Happy 5th Anniversary!

On May 19th Jim and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! We had always said that for our 5th anniversary we wanted to go back to the scene of the crime, Key West but, unfortunately, it was not in the cards for us this year...maybe for our 10 year.

So, what did we do instead? Dinner and ice cream with the girls. For dinner we headed to Dogfish Head Alehouse. The food was mediocre but the beer was very tasty! And, of course, the company was perfect.

After dinner it was off to a local ice cream stand.

Abby LOVES mint chocolate chip...just like Papa!

Even though it is not the 5th anniversary we had imagined it was GREAT being with my family!

Our Pet Frog

For quite a few weeks we had a frog call our back yard home. He was there so long that we finally had to name him, Marshmallow.

Unfortunately, he became a resident because Jim accidentally ran his arm over with the lawn mower and broke it. He used the massive amount of weeks in our back yard has a place to heal.

One day, Marshmallow was gone. We all hope he hopped away to greener pastures.

Kera is 18 Months Old!

On May 11th Kera turned 18 months old! Kera is an amazing little girl. She does not have that many words yet but, she is very smiley and freindly and loves the swings and playing with her big sister.

Her stats:

Weight: 27 lbs 4.6 oz (75-90 percentile)
Height: 35 in (above the 95 percentile)
Head Circumference: 18.5 in (50-75 percentile)

Mother's Day Weekend

On the Saturday before Mother's day we all headed to Gettysburg, PA (about 1.5 hours away) not to the battle fields but to the outlet mall. Pennsylvania does not tax clothes and we were all in desperate need of some new clothes.

While we were shopping, I had a big... you know when you are old moment. We walked into American Eagle, which I know is a bit of a teeny bopper store but I knew that they would have shorts. I asked the sales clerk (who was a teeny bopper) if they had shorts that were not short shorts. I also added, half joking, that I was too old for short shorts. She responded with a "Yeah". When she said that I giggled and said, "so you DO think I am too old for short shorts?". She ignored me. But, the end result is I did walk out with 2 pairs of shorts...not short shorts...

 After a bit of shopping (we could have done more but the girls were done) and lunch we did drive through some of the battle fields. It is absolutely crazy to think that so many people died there.  I am NOT a fan of cemeteries and battle fields are not much higher on the list but, it was absolutely beautiful country side.

On Sunday, Jim got up with the girls and fixed breakfast...donuts for the girls and omelettes for us.  Well, it turned out to be more of donuts for Jim and the girls because he burnt his omelette beyond recognition and a scramble for me because my omelette fell apart...

The girls and Jim also presented me with beautiful cards and a very special ring!

The ring has a Garnet (January's birthstone) and a Citrine (November's birthstone) and it also has the girls names engraved on it.

After breakfast we packed up the wagon  and headed out to our local park.

Unfortunately, the handle of the wagon fell off as we were setting out. Fortunately, the park is very close to our house so, we all walked. We had fun at the park kicking around the soccer ball and playing at the playground.

After the park and some quiet time we headed out for dinner. We tried a local restaurant right by our house, Corner Stables. Unfortunately, the food was not that great and the girls were acting up a bit but...I did get this beautiful picture of my family!

Happy Mother's Day!

Movie Night

Jim has been waiting a long time for times like this...

...he loves watching movies and snuggling with his girls!

Day at the Farm

Best day ever...for a kid...at least I hope.

Last Thursday I wanted to take the girls out for an adventure. Jim was out of town for the week so, I was taking advantage of my alone time.

First, I had to run to the grocery store which does not sound that exciting but, in the kids eyes it is. Our local grocery story gives away FREE balloons.

Next we headed to a local bakery that I discovered, Touche Touchet Bakery & Pastry Shoppe. The three of us shared 2 very delicious cookies.

After the bakery the girls and I headed to Clark's Elioak Farm. This farm was a fun experience for me and the girls. Not only is there a farm stand and a petting zoo but there are also a lot of fun displays for the girls. Throughout the whole farm there are life size replicas of well known nursery rhymes.

Goldilocks and the Three Bear's House:

Humpty Dumpty:

 There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe with a slide:

There was also a pirate ship playground!

After we explored the grounds for a while we headed to the petting zoo. There were a lot of great animals...

The girls really liked feeding the sheep and goats! There was one sheep that when it said baa it really sounded like a burp. The girls thought this was HILARIOUS! I tried to get a video of it but, I failed. But, this is the video I did get.

Also, at the farm they had 11 day old baby goats...Abby and I got to hold one!

After the farm we headed to a local playground for a while. It was a GREAT morning with the girls! No surprise, they both had a good nap.

After nap it was art time...

...Mother's Day drawings for Grandma and Burrs.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Rogers arrived for a visit on Thursday May 5th and the girls were thrilled to see them! Gwen's brother Thomas picked them up from the airport, he also lives on Maryland and brought them over. I have not seen Thomas since Jim and I got married, almost 5 years ago. It was very nice to see him again. While we waited for Jim to get home we took the girls to the playground behind our house.

We all had fun on the swings...

...and Kera showed everyone how brave she is on the slide.

Once Jim got home we all had take out pizza and then relaxed with a few good books.

On Friday Jim headed to work and we headed off to soccer.

Thanks to my friend Stacy, here is a video of Abby scoring a goal...



After soccer we headed to a local park to play for a while and of course, the girls headed straight for the swings.

After a nice nap (and a nice run for me), we had some nice reading time with Grandpa.

Then, we all went for a walk around our neighborhood.

On Friday night Jim and I got the opportunity to walk up to a local bar for a drink. It was nice to spend some time together.

On Saturday we headed to Seneca Creek State Park. Jim and I got to go for a run around the lake while the girls played with Grandma and Grandpa at the recycled tire park.

After Jim and I got back from our run we all went for a walk by the water.

On Saturday night Jim and I actually got to go out to dinner but before we left Jim got a nice cuddle from his girls.

Jim and I headed out to Bethesda for dinner and we ate at Sweet Basil, a great Thai restaurant. It is the best Thai food that I have had since living in Seattle. After dinner we walked around for a bit and then stopped into a restaurant for a drink. It was very nice spending some more alone time together. We were gone for a full 4 hours!

On Sunday we went to Centennial Park.

After a nice walk...

...we headed to the playground for a bit of fun.

On Sunday afternoon, while the girls were sleeping, Thomas came over.  Jim, his parents, and Thomas went out for another walk around Lake Elkhorn.

When they got back we had a great Sunday dinner of pot roast and mashed potatoes. For dessert, we had blueberry pie and ice cream. It was very nice reconnecting with Thomas and we hope to see him some more while we are here in Maryland.

After Thomas left us for the evening, grandma and Abby played a nice game of Candy Land.

Grandma and Grandpa had a flight mid-day on Monday but they used every last moment to play with the girls.



It was a very nice visit and the girls are already looking forward to seeing their grandma and grandpa in August when we all go to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.