MOPS Talk

This last Wednesday, I had the privilege of sharing at MOPS about all the fun things you can do in the D.C. area inexpensively.  Thanks to our family and friends for your prayers and words of encouragement.  It was a blast! 

This was the first slide of my Power Point Presentation and chronicles our family's journey of living in D.C. and some of our fun adventures together.

Calendar of Events 2011

(For those of you who missed it and live in the area, here is the hand-out I gave to the MOPS ladies. It doesn't make complete sense without the Power Point, but there are some fantastic web-sites that will hopefully help fill in the blanks.)

January

Baltimore Aquarium – www.aqua.org

Washington Monument – reserve tickets at http://www.nps.gov/wamo/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

February

Home Depot Kid’s Workshop – February 5^th @ 9AM

Google: “Home Depot Kid’s Workshop

Lowe’s – February 12^th @ 10AM

www.lowesbuildandgrow.com

March

Cherry Blossoms : www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

March 26^th, 10:00-5:30

National Building Museum: www.nbm.org

April

Little Tot’s @ Washingtonian Rio: www.shopwashingtonian.com

Next event on February 2^nd

Rockville Town Square “Mommy & Me”: www.rockvilletownsquare.com

Maryland Day: www.marylandday.umd.edu

April 30^th 10:00 – 4:00

May

Local Elementary School Fairs

European Embassy Open House:

May 7^th http://www.eurunion.org/EUinUS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=20

June

Free Family Film Festival @ Regal

July

The Folklife Festival: www.festival.si.edu

June 30^th – July 4^th & July 7^th – July 11^th

August

Local Parks: 
http://dc.about.com/od/childrensactivities/a/BestPlaygrounds_2.htm

• Wheaton Regional Park 2000 Shorefield Road, Wheaton, MD (301) 946-7033 - Great park with more play areas than you can imagine. Play equipment includes endless climbing structures, swings, giant slides, a sand castle and much more. Children especially like the old fashioned carousel and a train ride that goes through the park (only open in the summer). http://dc.about.com/od/marylandparks/a/WheatonRegional.htm

• Cabin John Regional Park 7410 Tuckerman Lane, Rockville, MD (301) 299-0024 - Huge park with lots of climbing structures, slides, mazes, play houses, swings, Cinderella's pumpkin carriage, airplane, and cars. Other features include miniature train, snack bar, rest rooms, hiking trails, picnic areas, indoor/outdoor tennis courts, ice skating rink, Locust Grove Nature Center - http://www.montgomeryparks.org/facilities/regional_parks/cabinjohn/index.shtm

• South Germantown Recreational Park 18041 Central Park Circle, Boyds, MD (301) 601-4400 Newest park in Montgomery County with multiple play areas including a castle and pirate ship, a climbing wall, music area and saucer swings. Other amenities include trails, picnic tables, driving range, miniature golf, Splash Playground, indoor sports and soccerplex, and a dairy museum. Limited shade. http://dc.about.com/od/restaurant1/a/GermantownPark.htm

• Hadley Playground at Falls Road Local Park Falls Road, Potomac Themed play areas include a castle, fort, pirate ship, and two-lane road, all of which include ramps and other features to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers. Plenty of open space for kids to run, play ball or ride bikes. Limited shade. 

• Candy Cane Park Beach Drive & Rollingwood Dr. Chevy Chase   Huge park that has recently been renovated. There are separate big kid and little kid play areas, tennis courts, basketball courts, playing fields, bathrooms, pavilions and shade. The park is located next to Meadowbrook Stables so kids can walk around and look at the horses. 

