Cubs vs Nats

Warming up for the game
We had grreeaaatt seats!
Awe, what a cute family
Ready for pizza!


This past Sunday, Caelan saw his first Cubs game. The first game he attended was last year. July-very hot and I was 8 mos pregnant. (Did I mention it was HOT). Anyway, during Sunday's game he had a great time watching everyone and all the yelling, cheering and crying. (Final score: Chicago Cubs 0 Washington Nationals 2)
We went to the game with Margaret, a friend of Shawns', then had some din-din at our favorite pizza place, Pizzaiola.
We had such a great time, we are already planning our next trip to a game.

Manassas National Battlefield Park

Stonewall Jackson
Site of battle at Bull Run

Our little trooper!
"Memory of the Patriots who fell at Bull Run July 21, 1861"

The weather was gorgeous and it was early in the day.

Shawn asked, wanna do something today?

Well, we drove out to Manassas to see the battlefield at Bull Run.

I was so intrigued to see the landscape. It is very hilly, boardered by a forested area. Imagining standing on one side of a hill not being able to see the other side where a full battalion of men could be waiting. Nearly 900 men lost their lives in 10 hrs of fighting during the first battle of Bull Run.

We chose a trail on the grounds that looked interesting, The First Manassas Trail. Caelan bounced and bumped along the mud/stone path in his stroller. He hummed along the way. The forested area was beautiful, I stopped to take many nature shots of flowers, moss, streams etc. (and of course Caelan). Then we heard it....the thunder. We decided the fastest way to get back to the visitors center was best. Well the "fastest" was also the hardest. Shawn, bless his heart, pushed Caelan in his stroller up hills in tall ruddy grass. We made it back without feeling a drop. Matter a fact it didn't rain all day until about 11:30pm. Oh well, I guess we got our work out for the day!

Funtime in the Suntime

Today, Caelan and I had a fun visit

with our friends from the mom's group.

He had fun playing with the ladies and also

with his new found fascination....grass.

Caelan's photoshow

Here are some fun pics of sillytime with Caelan, his new summer "kicks", the waterpark in Crystal City and the hike, which he hummed and squeeled the whole way, on the Mount Vernon trail. We followed the trail out to a park near the airport to watch the planes come in.

Visit with Aunt Eileen

Crossing the Bay Bridge
Caelan enjoying the road trip
Lunch at the Crab Deck in Kent Narrows
Sittin on the dock of the Bay.....
Dad and Aunt Eileen (dad's sister)

Friday we went for a road trip to Delaware. We had beautiful weather and a fun big rig to drive in. We stopped at the Crab Deck in Kent Narrows for the traditional crab soup. (It is to die for!) When you all head out this way, I will take you there for the best crab soup ever.

We had a great visit with my Aunt Eileen, her best friend Cathy and Cathy's son's family. Then off to dinner we went. Everyone enjoyed themselves even when we told the wait staff at the restuarant it was Cathy's B-day next week and they came a clappin and yellin. Yeehaa!

Good B'nanas

Breakfast of champions (at least this champion!)

Papal Mass, continued

Pope Benedict XVI
Cardinals, bishops, clergy and VIPs (on the field)
Blessing of a child
Pope Benedict continually stopped to speak with people along the way
Processional leaving the field

I read the coolest thing today.....The day of the mass was the only day the stadium would not serve beer. It was a church, and would be respected as such.

Papal Mass, April 17 2008

The sea of people taking the Metro to the Papal mass
Dad and Mom in front of the altar
Before the full house
Pope Benedict's entrance in his pope mobile
The beginning of the mass

On April 17 2008 my parents and I had the opportunity to attend the mass said by Pope Benedict XVI. What a once in a lifetime experience. Everything was wonderful, from the music to the people around us. Everyone was so kind. Definately a full house, approx 45-46,000 people, all there for this incredible day.

I can't really put to words the way I felt being in the presence of the Pope, a sense of peace?

What was my most touching moment?

Pope Benedict had finished mass and was making his way through the crowd to proceed out of the stadium. The procession had reached mid point on the field and the Pope stopped to bless an infant in its mother's arms. It brought tears to my eyes, I thought of Caelan.

This day I will always remember!

