Jonathan Austin in the 'Hood!

This afternoon was our neighborhood's annual block party! It was planned a couple months earlier than normal to avoid the heat, but that didn't work out too well. It's been a super hot day, but we had tons of fun! I have never seen Claire sweat so much or her face get so red!!

There was a bouncy house and Claire had it practically to herself during the "4 and under" time. She's had practice at Inflation Nation so she knew what to do, giggling and squealing the whole time!

We had Richmond's celebrity juggler, Jonathan Austin - how cool is our neighborhood?! So exciting! Unfortunately, Claire only found it interesting for about 5 minutes and then was off to explore all the neighbors' backyards. We took turns chasing her around while the other got to watch the show.

After the show we got to take a picture with the juggler-extraordinaire.


Last but not least, some popsicles and watermelon! We were all tired so we packed up our wagon and our sweaty, sticky little girl and headed home.

19 on the 19th

Claire is 19 months today on April 19th! And it is also the 7 year anniversary of our first date - hard to believe it's been that long. Or as Rob would say "it feels sooooo much longer." (Don't worry, he's just kidding. I think.)

Here's Claire smiling and saying "cheeese" for the camera...


We had a belated Easter dinner with the Barnes side of the family tonight. Everyone was there and Claire had a blast playing and running through the house. I didn't get many good pictures so hopefully Aunt Alison had better luck. Claire can now say everyone in the family's name - or at least her own version! All day she was saying Matt, but having a little more trouble with Alison. And Jake is still "guck" but we'll work on that!

Playing a little B-ball with the uncles. Look....Claire can levitate the ball!

Only 17 more weeks (max) until Claire will have to share the spotlight with her new cousin during Barnes family gatherings!

The Simple Things

We kept it simple today and enjoyed the beautiful, sunny weather. This morning we called up our dear friend/family member Sally - who Claire calls "Sasseee." We headed over to Sassy Sally's just to hang out in her backyard. Nothing crazy, just an hour in the sun blowing bubbles and running around.

The next-door neighbor's kids saw us playing in the bubbles so they ran over and started blowing bubbles for Claire over the fence!

After naptime, we headed over to the park to watch Daddy play tennis. Claire had discovered dandelions at Sally's house and we found a bunch in a field. She calls them bubbles - which I guess in her eyes it makes sense! You hold it by the stem, blow on it, and little white things fly all around!

We sat in the shade having snacks and watched the tennis match. Claire kept her own score - which is always six. (Every time one of them yelled out a number, she would say "six.")

Sometimes I get so excited about taking Claire somewhere to see or do something fun that I forget to just slow down and let her enjoy the little things that catch her attention. Today is the perfect example - I walked her all around the park so she could play on the playground or watch the dogs in the dog park, but the things that kept her attention the longest were the weeds, sticks and leaves. I just forget that everything in this world is new to her eyes - including dandelion weeds.

All in all, we had a great day. We're just hoping we wore her out enough to get a little bit of a later start to our Sunday morning! :-)

Happy Easter!

We started off Easter morning with a little breakfast together. Did you know hot cross buns have a religious/Easter significance? I read this and thought some of the superstitions about hot cross buns were kind of neat, but I don't know how to make them....so I decided cinnamon rolls were close enough. (Thanks Sarah for the info on the buns)


The Easter Bunny came! He left a basket for Claire with crayons, a book, Elmo socks, and sunglasses!

Daddy calls this "wearing a Claire hat"


The Easter bunny also left a few eggs and a new ball in the backyard...Claire was pretty excited that they were filled with snacks!

Here's some footage of her finding "eeegs"

After naptime, we headed to Monument Avenue for Easter on Parade - one of my favorite Easter traditions! We met up with Grammy, Uncle Andy, Aunt Tara, and Cousin Sam. It was a gorgeous day and the perfect spring weather.

Last stop was Grammy's house for dinner. There was another Easter basket waiting for Claire...this one had a book, markers, a cell phone, and freeze-dried peas!

Not everyone gets peas instead of candy on Easter, but Claire begs for these things.

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Bradford joined the party and brought Claire a great Peter Cottontail book. We've read it about 350 times since that evening so I'd say it was a hit!

Before taking Claire off to bed, she had a last Easter egg hunt in the backyard with Grammy and Aunt Tara. The sun was so bright so I gave her the new sunglasses to wear. About 1 minute after this picture, she ran into the house and immediately ran smack into a wall. Note to parents - sunglasses are not such a great idea indoors!

Easter Eve

Claire got a visit tonight from PoPa, Abu, and Uncle Jake along with a special Easter basket!

She got a cute little polar bear, Peeps, goldfish, an egg with money, and bathtub crayons!

She put all her money in her piggy bank!

I let her try a Peep....she wasn't too sure. First she hugged it, then she put it on her rocking chair, and then she licked it a couple times. Mostly she wanted her "sheesh" (goldfish)! We'll try again tomorrow....if she's lucky and Mommy doesn't eat them first - ha ha!

And then she brought books over to Popa and Abu to read. She really seemed excited to see them tonight!

How did I miss getting a picture with Uncle Jake?? Next time! Claire's trying a little harder to say his name these days. He's moved up from just "k" to "guck." We'll get it right eventually. She loves her Uncle Jake and always smiles the minute he walks in a room!

Also...none of the pictures came out good of her coloring in the bathtub with her new crayons, but she had a blast! I thought she was going to cry when I took her out of the tub. Thanks PoPa and Abu!!

And I can't forget to mention her official first Easter basket this year - from Aunt Mary Lynn!

It came in the mail the other day and I set everything up so that when she got up from her nap she would find it. She was so excited and ESPECIALLY when she opened up an egg and animal crackers fell out! (Mommy had been holding out on her and giving her empty eggs to play with!) Now she methodically opens all her eggs to check for food!

Thanks Aunt Mary Lynn for all the goodies! Especially the new Sesame Street books - she LOVES them!

Easter Fun with Friends

We had SO much fun this morning with friends celebrating Easter. Thanks so much Kelly!

Here's Preston, Owen, and Claire painting...you'd be surprised how little time it takes for 3 toddlers to make a HUGE mess!


Concentrating....


And now for the Easter egg hunt!

The eggs were filled with goldfish and lucky charms - as soon as Claire figured this out she was very serious about getting some snacks!


Running, playing, blowing bubbles, and being silly!...




Back inside to dye some Easter eggs...maybe this will work out a little better next year! It was still really fun and now we can make egg salad :-)


After making such a mess of Kelly's house, it was time for some cleaning!! Claire with a broom, Owen with a swifter, and Preston with the vacuum - what a team!