Archive for April, 2015

Chocolate tour

Posted in Family outings on April 24th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

For Christmas, Jen got us tickets to a Chocolate Tour of DC in Georgetown. Here’s our fabulous tour guide, Linda, at our first stop, Sprinkles.

Chocolate tour

Sprinkles is the cupcake place founded by the lady from Cupcake Wars. According to several folks, they’re better than Georgetown Cupcakes. After trying them, I think I agree.

Sprinkles

The second stop on the tour was my favorite - Thomas Sweet. We had some of their fudge - dark chocolate with caramel in the middle and salt on top. It was outstanding - so good that I may have had a second helping.

Thomas Sweet

Next stop - Godiva for some basic chocolate.

Godiva

We then headed to Olivia Macaron for some delicate French macarons (not to be confused with macaroons). Note that macarons are commonly filled with chocolate ganache, which is why they qualify for the chocolate tour.

Olivia Macaron

Our tour guide was nice enough to take a picture of the two of us. It took her a second to do so, however, as she was interrupted by a woman who had followed us in off the street to ask Jen where she bought her dress. She was sad to learn that Jen had made the dress herself, so there was no chance of her purchasing it.

The two of us

Our next stop was Dean & Deluca for some fancy chocolate from Bolivia.

Dean & Deluca

Our last stop was Pie Sisters, a great place with pies of all kinds. We had tiny chocolate pecan pies which were fantastic. And thus ended our delicious afternoon of chocolate. We didn’t have time to linger, though, as Jen had planned a fancy dinner immediately afterward.

Pie Sisters

For dinner, we went to the very fancy Farmers Fishers Bakers. Jen got the Ahi Tuna Poke Salad and I got some very yummy Corvina.

Farmers Fishers Bakers

My favorite part of the dinner was this Hibiscus Lime Rickey. I knew it would be tart, but it exceeded my expectations. Wow!

Wow

It was a wonderful outing for the two of us. In case you were wondering where the girls were, they spent the day having tons of fun with Aunt EA and Uncle Scott who live pretty close to Georgetown. Their day included duckpin bowling, toys, Ledo Pizza, watching a movie, and eating cake. Thanks Aunt EA and Uncle Scott!

Grass sledding

Posted in Leah, Molly on April 18th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

We’ve had some fantastic weather lately. I’ve meant to take the sleds off the porch (where they live for the winter), but have not gotten to that. Yesterday, the girls decided that they didn’t need snow to sled. They climbed in one and tried to slide, but of course went nowhere. Then they discovered that if one of them pulled down the hill, they could move pretty well.

Grass sledding

They naturally took turns pulling/riding. Here Leah has adopted a more aerodynamic pose in order to speed things along.

Switch

No training wheels required

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly on April 13th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

On our third attempt to do some bike riding this Spring, we finally got a perfect day. Leah took advantage of it and was riding her bike without training wheels in no time. Great job, Leah!

No training wheels

Here she is in action. This video shows a bit of her progression after she started to get it.

In the beginning, I would run alongside her in case she started to fall, but it didn’t take her long to decide she wanted to do it on her own. She was happy to get a little help to start (which Jen gave her here), but then the parent had to stay put while she zoomed around.

On her own

Bike rider

Sisters riding

It was a great day of bike riding. We can’t wait to do it again.

Easter sewing

Posted in Sewing on April 11th, 2015 by jen – Be the first to comment

Did I make the girls Easter dresses? Nope. But I made one for myself! You may have caught a sneak peak of it on yesterday's post, but here's it in full view.

Leah gave me the Washi Dress pattern for my birthday two years ago. I bought the fabric soon after, but never took the time to make the dress. Since the girls we wearing smocked dresses made by their grandmothers, I thought the Easter sewing could be for me.

Jen's Easter dress

On a side note, I'm twelve days in to a three week sewing hiatus. I brought my machine in for service over Spring Break, so I've been catching up on my reading and organizing around here. Hopefully, it'll be ready early as I keep adding to my project list for April!

