Goggles: Spring's Hottest Fashion Accessory

This spring has been a fun one in Richmond.  I can't believe how fast it has gone by!  Just a few more weeks and we'll be heading West for our 2-month tour.  We've been busy with swimming lessons, Music Time, photography projects and my favorite, new flooring.  Our fixer-upper town home is almost done and I tease Devin that it's almost time to move on to the next project.  :) 

One thing I love about our place is Eva's merry band of neighborhood friends.  In particular Adeline, who she plays with for several hours a day.  And when all the school-age kids come home it's a constant stream of kids in and out and bike-riding up and down the street.  I know this is old news for those of you with older kids but I'm really loving having all this outside fun and friends for her. 

 Eva's preschool has been amazing this year.  It just ended and we are super sad.  Graduation post to come.  But I wanted to post this pic of Eva at her art show.  She really wanted to wear her goggles.  haha.  She was very excited to be there.  She loves to pull out the frowny face for my camera. 

 Sophie's favorite part of her life is Music Time.  Just a once-a-week get-together where we teach the kids songs and let them play instruments.  Here's Sophie playing "London Bridge". 

 Left to Right:  Mandi and Indy, Erika and Luca, Me and Soph, Jenna, Trey and McKinley, Nichole and Lucy, Emily, Jack and Will, Charbaby and Richard, and Natalie, Tailey and Paisley.

 We also went on a fun over-nighter camp-out.  We finally took our wedding-present tent out of it's packaging.  Maybe that tells you something about our camping skills.  But it was a blast and we actually got a little sleep!  Of course the girls loved it. 

One little story.  This is Eva with her little buddy Rex.  Sometimes she is nice to him and sometimes she doesn't want to play with boys.  So I told her that if she wasn't nice to Rex she would have to sit in the car.  She kind of thought about it for a minute then said, "Will you bring me s'mores in the car?"  She was really considering her options.  Thankfully, she was very nice and all the kids ran from tent to tent, jumping on the mattresses yelling/singing, "Let's make some noise!  Let's make some noise!"  Sorry if you were our neighbors!

 Huch family, Garner family, Sedwick family and us!

 You all know I hate May in Richmond because a ton of people leave and graduate.  I really do hate this part but it's part of the territory.  On the flip-side we get to live in a ward with so many amazing people.  So I guess it pays off.  Here we are at a good-bye bbq at Chelsea Square (where most of the med/dent students live.)  Here's the girls, then the guys, then the kids. 

 And Sophie with her dear friend Lucy!  We're so sad her little buddy is moving away.  Luckily Sophie is too young to know what is going on and they are moving up to DC, so not too far. 

 And what May post would be complete without a farewell Scraps pic.  It's a fun night to celebrate all the girls that will be leaving us and wish them well.  It is sort of strange this year because this is my fourth year here and all the girls leaving moved in with me.  So I'm sad to see them go! 

Swimming for a Testimony

 Eva just finished up a two-week swimming course at Aquatots with her buddy Lily.  It was incredible what they learned in two weeks.  They learned how to swim on their own underwater, dive to the bottom to get a ring, jump into the pool and swim to the edge, swim on front then turn over and float on their backs.  It was amazing to watch their swimming teacher with these little girls.  But it wasn't by any means painless.  The second and third class Eva cried because she didn't want to do something.  But the tears didn't get her out of it, (and got her dunked a few times).  By the fourth class Eva did not want to go.  She whined about it all day.  I could see the anxiety really building up but if we didn't get through it who knows when she would ever get back in the pool.  I'll let you read below what became her first ever Primary talk. 

 "I have courage because Heavenly Father helped me.  This week I had a swimming lesson and I was really scared because I had to dive to the bottom of the pool and get the toy.  I was scared because I don't like diving or going underwater.  So my mom said a prayer to help me be brave.  During the lesson Heavenly Father gave me the courage to dive underwater and swim.  And it was really fun!  I know that Heavenly Father listens to my prayers."

 As I watched the class I just prayed that it would go well for a number of reasons.  One was for her swimming, the other was for her little testimony of prayer.  When the class was over Eva had the biggest smile on her face.  She said, "Mommy it worked!!  The prayer worked and helped me be brave!!"   She was ecstatic the rest of the day and shared the story with whomever would listen for the next week.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity Eva had to stretch herself and to have a spiritual experience that she can remember.  And of course I'm thankful to Heavenly Father for answering that prayer!

DC Cherry Blossoms and My Own Little Slice of Heaven

There's lots of pink in this post.  Just warning you.  This year I got to cross something off my Virginia Bucket List.  Seeing the Cherry Blossoms in DC.  I kind of became obsessed with it.  I'm sure my friends were sick of me talking about it.  These little guys are hard to catch.  Last year they were in full bloom for about 3 days before a rain storm came through and washed them out.  This is my fourth Spring here and I was determined to not to miss them. 

I kept checking the National Park Service peak bloom prediction site.  They are horrible at updating it.  I should never have trusted them.  That's how we ended up in DC 3 days before the bloom.  Even though the NPS site was somehow convinced the trees were in full bloom.  We found one tree with about a hundred tourists crowded around it.  haha.  Luckily we had lots of jewels and magnolias to see... see post below. 

So when they finally did bloom I convinced my friend Leslie to go up with me on a whim before she had the chance to realize what I was getting her into.  Luckily Grandma Dar was still in town so I was foot loose and fancy free.  (I'm sure that phrase deserves some hyphens somewhere.) 

We got stuck in traffic and almost missed it.  But luckily we found a parking spot in a fish market (which only cost us a $25 parking ticket) and got to the Tidal Basin right a Golden Hour.  It was pretty amazing.  Cherry Blossom trees line the 3-mile walk around the water and it is a spectacular sight. 

Our new townhouse has lots of surprises.  Some good, some bad.  We have a giant tree in the front that bloomed the most beautiful pink blossoms.  So I walk through a canopy of pink every time I go outside.  It's a beautiful view and a beautiful spring.  I've also decided that I'm allergic to it so my allergies have been terrible.  I had to take passport photos and I look like Quasimodo.  I'm going to be cracking up when the customs guards look at it and I'm sure they're going to search me for drugs because I can't keep a straight face.