivia.  Olivia, she who knows and goes a normal toddler speed, verses Lauren's full-throttle, full-time.

Next we went to the potato sack race area.  Olivia was content in daddy's arms, while Lauren wanted to get inside a sack and jump with the other kids.  Once the lady said, "Go!", it was like a herd of cats were being released into the wild, going every which way.  Lauren made it about halfway down to the turn-around, before she took a spill and flailed like a turtle on her back for a minute or so.  She then saw an older girl on her way back to the finish line, decided to get up and follow her across the finish line.  So it looked like she finished in 2nd place, but was technically the 1st place finisher in the disqualified bracket!  That's our competitive sweet girl!  All the while Olivia is hollering from Nate's arms for Lauren to, "Mere 'Livia"! (translated to "Come Here, Olivia").  Yes, that's right. Olivia calls Lauren by the name Olivia.  Even after we ask her to repeat the name Lauren back to us while pointing at her sister, Olivia will still call Lauren by Olivia. Every. Single. Time.  I just hope Lauren doesn't begin to think her name is 'Livia!

We then ran over to the cake-walk area, and walked from red square to red square with the rest of the kids at the festival.  We went about 13 rounds before Olivia was lucky enough to have her number called (#25).  It was perfect timing really, because the girls were losing interest and asking for a treat by this time.  So they split the mini-cupcake, much to Olivia's disliking.

Then off to the face-painting booth where the girls chose what they wanted on their cheeks.  Lauren chose a strawberry (probably because pictures of them were all around us, and it was the first thing she saw/thought of), and Olivia chose a flower.  They both sat extremely still and didn't even smudge their face-paint before it was dry.  Yeah for non-ruined clothing!

 

We then headed towards the festival's craft tents, which had quite the assortment of craftiness.  Everything from giant marbles, to animal figurines made out of pots and pans, to knit owl hats--which were adorable!  They even had them in Denver Bronco colors!  But since we already have owl hats for the girls, Mr. Nate wasn't feeling it...so we walked on...mostly just to keep him warm. :0)

 

The infamous owl hats! Who could have too many of these?!

 

We then stumbled upon the self-titled Virginia Jelly Bean Queen, whom does not sell jelly beans, but instead makes balloon animals/shapes.  So we stood in the barn to keep out of the wind, and waited for the girls to get their 3 foot long flowers.  They loved them, but had a hard time keeping ahold of them in the wind.  And when they were holding them they were swatting things with them; therefore causing petals of their flowers to pop/"fall off". 

 

We then got to see a small hand-held monkey (not sure of the breed), whom took quarters from people gathering around to see the spectacle.  But the kettle corn smelled too good and was apparently calling the girls' names, so we headed to the food booths for some fresh-out-the-kettle popcorn.  It really was delicious!  From there we walked and munched on popcorn.  We saw cows, horses and ponies, and even raced tractor-like tricycles.  The crowd was really beginning to swell by this time, so we decided to call it a day and head for our car.  The girls were content because they had their popcorn and a nice car-ride/nap time coming their way.  What a day!

 



Strawberry Picking at Shlagel Farms

Lucky for the Olsen's, moving to the D.C. metro area did not mark an end to the pick-your-own produce we grew so accustomed to in Belleville, Illinois.  Oh Eckert's Farm, how you spoiled us so...and we really had no idea how good we had it there in Southern Illinois.  But we recognize the fact now and sorely miss the access Eckert's allowed to good times and good food...and great frozen custard!  Man could I go for a caramel apple concrete right now! Mmmm...

Shlagel Farms, Waldorf, MD

Back to strawberries...So granted the pick-your-own farms out here are not five minutes from our house, nor does one farm seem to grow it all; but it is available at least within an hours drive.  Enter Shlagel Farms.  It's located on the northern outskirts of Waldorf, Maryland, about a 30 minute drive from us in Alexandria.  It too is a family-owned farm, with fields as far as the eye can see.  They also have a mini play area (play set, dirt pile, and a chicken coop/pen) near the fields for when the kids attention is no longer occupied by picking strawberries off the vine.  A pretty genius idea Shlagel Family!  When the picking was all said and done, we ended up with about 7lbs of fresh strawberries and two fruit-filled, extremely happy little girls.

