Alexa loves this garden!

Alexa loves this little plastic garden! It's at this park near our house. There is another one at another local park. Plus, her cousin gave one to Grandma E, so there is one at Grandma E's house too! We are trying to figure out how to get it to Washington, D.C. It's such a cute garden and Alexa is drawn to it. Every time she sees it, she wants to play in it. Plus, it's been discontinued, so we can't get it anywhere else! Here she is playing in the garden with her Daddy this past weekend. I'm surprised that he fit in there!

More beach! Plus, Alexa discovers Bob's Lemonade!

Another beautiful day, and another great day at the beach! Alexa enjoyed playing with her pink beach chair and the bucket and shovels that Grandma Lil bought her in Duck, N.C., last year. Fun!

Papa and Mema came with us to the beach. Alexa enjoyed going to the water with Mema and playing with her Grandpa! She was especially excited when Grandpa got her some water ice. Yum!

After her nap, we took Alexa to the boardwalk and while I was taking pictures, she stole my Bob's Lemonade! Doh! Apparently, she likes lemonade. And pizza. And ice cream! What a great night!

Yum ... Pizza!

Another trip to our favorite pizza place... Alexa chowed down on the pizza. But Daddy is teaching her some bad manners!

Daddy's girl

We had brunch with Grandma E before her train on Sunday and look who was in such a good mood! Alexa was all giggles with her Daddy. So cute! (And thanks to GG for Alexa's adorable outfit!)

Train Park with Grandma E!

On Saturday, after Alexa's nap, we headed to a local park that has a train! We are planning to have Alexa's birthday party here, so we wanted to share it with Grandma E. Alexa was excited for the "choo choo train" and looked way cool in her sunglasses!

After the train, Alexa got a drink from the hippo water fountain, then copied the older kids by walking up this barrier wall. I was terrified, but Daddy held her hand and stayed by her side. When she made it to the end, we cheered and she had the biggest smile on her face. Go Alexa!

The playground at this park is amazing, it's more like 10 different playgrounds meshed together. Alexa had a blast! 

But her favorite playground by far was this one... I didn't think she would be able to climb up this ladder, but she insisted. And she made it! Of course, Daddy stood right behind her just in case. The slide was also to steep for my taste... But Alexa loved it!

Will Alexa take after her Aunt Jen?

Alexa's aunt was a high-level gymnast, so maybe it shouldn't have surprised us that Alexa LOVED swinging on the bars at the My Gym party! I guess it's time to sign her up for Power Tots. We hear from her teacher that she's already done a summersault!

Alexa rides her trike to town!

We decided to head to town for lunch, but Alexa said "NO stoller - bike!" So we relented and let her ride her trike. She was a happy girl. Check her out, rocking her Babiators sunglasses! Actually, right after this photo, she looked at me and with a pouty face said in all seriousness: "NO photo!" So she's already learning how to deal with the paparazzi. After lunch, Alexa and Daddy raced home!

Alexa and Daddy get silly at Mussel Bar

What a great day! It started with swim class at the outdoor Bethesda Pool. Alexa went to her first class with Daddy last weekend. This weekend, Mommy got in on the fun! Alexa's friend Brandon is also in her class. They had fun kicking, jumping into the pool and blowing bubbles (sort of)! After swim class, we headed to Bethesda for lunch at Mussel Bar. Alexa and Daddy had silly face contest!

Follow the Leader

Daddy's friend sent us this photo from last weekend. Alexa looks like a baby on a mission! Either that or they're all playing follow the leader. Go, Alexa, go!

Made by Grandma

My mom makes the most amazing little dresses! She made Alexa's football Halloween costume. And she made these adorable dresses as well. I wanted a special Fourth of July dress, so I put in an order with Grandma's Store! To make sure the fit was right, Grandma "whipped up" a quick little sample dress and sent it off. Well. Check out how ADORABLE that little "sample" dress is!

Yes, the photo shoot of Alexa in Grandma's dress continues... We took a walk to Bethesda and had pizza at our favorite place. Alexa loved walking along the path with Daddy, and when she got tired, she rode on his shoulders! Of course, we also stopped at the park. What a fun day! And what a cute dress! We can't wait to see how the Fourth of July dress turns out. Stay tuned for another photo shoot!

