Photo Book

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Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Is Summer Really Over?

Well, it's Labor Day, folks, and you know what that means! No more white pants or shoes (who follows that rule, anyway? Winter is all about white, right?), no more impromptu visits to the community pool (haha, who am I kidding? With these little ones, it's not like I ever went), no more vacations to the beach (um, we're going to the OBX next week), and no more big kids taking over the indoor playground at the mall (well, that part is true). As an unspoken rule, summer is over. Wait a minute, didn't we just get back from our NH vacation? That would make it July. I think I lost a month somewhere. Last I checked, Olivia was an 8-month-old who just sat where you put her and played contentedly. Collin was in the midst of potty training and running around bottomless. Now Olivia is 10 months old yesterday, and Collin is more or less toliet trained. Anyone seen where August went? I'm missing a month.

Thank God I wrote down some things in Olivia's calendar because August has been quite busy for her! My little baby girl is really growing up. I'll list the highlights. In the past month, Olivia...

- has three visible teeth on the bottom but five more coming in...all at once!
- 's hair has grown so much that I can fit it all into a full ponytail.
- can high-five, clap, wave, and stick out her tongue when asked.
- learned how to crawl, take a couple of steps holding someone's hands, and pull up on low furniture.
- gives her baby doll a bottle and tries to feed others with her spoon.
- identifies nose, teeth, mouth, and eyes on Mommy's face.
- places colored rings on a stick, plastic coins in her piggie, and takes things out of a box to put them back in.
- makes engine noises while pushing cars and trucks around on the floor.
- loves a game of ball back and forth ball with a partner; she's obsessed with balls, actually.
- has 6 words in her spoken vocabulary--> Daddy, cat, Mama, dog ('dag'), ball ('bah'), and baby ('ba-ba').
- not only sleeps 12+ hours through the night but also 4+ during the day...hmm, growth spurt?

Did I mention that all of this happened in just the past month? It was like she didn't do anything besides sit and read her books and point to things the month before and then BAM! Major milestones all around. The crawling has made our life much more interesting. A facebook status from last week pretty much sums it up: Ugh, and I thought keeping tabs on one baby was hard two years ago! If only I knew how easy it was compared to the life of "No touch, Olivia," "Get off that, Collin," "No mouth, Olivia; no touch, Olivia," "Collin, give that back to Olivia," "No mouth, Olivia," "Go clean that up, Collin," "No touch, Olivia," that I lead presently. Yup, fun times! In between all the policing, there are some pretty special moments, like watching my kids-with-a-plural-s make each other laugh, give each other kisses and hugs, and communicate in a way that only they understand. They really enjoy one another's company, even if it makes Collin mad when Olivia goes for his toys or irritates the crap out of Olivia when he won't let her play with hers.

Tomorrow, I'm sending Collin off to the same pre-preschool program he was in last year, only this year he is the oldest in the class instead of the youngest. Last year, he was just starting to talk in simple sentences, and now he'll engage in an entire conversation, complete with analysis and clarification. Last year, he was wearing diapers, and now he wears Thomas, Cars, and Toy Story underwear like only a big kid can. Last year, he needed help putting on his shoes, and now he can do it himself. Last year, Yawgie Doggie had just been replaced by Sammy Cat, who is now playing second fiddle to the Monkey Who Has No Name.

It's only September 5, but I already feel like this month is getting sucked into time's big machine like the sock you know went into the dryer but never came out. Beach next week, Big Apple Circus the weekend following our return, future JMU Dukes photoshoot and homecoming the weekend after that, and then it's October. Don't even get me started on how busy November will be with two birthdays, a baptism, and Thanksgiving.

Really, Labor Day?

Photo Book for ShaSha

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I don't know about you, but it's getting harder and harder to think of quality birthday gifts for anyone over the age of 25 and especially for family members of, let's say, a certain age. Mom's birthday is coming up in a few days, so rather than spend time wandering aimlessly around the mall or ordering something online that will either get lost in a drawer or returned, I decided to make a photo book on Shutterfly (sorry, Snapfish, you were too slow for me!) featuring some of the highlights of the summer. You wanted a brag book, Mom, so here you go! Brag away. :)

Saturday with Daddy

Olivia figured out how to put the colored rings on the yellow cone/stick today. She was quite proud of herself and loved the attention she was getting from Aunt K, Uncle M, and Mommy. She spent a lot of quality time with Daddy today doing leg exercises, which seem to be paying off already, as she is already showing motivation to move around more. Collin's day was spent helping Daddy prune the flower bushes out front and riding his tricycle. :) http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/auth_dvd?work_id=15539700

Nine Months for Olivia!

