Easter Weekend

We started our Easter celebrations early this year. As soon as it hit April we were doing Easter crafts to hang in our front window. S0, when the Friday before Easter hit we were ready to get the celebrating into full swing.

After soccer on Friday the girls and I had a nice picnic out on our back deck. It was a beautiful day and the girls really liked eating outside!

On Friday afternoon we went to an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood. There were a lot of families and kids there but, we were told the wrong start time and missed most of the festivities. Good thing I brought some extra eggs for the girls otherwise they would have been really disappointed! We were already missing Vegas a bit but this hunt made us really miss our annual egg hunt in our Vegas neighborhood.

Here is a picture of last year...

...we miss our Vegas friends!

On Friday evening we decorated our eggs. Kera was not quite sure what was going on...

...but we still had a good time!

On Saturday evening we had our friends the Hughes' over for dinner. We originally met the Hughes' in Naperville and now they live in Maryland. We are very happy to have some existing friends in the area. The Hughes' have 2 kids almost the exact age as our girls. Actually, Abby and Emma Hughes knew each other as babies.

Left to right: Abby & Emma

While they were over, we had a small egg hunt for the kiddos.

On Saturday evening the Easter bunny made a visit to our house...

Easter morning the girls had a lot of fun discovering their baskets...

...and having an Easter egg hunt!

Once all the eggs had been found we headed out to the National Zoo. We were hoping for a nice family outing but, no such luck. Kera, unfortunately, had a nuclear meltdown so much so that I had to leave the park with her and let Abby and Jim finish walking around. She was so upset that I actually had to lay her on the ground because she was flinching so much in my arms that I was afraid she was going to hurt herself. Before Kera and my abrupt leaving I did get a few pictures.

Once we got back to the car Kera was happy as can be!

On Sunday evening the Hughes' graciously invited us over for dinner. We had a great meal and a great time!



Active Weekend

On Saturday, March 31st we headed to Seneca Creek State Park. Jim used to go to this park the last time he lived in Maryland. The park has miles and miles of trails that Jim used to run. We decided to walk around the lake (3.45 miles). We brought the double stroller with us but we learned quickly that this was a mistake. The trail was really bumpy...very hard to roll a stroller. Also, Kera didn't want to sit in the stroller...she wanted to be held 99% of the time. This made the walk VERY long for me. My arms were sore for days. Abby sat in the stroller for a little bit so, at least it got some use. It was a beautiful walk and I can't wait to go back and see how the park looks during the different seasons. Here are some pictures from the day...

Do you see the the 5 turtles sitting in a row?

On Sunday, April 1st we parked our car in Bethesda, MD and hopped on the Capital Crescent Trail with our bicycles. The Capital Crescent Trail is part of the rails to trails project. Here is what Wikipedia says about the Capital Crescent Trail:

"The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is an 11-mile (18 km) long, shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, Maryland. The portion from Bethesda to Silver Spring is also called the Georgetown Branch Trail but is recognized as the Future Capital Crescent Trail.

The Capital Crescent Trail is the most heavily used rail trail in the United States and is used by more than 1 million walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers each year. In 2005, it was named one of the "21 great places that show how transportation can enliven a community" by The Project for Public Spaces.^[1] "

We biked the trail into DC with the attempt to see the amazing cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, when we got to DC, as we were expecting, all the the blossoms were gone. We had quite a few days of rainy windy weather and the blossoms did not make it through but, our bike ride was a lot of fun! And, being on the bike was a great way to see some of the DC sights!

When we first got on the trail we had a bit of a tantrum from Kera. She didn't want to wear her helmet. Once I finally gave in and allowed her to be helmet free (I know bad mom) it was smooth sailing.

We ended up riding 16-18 miles and for the most part the girls did great. Kera and Abby were a bit grumpy on the way back because they were hungry but, who isn't a bit grumpy when they are hungry?