Pool fun in Annapolis

We enjoyed a wonderful day at our friend's home in Annapolis today. Alexa was so excited to see her friend Kaitlyn that she nearly bounded out of my arms to run over to her. We had a little trouble getting Alexa in the pool at first, but when she saw the other kids sitting in their floaties and enjoying the water, she started having fun too! Outside of the pool, she loved Kaitlyn's toys, especially her lawn mower!

In the afternoon, Alexa's older friends Julia and Sara arrived as Alexa ran around in her adorable Kumquat outfit. The outfit was a gift from Grandma's friend Lucille. I'm glad it still fits her, it's a 12-month size!

Strawberry picking!

We had a great day today at a Maryland farm picking tons of bright, red, juicy strawberries! The weather was perfect, not too hot. We met up with some friends of ours and their two daughters. Alexa had so much fun running around with Avery, who she knows from daycare. She also was a great helper and picked quite a few strawberries herself! We took home three buckets of strawberries for smoothies!

Fun at another Bethesda festival!

One thing that's great about our new hometown is that they have tons of festivals for kids. We love to walk from home with Alexa in the stroller, especially when the weather is so nice. This festival is called Imagination Bethesda and it featured shows and booths with games and art projects for kids. Alexa is still a little young for most of the activities, but she enjoyed the show and seeing all the other kids!

After Alexa's non-nap, we went for a walk and she had fun picking dandelions and flowers! Ever since I showed her how to blow dandelions, she LOVES to pick them and carry them around. It's so cute!

Alexa plays catch with her Daddy

One of Alexa's favorite new games to play is "catch." She loves to throw or roll a ball to you and then you throw or roll it back and she giggles as she runs to scoop it up. It's so cute! Daddy has been waiting to play catch with her for a while. He has been teaching her how to throw properly. She's a natural!

Relaxing in Bethesda

One of our favorite things to do is walk into town. Today started out chilly but warmed up nicely! So we walked to the park, then on to the Italian store for a treat. Yum!

A Puppet show and new park to explore

A park near our house has a weekly puppet show for kids. I had been meeting to check it out, so with rain expected, off we went! We ran into a friend at the show: Christine and baby Kaitlyn! Alexa enjoyed the puppet show but had a hard time staying still. She enjoyed the play ground much more!

Choo Choo! It's Mother's Day!

We had a lovely Mother's Day. My only request was to sleep in and RELAX! Done and done! Alexa, however, kept asking me about the beach. "Mama, walk beach? Beach?" Apparently, she missed Hawaii. I tried to explain that we couldn't go to the beach, but maybe we could go to a Choo Choo Train? She was sold. Apparently a Choo Choo Train is an acceptible Plan B when the Beach is unavailable. Good to know. So instead of the beach, we spent the day visiting a new park in the area that has a ton of cool play areas and, most importantly, a working Choo-Choo Train. Alexa LOVED it!

After the park, we grilled out in our backyard! Also, I showed Alexa how to blow dandelions and she was fascinated! She picks them every time we take a walk and calls them "blow flowers."

Last day in Hawaii!

On our last day in Hawaii, we headed to Lanikai Beach one more time... And Alexa made a friend! Actually I think she just wanted the other girl's toys. They were cute playing together. Unfortunately, the beach was REALLY windy. We headed home for naptime, followed by some pool play.

Alexa decided immediately that she loved her new Roxy hoodie! "Purple!" she said. Yes, it is. Check out how cute she is! She was serving up "shots" of water in a bottle cap and giggling up a storm.

More Kauai vs. More Winward Mall

After a nice breakfast and walk around the grounds, Daddy and I enjoyed our last day on Kauai at the pool, relaxing and doing nothing. It was fabulous!

Meanwhile, back on Oahu, Alexa spent another morning playing on the Winward Mall waterfalls and toy cars. Looks like she had a blast!

We got home in the afternoon and took Alexa on a walk to Kailua Beach to see ... DOGS! It was windy, but she enjoyed playing in the sand and yelling "Hi!" at all the dogs she saw. So cute!

We sat outside for dinner and Alexa had another ice cream bar. Uh-oh, what have we started here?!

Lanikai beach with Kamakoa! More pool!

We had a great day at Lanikai Beach today with my friend Cheryl and her son Kamakoa! Alexa was pretty fussy at fist, but she eventually warmed up to the sand. She even started chasing birds around and using her bucket to scoop sand! We also got her into the water by playing games. When we said goodbye, she gave Kamakoa a hug. It was so cute!

After Alexa's loooong nap, she enjoyed some afternoon pool play with Daddy and Grandpa Tom!