Assateague Island

I lived in Virginia the first 18 years of my life, and it wasn't until last year, while reading Good Night Virginia to my children, that I found out we have an island with wild ponies on it! What?!
We've been meaning to go to "the beach" all summer. The girls love playing in sand, and at least Hazel, Ed and I love the water. But it's been a busy summer and we never really got around to doing the research that would make it happen.

Then some friends from church sent an email to a bunch of people, telling about their favorite beach destination - Assateague Island - and setting up a group beach trip day. It was perfect - someone else knows where to go and leads the way, we just show up and follow. And even better, what's important to us was what's important to them - clean beach, uncrowded, non-commercial. And hey, ponies don't hurt.

The weather was iffy. But we decided to be optimistic and go anyway. I had invested in a big beach umbrella for our fair-skinned family just for the occasion. And it had been a long time since we took a family road trip. So we showed up at the church at 5:50 am last Saturday to meet with the others going - apparently experience had shown going early is how to beat the Bay Bridge traffic. And we did. We sailed across the bridge and the other 150 miles to the island. Luckily it appeared the misty weather had deterred other would-be beach-goers.

When we arrived, paid our $15 park entrance fee, and parked, the beach looked like this (about 10:30 am.) Not bad for a Saturday in August.
Here is our little camp. Later in the afternoon it became more sunny and more people showed up, but it was never what I would call crowded. Thank goodness.
The weather was perfect - in the 80's and breezey. The waves were nice and big and we had fun watching surfers. Our group had some body boards and took turns riding on them. Then of course there was all the other fun beach stuff: frisbee, kite-flying, kid-burying, hole-digging.I got a lot of my book read (and have the sunburn on the back of my legs to prove it.) Hazel spent almost the entire day running in and out of the waves (and has the sunburn on her legs, where the sunscreen washed off, to prove it.) Ginger didn't care for the water and spent most of the afternoon building an elaborate sandcastle, and an elaborate conversation, with our friend Emily.
And what about the ponies? Yes, we saw them. They weren't on the beach while we were there, but were along the road when we arrived and left. And they seem to prefer leaving their manure in parking lots, so that was a delicate treat to navigate. This one came bounding out of the bushes just as we drove past.

So the day was a huge success. The weather was great, the beach was pristine. The water was cool, wavey and refreshing. A day full of fun in the sun for everyone.

In fact, nothing could sum it up better than this picture I took less than 10 minutes after leaving the island:

Arlington County Fair

So if you do something twice can you call it a tradition? I think the Arlington County Fair has become one of ours. It's a small fair - no animals besides pony rides and a small petting zoo - but Arlington is a small county. Doesn't mean we can't have a decent fair.

We went over two Saturday mornings ago. Hit the petting zoo, bought some tickets, did the obligatory kiddie rides. Both girls have really matured since last year and actually thought the rides were fun. Nice to not feel like we wasted our money (even though the whole thing is a rip-off, it's relative.)
Got some lunch - it's never as good as it looks or smells or costs, but again, all part of the experience. Got some ice cream for the girls and let them play on the playground while Ed went in the big hall to look at the booths and exhibits.
I had already been in the big hall earlier that week to check on my baked entries. Did I mention I entered some things in the fair? I have a friend who's won a few ribbons, and encouraged me to try it. She said some categories only get a few entries so it can be easy to win. CAN BE, not IS. But I did OK:

Chocolate Chip Cookies -
Honorable Mention, Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Crunch Cake - 3rd Place, Exhibitor's Choice Cake
Curry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread - 2nd Place, Banana Bread

Not bad for my first try. My friend Rebecca won 1st place in Coffee Cakes with her Key Lime Bread with Coconut Pecan Glaze. (Don't worry, I got the recipe.) I'm already critically thinking about what to enter next year.

Ed came out of the Hall with an armful of brochures, and having entered us in several drawings (which have led to several sales calls.) We caught an impressive performance by a local clogging troupe before heading home for naps. Though it was warm and super humid, it was an awesome day at the fair.

So Disco Mom, What's it Really Like Where You Live?

Disco Mom is in the House

...and I have internet, woohoo!

We are up to our chins in boxes, and the house echoes as we move around, but bit by bit, box by box, we are settling in. I could tell you the story of moving day, the details of organizing the kitchen, the way "rough" is an understatement for the girls' adjustment, or our new favorite game:
"Where Did I Put _____: (I Just Saw it a Minute Ago)."

But I'm too tired and have too much else to do right now. Like paint. And clean. And unpack. And put together. And get all the stuff for the bake sale organized. And baked. So for now a few pictures:

Living Room

Dining Room
First Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies
(I've got my priorities straight)
And a final two words for you:DOUBLE VANITY
(I have arrived.)

