Play date with Anne at a Capitol Hill park!

Daycare was closed today, so we headed to Capitol Hill for a play date with my friend and her adorable daughter, Anne! We went to a great park and the girls had a blast running around!

When we got home, Alexa asked to eat outside. And then she asked for French fries. Since I didn't feel like making anything, we piled back in the car and went to get some Micky D's! Shhhh.... Bad Momma! It was delicious and we had fun eating outside. Plus, she got a Smurf in her Happy Meal. :-)

More Starbucks, tricycle fun and playground with Eli!

A great Sunday... More Starbucks! This time, she stole my chocolate/banana smoothie. It was yummy but she wouldn't give it back! Doh! That's what I get for introducing her to the good stuff. When we got home, she played on her new tricycle, although she still can't figure out the pedals.

After nap, Alexa enjoyed a fun play date with her neighborhood friend Eli at the park! Eli brought some trucks to push down the slide. Great idea!

Playdate with Avery, Ella and baby Cora!

Alexa's friend Ella just welcomed a new baby sister, Cora Alice! We finally got to see the baby at a play date at the park. The girls all crowded around to watch Cora get her diaper changed! It was so cute, they were all very interested in the baby - for 5 seconds before running off to play!

It was so cute watching all the girls play - they giggled and had a blast. So cute!

Playground! And a relaxing afternoon at the beach.

After all the great beach days that we've had, we decided to take a day off. Instead, we checked out some of Ocean City's playgrounds! We liked this one the best because it was shaded...

And then, of course, we went in search of... Ice cream!

After her nap, we headed to the beach for some afternoon play in the sand. Alexa had fun with Mema learning how to make castles with her plastic cups. Kids are so easy to please!

It was late in the day and the beach wasn't crowded, so it was very relaxing. What a great way to end a great week!

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!

Park fun with Grandma E and Samantha

Alexa got a treat today -- a visit from her Grandma E, Pop and cousin Samantha! So was so excited that she wouldn't nap. So to tire her out, we took our little monster to the park! She had a blast on the swing and playing with a little toy kitchen. Turns out that cousin Samantha has the SAME kitchen back in New Jersey. If we have room in our car, we might try to bring it home! Do you think Alexa will like it as much if it's in our back yard and not the playground? Hmmmm. I hope so!

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."

Alexa meets her other great grandmother!

We had a great day in Los Angeles. As soon as Alexa was up, we had breakfast at our hotel and then picked up a rental car to drive south so she could meet her other great grandmother! Alexa is very lucky. She has two great grandmothers! She had a good time visiting with her California GG. Here we are hanging out at her house. While exploring, Alexa discovered our wedding photo and eagerly pointed out "Mama! Dada!" Nothing gets past her!

Alexa also met her Great Uncle Manual and Great Uncle Danny, who joined her on the swing set at a park nearby. Alexa had a good time playing with the little kids there. She was very friendly and ran up to them right away. I think she's starting to miss her friends at daycare!

On our way back to our hotel in Los Angeles, we stopped by my cousin Mike's home to visit baby Mason! Alexa got to meet her Cousins Mike, Ashley and Marcus, and baby Mason. It was really hard to take a photo with Mike and Mason since she was so squirmy! Then Aunt Ashley broke out the bubbles and Alexa was in heaven. Whew!

More fun with Grandma E!

Looking for something to do, Daddy remembered the Sunday Fun Day events that I've taken Alexa to in the past. Since tickets were still available and it happened to be about a book featuring Alexa's FAVORITE color (Harold and the Purple Crayon), he signed her up! Yay! Looks like a lot of fun!

After lunch and a long walk, Daddy and Grandma E took Alexa to our neighborhood park. Alexa then insisted on walking all the way home! That was fine with Daddy. He was hoping to tire her out!

Fun at the big kid park with Michaela!

Alexa and I met my friend Julia and her daughter Michaela for lunch, then we all went to a new park to play. The park was very nice, but it was PACKED with lots of big kids running around, so I had to follow Alexa around very carefully and watch her like a hawk! I did get to take a couple pictures when she and Michaela were playing in a little truck. Alexa was cracking up! Every time we put our head through one of the windows, she'd laugh and laugh and laugh. It was so cute!

Nothing like a PB&J sandwich!

Especially since it's not a PB&J sandwich. We still haven't given Alexa peanut butter. So here she is enjoying her almond butter sandwich. Yum! Handmade by Daddy the way Daddy likes his peanut butter sandwiches. All nut butter, no jelly. And not toasted either! The horror! At least it's on wheat bread, cuz that's what Momma buys!

After Alexa finished her sandwich, she got to run around at the playground. What fun! Look how cute! She was cracking up at me pushing her in her swing. It was so funny!

After all the fun at the park, we went over to Daddy's friend's home for some Irish food. They have two boys, who have lots of cool toys. Alexa had fun riding a little ride-along toy and playing with the basketball and plastic baseballs. But she got a little confused about which ball goes through the hoop...

Fun at the park!

Oooops, I forgot to post this collage! After pizza on Saturday, we walked into town and stopped at this park on the way back. Alexa had a blast! She loved the swing and especially the slide. Crazy girl!