The Great Wall

Since we moved in, there's been a length of fence at the end of our patio.  We're guessing it's a very short "privacy fence," but it's mostly just out of place and obtrusive.

Thanks to J's sledgehammer and muscles, the wall is no more.

Here are the action shots:

Why, hello, backyard.  So nice to see all of you!

A Whale of a Good Time

Dear 232 children ages 4-11,

I'm now ready for you to attend the closing event for our underwater-themed Vacation Bible School.

Meet my secret weapons for keeping you occupied:


Secret weapon #1: 18 foot dual-lane water slide



Secret weapon #2: bounce house, obstacle course, rope climb, and slide

Bring it.

Got My Hair Did

A haircut of EPIC proportions:

Before

After

Skillz

I haz art skillz...

Decorative Touches

I've been enjoying decorating our house lately.  Here's some show and tell...

I got these hooks at World Market.  This gives us a place to hang clothes as they come out the dryer.  And as an added bonus (which J was so kind to point out), there is no longer any confusion about which room this is:

It took me a while to find the perfect fireplace and mantle decor, but I think this is it.  The large lanterns on the floor came from Pier 1 and the smaller lanterns on the mantle came from Ikea.  There are also battery-powered candles inside the fireplace that turn on and off automatically each evening:

We also found the coolest cutting board at Ikea - and it fits perfectly on the sideboard in our kitchen.  The best part?  It was only $9.99!

Our next adventure - finding the perfect lamps for our living room.

Tom, George, Abe, and Teddy

On Friday night, we boarded the Metro and headed to Nationals Park to see the Nationals play the Rockies.  Here we are going TO the game.

For comparison purposes, here's what the Metro was like coming FROM the game.  Can you see J?  Hint: he's standing behind the guy with terrible body odor.  Gag.

Luckily at the game we weren't behind anyone because we had front row seats!

Although, for someone like me who is already paranoid about getting hit by a ball and having the replay shown incessantly on ESPN, I was a little nervous.  But I had already decided that if a ball actually did hit me, I would give it to the nearest child to avoid any sort of meltdown that would make me look like a complete jerk for keeping the ball.

In the most important news of the game, Abe took an early lead in the presidential race.  He was followed by Teddy in second.

However, George took the lead rounding the corner.  But then at the end of the race Abe pulled back into the lead to win it all!

The night after we went to the game, Teddy nearly won his first-ever race.  However, he opted to stop for a popsicle in the 103 degree heat and blew it.  It was a sad day for Nationals fans.

This website has videos of nearly all the races.  I highly recommend watching 6/15 when Teddy is attacked by a lobster and 5/19 when Teddy pummels the Oriole bird.

Unfortunately, the Nationals lost the game we attended (1-5), but it was still a fun day at the ballpark.

Food and Fireworks

If Master Chef has a season composed entirely of grill-offs, J will be ready to compete.  He made hamburgers, hot dogs, and grilled peppers for our July 4th barbeque.

After dinner, we headed into DC to watch the fireworks over the National Mall.  However, we watched from across the river (where J works) to avoid the crowds and traffic.  We also did a little tailgating before the fireworks started:

Then at 9:10pm, we had 17 minutes of great fireworks viewing:

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!

July 4th

We bought a grill!

How very American of us.

Mountain Shoutin'

Some great store brand sodas at our local Giant Food:

There's nothing quite like a cold Dr. Bob on a hot summer day.