Beach time with friends (yes again)

We are so lucky to have friends to join us for another fun weekend at the beach.  Because our friends are from Spain we also benefit from getting some fantastic authentic Spanish food as well.  This weekend we had a typical fisherman's meal complete with little noodles, clams, calamari and a fantastic aoili sauce.  Wow.  Then for dessert we had some lemon alcohol concoction that was amazing.  For lunch we enjoyed homemade croquettas and a spanish omlette.  Let me just say now that I was not excited about the omlette until I tasted it.  Wow was it ever amazing.

While the food was wonderful, the company was equally amazing.  We had playing at the State Park by the beach.  And of course we hit the pool both Saturday & Sunday.  Oh, and finally.... I got to watch a movie.  Of course we had to split it between two nights, but what the heck... I still got to finish it.

Here are some great pictures of our wonderful weekend:

Lily loves to pick flowers

She also loves her friend Lluc a ton

This is Lluc, his 8 month old sister Marina & Lily (funny that Lily never asks for a brother or sister... I think she must like being an only child)

This was our wonderful fisherman's meal with clams & squid and tiny little spaghetti noodles.  It was to die for.  This is the second weekend in a row that we used homemade fish stock.  Yes, we made our own with fish heads and such.  It stunk the house up but made some amazing Spanish dishes.  I can also now say I am the proud owner of my own paella pan.

Another fun weekend at the beach

We were lucky enough this last weekend to have our friends come to the beach with us for the Mother's Day weekend.  Lluc (Lily's BFF), his baby sister Marina, mom Delores and grandpa Peter all came along.  We also enjoyed the annual opening of "Funland".  The weather wasn't wonderful, but the kids found some breaks in the rain to enjoy playing outside.  Lots of running around, playing on rides and learning how to ride tricycles.  A few stubbed toes were the side effect.  But definitely well worth it.

The adults also enjoyed some fantastic food.  Because our friends are from Spain, we got to enjoy a real Spanish seafood paella complete with shrimp, muscles, clams and calamari.  Boy, was it AWESOME!  We even have our own paella pan now.

Then we came back from the beach and headed to our Korean friends that live in the neighborhood for a crab feast.  Totally interesting watching Koreans eat blue crabs.  They definitely eat more of it than we do.

Some pictures of the weekend to enjoy:

First day of the year at Funland

First ride is the boats

Fire engines are next

Then the airplanes (a little more daring)

And even more daring is Lily's first ferris wheel type ride 

(she even mentioned that her tummy felt funny)

Back to the kiddy rides

Getting some love on the beach (a little early if you ask me)

Chris, Lily (behind the Trashers fries), Kim, Lluc, baby Marina & Delores

Yes, everyone loved the fries

Lily and Lluc pushes each other on the tricycle... and trying to learn how to ride by themselves

Take your child to work day

The week before last we were able to celebrate take your child to work day.  Lily joined Kim at her office downtown D.C. for an exciting day of fun with about 12 other kids of various age ranges.  Lily's day consisted of a parade around the office, lessons on the history of the 100+ year old building our offices reside in, lots of arts and crafts, banjo lessons and singing banjo tunes, pizza lunch, cupcakes, and a not to be missed reading of "Chicken Butt" from our resident author Erica Perl.  It was a very fun day.  Lily was a little more shy than normal, but by the end, she was even reading Brown Bear for her show and tell to the rest of the kids.  I think it turned out to be more work for the parents.  I couldn't believe how many other kids also participated.  The metro was packed with kids going to work with their parents.  And I must admit, that the metro ride may have been the most exciting of all parts of the day.  How fortunate I am to be able to do such fun things.  A couple pictures to share from the day.

The parade of kids...

Great weekend at the beach

We had a wonderful weekend at the beach.  Still spring weather with highs in the mid 60s, but we got a lot of nice sun to get out and enjoy the scenery in our community.  Some of the flowering trees are just beautiful.  I learned this weekend that Lily needs to practice riding a trike more often.  She isn't quite grasping the pedal motion and it seems a little late.  I'm sure she will figure it out soon.

