New Blog Site

With the move from DC, I decided it was time to change the blog address. You can now find us at qrstarmstrongs.blogspot.com.

Loving the Beach

The other morning, the girls and I snuck out for a bike ride into Huron to play at a playground and a small beach there. It was a beautiful morning and they really enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake.

Last Hurrah in DC

We’re still here… just not exactly sure where we are. We’ve left our DC house, but are not in Shaker Heights yet, so we’re camping out at Papa and Grandma’s for now. Our last week in DC was great, full of packing, but lots of last activities, too.

We saw some memorials, hit up Union Market - twice, took a trip to the US Botanic Garden to see the Corpse flower, which had bloomed, but sadly wasn’t stinky, took in a Nationals game, and hit up one of our favorite playgrounds.

George Mason Memorial

Thomas Jefferson

Root beer float at Union Market (trip 1)

Pit stop on the way to the Botanic Garden

Not stinky

How cool is this

Union Market (trip 2)

Go Nats!

Little Gymnasts

I can’t believe this actually happens in our house, but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to stop it. And, Quinley doesn’t help things – she might be more of a dare-devil than Reagan. (Apologies for the yellow pictures… something wasn’t set right.)

Yes, she does think it’s all quite amusing.

Joining in on the fun.

Koalas Graduation

Reagan’s class has a graduation ceremony for all of the kids going to kindergarten, and the others in the class get to participate. They make a big deal out of it and the kids love it.

All ready to get started.

Getting her certificate from her teacher.

The start of their performance – The Goldfish Song by Laurie Berkner. It could not have been any cuter.

A Day in Baltimore…

in which we did not go to the Aquarium. We had a brilliant idea on Memorial Day, literally, as we were getting everyone dressed and their teeth brushed that we should head up to Baltimore and go to the Aquarium. Well, it wasn’t until we had parked the car and were about a block away that we looked at the ticket prices and changed our plans. It worked out perfectly, as the weather was great, so we wandered around the Harbor area and toured the USS Constellation, which Tim and I can tell you very little about, except that she is docked in Baltimore and there were only 2 bathtubs, both in the captain’s quarters. It must have been pretty stinky on board.

As a finale, we got to see and hear the firing of the cannon.

Cruising the Bay

One of the wonderful things about this conference is that our consultant takes their on a boat cruise. So, tonight I was on a fabulous boat, enjoying the sunny weather and awesome views of San Francisco, Marin, Sausalito, Angel Island, Alcatraz. It was really nice to be out of the conference hotel for a few hours, despite the windy weather.

And, we pulled right into the cove by AT&T park, where the Giants were playing.

Happy Easter

A few weeks ago, I saw a notice about an Easter Egg Hunt at this fabulous house in Georgetown, called Evermay. To top off what was easily the most beautiful day of the year so, this was a wonderful event at an amazing estate. There was a balloon maker, boy and girl Easter bunnies, egg decorating, and an egg hunt. Quinley loved the egg hunt, but Reagan was distracted by painting her egg and mostly missed the hunt. And, we got to get all dressed up. (Though, somehow we completely misplaced the fancy dresses the girls wore to Abuela’s party. I’m pretty sure now we left them at the hotel. Who does that?!)

 

 

 

Quinley had a short nap before the event, but Reagan had gone a few days without a nap. This was our drive home.

Bball Game

Though it was fun to go to the Georgetown games in the fall, we finally made it to a Dayton basketball game when the Flyers were in town for the last game of the regular season. They needed a win to guarantee their conference tournament entry. It was an exciting game, but they lost in overtime. Reagan was headed to a princess and superheroes birthday party later that day, so she was decked out in her Batman attire, with attached cape, of course.

New York Weekend

We traveled up to Newark and New York to celebrate Abuela’s 50th birthday a few weeks ago. And, we were lucky enough to spend a day seeing New York with Ted and his girlfriend, Kate. We hit up Times Square, the very popular Chase Bank office lobby, saw part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and hung out with Michelle and Jared. Then, we got snowed on, so we called it a day. And, just for fun, we added a few train and subway rides.

Then, we danced the night away at the party.

Happy Birthday, Abuela!

Pearl boards

Reagan is obsessed with pearl boards right now. There have been days that she finishes 2 or 3 a day.  These are just the few I came across while straightening up tonight.

2012 Photo Album

I finally had a chance to finish our book for last year. It was a busy, busy, but great year.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

Catching Up

I was able to catch up a bit tonight, but now Downton Abbey is on, so more posts will have to wait for another night.

Maggie Weekend

Maggie made a special trip out to visit us in January. She brought MLK, Jr./Inauguration Weekend gifts, took us on a walk through the Franklin Roosevelt and MLK, Jr Memorials, and took us to the National Postal Museum. It was an awesome weekend and we are all so glad when we get to spend time together.

We saw the National Park Police working out their horses.

And got to pet FDR’s dog, Fala.

   

A stagecoach at the Postal Museum.

Yeah, Maggie!