Day 753 | Uncle Matt Shorts

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Our big guy is getting bigger. Chase has grown out of most of his summer clothing and a shorts shopping spree was greatly needed. In addition to a few other pairs, he picked out these (pictured above) and calls them "Uncle Matt shorts" because they're so hip and fashionable. Just like Uncle Matt. But don't tell Chase that Uncle Matt isn't really into wearing shirts with giant roaches on them (or maybe Chase is just ahead of the trend).

Day 752 | Hydrangeas

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To me, the sight of a blooming hydrangea bush right in my backyard is one of the best parts of early summer. The big puffs of pastel blue flowers is enough to brighten any dreary day.

I've been bummed that I can't seem to bring that type of joy indoors, though. When I cut them and put them in water, they start out looking all bright and cheery and within hours they're droopy and downers.

The internet to the rescue! I googled the problem and came across this website explaining why this happens and what to do about it. The short answer? Immediately after cutting, put the stems in boiling water for 30 seconds. This technique even brought mine back to life!

The internet is the best, isn't it?

Day 751 | Good Times with Good Friends

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Last night was amazing.

My sweet friend, Dawn (far right) organized a night out for me and some of my closest DC friends. I think it might have been one of the very few times I've seen these ladies without kiddos in tow. 

We did some free-style painting (I chose to paint birds, of course), we ate some yummy Mediterranean tapas, we chatted, we laughed. Glorious, just glorious.

Thanks ladies for carving out the time to make last night happen. To say I will miss you all is an incredible understatement.

Day 750 | Impressive Field Trip

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The Bulldogs (Chase's class, made up of 3, 4, and 5 year olds) took an impressive field trip to Nationals Park today. Kudos to his teachers for having the motivation and energy to tackle this type of undertaking.

What are the logistics of this little outing, you might ask? Well, we left the school at 9am to walk to the metro (yep, all these kids loaded a metro train at 9:20am). They all waited patiently through nine stops where we all exited in an orderly fashion to make the short walk to the stadium.

A kind and patient tour guide led these youngsters all over for an entire hour which included the following highlights:
  • the press box
  • the visiting team's locker room
  • the Nationals' dugout
  • the Delta Club seats right behind home plate
  • walking on the field (but not the grass...and everyone, including Robbe, complied)
  • taking in views of the Washington Monument and the Capitol
Following the tour, we stopped for a quick snack break before walking back to the Metro, took a train back the nine stops, and walked back to the school, arriving around 12:15pm, just in time for lunch. All said, those kiddos walked about 2.5 miles from start to finish (I was wearing my Fitbit to track it). And, aside from pretty constant requests for snacks, the kids didn't complain one bit. 

Those Bulldogs, they're tough cookies.

Day 749 | Fire Safety Presentation

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The DC Fire + EMS team made an appearance at Chase's school today for a fire safety presentation. Depending on who you are, there were two different perspectives on how the morning went:

1. As a pre-k or kindergarten student:
  • Yay! We got to stop, drop, and roll during school!
  • Yay! We got to watch a movie with a cartoon dog!
  • Yay! Fun coloring sheets with fire fighters on them!
  • Yay! A real fire truck!
  • Yay! A fireman in his full uniform!

2. As the organizer of said event (me):
  • Ahh! Why doesn't anyone know what's going on?
  • Ahh! Why do people keep parking in the coned-off area where the firetruck is supposed to park?
  • Ahh! Is the firetruck ever going to arrive?
  • Ahh! Why did the firetruck show up 1.5 hours late?
  • Ahh! Why is this pre-school presentation so dull?

At the end of the day, there was a firetruck. The kids did learn about dialing 911, how to stop, drop, and roll, and the importance of having a meeting place for your family. I guess we'll call it a success but why, oh why, was this event the most complicated endeavor I've faced to date? 

Day 748 | Excited for Wisconsin

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The excitement is building around here. We're so close to finalizing so many details of the move (inspection of WI house came back great, moving company decision is imminent, DC house appraisal is expected tomorrow, *never-ending* mortgage lender paperwork is almost complete), but we're still so far away from our official move date (mid-July). The boys and I decided to wear some Wisconsin gear today to bring us there in spirit.