April showers bring May flowers (at least that is what Lily says)...

The last couple weeks we've had some warmer weather in the DC area, but this weekend it turned a bit cold and the high was in the high 50's.  We still got to enjoy some sun however which made for a fun weekend.  On Friday night, we went to our friends house (Lily's best friend Lluc) for dinner.  It is always an adventure and loads of fun.  Lily and her friend Lluc took to kissing at dinner.  Boy was it lovey.  I thought Chris was going to have a heart attack.  Then Saturday it was errand running day and then Lily stayed at our neighbor Julie's for the evening while Chris and I finally went out for a date.  I'm thinking a date every 1-2 years isn't enough.  But now that we have friends we trust with Lily... there should be many more.  On Sunday, we actually slept in a bit... had delicious crepes for breakfast... then started painting a desk for the beach house.  Yes, it is a super bright lime color, but its the beach so what the heck.  And Lily really enjoyed helping me.  See pic below:

After painting, we headed out to a big park that is only about 3 miles from our house.  We keep discovering new parts of the park.  They have a full garden area, play areas, lakes with lots of turtles, Japanese garden, carousel, and train that goes all over the park.  It is a great place for the entire family to get out, exercise and enjoy the beautiful sun.  And Lily had loads of fun on the playground and the train.  I still can't believe how many great things we have to do so close to us.  We just keep discovering more.

Weekend in D.C. - enjoying the Petting Zoo

This weekend we were lucky enough to spend time with friends for pizza night on Saturday and then to the Petting Zoo (in Ellicott City about 40 minutes away) on Sunday.  The petting zoo was half petting zoo and half little play area.  The kids (Lily and Lluc) had a great time and were so good.  They definitely ran and played a lot and were completely exhausted at bedtime.

Easter Weekend

We had a fantastic Easter weekend!  Okay, the weather wasn't great, but the company definitely made up for it.  We had Lily's friend Lluc and his parents (Peter & Delores) along with grandpa (Avi) and little sister (Marina) stay with us at the beach house for three nights.  It was definite entertainment along with a lot of wake ups in the middle of the night between the three kids.  On Saturday we dyed Easter eggs at the house, hit the pool and then dyed more Easter eggs with all the other kids in the community at the activity center.  We had a LOT of eggs.  Oh and we had a fun pizza night on Saturday filled with banana and peppadew pizza (compliments of South Africa)

On Sunday the kids woke to the Easter Bunny having hid Easter eggs all over the house.  They had a lot of fun finding them, but I must say they were hid a little to well (hint, hint Dads).  Then we headed over to our community activity center where they had a second Easter egg hunt with all the other kids and even got a visit from the Easter bunny.  Plus they hit the pool again.  What fun.  Sunday night we got to enjoy Spanish paella thanks to Delores and her dad Avi who are from Spain.  What a treat that was.  I never knew how hard it was to clean a artichoke until this weekend.

On Monday our guests headed out a little early, but the weather was so nice (okay compared to what we've had the last three months) that we stayed until early evening and enjoyed being outside.  We went to Cape Henlopen state park and walked over the Great Dunes (the biggest dunes between Cape Cod and the Outer Banks of NC).  Lily enjoyed checking out the skate boarders that frequent the park and she got to hit the park rides as well.  Then we hit our favorite BBQ joint and did a little shopping before heading out of town.  A perfect end to a wonderful weekend.

Some pictures to share:

Lily & Lluc coloring Easter Eggs

 Lluc and Lily enjoying their play high heels.  I think Lluc may have actually enjoyed these even more than Lily.

Coloring more Easter Eggs at the activity center

Easter Morning munch out

Baby Marina (she is 7 months and the cutest little thing)

Lily and Lluc with the Easter Bunny

Chris, Kim and Lily before the big Easter egg hunt began

Our friends:  Avi, Delores, Peter, Lluc and Marina

A slow grumpy start to the group Easter egg hunt

Cape Henlopen state park (Lily & Kim)