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G’Mom and Grampa came in town to celebrate Jen’s birthday. After arriving late Friday night, they immediately started baking with the girls Saturday morning. Their first project - chocolate angel food cake for Jen’s birthday.

Baking a cake was not enough. So, on Monday they baked some scones with G’Mom as well.

Yes, there was even more baking. On Tuesday, Leah and G’Mom baked 6 mini-loaves of English muffin bread.

And if that wasn’t enough, Jen immediately followed them up by baking Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. In addition to meals and a few other extras, our kitchen was out of breath by the end of their visit.

A lot more happened during their visit, but I’ll save that for future blog posts.

Molly joined my worship band yesterday to sing her first solo in big church (as opposed to children's church). She did great! Jen said it was a good thing it wasn't any longer, as she would have started crying.

Here's the song in its entirety. Her solo starts at 3:45 in case you want to skip over me and the rest of the band.

I got to chaperone Molly’s class field trip to the Robinson Nature Center. Thankfully, we had a beautiful day. Nature’s much more fun when it’s not cold and rainy, as it was the day before we went.

Our group first walked through the exhibits, including a large forest exhibit. Part of it was even a nocturnal forest. Then we went into a classroom to learn a bit. During our classroom session, we learned about the different types of vertebrates, including amphibians like these American Toad tadpoles.

After the class time, we ate lunch outside. Then we went on a nature walk through the woods, learning along the way.

Our final activity was a fun show in the NatureSphere planetarium about the Earth, Moon, and Sun.

The trip was lots of fun for everyone. The Robinson Nature Center is a great place, and now I know they put on a great field trip.

Unlike last year, the weather for this year’s elementary school Field Day was fantastic - bright and sunny, but not too hot. I was assigned to staff the sack race station, a favorite of many. Unfortunately, that kept me so busy that I didn’t get any pictures of the events. So, you’ll just have to take my word that the kids had lots of fun.

I did manage to get one picture after the events were over. This was taken during the picnic lunch outside. Molly’s sporting her face paint, though it’s a little smudged from all the activity.

On Mother’s Day, both of the girls’ choirs sang in church. Sadly, they did not sing at the same service. So, we got to go to two services.

First up was Molly’s choir. They sang a couple of songs and didn’t make it easy for me to get it on video, but I did my best. She looks so grown up with the music folder in her arms.

Leah’s choir sang at the next service. Their song really pulled at the heartstrings. I teared up a bit (and continued to do so every time I rewatched it to edit the video).

Great job girls. I know your mom (and dad) appreciated it.

Molly’s school held a night where kids could come and build Legos with their dads. Molly and I of course attended. They had 3 rounds with prizes handed out and lots of fun. Each kid got a bag of random Legos and then had to create something with them. Here’s Molly’s spaceship from the flying things round. Note that it includes a pizza oven in the back as well as jet propulsion.

The last round was without a theme, so the kids could build whatever they like. Molly decided to build a giant robot that the operator could ride on. Oh, and it also included a pizza oven.

After the big zoo trip, the rest of our cousin fun was smaller and more local. Sunday we went to church, then headed home for some lunch. After lunch, the girls showed Emmie how much fun sledding in warm weather can be when you have a steep enough hill.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful, so we headed to one of the many local playgrounds (this one at Centennial Park) to go to the playground.

After playing outside, we opted for to cool down with a sweet treat. Rita’s Italian ice and custard were perfect.

Thanks for coming to visit us! We look forward to seeing you guys this summer.

Cousins came to visit for the weekend, and we decided to show them the fun that is the National Zoo. Emmie was excited to enjoy the beautiful day with her cousins at this fantastic (and free) zoo.

We started checking out the big cats. A bunch of lions were out chilling.

Here are a few of the lions they were watching.

They checked out the turtles, as we have done before.

We took a break for a snack in the sea lion show seats (they had no shows that afternoon, sadly).

JJ, an expert snacker.

Molly helped Emmie cool off.

We walked up to the elephant outpost at the bottom of the hill, which can be an excellent place to see the elephants up close. Sadly, they were hanging out at the top of this hill. But JJ managed to get a view of them from afar. We got to see them closer later, after hiking up the hill.

As we got up to the top side of the zoo, JJ spotted the giant stuffed panda at the Friends of the National Zoo booth. They were nice enough to let him hold it for a second.

We made it all the way to the top to the front entrance on Connecticut Avenue to take a picture in the zoo sign, as we have done before.

On the walk back down, we stopped into the gift shop and the kids each got a souvenir. Leah liked the lions so much, she got one of her own.

All the kids did great with all the walking (between 4 and 5 miles, according to my pedometer), but occasionally got some help. JJ got a ride on Aunt Jen as we headed down hill back to our cars.

As always, the zoo was lots of fun for all involved. We look forward to more visits to come.

With warmer weather arriving, Molly requested shorts with pockets. After almost a month sewing hiatus (due to my machine being in for service) I made sure to honor Molly’s request first thing!

I used Brownie-Goose Summer Sailors, which happens to only include faux pockets, but thanks to this tutorial I turned them into real pockets!

Chad and Leah thought the short were a bit wild, but Molly and I love them!

Last week was a milestone week for the girls in karate. Leah had a stripe ceremony, and Molly tested to get her yellow belt. This followed the same template as last time, so it wasn’t quite as scary this time around.

First up, Leah’s stripe ceremony. Here she is leading the class in their initial chant.

Leah and Serena demonstrated 10 point, where they take turns striking (without making contact).

Here’s Leah receiving her teamwork stripe.

Leah also got a medal for perfect attendance, and a certificate of completion.

After Leah’s stripe ceremony, it was time for Molly’s belt test. I managed to get a lot more shots this time, though they still have reflections as I had to shoot through 2 sets of plexiglass.

Here she is as the test is about to begin. Molly is ready to go.

Her strength was tested.

Sensei tested their abdominal strength by walking on them. Yes, it’s very odd to watch an adult step on your child.

Molly continues to love sparring. She’s starting to get better at it, too.

As the girls lined up to receive their new belts, Molly was so excited she couldn’t contain herself. It was so noticeable that we had other parents commenting to us about it.

Here it comes.

Bow to show respect.

After bowing to show respect, jump up and down to show excitement.

And hug

Leah wants to make sure you don’t miss the fact that she got a medal.

OK, now a straight one.