My baby girl has been an outside person just as long as she was an inside person. That's another whole pregnancy gone by already! I tried not to blink, but it's hard not to when you need sleep. :) She's starting to wave (hello more than bye-bye), knows what a nose is (she grabs mine when I ask here where it is), and can identify Daddy and Collin by name (but not Mommy!). Still fascinated by the cat and obsessed with beach balls and water bottles, Olivia continues to be an observer but a communicative, smiley one. She loves her people! Even at the nine-month well check she wasn't the least bit afraid of anyone, including our dark-haired, dark-eyed, facial-hair-wearing male pediatrician. All smiles for every poke and prod....well, except for the shot part. She did cry when the needle went in as usual but stopped as soon as it was out. What a trooper! Olivia is not crawling yet, but the pedi says it's because she has low muscle tone in her legs and needs to be doing some exercises to strengthen them. She weighs 18lbs. 15oz., which puts her between the 25th and 50th percentile, a pretty significant drop from 95th at six months. She continues to be on the tall side at 29" (90th percentile) with a large head (90th percentile). A third tooth on the bottom is showing its head, and judging by the way she's been napping and the fingers constantly at her mouth, more are on the way. We love our sweet baby Olivia!!

Live Free or Die Vacation

July 24 - July 31

We packed the kiddos up and drove through the night (10 hours) to beautiful Enfield, NH, to visit my parents, grandpa, aunts, uncle, and cousin for a week. A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say, so I'm guessing a video is worth at least two thousand. Hmm, while I'd love to write a memoir about our vacation, I made a video instead. Too many pictures and video clips to choose from for the purpose of this blog, you know? Here's a link to the video! Enjoy. http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/auth_dvd?work_id=15501468

Dad's First Haircut

Fields of Flowers

A partly sunny, 79-degree day in Northern Virginia during July is a rarity. Since the weather was nothing less than gorgeous and perfect out today, I just had to find something to do with the kids outside. But what? Go to a playground? Nah, been there done that about 983 times already. Go for a walk? Eh. Tired of the all the same ol' routes but keep forgetting to find new ones. Fields of Flowers in Purcellville has been on my to-do list for quite some time, but it seems like every time I think of going, it is either raining or scorching hot. Today was our lucky day!

We pulled up to a cute, New Englandesque-looking property around 1:15 and parked adjacent to a fence that said, "Beware of attack bird." Okay...

I got the kids out of the car, and walked in the direction of the fields, ready to grab everyone and jump in one of the bushes of flowers in case the bird made an appearance. There were handwritten signs everywhere explaining how things work since apparently we were on our own for the day: Fill a glass jar for $10 or a bucket for $20-30 (depending on the size of the container). Don't forget to take some clippers! Put your money in the red coffee container before you leave. Make your own change. Small town feel and honor system - I like it!

After gathering our supplies - I had Olivia in one arm, the wire basket with the jar and clippers in the other, and my camera dangling around my neck - we arrived in the fields of flower gardens. I wish I knew the names of flowers so that I could write them down here, but I know a sunflower when I see one. Collin took off running up and down the rows of flowers, eager to find the perfect ones to pick. Bless his heart, he kept going to the wimpy or dying ones. His favorite flower was a browning yellow head of crumpled petals with hardly a stem; he carried that thing around everywhere and exclaimed he couldn't wait to show Daddy.

I'm not really sure how I managed to hold a baby, cut flowers and put them in the jar, and take pictures all while instructing Collin which flowers to pick and not to pick as well as where to pick and how to pick a flower properly. Hey, I'm not paying for a handful of squished, broken, short flowers! If the attack bird had decided to eat us, I'm not sure I could have put up much of a defense, as my hands were full.



Here is our $10 vase of flowers, hand-picked by my Collin Monster and me (Olivia tried to help but her version of helping was eating the leaves, petals, stems, etc.). I tried to pretend I was a florist and make the prettiest arrangement possible. Ahh, I can smell those stargazer lilies now...mmmm....

Social Butterflies

Pool date with Jo, playdate with Adelyn, impromptu concert

7-11-11 = Free Slurpee!?