• Seneca Creek State Park 11950 Clopper Road Gaithersburg

Park with a huge playground made with recycled tires. Kids love the zip line, Bouncy Spider Hammock, and the Dragon Lots of climbing equipment. Park has a lake, boating, fishing, hiking tails, a disc golf course, pavilions, bathrooms and lots of shade.  http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/seneca.html

September

Celebrate Gaithersburg, MD - www.gaithersburgmd.gov/celebrate

September 18^th, 12:00 – 5:00

October

Agriculture History Farm Park Fall Harvest Festival - http://www.montgomeryparks.org/facilities/ag_farm.shtm

November

Butler’s Orchard – www.butlersorchard.com

December

Rockville Town Square Holiday Open House – www.rockvilletownsquare.com

National Cathedral Events – www.nationalcathedral.org

  

Other Resources/ Blogs:

http://our-kids.com/

http://kidfriendlydc.com/

http://www.dclikealocal.com

http://www.funthingstodowithkids.com

http://freeindc.blogspot.com/

http://gettingoutinarlington.wordpress.com/

http://aparentinsilverspring.com/

Covered in Prayer

Dear Faith-

You are a sweet and precious little girl who holds a special place in my heart. Like you, I am the second of three girls in my family. I loved having one sister older than me and one younger.  Me and my sisters are now the best of friends. :-)

Faith, I want you to know I am praying for you and will continue to pray for you and your mommy and daddy as they train you up in the Lord. I hope this blanket will be a reminder that you are covered with my prayers. 

With Lots of Love,

Miss Julie :-)

Here are two of my favorite verses in the Bible. I hope they will encourage you as much as they have encouraged me...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. " 

Jeremiah 29:11

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28

11 Months Old

I honestly have no words to express my excitement (admittedly, mixed with a little sadness too) that my baby will be a one year old in just one month! She is such a precious gift to us.

Just today she stood up all by herself, so we think she may be getting closer to walking.   She is also very good at expressing herself.    I asked her to say "Mama" today and she said, "Mmmmmaaaa- Mmmmaaaa"!  Hooray! We then tried to get her to say "Dada" but she just sweetly smiled at her daddy. She definitely knows who her daddy is, we just need to work on saying it a little more.   :-)

Anna and her daddy ready for church on Sunday! 

Anna loves her daddy so much! 

Anna showing off her shoes that still fit... 

and her bloomers from Aunt Beth and Uncle Nate too! 

Daddy cleaning something off her pretty dress from Mimi and PawPaw while Anna chews on her shoes.

Then Daddy decides to leave her on the table. 

Anna has no fear, she thinks it is fun to crawl on the dining room table!

Happy President's Weekend!

Our friends Chris and Rebekah Georges and their adorable daughter, Lydia, came to see us this last weekend! They arrived late on Friday evening and then left early evening on Saturday.  We had a delicious waffle breakfast, then made our way to D.C. for some "family fun".  After our D.C. fun, we came home and introduced Chris and Rebekah to one of our favorite European games, Dominion. We were really relaxed and ate PB&J and a vegetable tray for our dinner!  We had a marvelous time together; it has been far too long since we have seen one another last (see a post from their visit in England here). :-)

The Georges are now living in Norfolk, VA where Chris is doing civil engineering and Dr. Rebekah Georges is practicing as a family practice physician!  It is about a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive, so we are really hoping they will come back soon!

Chris and Brad were roommates at Texas A&M and Chris was the best man in our wedding! Ironically, I knew Chris from one of the 1st football games I attended as a freshman at A&M with my friend Kelsey and our church FBC Bryan.  Brad had gone to the pancake event before the game but had chosen not to go to the game while I had missed the pre-game pancakes! So close!!!  Chris was always nice & friendly and would always give me a wave on campus when riding his bike.  Rebekah was my R.A. my sophomore year in the dorm at A&M (we were on the 4th Floor in Rudder Hall).  Even though Brad and I knew a lot of the same people, we did not meet until our junior year! It was fun for us to reflect on God's perfect timing for us to meet one another.  We are also very thankful for the friends he placed in our lives!

Rebekah and Lydia on the Metro ride to D.C. 

Lydia and Jillian walking through the Police Force Memorial to go to the Building Museum.

Lydia and Jillian in Lydia's stroller together

Jillian with Sid the Science Kid at the Discover Engineering Family Day at the Building Museum.  It was extremely crowded and a lot of the activities seemed a little old for our preschoolers, so we didn't stay for a long time, but it was fun to see Sid! 

