Fun on the 4th

In line with our plans mentioned in my previous post. we spent our 4th of July in Yorktown! What a special privilege that was! Come to find out, the 4th of July celebration is the biggest event historic Yorktown hosts all year. It was a lot of fun and evoked a lot of pride in all who attended. Some people traveled in from all over the country to experience Independence Day where independence was won.

We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight for the kids' play area. Caroline got the chance to run, slide and jump while we waited for the parade to start. Yorktown has some very large, old trees that provided some great shade for us to picnic in. Then we lined up along Main Street for the parade, which featured the Fifes and Drums and Uncle Sam dressed in overalls. Then we continued to stuff ourselves with hotdogs, popcorn and snowcones while we strolled the rest of the festivities.

We didn't originally plan to stay for the fireworks (since we didn't think the girls would last that long), but both Caroline and Claire seemed up to it, so we found a great spot at the Victory Monument where we camped out while waiting for the reading of the Constitution, the U.S. Air Force Band performance and finally the fireworks over the water. Well, just at the dramatic conclusion to the reading of the Constitution was drawing near, we received an announcement that the rest of the evening's festivities had been cancelled due to a storm headed directly for Yorktown.

Talk about a mass exit! Everyone had parked just beyond one of the British battlefields, which has a landscape of massive hills constructed by the British for defense in the Revolutionary War. Well, let's just say they worked really well. No one could get over or around them safely, so we all had to bottleneck through this tiny little trail in the rain. Once we found the van, the girls were a little damp (they had stroller hoods and an umbrella), but Dave and I looked like drowned rats. On our way home, we picked up a pizza for dinner, and once we reached the house, the girls were asleep. We ended up watching Colonial Williamsburg's fireworks from our house (they still finished their festivities despite the scarry weather). All in all, it was a great day!

Saturday, we took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese (or, as Dave would call it, "the home of the animatronic rat"). It was a lot more exciting for Claire now that she can walk, although Chucky's towering stance scared her a little.

Today (Sunday) we went to church and then Caroline and I went to the movies to see Kit Kittredge, an American Girl. Caroline loved it! She even cried during the sad parts. I thought it was a great film, and it teaches children all about giving to others.

I hope all of our friends and family had a wonderful weekend, too!

A Special Place to Be

Independence Day proves to be an especially exciting time to live in Colonial America! The historic triange (Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown), is rich with tributes to people, places and events that contributed so much to the freedom we experience now. One such place is Yorktown. We have decided to spend part of our Fourth of July in Yorktown (just down the road since we live in York County) becuase it will be so thrilling and memorable to be in the place where America's war with the Brittish essentially ended.

Although Yorktown has every reason to boast a large, proud Independence Day celebration, I have been told their event has a small-town feel. I love Yorktown because it has all of the history and pagentry that Williamsburg does, but it has a bit of a more quiet aura. Friday, we'll enjoy a classic car show, live bands in the church yard, a colonial parade, the Fifes and Drums, the USAF Heritage of America band, and fireworks.

Below is a link to a Youtube posting of last year's Yorktown Fifes and Drum appearance on Independence Day. What makes it so amazing is that all of the players are just kids! And so, in the spirit of colonial times, I would have to give them a hearty "Hoozah!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpuJIKkJRM4

Hope you all have a fun-filled fourth!

Go, Claire, Go!

I have always said my sweet Claire is easy going. Yes, lately, she's gotten a little...well... spunkier than before, but overall, she's so laid back. It was evident when she took her time wanting to crawl, pull up, and toddle. She just turned 16 months old a few days ago, and Thursday, she took her very first steps! Yea, Claire!!! We are so proud of her! And she didn't just start off taking one or two steps at a time-- she took off! Here's a video of her newly-mastered skills. Sorry-- you'll have to tilt your heads to the left because I filmed this with the camera positioned vertically. I don't know how to rotate the video.

June in a Nutshell

Yikes! It's been more than a month since I've updated my blog! I really have been that busy. It's amazing how much less time I have to myself now that Caroline is off for the summer. We are having a blast!