As promised to a little boy who ate all his salmon and carrots at dinner, I ventured out to the various 7-Elevens this evening with Collin to obtain his very first Slurpee because they were giving away free ones. Yes, I put a plural 's' at the end of 7-Eleven. I suppose I was a little naive to think we could just zip over to the one three minutes from our house after dinner, get the cup of sugary goodness, and go home. After waiting in line for what seemed like a day, the machine ran out of the icy stuff that differentiates a Slurpee from just a cup of syrupy juice. No problem, I think. We'll just go to the other location in Ashburn. Six-minute drive and still no Slurpee later (machine said 'out of order'...uh-huh...), I had a tired 2-year-old who was still optimistic. "We'll just try a fixed machine, Mommy," he said with reassurance. Easier said than done, son. Not wanting to disappoint my boy, I plugged in 7-Eleven into the GPS, praying the next closest one wouldn't be more than ten minutes away. It was 12. "Okay, Collin, we can try one more place." So I drove across two towns in search of the store. When we got there, people were walking out with Slurpees - good sign! So, to make a long story short, Collin got to have his coveted blue Slurpee, even though it was in a Styrofoam coffee cup because they ran out of regular Slurpee cups and even though I had to drive through a thunderstorm for 30 minutes to get home. Hope he liked it!

The kids played in the kiddie pool together for the first time today. It was cute. ;)

And Collin continues with his classic one-liners. After nap I asked him, "What would you like to have for snack?" to which he replied, "Just get me something from up there (pointing to the pantry cupboard), and I'll eat it," to which I replied, "May I have something out of the cupboard to eat, please?" to which he replied by repeating me. Good boy. We settled on cottage cheese with blueberries out of the fridge, though.

She's Holding Out!

 Olivia just turned 8 months old two days ago. Does she sit on her own? Oh yeah, that's her specialty! Sit and smile sweetly in one spot for long periods of time. Does she roll over? She can, but she won't. Not interested unless she absolutely has to. Does she crawl? No, she can push herself backwards on her tummy or bottom, but refuses to bend her knees for the crawling position, and the backwards deal just frustrates the heck out of her. She'd rather sit and play with toys or people watch. Does she pull herself up to stand? No, not yet, but she enjoys standing very much. She does pretty well as long as she's holding on to something stable.

I try not to compare kids, but I couldn't help but go back and see what Collin was up to at Olivia's age. He was doing all of the above, including a little cruising using the furniture. We had to lower the crib mattress for him because we were afraid he'd try to climb out. Is it a boy-girl thing? A second child thing? Or is Olivia just a unique personality who is content to sit and watch the world go by? I know her time will come, but I'm a little anxious for her to start moving to relieve some of her frustration when a toy she wants is out of reach or when she gets bored of the same scenery. Of course as soon as she starts crawling, I am going to be faced with breaking up fights over who gets what toy. Collin already has a conniption if she gets her hands on one of his trains. Fun, fun!

Too Smart for Their Own Good

Ever since Olivia started saying "cat" when she sees Sampson and now the Hello Kitty appliques and the stuffed cat with nursing kittens in her room, I am starting to pay more attention to other words that she knows even if she can't say them. Apparently she knows more than I have been giving her credit for. For instance, if she's wearing a dress or has a blanket within reach, and you tell her to "play peekaboo," she will promptly cover her face with the fabric, wait for you to say, "Where's Olivia?", remove the fabric, and smile/giggle when you say "Peekaboo!" or "There she is!" Best game ever invented in her 8-month-old opinion. She's also into turning the pages of her books as long as someone helps her by lifting up the desired page a little so her fumbling fingers can get a hold of it to turn. If you tell her to "turn the page," she does. I started to teach her some basic signs for eat, drink, more, and all done today at lunch, and she was very interested in what my hands and mouth were doing. I wonder what else she knows?

Collin's smarts are in the form of Aleck, at least today that was the case. He was all ready to go to his friend's house to play in her sprinkler, pool, and new playhouse when I informed him that his baby sister needed to nurse before we left, and he could do a puzzle or play with his trains while he waited for us to finish. About ten minutes later, he marches into Olivia's room and declares, "YOU are all done milking Olivia. Let's go to Johanna's house now." What? Are we cows now? I think technically she was milking me, but whatever.

