Our Generation Vol. 1 No. 24 The Whites Visit the Browns

Usually people come out to the D.C. area to see the White House but our cousins, The Whites, decided to come out and visit the Brown House. Our colorful group had a TON of fun! We started off their visit with a trip to the Corner Pub, then came home and played around. We are seriously impressed with the large amount of site-seeing that they jammed into their week here with us (Gettysburg, Archives, Natural History, American History, Georgetown, monuments, memorials, zoo, etc...). It was fun to hear about what they did during the evenings when we were hanging out.

Ben decided to show off a bit while they were here visiting-- he learned how to sit for long periods of time without any help. Way to go Ben!


The weather, some might say, was not very cooperative but the AZ folks didn't seem to mind. The girls had fun trying on scarves and hats (yes, mommy has quite the collection) and the guys were forced to actually put on jeans for once. Mommy and Daddy had Friday off so we all decided to head to the zoo.

The odds seemed against us: it was raining and 42 degrees, we had a late start and we arrived in parking lot B at 1 o'clock (Mia's normal nap time). But as you know, we like adventure and adventure is what we got. We couldn't help but laugh at the fact that there was NOBODY there! Well, maybe two other small groups of people but seriously... we had the ENTIRE National Zoo to ourselves. We found it hilarious that the Panda exhibit (usually the most crowded attraction at the zoo) was desolate. So naturally we had to take some photos. The animals were out and were quite active. At times when it got to be a little too wet, we headed inside. One popular exhibit was the Small Mammal House. We all enjoyed watching the meerkats and elephant shrews. Oh so cute!





Saturday was a big day for Texas Football fans- the Red River Shootout against OU. We had some people over for a little game day fun. Allen, Elaine, Owen, Nora, Jess, Dale, Andrew, Claire, Luke, Lisa, Brett and Samantha did their best to root for the horns. Texas won and it might have helped that we had our own personal Longhorn cheerleader in our midst (thanks to Aunt Kim and Uncle Dan for the burnt orange pom poms!).



Bernadette joined us for a few days of fun at our house and it was reminiscent of hanging out at the cabin. The Whites sure loved playing with Mia and cuddling with Ben.


Emma took true initiative in starting her own rock band! She played lead guitar and had every one of us try out for our parts. Mia and Emma had a real live jam session that was actually quite good for a six and two year old duo.


The rain seemed to taper off just in time for the Whites to head back to sunny Arizona. So, we took some time to play around in our backyard and had a little photo shoot to remember all the good times we had. After they left, the house was uncomfortably quiet. We certainly look forward to a reunion at Christmas in sunny, warm Arizona.

Our Generation Vol. 1 No. 23 Pumpkin Patch

We recently drove out to Butler's Orchard with friends, Karina and Jason, and their two little ones, Cameron and Emelia. The morning was a cool and rainy one with not much promise of drying out but we decided to hit the patch anyways. Boy were we glad we did- there was hardly anyone there and there were plenty of pumpkins left for picking. Usually when we go there, it's so crowded you can hardly walk but not today. We had high hopes of attending the fall festival there but with the continuous rain, we decided to skip out and go to lunch. Mia and Cameron had the most fun at the Orchard Market where they could sample apples, look at scarecrows and play on and in a giant pile of pumpkins!

The next day, we met Brandon and Anneke for a delicious lunch. There just so happened to be a Rita's Water Ice and Custard stand within walking distance. Well, we simply couldn't resist. Here's Mia enjoying a scrumptious custard cone.

Our Generation Vol. 1 No. 22 It's Feeling More and More like Fall

Fall in Woodmoor is not complete without our family participating in Becca's run. This year, Ben got to join us along with friend, Jess. We arrived minutes before the start and ended up towards the front of the walkers group. Mia and Ben got to stroll leisurely while Mommy, Daddy and Jess walked the two mile race on a gorgeous fall morning. What a great way to start the day.


As if we didn't already have an exciting morning, we headed to Andrew, Claire and Luke's house to sample a Taste of Bethesda AND attend Rescue Day at their local fire department. The kids had a blast, quite literally as they held on to a firehose trying to put out fake fires. They also got to sit on a fire truck and later, sample Bethesda's finest ice cream. The adults had fun too sampling sliders, Indian food, Irish food and more. Though it was totally packed with people, we had a nice time and look forward to next year's food fest.


Mia news:
Mia has taken a liking to some flashcards that Mommy bought back when she was a baby. She likes looking at them so much that she insists that we partake in her quizzes to see if we know what the pictures are. She also lines up the cards all over the floor, teaches Ben, and somehow she even knows when we skip over reading ALL the facts on the back of the cards. One thing is for sure- the sunset card always has to go on top of the pile. The pile of colorful cards also accompanies her through the night as she often passes out on top of them.

She says the darndest things:
"You're dirty and you're clean!" (Mia who are you talking to?) "The bottom of the table and the top of the table."

"Mommy I don't feel well." (What's hurts Mia?) "My feelings hurt. I need a treatment."

"Mommy, Daddy, Ben... what are you doing?" "Why, why why?"

"Mommy, I call Ben Benny- he's the Benny!"

Ben news:
Ben has been working his way through the longest list of baby nicknames daycare has ever given it seems: Hungry Ben, Ben we're going to charge extra tuition because you eat so much, Hungry Hippo, Mr. Happy, Hungry Man, Mr. Sweetie, Sir Eats a Lot, etc... (do you recognize a theme here?)

New to his menu: plums and brown rice, butternut squash, blueberries and apricots (what hasn't he tried yet?)

He's starting to push his whole upper body, chest and stomach up off the floor when lying on his tummy... you know what that means....

Mia and her gal pal, Lydia, sure had some fun the other night when we had dinner with Pete and Erica. Those girls are spunky and adorable!

Stay tuned for a trip to the pumpkin patch and another exciting visit from the Whites!