Trick or treat

 

Tonight me and Madi went to Eastern Market and went trick or treating. Madi was so fun to watch. She would walk up to the houses all by herself and get her candy, then come back and show me what was in her bucket. She loved it, and I loved watching her love it! She is such a cutie. I some how misplaced her huge elephant costume, and had to revert to a kitty beanie, it seemed to work out OK.

 

This is her after showing off herbucket of candy.

Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween from  a cute little elephant!

All in a Saturday

 

Saturday Bryan needed a little time to work on some projects so me and Madi got a mother daughter date. We went to the mall to ride a train where Madi stood up looking out the window shouting "Choo Choo" the whole time. We then went to a big arcade they have there, where Madi instantly gasped in delight.

 Madi ran from game to game, and would yell "tickets" when she won some and put them in her ticket bucket. She won 91 tickets and got to pick out a prize which was pretty exciting for her.

 Then we got home took naps and rested up for the next adventure. We went downtown, where Bryan entertained her with a tennis ball for a long time. Bryan would say count it off for me, and she would go 1, 2, THREEE and then bryan would through it up really high. She would run as fast as she could to get it, it was really cute.

 Here they are chasing the ball

Nanny Days

For almost a year I have been able to be a nanny to this cute little girl. It has been such a wonderful experience. Madi and Claire have become such good friends. They are always running around the house laughing, chasing each other, playing, and just having fun. I work about 30 hours a week on 3 days and then I get 2 days off so it is an ideal situation. I am always trying to get them out on fun adventures. We go to lots of parks, the library, the zoo, farms, museums, we play at the house, we go on nature walks, sometimes we have  pizza night, it is just a lot of fun. It is fun to see them have this friendship too. It is weird to think I only have a few months left and then baby #2 comes!

 

Us in the backyard

 We had a pumpkin carving day!

 Here we are at a really cute farm. They have a great petting zoo, lots of little playgrounds, hayrides, a pumpkin patch, horse rides, basically a little kid heaven!

 Madi waiting her turn to ride the horse

 And she is off on her horsey ride!

 Hold on tight little horsey rider!

The girls admiring the bunnies (I feel like there was so much to look at all I could get was the back side!)

Shenandoah

This weekend we went to Shenandoah national park to be together as a family. It is such a beautiful place with breath takings views, hikes, nature, each other. It was so nice. 

Here we are at Cracker Barrel just to get the small town feel started.

 At Shenandoah there is the Skyline drive where you can stop at these lookout points that have amazing views. Here is a picture of one of them

 Bryan and Madi walking on a hike we went on

 Sweet Madison

 We stumbled across a little creek

 Another scenic overlook on Sky Line Drive

Such a beautiful place with my favorite people, my family!

Madi goes to Michigan!

Last week me and Madison flew over to Michigan to visit my brother and sister in law and their adorable 2 kids. Michigan is a beautiful state and the weather could not have been more perfect. Our goal was to try as many cider mills as we could and compare their donuts. We ended up getting to 3! We also got to tour around the area they live, go to a cute neighborhood park, and catch up. My brother is a general surgery resident and lives a very busy work life but I happened to catch him on a weekend where he was around so I lucked out!

Here is Madi and their son Jet. They liked to share food back and forth

At this cider mill you could feed the animals. Madi was in heaven!

Here is handsome Jet at one of the mills

Every time I see this picture I chuckle. I love her smile and crooked pants with high top socks.

Madi and Nyah with their umbrellas on a rainy morning.

Babies babies

We are excited to bring a beautiful little girl into our family! Here I am at 21 weeks 3 days. She's growing!

Kayaking and Labor Day

A few weeks ago we got a babysitter and went kayaking with some friends in Georgetown on the Potomac and then got lunch after. We found ourselves doing this a lot this summer, it is just so beautiful and fun to be on the water!

 On Labor Day Bryan happened to have the weekend off, so we decided to do a fun weekend getaway. We went to a place in Maryland called Rocky Gap with some friends. We enjoyed Canoeing, Boccie ball, hiking, playing by the water, late night Balderdash, and just hanging out!

Bryan on the water getting ready to canoe the lake

And we're off!

Bryan and Madi enjoying the beach

 

These last couple of days have reminded me of why I love this city so much! I know we still have 10 months left but sometimes I feel sad that we are going to be leaving. Yesterday we went with friends to a fun and free museum, the American history museum and then had a picnic in front of the Washington monument. Today I took Madi to Georgetown where they have a fun water feature to play in, and a beautiful water front view. Tomorrow we are going to a farm and apple picking. There are so many fun things to do here and with the weather being tolerable it is making it that much more enjoyable. I have this sense of urgency sometimes to make sure I am really taking advantage of all the wonderful things this place has to offer!

 Madi playing in Georgetown

 Waterfront view in Georgetown. We had to go down and give a warm hello to all the ducks

 This was Madi the other night eating Chocolate pudding. Things got a little out of control in these parts!

This is Madi looking down and she is saying " Oh messy" Yeah madi I suppose you did get a little messy!