We spent the first weekend in June at Dave's cousin Daniel's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at a breathtaking cathedral in Nashville, and the reception was a lot of fun for all. Our congratulations go out to Dan and Sandy! And we really enjoyed getting the chance to see family we've missed so much. We stayed in a hotel nextdoor to the church. Oh how Caroline loves hotel stays! Grandma and Grandpa stayed in the room right across the hall from us, so the girls had a great time hopping around from room to room. While in town, we also got to visit with Dave's precious grandparents who were so delighted to see how much the girls had grown.

Then after we left Nashville, Dave dropped me and the girls off at Mom and Dad's in Knoxville where we spent the week. Caroline went to Bible School with Mom for four days during the week and had a ball (literally-- the theme was all about castles, princesses, dragons- that soft of thing). One afternoon, my sweet sister, Michelle, and favorite brother-in-law, Allen (yes, Allen, you'd still be my favorite even if I had more:) came over and Caroline tried out their slip-and-slide for the first time. How fun! Then on Wednesday, Mom and Dad took us to Dollywood where we made lots of fun memories. Dad drove us to Roanoke on Saturday where Dave met us and took us back to Williamsburg. I was a bit heartbroken to leave Tennessee, but my sweet husband anticipated it and had the house sparkling when I came home. We spent Father's Day at church and then took Dave to his restaurant of choice, Buffalo Wild Wings, for wings and trivia.

For a couple of weeks in June, Caroline went to gymnastics camp at the William and Mary campus. The camp was taught by the William and Mary men's gymnastics assistant coach and several W&M students. I didn't think to take my camera with me, so I unfortunately don't have any pictures of Caroline at the gym. She goes to soccer camp in August, so I'll be sure to mimic the papparazzi then. :)

I can't believe June has already come to a close. The summer is flying by!

A Must Read!

I have recently been trying to expand my repertoire of inspriational fiction works. I suppose my love of prose makes me a picky fiction connoisseur. Until today, I'd never finished a contemporary work of Christian fiction that I love and respect as much as After the Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart. It's her debut novel, and it is exquisite! The plot is phenomenal, the characters completely believable, and the transitions solid. Hiddern throughout her novel are a trove of discoveries that the reader experiences right along with the protagonist. But what makes her novel intiguing is her beautiful writing style. Baart has published some original works of poetry as well, and I can see that ability in her ability to tell a story.

I can't wait to read Baart's next book, Summer Snow! It was just released on May 1st, and the reviews rave that it's as good, if not better, than her debut.

Visit Nicole Baart's Web site at http://www.nicolebaart.com/ to read the first chapters of both of her books. You'll be hooked, too!

Happy reading!

Pinkalicious!

We spent Sunday afternoon browsing through the book shelves at Barnes and Noble. We spend quite a bit of time in the children's section there (and throughout the whole store, really). Caroline got a magnificent book called Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann. It's a Caldecott award winner, and we love every page! It tells the story of a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes, ignoring her parents' warnings. She wakes up the next morning and is completely pink from head to toe. She goes to the doctor to find out she has pinkititis! She experiences many fun times and many difficulties being pink and struggles to get back to her original color.

So, of course, Caroline was curious. After reading Pinkalicious over and over again, she decided she wanted to bake some pink cupcakes and put the book's claims to the test. So yesterday after dinner, Caroline and I made a batch of pink cupcakes (strawberry cake with pink icing). Well, it turned out that Caroline, Dave and I stayed the same color -- but Claire turned pink (see pictures and video below)!

Gone Fishin'

On Saturday, we went fishing at the York River. Caroline and Dave got to break in their new fishing poles! We left the rubber princess crown protector on the end of Caroline's line for a while so that she could practice casting without the fear of getting hurt. Then daddy loaded her hook with a large pink bait (just her style) and the two of them fished side-by-side. Claire and I lounged on a big blanket a little further behind the shoreline and watched. Unfortunatley, we didn't catch anything, but next time, those fish had better watch out!