Hanging with Ry-Dude

It's been awhile since we've gotten to see Katie's fellow future Domers, Ryan (3-years-old) and Patrick (5). Although Patrick is currently busy with baseball camp, we were lucky to catch Ryan and his mommy Kristina at a cool playground today. Thankfully, the kids are at an age now where they could amuse each other while the mommies caught up. They even found some other friends to play with as well. They did ultimately persuade us to climb on the much-older-than-preschooler-size playground equipment. And, Traci foolishly went down a HUUUUGE slide to amuse the kids. After that set off a Braxton-Hicks contraction, Traci decided it might be time to sit and let the kids be kids for awhile...

After some snacks, we went on a walk along a nice nature trail where the kids got to pet some dogs, check out some plants, and walk the balance beam (one of Katie's favorite pastimes these days.) Here, they are heading off into the sunset together!

Burke Lake

As mentioned before, our very good friends John, Cristina, Allison (2.5 years old) and Jacqueline (5 months) are moving to Miami. A bunch of the stay-at-home mommies wanted to give them one last send-off, so we all met up at a beautiful local lake. Beyond wonderful nature trails, this suburban lake also boasts a ride-on train, carousel, ice cream parlor, and playgrounds! So, needless to say, all of the little ones were wildly entertained. Katie wasn't feeling 100% this morning (belly ache), so, even though we attended, she was NOT up for any picture-taking. The paparazzi respected her wishes. The picture above shows Traci holding Patrick's little sis Colleen (5 months), along with many of Katie's other pals. Good luck and good-bye for now, McCabes!

THAT'S a good parking spot!

Katie is a kid of very short-lived obsessions. Whereas another child might latch onto something like trucks or dolls and stay obsessed for months or years, Katie's fixations only last about a month or so. She no longer plays with her train table, doesn't really watch much Dora, and hardly ever uses her arts and crafts stuff. Her latest obsession? Parking her cars and trucks over and over and over again. Sometimes they are lined up in rows, sometimes side-by-side. I've even spotted her parking them around her toilet. She is extremely meticulous and can literally spend hours doing this. (This is her new activity to engage in during Mommy's cooking and cleaning. She NEVER asks for the TV to be turned on anymore.) She often congratulates herself by stating "That's a good parking spot!" Do you think she can keep this up for a few more months to tide her over all the baby feedings?

Happy Birthday, USA!

We hope that everybody had a safe and relaxing July Fourth celebration! Our family had a crazy-fun day, filled with friends, food, and (at least the sounds of) fireworks. We started the day with a fantastic barbeque lunch at the house of Ben, Angela, Lyla (2.5 years old), and Anamarie (11 months). Angela invited over several moms' group friends, so we had four crazy 2-year-olds splashing in a swimming pool, swinging on the playground set, getting everything sticky with their popsicles, and feeding the dogs inappropriate picnic items. Just an average day with a toddler, right? Thanks to the Hs for having us all over!! After a very quick pitstop at home for a nap and bath, the family headed down to Old Town Alexandria and the Potomac riverfront for a nice dinner out, some window shopping, and plenty of people watching. Katie alternated between being fascinated and overwhelmed by all of the sights: the various street performers, the boats loading up with all of the fireworks watchers, and the geese/ducks hoping to score some food from her. On the drive home, she asked for her blankie and was ready to sleep! Overall, we had a great day....Happy Birthday, USA!

Please check out our photo album to the right to see some highlights!

Inner Harbor

Since we are not traveling for the holiday weekend, we decided to at least get out this morning and check out Baltimore's inner harbor. Other than just enjoying the water, boats, and perfect summer weather, we introduced Katie to the children's exhibit at the Maryland Science Center. She enjoyed herself, but tended to stick with the familiar (e.g., cars, balls, steps, ladders). It will be fantastic when she is a little older. I'm sure we'll visit often, as Traci enjoyed falling back into her days as a science museum educator (i.e., especially now that she can see it through the eyes of her own kid!).

Katie really liked the water exhibit, complete with boats, dams, and fountains. Here, mommy shows Katie how to shoot water into the frog's mouth.




After a quick bite and some Ben & Jerry's ice cream, our visit concluded with a carousel ride. Great morning! With Baltimore only an hour away, I think we all wondered why we don't visit more often.

Kate (Squared)

This morning, we were fortunate to meet up with some old friends of ours from Chicago for an early lunch. Mike's former colleague Brian and his wife, Ann, and daughter, Kate (11 mos.), came through D.C. on their way to the beach from their new digs in Cleveland. It was great to see them and we had fun reminiscing about our old life in Chi-town (i.e., when we weren't busy immersed in our new life of parenting!). Here, we couldn't resist snapping a picture to commemorate the long awaited meeting of the Kate's!

The Literati

Lest you think that Katie is the only one that gets to have any fun in our family, we wanted to show that Mommy (and Daddy) sometimes get nights out as well. Once a month, Traci gets a break from her Mama Post and has a night out with the girls, usually always in a book club setting. She met almost all of these great gals at her New Moms' Group shortly after Katie was born and has stayed fast friends with each of them. They are the mommies of some of Katie's best buddies, so we get to see them at playdates as well. But, there's nothing quite like an adult-only setting to really relax and share some good laughs and stories. Alas, we lost one of our original members to a move last summer, and we lose another to Miami this year. Cristina, we'll miss you dearly! The ladies above, from left to right: Angela, Cristina, Kim, Julie (with Oliver!), Traci, and newest member Jasmine.