Day 746 | Outdoor Time

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Due to the *finally* beautiful weather, we busted out of the house today and ventured over to one of our favorite places: the Wheaton Regional Park. We played at the park. We rode the carousel (twice). We hung out with some friendly turtles, swans, and fish at the pond. We had a picnic in the shade. We even got to ride the miniature train (which was questionable due to an overnight rainstorm). Sounds pretty awesome, right? It was.

Side note (that is definitely worth documenting): Chris and I noticed some unwelcome garbage in our front yard the other day. Because our house is right off a busy road, it's not unusual for some stray candy bar wrappers or newspapers to get caught in our grass, but this discovery was particularly disturbing. It looked like chicken feet. Gross, bug-attracting chicken feet. I finally got the stomach to clean them up today and, it turns out, was in for a crazy surprise: they weren't chicken feet at all. They were these rotten-smelling, oozing mushrooms called stinkhorns. I know I should somehow feel comforted that we didn't, in fact, have discarded chicken feet in our yard, but if you had been the one to try to remove the stinkhorns, you would understand how terrifying it was (I didn't know they were mushrooms at that point, after all). To say they were foul-smelling with a terrifying consistency just doesn't cover it. I hope these new friends aren't here to stay. 

Day 745 | Corn Avocado Salad

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This *might* just be my favorite salad. I've been counting down the days until fresh sweet corn hit the shelves at the grocery store...and this week it did!

Here's the recipe

. I look forward to enjoying this yummy concoction several times this summer.

For those of you recreating, I don't add the jalapeno. We're not a big fan of spice around here and I don't think we're missing anything.

Day 744 | Spray Park 2016

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You'll be glad to hear we made it to opening day of the neighborhood spray park. It's funny how every year brings a new attitude towards it.

2014: Robbe was too little (just a few months old) to really enjoy/appreciate. Chase was super excited.
Two years ago.

2015: Chase was more leery but Robbe loved it.
Last year's post.

2016: Now Chase is back on the bandwagon but Robbe would barely get his toes wet.

Interesting, isn't it?



Day 742 | It's Hot

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It's becoming apparent that we went right from winter to summer around here. It's been in the 90s the last three days. As you might have guessed, I'm not a fan.

The photo above was taken upon our return from a one-hour outdoor birthday party we attended. These boys were sweaty to say the least. Robbe faired pretty well. Chase, however ended up with a mild case of heat-knee and heat-belly (both those areas hurt) so he requested we leave early and enjoy our air conditioned house instead. I did not argue. 

Day 740 | Petey Update

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If you look closely, you can see the little black escape route from Petey's cocoon.
Luckily, the Bulldogs are satisfied with this development with or without a moth in the cage.
Good news and bad news about our favorite little caterpillar: he emerged from his cocoon, but he didn't survive the weekend.

Remember, Petey started as a caterpillar. Then, the next day, we woke up to him in a cocoon. We brought the little guy into Chase's classroom so all the Bulldogs (his class mascot) could enjoy Petey, the Chrysalis. And they did. They really did. He was stared at, talked about, loved and shaken. A lot.

This type of caterpillar stays in their cocoon for about two weeks. After about three weeks, I had all but given up on seeing Petey as a moth. Then, last Friday, Chase's teacher emails to say that he emerged from his cocoon!! Unfortunately, the Bulldogs didn't have school on Friday so we all had to wait until Monday to meet him in his new form.

As if the roller coaster of emotions I had already been through wasn't enough, I then get an email from Ms. Liz yesterday saying Petey didn't make it through the weekend. Are you kidding me?!? After all that? Urgh.

Please note: if you talk to any of the Bulldogs, Petey escaped to be with his family. :)

Day 738 | Under Contract

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No, this photo isn't from today. You can tell because the sun was shining and, once again, we've gone two days without seeing it. Oh, and there's more rain in the forecast for tomorrow. Are you kidding me?!? Ahhhhh!

We had a productive Sunday with lots of quality indoor time. But nothing was caught on camera. Sorry about that. Instead, enjoy this cute little bug posing with the official "under contract" sign in our front yard. At least it's a constant reminder that this whole moving-across-the-country-thing is really happening.