Happy 4th of July!

Two Big Milestones!

Olivia has been fascinated with our cat, Sampson, since she was three months old. On February 19, I wrote in her baby book that she was staring at him with great interest and even reached out to pet him, which he let her do. When she was six months old, she would immediately search the room for Sampson if she heard someone say the word 'cat' or meow. So here we are just shy of eight months, and her first official word is cat. She makes a hard C sound followed by a T sound (no short A yet, but she's working on it) completely unprompted by any of us as soon as she sees Sampson. If you say it back to her and start talking about the cat, she'll repeat her version of the word with excitement and smiles like she's so happy to be understood finally. It's really cute! I can't wait to hear what she'll say next.

Collin has been doing wonderfully with the potty training with only a couple of accidents a day, including naptime. That's pretty impressive considering the boy has to use the bathroom 10-13 times a day. We were at the park with Collin in underwear, not pullups, and he said he had to pee. Mike took the opportunity to teach him the fine art of choosing the perfect tree to use for cover. Of course when they found the tree, Collin got scared because they were in the spooky woods, and that just wasn't cool with him. So we told him to hold it until we got to the grocery store because we had to stop there anyway to pick up some things for dinner. I was skeptical because 1. when he has to go, he has to go...holding it hasn't happened yet and 2. public toilets have been a total failure. But guess what? Not only did he manage to stay dry for an extra 12 minutes, he also went in the grocery store toilet with no issues (probably since he had to go so badly he didn't care at that point). Hooray! Then the next day, Collin wore underwear all day, including a trip to a friend's house where he used their big toilet twice, and only had one accident right before bed. I am cautiously optimistic that he's getting close to being trained, but I don't want to speak too soon. It's only been three weeks. Knocking on some wood right now!!

First Day of Summer Camp

Collin loved camp! They spent most of the day outside playing in the sprinkler with 'water squirters' (a.k.a. squirt guns) as Collin calls them. Two of his friends from school attend the day camp, so he felt right at home there. They also sang songs, read a story, and ate food. Sounds good to me!

While Collin was at camp from 9-2, I got to spend some one-on-one time with Olivia (well, after her nap, of course). We shared some giggles at lunch, and I watched her figure out how to scoot backwards on her bottom across the kitchen floor.. ;)

Somebody Is Growing Up!

Took Collin to Target today to pick out a special something to commemorate officially leaving his baby ways behind. Now that he gave up his paci, is using the potty regularly, can ride his tricycle, gets in and out of his carseat unassisted, and is able to get on a swing by himself, he is truly a big boy. He is even another inch taller! At 31 months, Collin weighs 33lbs. and is 38" tall. Strangers are always surprised that he isn't older because of his physique (and language skills if they hear him talk). I told Collin that we need to celebrate his big boy-ness, so he could have a toy, some books, or a DVD of his choice. He said he wanted a story and picked a nice Curious George anthology, which seems appropriate for our little monkey. I threw in the Curious George movie for good measure. ;)

Myrtle Beach Vacation

June 21-25: Mommy, Collin, and Olivia drove all day to North Myrtle Beach (Crescent Beach) to meet up with Grampy, ShaSha, and Auntie Sarah at the oceanfront family timeshare. We arrived a little after 9:00 on Tuesday night after stopping at a Pizza Hut for dinner, which Collin loved because it was buffet style. He was jumping off the walls, literally, when we finally got to our destination, so happy to see his family in the flesh rather than on the computer, phone, or via imagination.

This was his first night away from home since his upgrade to a twin bed back in October. He did great (minus falling out of bed the first night)! He even gave up his cherished paci (not planned but a pleasant surprise). Early mornings were spent seashelling with ShaSha (he can tell you all the names of the shells in his collection), late mornings were spent braving the ocean waves with Grampy, and the rest of the time was spent making forts and cuddling with Auntie. Collin also got to fly his first kite, an activity that proved to look much easier than it actually is. You have to be strong in that seaside wind as well as patient, two qualities that the Collin Monster does not possess as of yet. All six of us checked out Le Cirque's "Adrenaline" show one afternoon. The mime did not make a very good first impression with Collin as he snatched Grampy away for a few laughs. Luckily Auntie Sarah and Sammy Cat were there to comfort the little guy, and by the end of the show when the stunt motorcycles were out and zooming around the "big blue fing" as he called the featured attraction, he was loving the entertainment. This was his first circus and also his first taste of Dippin' Dots, an obvious hit due to the close resemblance to ice cream.