Lauren "the quick picker" mid crouch

Nate quite obviously needed some extra help.

 

Lauren found this ride in the Shlagel barn while we were paying for our strawberries. She's probably the cutest occupant that tractor has ever seen...probably the most stubborn too! ;0P

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Why are You Stuck in My Hair?!

Lauren loves to brush hair. Mine. Nate's. Anyone that will allow her near their hair--she'll brush it.  This new fascination being brought on by a small hair brush shaped like her favorite Disney princess-Rapunzel.  I should note that she loves this brush so much, that she "lifted" it from her friend Lorelei Morgan while in Florida over Easter. Really.  She just took it and hid it in our car (sorry again Kara!).  Apparently the old witch from Tangled isn't the only one that wants to keep Rapunzel illegally locked away for her own use.
At any rate, at 2 1/2 years of age, Lauren has yet to master pulling the brush all the way through one's hair.  It's not an age appropriate maneuver for her, I get that.  But I really need to start working on this key element with her, otherwise I'm going to end up bald.  And not from trying to teach a toddler, but bald from trying to untangle the entrenched brush from my long hair.

This go-round it was an a-mazing hot mess.  I felt like I was trying to free a caged bird that just kept flapping around, hindering the process.  The bird in this case being Rapunzel the brush, being thrashed about by the ever helpful Lauren. "No worry mom. Jes one more mint".  But the "mint" (minute) ended up turning into about 25 minutes of strand pulling every which direction through the brush.  Not to worry though, Lauren kept up her words of encouragement from time-out in the corner.  "Doin good job mom". And believe it or not, time-out wasn't a result of the brush entanglement, but from Lauren's inability to not grab the brush handle and yank while I was picking it out of my hair. 

Oh Rapunzel, Rapunzel, aren't you so glad to be free of my hair?!

 

A Visit from Lizi!

My sister, Lizi, took a break from her hectic practice back in Arizona, and came out to Virginia for a visit with her favorite Olsen Girls!  Unfortunately with the difference in time zones, my girls' 6 o'clock wake-up felt pretty brutal to Lizi.  But at least this early wake-up call (3am AZ time), was accompanied by cute little faces that wanted to snuggle her.  Olivia made sure that Auntie Lizi gave her some quality bed-snuggle time each morning by squawking at her, but only loud enough that Lizi could hear, as to not rouse Lauren.  Olivia didn't like to share Auntie Lizi this early in the morning...

The weather was nice and comfortable while Lizi was here, so we have many park outings with the girls.  And though Lizi did miss the Cherry Blossoms on the National Mall, we went down regardless to see everything else that was in bloom.  The Mall was busy as usual, with some wonderful people watching to be done!  I'm always so amazed at how many different languages we hear spoken while down visiting the national monuments.  What do we see/hear most?  I believe it's either Korean or Japanese; though with the time I spent in Korea, maybe I'm just able to pick up when I do hear Korean.  Interestingly enough, English may be the language we hear least while there.  Do Americans even make the time to come see our National Capitol, or is it just the rest of the world that does?!  It could just be the time of year; though we probably go monthly, so I'm not sure that's the case Anyway... 

We sure loved the time Lizi spent with us here and can't wait to have her back again.  Maybe we can talk Uncle Joe, Connor, and Hadley to come out for a visit this fall...we'll just have to work on our luring techniques of getting Arizona family to come out here for a visit.  We've actually just recently found a couple fishing areas along the Potomac and other waterways near by...maybe that'll convince Joe...and maybe even my dad/Grandpa Bill to come out for a looksee! ;0)