It was an incredibly windy day on Saturday.  So Jillian decided (with permission) to rest her legs and ride with Lydia in her stroller.    We then made our way to California Tortilla to enjoy a delicious lunch. 

After lunch, we went to the Portrait Museum for a President's Day Family Fun Day.

Our first stop was the dress-up table to have a "portrait" taken with our first president, George Washington.

Jillian decided she didn't want to get dressed-up but had her picture with George Washington anyway! 

Lydia looked adorable in her old-fashioned scarf with Washington.

While we were having portraits taken of the girls, the U.S. Marine Corps Band was playing beautiful, patriotic music for us!

The kids were able to decorate black foam frames for their portrait with the president. Jillian worked really hard decorating her frame with stripes and dots! 

Faith quickly finished her frame and was able to hang out with Mr. Chris! 

Faith was so cute waving her little American flag while listening to the music.

Jillian also decorated a photo of Washington.  She drew the hearts all by herself and I told her the letters to spell "President".  She did a great job remembering all of her letters!

Chris and Brad, friends for over 10 years now! 

They had a place for children to write letters to President Obama but Brad took the opportunity (at my encouragement) to write one too! 

Rebekah with Lydia and Faith exploring the plants.

Anna and Chris

After the Family Fun Day activities, we took the opportunity to see some of the portraits in the galleries. While on that adventure, we discovered a couple of the 1st Ladies walking down the hall! It was enchanting listening to their voices and unique language.

At the Portrait Gallery with Rebekah!

Little Lydia fell asleep in her stroller.

Anna was still as wide-awake as could be! :-)

On the Metro Ride home.  Jillian and Rebekah enjoyed some deep conversations together.

Chris

Anna finally fell asleep in her stroller!

Even Faith was puckered out and fell asleep on her mommy's lap.

Back at home, we captured a photo of Anna and Lydia.  

And then of all four of our girls together! 

The Georges Family- Chris, Rebekah, and Lydia

We shared a wonderful Saturday together! Thank you for coming to see us Georges Family! 

"Can't believe she's FIVE!"

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Build a Bear for a birthday party for Ava! Jillian was so excited when we drove to the mall and said to me "Mom, I just can't believe Ava is five, just like me! It is so exciting!"  Also, Jillian thought having a party at Build-a Bear was the best idea ever! 

The girls shopping for their bears and accessories! Each of the girls were given $25 in Bear Cash to buy a special stuffed animal to bring home! 

Jillian felt so special as one of the guests of honor at Ava's Birthday Party! 

Xandra, Jillian with "Love Bear" and Ava with "Wheel" (she thought the peace sign looked like a wheel)

Ava with her mom, Julie!  

The Birthday Girl Ava is excited to get a heart for her bear!

Jillian helped "stuff" her bear!

Jillian giving Love Bear a hug to make sure she is the perfect cuddliness.

Jillian rubbing the heart for her bear!

So excited to have a sweet bear in celebration of Ava's Birthday! 

Xandra was excited to help stuff her bear too!

All the girls with their completed bears.  Xandra chose a pair of shoes and skates for her bear, Ava got a heart antenna and pajamas for her bear, and Jillian chose a heart antenna and pink skates for her bear (we already had a pair of shoes at home!)  Jillian was so excited that she got to match both of her friends.   

When we got home from the party, Brad complimented Jillian on Love Bear's "headband".  :-)  Jillian thought it was especially cool her bear had a headband, just like she has for her hair.

Then on to the lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  The girls each had a kids meal complete with ice-cream!  Ava opened her presents and we sang "Happy Birthday"! 

Julie brought all of us a special treat from Lilly Magilly's!  They have the most delicious cupcakes.  The girls each had a strawberry cupcake; I had a chocolate with chocolate cupcake! :-)

Jillian and Ava, the sweetest of friends! Happy 5th Birthday Ava!