So what can I say about Olivia? She had never been to the ocean or felt sand before, so it was exciting to see how she'd react. She of course had to taste-test the sand but soon decided it wasn't really for eating and opted for her food-based snacks instead (good girl). Olivia is definitely a water/beach baby, as she was happy to sit either at the water's edge or on the beach blanket and just take it all in. A simple water bottle occupied her for 30 minutes at one point. Content she was to people watch, feel the ocean breeze in her face, and let the salty sea lap at her toes and thighs.

Was it worth the 12+ hour drive (with stops for the potty trainer and to feed/change the baby) alone with the two kids to spend time with my beloved fam in North Myrtle Beach? ABSOLUTELY! Would I do again without an adult companion in the car? Probably not. Lol! That was a looonnnng time in the car even though the kids were pretty well-behaved. Driving through the night is THE way to travel if you are going anywhere with young children farther than six hours away -- they don't need to eat, which means they don't need to use the bathroom or be changed (as much), and they are either sleeping or zoning out because it's 3am. You can actually make it close to the estimated GPS time. We will be heading up to NH at the end of July, and you bet we're leaving VA at 7:00pm so that we can arrive in NH at 4:30am. Who knew it would take longer to get to Myrtle than it does to get to NH?

Father's Day!

Before getting into how we celebrated Father's Day, I'd like to dish out a little useful advice to other moms out there: Don't give your kid prune juice even if he says it's the best juice he's ever had and insists on having seconds. There's a reason the stuff is recommended only to those who can't get the troops to move out. We've been keeping track of Collin's potty usage with stickers on a chart, and I simply ran out of room today. The kid couldn't hop on a toilet fast enough all day. The positive side about the whole experience is that he had a lot of potty practice, and going #2 definitely isn't a problem for him, not that it ever was. Ask Collin about prune juice now, and he'll tell you straight up it makes you poop...a lot. Okay, lesson learned.

Daddy came home to the aroma of cinnamon rolls around 8:45 a.m. from a little guys' night out the night before. After breakfast, Collin helped Mike open his cards and presents - a road bike maintenance book, bike maintenance tools, chain cleaning system, and chain lube - and then proceeded to tell Mike unprompted, "Thank you for being my dad." Awww. Then it was time for Olivia's nap, and clearly Daddy needed one too, so I took Collin on a walk to the playground for about an hour (pre-prune poop, thank God). Lunchtime kind of crept up on us somehow, so I jumped right into making some chicken parmesan for the man of honor because it's one of his favorites. That night, we went to GamB and Grandpa's house for a little cookout and to celebrate the senior Jennings father. Quality fam time is always nice, isn't it? Miss my dad, but I'll get to see him in just a few days at Myrtle Beach.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! And Mike! And Dad J! And Grandpa! And all the other dads out there!

Photoshoot

Jenne Barron, a teacher friend of mine who also happens to have a baby boy exactly one month younger than Olivia, just started up her own photography business. We both thought C and O would make good models to showcase her talent, so we set up a little photo shoot. Jenne got quite the greeting when she came to my door. There was Collin behind the glass, saying a boisterous hi! with a big smile and buck naked from the waist down, telling Jenne that Mommy was in the shower and would be right down. Well, at least it was her and not some random UPS man. Just a warning to all of my friends out there who are thinking about stopping by for a visit: There is a good chance Collin will not be wearing pants as long as he's still learning to use the potty regularly. 

After a little homemade pizza (pepperoni, mushroom, broccoli, and tomato basil were all of Collin's requested ingredients), we set out to the pond area across the street for some camera! action! minus the lights plus the heat, humidity, and some sleepy children. Hmmm, could very well be the ingredients for a huge meltdown. Jenne was great, though, and kept the kids busy with bubbles, silly mustache masks, pinwheels, and blocks. We sought refuge under a tree, which I thought was a perfect backdrop for pictures. My favorite, and I haven't seen any yet, will probably be the ones of Collin strategically placing alphabet blocks into the various elbows of the tree. Photography books are always talking about telling a story and evoking emotion. For me, I see the block and tree picture as the crossroads between toddler and little boy, and that is exactly the stage of life where Collin is right now. A little too old for stacking ABC blocks but not quite old enough to be an expert tree climber, a childhood pastime that I know he will grow to love. Obviously I am excited to see all the images Jenne created, but I am most anticipating the symbolic tree and block photos.