St. Patrick's Day

Before the National Aquarium and our evening in Annapolis there was St. Patrick's Day. It was a quiet, but eventful Pat's day this year. The girls made a fun craft...

...see the clovers in the window.

On St. Patrick's day the leprechauns came and left a few treats...

...lucky charms, rainbow baskets filled with golden chocolate coins, and they even turned our milk GREEN!

Also, on St. Patrick's day we bought a new car. Well, new to us. A 2009 Honda Civic. Jim is not provided with a work car here so we had to get him a commuter car. Also, we were going to have to get a second care eventually so, now was a good time. Jim seems to like buying cars on holidays. He has also bought a car on Halloween.

On Saturday, March 24th we wanted to go check out the Cherry Blossoms in Downtown DC but the weather had other ideas for us, it was raining. Instead, we went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The aquarium was a bit pricey to get into but it was quite a sight. Look...an indoor waterfall...

...and a great view (even with the rain)...

Unfortunately, Jim got a bit sick at the aquarium so, our visit was cut a bit short but, of what we saw, the girls thoroughly enjoyed!

There was even an indoor rain forest!

We also saw a lot of different fish, sharks, dolphins, and jelly fish.

This aquarium was a lot different than the Shark Reef that the girls were used to!

Annapolis

On the evening of Sunday, March 18th we headed over to Annapolis. We walked around for a bit...

...and then we found a restaurant for dinner. When it was time to get dinner the girls were very hungry so we had to make a quick choice. We ended up at a place that was good but really expensive. Next time we are going to have to try out a dive I was told about, Chick and Ruth's Delly (http://www.chickandruths.com/).

After dinner we just had to stop at an ice cream shop we passed by!

I can't wait to go back to Annapolis during the day when there is more time to explore.

First Weekend In Maryland

We wasted no time getting involved with activities and adventures in Maryland!

Before we left Las Vegas I signed Abby up for soccer in Maryland and on our first Friday we had her first class.

Notice who is lurking...Kera! She VERY much wanted to join the class too. As soon as I can I will be signing her up for soccer!

On Friday afternoon we received the call that we had been waiting for...our Vegas house was rented!! To celebrate we headed out for dinner and DESSERT.

Getting a renter was a huge relief for us. Housing is being paid for us in Maryland but, it is so nice that we will not have to worry about our mortgage in Vegas. Hopefully this will mean that we will be able to save some money on this trip. Now we just hope that the renters treat our house and neighbors nicely!

On Saturday we took the train into the District to go to the Natural History Museum.

The museum was great! There is never enough time to see everything but what we did see we enjoyed. Abby's favorite part was the butterfly exhibit.

There were about 300 butterflies flying around in a flower filled tent. Abby very badly wanted  a butterfly to land on her but unfortunately, no luck.

After the museum it was back to the train to head home.

It was a nice day but we learned one significant lesson. We are driving in from now on. The train is a great idea but it took us about an hour each way.  The travel time really limited the amount of time that we got to spend at the museum.

It was a fun weekend and we look forward to many more weekends of new experiences!

Las Vegas to Maryland, Part 4...WE MADE IT!

We did not make it very far on Saturday. We had it in our minds to make it to Pittsburgh but we only made it to Akron, OH a measly 394 miles.

We were very tired of driving!

There was nothing special about this leg the trip. The only thing of note is that we again had a hard time finding a hotel that would allow the pets. We ended up in a hotel that had an indoor swim area and our room was right by the VERY chlorinated pool. We got used to the smell but it took awhile.

On Sunday, we made it to Columbia Maryland (346 miles)!

When we got to town we had to find one more hotel. One hotel was asking for a $150 non-refundable deposit for the pets, CRAZY! We ended up in a very nice but expensive hotel.

On Monday morning we picked up the keys to the townhouse and got to see the place for the first time. The townhouse is 1,280 square feet...a bit smaller than we are used to and there are quite a few maintenance issues but, we will make it work.

Let the unpacking begin! A BIG thank you to Uncle Andy for coming over and helping us unload the truck!