Fun with the Paynes!

We're always grateful when Kevin and Deborah take time to come see us!  They are loving, generous, flexible, and their visits always provide a good excuse to get out and experience new things!

We started our first day together at the Kennilworth Aquatic Gardens.  The lotus flowers were still in full bloom so, even though it was extremely hot, we made our way around some of the ponds to admire the beauty.

The kids participated in a free art event at the National Gallery.  The docent taught the kids about Kandinsky, helped them look at one of his pieces on display, and then they had a chance to create their own art!   

We also spent time at the Building Museum - it was our first visit and had extra fun hands-on activities for the kids 

Saturday we headed out to the Air and Space Museum near Dulles which was fantastic!  This time of year, the Air and Space Museum on the Mall is ridiculously crowded, but if you're willing to drive a little out of town, you can get an equally impressive display, including an up-close view of the Space Shuttle Discovery!

Dairy Queen for the win! 

July Flew By!

We started the month with a drive up to Baltimore.  We met friends for breakfast at a funky diner.  Callie was a dear friend to both Ryan and I at OBU.  It was great to see her and spend time getting to know her family!

After breakfast, we headed to our appointment for the Compassion Experience.  If you have the opportunity to participate in this event, we highly recommend it.  

The kids and I spent one morning at the Native American Museum.

Helping out at the Capitol Area Food Bank garden.  Hillary, the resident gardener, is gracious to find jobs for my crew that allow us to come and get our hands dirty while talking about hunger issues.

We love the library, especially when we get to share some of our favorite books with friends!

Mousie.  As loved as ever.

We've loved having a pass to our neighborhood pool this summer!  It's always fun to meet up with friends

I'm always still amazed when things actually grow from seeds we plant.  The kids and I haven't had great success with our community garden plot this year, but the lemon cucumbers and cherry tomatoes are fun to harvest! 

Free slurpees on 7-11!

We took part in a three-day homeschool practicum.  The kids had their own learning and playing going on while the parents met and discussed.  Bridgette's lily pad art:

Gretchen helped lead her group in singing the states and capitols:

We live close enough to the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens and rode our bikes for the Lotus Blossom Festival - gorgeous!

This haircut was momentous.  We still have no idea why, but for the past three years, Bridgette has been extremely afraid of having anyone but Mom cut her hair.  After the last time I cut her hair, I told her I couldn't do it any more - I do a horrible job!  So we talked about it over the course of several months and then, as if it hadn't been a struggle for THREE YEARS, she was okay with going to the salon - hooray!      

It's good to have a sister who still fits in the shopping cart with you and will read to you.  And it's good that Mom only had a few things on the list, included new towels to cushion the cart!

The kids and I stopped to check out a farmers market in a nearby neighborhood and left with peaches that were juicy and sweet!  Everyone wanted a picture with Mom eating their peach. =)

Rooke and Gretchen both experienced their first "camp" this summer.  Gretchen and two other neighborhood girls did a half-day music camp.  Rooke and one of his neighbor buddies did a week of full-day basketball camp.  Bridgette had plenty of fun with special playdates and one-on-one with Mommy (see below!).  The schedule meant a lot of driving for me (though it could have been far worse without carpooling), but also included a morning by myself(!) and so much fun for all involved!  We all enjoyed a frozen yogurt treat after basketball pick-up one day.


Bridgette and I spent one of our mornings alone checking out the rides at SIX FLAGS!!  It was so much fun to experience the rides with her - she is brave and loves a good thrill!

After riding the pirate ship several times, my stomach couldn't take it anymore.  Bridgette decided she wanted to sit in the back, by herself, to go just one more time!

Gretchen's music camp culminated with a Friday night performance of the musical they'd been working on during the week.  The show was great!  The lyrics to most of the songs were Bible verses, which makes hearing them sung a bajillion times before, during, and after the performance a little better =)  We're grateful for sweet friends to share in fun experiences like music camp

No summer is complete without jumping on the trampoline with the hose and friends!

Friends from our church in England were able to visit for a weekend!  It was wonderful to host Mark and Clare and their son, Sam.  Our days together were spent touring D.C. and catching up on life.  Rooke and Sam are close in age and became reacquainted quickly!  We spent Sunday afternoon at the Portrait Gallery - another amazing Smithsonian museum worth visiting.  It was our first visit and we were all delighted with the beautiful courtyard.  The water scrims were fun!

The kids took a break in front of a massive Thomas Moran painting.


Ryan was able to take Monday off from work to do some more touring.  Before doing some of the more popular monuments, we went to Theodore Roosevelt island and enjoyed walking on the trails  (only about 1.5 miles around the island).  We managed to forge our own trail that eventually ended in a swamp - oops!

Boccee Ball was a fun way to spend our last evening together.