Sunday, August 26, 2012

Our new home

As you probably know, we moved from North Carolina to the DC area in the beginning of July.  Jim took a promotion with his job at the Federal Highway Administration.

We'll start with some pictures of the outside of our house (while we wait to finish up decorating the inside!)  Here is the view from across the street from our neighbor's house:

Here is the view from the street looking up the walkway towards the house:



Here is the terraced backyard where Kylie love to jump up the rock walls chasing balls.  (The little white fence is to keep Kylie from running through the huge cherry-tomato plant.) Avery is busy on the slide!


Backyard again, Colleen goofing off!


This is looking from the side yard towards the front yard: 


This is looking from the front towards the side yard: 



We are renting the house from a couple who just left for a six-year work assignment in South America. The top floor has 2 bedrooms and a full-bath. The ground floor has a kitchen, living room, and office. The basement is half-finished with a bonus room (Avery's playroom), a full bathroom.  The unfinished half of the basement has the storage area, and leads to our garage.


We live in Silver Spring, MD, a suburb of Washington. We live in a little neighborhood called Forest Glen just inside the Beltway and near the border of the town of Chevy Chase. We are about 5 houses from Rock Creek and the 20+ mile trail that goes from the Potomac River in Georgetown out to the edge of suburban Maryland.  Perfect for our running! 
There are so many deer near our house, we see families of them literally every day when we drive the streets or go jogging.  Our neighborhood is also very hilly and very lush, it amazes us how dense the forest is in the neighborhood (and how quickly the vines and greenery can take over anything, including people's houses!). There are also some 5-way intersections near us that make for some interesting signs



We are only about 1 mile from the Forest Glen Metro stop

which Jim uses to get to work.  He now usually bikes to the Metro to save money (since it costs $5 per day to park at the Metro station)


We'll post pictures of the inside of our house shortly, once we finish decorating!









Saturday, August 18, 2012

Mother Goose Puppet Show at Glen Echo Park

Today we went to Glen Echo Park, a neat little area tucked away by the Potomac River just outside of the DC line.

We went there to see Mother Goose Caboose (part of the Tiny Tots series) put on the Puppet Company.

Avery was eagerly waiting for the show to start


It was very entertaining, and featured a very talented puppeteer.

(He even made puppet juggle!)  And because it is geared towards little kids, it only lasts a half hour long so the kids don't lose interest.

The park is neat too, it is an old Amusement Park that is now a National Park.  One of the only things left is the old carousel (still in use)


The old Art Deco sign and stone entrance are still there too.



We hiked a very short distance across a neat creek: (Can you spot them?)


 Avery took a break on a park bench:


They also have a Children's Museum, which includes a camp for kids too


And also at the park is the Clara Barton House and national historic site.  Although we didn't go in, we will go back sometime to see it.  We've had a busy month exploring things around our new town and have a lot more things line up over the next month!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Rockville Kids Nights

During the summer, the town of Rockville (one town north of us) has free outdoor concerts at their Town Square.  On Tuesday nights it is Kids Nights, with band playing kids songs.  One of the best parts of it was that during the concerts, most of the restaurants have a deal where the kids eat free with an adult meal purchase.  So we sat outside on the patio of Gordon Biersch and had a nice beer and Avery had a nice free meal!

Avery absolutely loved the concert, and in the turf area away from the stage she had a blast running around with all the kids (and mom!).


Here is Avery with both feet off the ground during a full sprint!



What a huge smile on her face too.

She made lots of "friends" that night that all chased each other around and giggled.  That was the last one of the summer, we'll definitely be back next year!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Montgomery County Fair

Saturday morning we went to the Montgomery County Fair, and we met Mike and Lisa Pozsgay -- plus Baby Austin.

Like most fairs nationwide, they have their roots in agriculture and farming.  So Avery got to ride on a tractor!

She also got to pet some animals



And play with giant board games

And play with giant board games

However, our favorite part of the fair was the Toilet Decorating Contest



Yes it was real, and yes there were place-ribbons on each one.  Mike and Lisa are thinking of entering next year, since they have an extra toilet after a remodling project!  Hey it's worth a shot at a cash prize!  It's also nice to know in one of the most diverse and wealthiest counties in the country you can still go to a fair and see an exhibit like that!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Shark Week!

This week at the Discovery Channel they are celebrating Shark Week, and always plan a big celebration.

Luckily their headquarters building in downtown Silver Spring, just 2 miles from our house!  They attach a huge shark to their building which is very neat

The other day in a couryard across from their office they had a screening of a Shark Week episode with the Mythbusters show.

They had a huge screen set up, and Avery got to meet Sharkie


Plus she got a shark tattoo


She showed off her mean tattoo all week!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Swimming at the lake and finally some good lobster rolls!

We went up to Hunting Creek Lake in Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland about 1 hour from our house at the base of the mountains.

They have a beach on the lake, with a great swimming area.  The water was clear, and the temperature was just right!  Avery got her bathing suit and sun hat on and really enjoyed it!


Avery loved sitting in her little beach chair to have snacks

And loved sitting in the water and playing with her beach bucket & shovel

Later we went for a hike to Cunningham Falls, it was 0.5 miles each way and Avery ran the whole way!  For a kid as small as her that is quite a feat!  She loved playing in the water of a creek at the bottom of the falls, she has quite the adventurous spirit!

Later back at the lake they had an animal expert showing everybody an owl

Avery loved being up close to it and talking to it "hooo hooo".

As a side note we found a great authentic New England lobster place...it's called Luke's Lobster in downtown Bethesda on the beautiful Bethesda Row.


It has very authentic lobster rolls (which are hard to find outside of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts!), with buttery toasted buns like they should be!  Luke is apparently from Maine which helps.  They even have Maine Root colas and Cape Cod chips to go along with it.  It is a small chain with a few locations in NYC and DC.  So if you are a New Englander in one of those areas that can't find a good lobster roll, now you know where!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Grandmas in town and sailing on the bay!

Grandma Jamie and Grandma Judy came to town last week!  We went to get sushi in downtown Silver Spring, Avery loved doing a CHEERS with her sippy cup!!!

Then after dinner we hung out in the fountain right by downtown.  As only a toddler could get away with, Avery wore only her bloomers and diaper and loved playing in the fountain!


We don't know why she was covering her ears here!  What a goof!

The grandmas babysat while we got to go out on a date!  We went to Annapolis, a very cute town on the Chesapeake Bay.  We had dinner on the water at Pusser's bar and grill on the water


Then we took a sailboat cruise on the Woodwind II, the same boat that they filmed "Wedding Crashers". 

Woodwind II right before boarding

It was a beautiful night out to sail



Coming back into Annapolis at sunset
And they had a beer tasting on the sailboat too, a representative from Troegs Brewery was there to give out samples of 3 of their beers.

Also, we both got to hoist one of the sails!  Thanks to the grandmas for babysitting!

We also went to the National Zoo together.  Avery loved pointing at the lizard's eyes!

And of course loved the elephants, she wanted to pose in front of the elephant statue outside the exhibit before we saw the actual animals!
We had a fun time with the Grandmas' visit!