Happy Easter

Posted in Celebrations on April 10th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

When Easter morning arrived, the girls were very excited to get downstairs (after the appointed time we set, of course) and see what the Easter Bunny had brought.

Easter morning

A big hit this year - Peep bunny stuffed toys.

Peep

Leah loves her new Peep bunny.

Huggable Peep

They received a bunch of books, so it wasn’t long before they sat down to read a bit.

Books

We then got dressed and headed to church for Easter service. Then, on to Grams’s house for some family time.

While there, we took a photo of the four of us. We’ve never had a successful family picture taken so quickly. Uncle Scott must have been working some magic behind the camera to get nice smiles out of Molly and Leah so quickly.

They know how to smile!

I brought and set up a portable studio for the previous shot (just a simple 2 flash setup), so I asked if anyone else wanted their picture taken as well while it was set up. Aunt EA and Uncle Scott were happy to have their portrait taken as well.

One more

Then it was time for some food and family fun. Happy Easter everyone!

Palm Sunday singing

Posted in Church, Leah on April 9th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Both of the girls’ choirs joined the adult choir to sing on Palm Sunday. Sadly, I only managed to get video of Leah as Molly was hidden from view. But I'm sure you can pick out her voice among all of them ;)

Sleeping away

Posted in Leah, Molly on April 8th, 2015 by c-had – 1 Comment

The day after Molly’s birthday, Molly and Leah headed out to their first sleepover with friends away from home. They went to the home of their long time (their entire lives) friends Allison and Rachel. They did great - so well that we didn’t even hear from them until Jen picked them up the next morning. They can’t wait to do it again.

Sleeping away

Actual birthday

Posted in Celebrations, Molly on April 7th, 2015 by c-had – 1 Comment

By the time Molly’s actual birthday rolled around, most of the celebrations had ended. But she still had a couple presents to open from Leah, including the one she’d been hoping for - a stuffed Olaf. Actual birthday

For dinner on her birthday, Molly requested hot dogs. Afterward, we broke out the leftover cake and ice cream from a couple nights ago and sang to her one more time.

Leftover cake

Molly is now officially 8 years old. Happy Birthday, Molly!

Easter Egg-stravaganza

Posted in Celebrations, Church, Leah, Molly on April 5th, 2015 by c-had – 1 Comment

Our church had an Easter Egg-stravaganza the week before Easter, including lots of fun. There were a couple of moon bounces, face painting, a lot of crafts, cookie decorating, and more.

Upon arrival, the girls went straight to the face painting. Leah opted to have an egg painted on her arm rather than her face.

Easter arm paint

And Molly chose to have a bunny painted on her cheek.

Easter face paint

And here are the results (for a bit).

Results

Then Molly decided she wanted her other cheek done as well, so she headed back for another round. This time - a butterfly.

Other cheek too

Of course, there was an Easter Egg Hunt. Leah was in the preschool area, while Molly went to the second/third grade area.

Egg hunt

Full baskets and bunny ear crafts on their heads serve as evidence of a fun afternoon.

The end

Birthday dinner

Posted in Celebrations, Molly on April 4th, 2015 by c-had – Be the first to comment

We got together for dinner with my side of the family to celebrate Molly’s birthday at a different restaurant this year. Usually, Molly wants to go to Red Robin since they sing. At the urging of some of the older attendees, she said she decided this year we’d go some place with tacos. Jen called around and found that they would sing on weekends at La Palapa, a local Mexican restaurant. It was awesome - good food and great singing (including the sombrero she was hoping for).

Birthday dinner

Here’s a taste of the birthday singing. I obviously had trouble recording this. I'm not sure I should even bother posting it, but it's short and gives you an idea of how great it was.

After dinner out, we headed back to our house for cake, ice cream, and of course presents.

Opening presents

More presents

This was a gift we hadn’t heard of, but the girls have really enjoyed it since opening it up and starting to build.

Roominate

Happy birthday again, Molly!