Park Party

When it came to Hazel's birthday party this year I gave her two choices:

1. A small tea party with only a few girls, or
2. A big party at the park next door, and she could invite more kids.

I thought she'd at least have to think about it but there was no hesitation: PARK PARTY!
It was great to take advantage of living literally next door to a park. I figured it would be pretty easy because all the entertainment is taken care of; they just play at the park and we provide food and supervision. Which was mostly true. Of course there's the weather, and it's been an especially rainy spring this year. We only had to reschedule once and on the second try got a sunny, if blustery, day. There were no major injuries or problems beyond one friend from preschool who demonstrated her mortal terror of balloons by screaming bloody murder when she arrived. We quickly got rid of the balloon bouquets I had tied to the park entrance.

Activities were jump roping, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, soccer and "monster" with Ed.
Snacks were pretzels, strawberries, bananas, juice boxes and water bottles. Cupcake cones for the treat.

Goody bags contained 4 sidewalk chalks, a pencil and one candy-filled Easter egg.
Most parents dropped off but a few made the party a whole family thing and stayed with younger siblings to play and hang out. It was an awesome time, but I'm so glad we're done with birthdays for the year!

A Fishy Reward

So I know many of you have been holding your breath to find out the super reward I got for surviving the 11-day diet. You may now breathe. While it would be characteristic of me, it would also be counter productive to have a big fat edible treat like a banana split or chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. Luckily, I already had something else lined up.

Let me back up. On Valentine's Day Ed and I went out to dinner. While we were waiting for the check I went to the ladies' room, and when I came back it looked like we were ready to go. But he was stalling, making idle chatter even though the check was paid. I figured he was waiting for something, so I went along and chit-chatted until it was kind of ridiculous. If we had been dating I would immediately suspect some kind of engagement ring dessert or something equally sneaky, but what could it be? He knew I was suspicious so he said, "Just wait a minute, I'm just waiting for something." Fine, so we talked some more and finally he gave up and said, "Well I was waiting for them to clear our plates but just go ahead and look under yours."

I did. And do you know what was there? An envelope. And inside the envelope was a gift certificate to Yvonne Salon in Alexandria. I can see that means nothing to you. But if you think back very carefully to July you might remember a blog post here about the salon that offers fish pedicures. And that salon is Yvonne.

Somebody was really paying attention. I was super surprised he had thought of that, since I hadn't mentioned it in awhile. But I had kept it on my radar, thinking I'll go do it "someday."

"Someday" came on Day 12 after the diet. I took Hazel to school and Mom came over to watch Ginger. I drove down to the salon, about 1/2 hour away. It looks like any other salon, in a small strip mall on a major street. In front are hair stations and some manicure desks. In back are about 6 pedicure chairs, and along one wall is a padded bench with four individual fish tanks below. It was clean, modern, comfortable. I was offered something to drink and immediately whisked into the way back for my massage. (Ed had gotten me a massage/fish pedicure/manicure package.) Along with deep tissue, hot stone and hot towel treatment, I got a fascinating partial life story of my Vietnamese masseuse Kim. Then I was off to the fish tanks. I climbed on the bench and stuck my feet in. The little fishies went swarming around and the light but persistent patter of their little mouths and bodies kind of felt like the electrical stim you get at physical therapy, or like vibrating. It was strange but never painful, and then I got used to it. Down at the last tank was the owner, John Ho, showing a woman with a notepad and man with a camera how they empty, sanitize and refill the tanks. Then he told them they would soon be offering doctor fish manicures. He told them to each stick one hand in the tank for five minutes and then compare the fished hand to the other. They oohed at the difference. The woman came over to me and asked if she could ask me about my experience.

"Are you a journalist?" I asked. She was a freelance writer doing a piece for Orion Magazine, and asked me what I thought of the fish pedicure and some other things. I'm pretty sure I made an idiot of myself because I was so relaxed from my massage and not sure what to say, but she did get my name and blog address since I told her I would write about it.

On the wall were enormous framed photographs of Mr. Ho on the Today show, Good Morning America, The View, etc. He said he was going up to do a spot on MTV in March. He seemed very devoted and proud of his operation, rightly so, and also eager and willing to spread the word, so I took a leap. I asked if he'd donate to my daughter's school fundraiser silent auction in June, and he said absolutely. He loves to be generous and get his name out, so it is a win-win situation. A few weeks later he sent me a gift certificate for a Dr. Fish Ocean Spa Pedicure, a $70 value. Generous indeed.

After the fish had eaten my dead skin away, they moved me over to a regular pedicure chair to finish the job. But upon second glance it was not a regular pedicure chair but a super duper hard core massaging chair, which Kim turned on for me, and I slumped like a jellyfish in numb, drooling silence for the rest of my appointment which included hot mitt oil treatment for my hands, loofahing, filing, moisturizing and of course painting of my finger and toe nails. There was a couple in their mid-twenties there getting deluxe pedicures for their anniversary. It occurred to me that a gift certificate to this salon is the perfect gift for anyone for any occasion.

I realized that after that kind of treatment I should have brought a designated driver, but I stopped halfway home to refuel - real food! - at Chipotle, so I did make it home safely. When I walked in the house smelled of warm bread - Mom had made loaves of cinnamon swirl bread with the girls.

It was pretty much the most perfect day ever.