Bright Eyes Photography on Facebook

In other news, Olivia said 'da-da' for the first time today. During her dinner, I was talking about how Daddy went to a baseball game with Daddy's friends, and Daddy would be home tomorrow for Father's Day, which is when we tell Daddy how much we love Daddy. I think she picked up on my repetitive usage of the word 'daddy' and tried to imitate me. It was the cutest thing, and of course Mike wasn't home to see it, so I did make a quick video to show him later. She must have thought it sounded good because she kept repeating it over and over and hasn't really stopped since!

Sprinkle Playdate

How excited am I to have two mommy friends who each have two children, one for each of my ankle biters?!? Beth's Andrew is a few months older than Collin, and her Bridgette is a few months younger than Olivia. Megan's Anna is only a couple of weeks older than Collin, and baby Luke is a little over six months younger than Olivia. We decided to get everyone together to play, mainly to give the big kids something to do other than watch their moms breastfeed and change diapers all day. Haha. 

Beth just moved into a new home with a HUGE back yard and sizable basement playroom. It is just perfect. The kids chased each other with beach balls in the sprinkler before coming in for a kid-favorite lunch, macNcheese with a juice box, and a show.

Round two was spent downstairs playing trains and trucks on Andrew's awesome Thomas train table. At some point, everyone used the potty, so yay for our potty trainers. We're hoping to keep up this ritual once a week - the potty peer pressure and playtime will be good for the preschoolers and the socialization will be good for the little babies. Oh yeah, and I'm so grateful to have some time to hang out with my friends too!!

Rocknoceros!

My antsy kids and I were hanging around the house mid-morning figuring out what to do, and then I realized it was Thursday! I could take them to see Rocknoceros! This kid-oriented, three-man-band plays at the Dulles Town Center Mall in front of Sears every Thursday from 11:00-11:50. Collin and I went religiously last summer. Come to think of it, Olivia was there too, but she had a warm, cozy seat in my belly rather than up in front of the stage where Collin shook his tambourine and danced around.

http://www.rocknoceros.com/about

About a year ago is when his obsession with music began. Now that he has been to two high school band concerts, listens to music books on CD, watches YouTube videos of people playing various instruments, and reads books about different bands, I thought I'd have to hold him back from jumping on stage with Coach, Williebob, and Boogie as the uninvited fourth member. So we packed up his little Collin Monster backpack with egg shakers for Olivia, bells, a tambourine, and an xylophone, and headed for the mall. When we got there, I had to drag Collin TO the stage, not from it. "Do you want to play your tambourine like Coach, honey?" He threw the thing on the ground and stood there stone-faced as still as could be while 30 or so other children hopped up and down, shaking and playing their noisemakers. Even their catchy tune, "Blast Off" didn't get a rise out of him. Olivia, however, smiled away as she happily shook a green egg shaker. Well, at least someone was enjoying the show. Such a 360 from last summer!

Turns out the poor kid had to go to the bathroom and was holding it for 45 minutes. We ran to the bathroom in JC Penney, and he was still dry when we got there. I thought, "This is it. He's going to have no choice but to pee on this public toilet in this public stall." Nope. He froze. As usual. Nothing. Of course by the time we got home fifteen minutes later, he had peed his pants. Ooops!

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Why didn't I know about this place until now?? Picture winding paths through wide open fields, wooden bridges over ponds with impressive fountains, turtles and colorful Asian fish, wooden benches placed strategically among shady trees, butterfly bushes, gazebos, trellises, and oh yeah, breathtaking flower gardens.

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna is a photographer's dream as well as a child's natural playground or a writer's sanctuary. Five bucks bought us almost three hours of the perfect day. Collin was just giddy with delight as he ran around exploring nature. If he could have curled up with the napping geese under the trees by the pond, he would have.

We met up with a mommy friend of mine and her kids for a picnic near the designated kid discovery area where they had a nice sandbox, stick fort, and a place to walk through flowers to touch and smell. The kids quickly gobbled their food and were off to the land of pretend.

Olivia was content to watch from afar and eat her lunch at a more leisurely pace while we mommies chatted and soaked up the sunny, 75-degree weather. I can't wait to go back!