Day 776 | Friends (Again)

Friends are the best, take two. We spent another perfectly social day today with some of our DC favorites.

This whole leaving thing might be harder than I thought...

Day 775 | Bad Guys

Chase convinced me to watch the movie Fern Gully this afternoon. He's been suggesting that he's "old enough" to watch real Disney-type movies now. I decided to give Fern Gully a go.

How did it work out, you might ask? Not great. We watched about 20 minutes before he willingly agreed to turn it off because he was basically watching from behind me. He didn't cry during the movie itself (which has happened in the past during mild Thomas the Train movies), so that was a step in the right direction.

It went downhill from there, however. About an hour later, he started having a lot of questions about bad guys, both pretend and in real life (there is a black blob of a bad guy in Fern Gully that he was not a fan of). The sniffling and tears started soon after.

We tried several attempts at easing his mind and finally Chris came up with the idea to draw a picture of the bad guy from the movie (he read about it helping with fears) and Chase latched onto the idea whole-heartedly.

First he requested my drawing. I'm the one who watched the movie, after all. Once I finished mine (the top picture above: a pretty good representation of the black blob and the tree it was housed in, in my opinion), he ran it upstairs to have Chris draw the same image (the bottom picture). When Chris finished, Chase came back downstairs to inform me that "Dad's is gooder" than mine. Can you believe that?!? He didn't even know what he was drawing! Chase did clarify shortly after that mine was still "really good", so that was a small consolation.

The drawing strategy worked for a bit and our nightly routine ensued until bedtime (no surprise). He started to get worried about real life bad guys again and after a pretty lengthy Q+A, he fell asleep feeling comforted by the fact that we have a neighbor police officer (true) who is working tonight (maybe true?) and offered to drive by the house as many times as Chase wanted (definitely not-so-true). Chase requested "um, like...900 maybe," so Lieutenant OZ will be driving by 900 times tonight if he asks any of you.

Whatever works.

Day 774 | Friends

Adorable photo of Chase, Robbe, Robert, and Caroline captured by Susan. Can you believe how good it is?!?

To make up for two weeks without any socializing (thanks, hand, foot and mouth disease), we're making the rounds this week...and we couldn't be happier.

We have the best friends ever. The boys have cried every time we've departed a friends' company this week. I think the departure is actually starting to sink in.

In case you're in the mood for a blast from the past, here are some of the past blog posts featuring Caroline (Chase's twinsie):

• Day 287
• Day 97
• Day 51
• Day 36

Day 773 | Berry Delicious

What do you do with a surplus of berries in your fridge? Find as many delicious ways as possible to enjoy them. After all, what's more motivating to make you try new recipes than buckets of tempting blueberries and black raspberries?

1. We had a delicious fresh berry yogurt parfait for breakfast.
2. We enjoyed these yummy popsicles (sans sugar) for snack this afternoon.
3. And I attempted my first-ever pound cake (this recipe) with berries + whipped cream for dessert tonight. Simply amazing. 

Yeah, it was a good day.

Day 772 | Berries Galore

It turns out that June 26 is our annual blueberry picking day. Amazing coincidence, right?

Two pounds of blueberries + two pounds of black raspberries + two small children with full bellies = a successful outing. We even had enough time to enjoy the play structures, mini tractors, and giant slides. Thank you, Butlers Orchard. We'll miss our frequent visits.

In case you're curious about what our visit from June 26, 2015 looked like, here you go. And here's the trip from 2014. So cute!

One more check off the list:

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13

• A final stop at the American History Museum
• Visit Turkey Thicket playground
• Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
• Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
• Eat at our sushi restaurant
• Wade in Yards Park
• Ride the Metro
• Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
• Fort Steven's Park 
• Eat at H&Pizza
• Visit the top of the Washington Monument
• Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
• Jump at trampoline park

Day 771 | Making Progress

It finally feels like we're moving. I guess a day of packing will do that to you. This is the pile of boxes in our basement and we have another one about the same size in our bedroom after we cleaned out our attic storage.

I'm not saying we'd be ready to move tomorrow but we're getting there!

Day 770 | A Baby Quilt

It's been six years since I've attempted a quilting project. Now I remember why I needed such a serious hiatus. Quilting is no joke. But it's totally worth it.

This is the final baby quilt I made for my good friend, Mary Catherine. There's nothing more satisfying than completing a project like this. Was it perfect? Far far from it. Was it made with love for an incredibly special baby who I can't wait to meet? More than I can say. 

I hope that sweet little one enjoys her new quilt as much as I'll enjoy it being a part of her nursery.

Oh, and here's the pattern I followed, if you're feeling inspired.