Smiling Siblings

Big smiles

Eleanor (5 1/2)

Oscar (3)

...and he's outta here!

Leave it to Eleanor to turn and give me one last smile.

Wedding Anniversary

Eleanor helped me get ready for my big date night out with Daddy!

She helped chose my shoes & jewelry.

We celebrated ten years on June 10th, 2010.

Chocolate sin cake & creme brulee...delish!

We had a wonderful dinner at Ruth's Chris steakhouse overlooking Washington, DC & the Potomac River.

Busch Gardens

We made our annual trek to Busch Gardens recently...not the best day to go because of the high heat & humidity but the park was practically empty so we never waited in line.

Big Bird & Eleanor

Emma & Abbey made a surprise visit, the girls were all SO excited!

They all got the pink, denim & ponytail memo and matched, too cute!

Our friend Max came along for the ride too!

Abbey & Oscar doing the Chicken Dance during lunch at Oktoberfest.

This lorikeet wound up on Kristian, much to Oscar's dismay.

Petting "OSCAR" the 7 yr old alligator!

Big smiles all around

with attitude!

Eleanor enjoyed asking questions about this Harris Hawk.

The calm before the storm...Oscar went strong all day, had a tantrum shortly after this photo was taken, then fell asleep during the Irish Dance show!

Orange Lilies

They are so vibrant dancing in the breeze.

Doing a good job trying to disguise the pole they are planted around!

Memorial Day

Eleanor & I made a flag cake for the first time, Yum!
We went to a Potomac Nationals baseball game (minor league, single A) with another family...it was so hot sitting in the stands the children had more fun playing in the kiddie area!

Whoa! Oscar on the big steep slide.

No more Diapers!!!

Oscar is now potty-trained!

It took finding the right incentive for him. We tried a sticker chart, candies (m&m's, skittles, jelly beans, etc) but what really did it was being able to choose his own German-made Bruder truck. He marked off 10 red X's on a calendar for every day he wore underwear and used the potty. In the end, he chose this combine!

Oscar's Prophylaxis

He did a great job having his teeth cleaned.

I am so proud of my big guy! He was just happy to earn a green sticky hand!

A day in the life...

um, yeah. complete with the superman cape!
and the angel!

Lakeside photoshoot

Eleanor posing pretty.

The many faces of my silly young man.

Just like his Father on the dance floor the night we met. Hmmm.