Happy Presidents' Day

Ed had Monday off so we decided to brave the chilly weather, the goose droppings and the free-admission-Presidents'-Day crowds to go visit Mount Vernon (which would normally cost our family $30.) We pumped up the double stroller tires, packed a bag with snacks and mittens, and set off. We did sit in a little traffic to get in, but snagged one of the last parking spots before they put up the LOTS FULL signs. As we walked in Ed said the last time he came here was on a high school choir trip to DC in ninth grade. For me it was in 2000 when my college roommate Jen came out for Dave & Michelle's wedding. Jen was an enthusiastic 6th grade teacher so after the wedding she insisted on visiting historical stuff like Mount Vernon and Williamsburg. I mostly remember the heat, the crowds and the ice cream.
But this time it was a great family outing. Crowded, yes, but we kept things moving. We saw General Washington himself several times but the girls were too shy to go meet him or have a picture taken. We skipped the mansion with it's winding long line to get in, and instead peeked in the storehouse and other outbuildings. We explored the gardens, the animal pens, and paid respects at George Washington's tomb. When the sun came out it was a beautiful day, but when the clouds rolled by it was downright nippy. Ginger lost steam about the same time I did, but Hazel and Ed were tireless explorers, and the fresh air and charming scenery did us all good.

In fact, not only were admission and parking free, we actually came out ahead. By the gardens, this troop of marching Masons stopped to give each of the girls a gold George Washington $1 coin, and on our way out through the gift shop we were handed two complimentary Dove dark chocolate bars - big ones - with fancy Mount Vernon wrappers. Not bad, not bad at all.

Here are some shots taken by our budding photographer Hazel:

The Halloween Report

Ever since it turned October and cats and spiders have shown up everywhere we go, Hazel has had a fascination with scary things, especially scary stories and monsters. First, when she would ask for a scary story at night Ed would just pick up any book and read it in a scary voice. Then last week when their preschool class went to the library like they do every Monday, the Halloween books were out so we checked a few out. One in particular, Halloween Night on Shivermore Street, has given Hazel the creepy thrill she craves, and nightmares a few nights as well.

I don't do much in the way of any seasonal decorations. I'm not interested in keeping up with decorating, or storing, a bunch of hoo-haw. But I'm slowly coming around to the concept of being festive, and I would like my house to be inviting to trick-or-treaters, so I went this far this year:
Hazel has made it pretty clear this is the last Halloween I get to choose what she's going to be. She's not totally opposed to being a cowgirl - she loves to say "Yaw!" - but thinks next year there should be quite a bit more sparkle and lace. Ginger, poor Ginger, will never get to choose for herself until she can make her own costume because she'll always be what Hazel was 2 years ago. Luckily, it will always be unbearably cute.Last Thursday night around 9pm I got a bug in my head that I had to make the girls new matching trick-or-treat bags RIGHT NOW. It was too late to go shopping so I had to work with whatever was in my sewing bin. A quick creative consult with Tona, and I was chopping up a pair of ugly black-and-white capri pants from the bottom of my bin. The next day I did go to Michael's for the embellishments to finish them off.Last Saturday we made a lightning-quick appearance at the church Halloween party. It was two wards combined, way too crowded, loud and chaotic. Luckily, we also had tickets for "Boo at the Zoo", which was not too crowded, loud or chaotic. Only a bit rainy. But we made the rounds to about half the stations and collected some treats like ice cream cups, pencils, granola bars and apples from Whole Foods. The zoo was decorated beautifully, just-scary-enough-but-not-too-scary, and I think in nicer weather it would have been fabulous.

This week at preschool instead of an alphabet letter it was Halloween Week. They made monster masks on Monday and hand-print bats on Wednesday. Today was a Halloween parade and lunch party. I love that Hazel was buddied up with her friend Bradley, who was a cowboy.At the end of the party the class did a dance for the parents to the "Ghostbusters" song. Uh-dorable. (Hazel is towards the left between witch and Spongebob.)

Tonight after dinner our friends the Gores came over with cutie shark-suited, new walker Joseph for trick-or-treating action.

John was optimistic about Joseph's potential and brought a pillowcase he could have fit in. Ginger nearly missed the fun altogether due to a battle of wills over two bites of dinner, but as everyone walked out the door, leaving her behind with me, she ran over to the table and stuffed the two bites in. Wise choice. I went to a few houses with them, then came home to man the fort. Hazel quickly found her stride and was at every door before the rest of us, knocking and calling "TRICK OR TREAT!" before the door was even opened. Ed brought them home about 30 minutes later with brimming bags - he said when Ginger couldn't carry her tote anymore it was time to go home. The booty was a pretty good mix of chocolate, lollipops, and miscellaneous. Luckily the days of dreaded Mary Jane or Bit-o-Honey chews and Good-and-Plenty's are past, though some folks still give out Jolly Ranchers; they can kiss my butt. For our part, we bought three medium bags - plain M&M's, peanut M&M's and Smarties - and that was just the right amount. I also had a back-up container of snack-size UTZ pretzels but we didn't get into those, which is fine since the girls snack on them.

Halloween was a vastly different experience for us this year than the last few. Of course the best part was Ed's presence for so much of it. And now, on to November!