Tour of Daddy's work

Wednesday, Shawn took my mom & dad and Caelan & I on a tour of the Pentagon. (No interior pics for obvious reasons, and I didn't feel like being tackled to try to get the camera in :) After a full security check and cavity search (just kidding) we went to the Army Operations Center, where Shawn is a briefer. He introduced us to some of his superiors who had some amazing things to say about him. I'm extremely proud! On the inside, the Pentagon looks just like an office building, but with many signs on doors that say RESTRICTED AREA. Many of the hallways are lined with portraits of important military leaders, war artifacts and memorials. They have a chapel dedicated to 9/11, which is really powerful. There is a memorial book which includes pictures and details of the lives lost. I was really touched and can't really put to words how it felt to read about these precious lives. We really enjoyed the tour and now Caelan can say he's seen where daddy works which just happens to be the largest office building in the world.

Mount Vernon Visit

Caelan & I join the Washingtons and their grandchildren
Mom, Dad & Caelan in front of George Washington's mansion
View from the back of the mansion
Looking up at the mansion from the back yard
Washington's garden

We definately made sure my parents had their fill this past week they were here for a visit. We started Monday with a "fun" trip to Ft Myer for groceries. Tuesday we drove out to Mount Vernon, which 8 miles outside of Alexandria. What a beautiful drive! Washington's property is beautiful and he was so creative, inventing this and inventing that to make processes easier. We really learned a lot about George, personally and politically. We even got to see his false teeth. Fun fact about George: He had terrible teeth. When he began his presidency he only had 1 tooth left. He had his dentist make sets of false teeth made of human and hippopatomus teeth, set in lead. So now when you make it on Jeopardy and win because of this tid bit of info, I expect a cut! Hee!

Grandma and Papa come to visit

Yipee, Grandma and Papa arrived today. They will be here for a power packed week. Including attendance of the Papal Mass at the National's stadium. Watch for pics to come.

Cherry Blossom Festival Parade

Shawn & Caelan in our Grandstand seats
Have no fear.....
Drummers & dancers from a Japanese university
The Sesame Street Gang
George Clooney?

Shawn, Caelan, myself and a friend of ours from our mom's group & her daughter went to the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. We were sooooooo lucky, we had gotten tickets from another friend of ours for the grandstands, which were in front of the White House. We had great seats!

The parade started off a little wet then cleared up and the temp was nice. Regardless of the drenching the parade was really fun. We saw performances from Miss America, an American Idol finalist, the Sesame Street gang, dancers of all kinds, a national children's choir and marching bands from around the country. We also saw unicyclists, car clubs, floats and high flying balloons. What a trooper Caelan was, we tried to keep him dry, but he got a sprinklin as well. He watched most of the parade but ended up catching a snooze. ( I know those pounding drums almost put me to sleep as well. Ha!) Oh I almost forgot, we saw George Clooney. (Yeah, a wax statue of him, hee. There's a wax museum here in town that has all kinds of famous people.)

After the parade we walked around DC and got some lunch at a yummy BBQ place then home for a much needed nap.

We can't wait for our next family outing!!!!

A beautiful day!

What a gift we had today! For the past couple days its been cloudy and cold, today was beautiful. Sunny and not a cloud to be seen. We started our fun day by seeing our friends in the mom's group. We went to the park and the wee ones played together on a blanket. After our fun visit, a little man took a much needed nap. When he woke up we decided to continue our enjoyment of the weather and take a walk in our new neighborhood. Currently Crystal City is getting ready for a summer festival celebrating "Art & Air". They have 50 airplanes, painted by local artists, all over the neighborhood. (Its similar to the cows that Chicago had.) They all are really neat to look at and read who sponsered the plane.

After our walk, Caelan convinced Shawn and I to go to the Thai restaurant down the street, Yum. He has good taste!

Super BABY

Its a bird, its a plane, its Super Baby! He chases those blues away with a single toothless smile and rolls across the room in a single bound. "Here I come to save the daaaayyyyy!"

Caelan's New Swimmin Hole

He scopes out his new pool
After his refreshing dip.....ahhhhh.

We are so excited to have a nice pool to splash around in. Caelan loves the water, he would swim around all day if I let him. He is definately a water baby like his Uncle Chris.

(and we've gotten the A-Okay to have our Mom's group friends come and swim with us on Saturdays, Yippee!)

Our Big Move

Well, Caelan has a new home. The weekend of April 1 we moved from our place in Pentagon City to our new apartment in Crystal City. (Both communities are in Arlington just about 1.5 miles from each other.) After 3 days and many, many trips back and forth we finally are in. Yes, we are utilizing all of our creative juices trying to make our new place work. Its much smaller and 1 bedroom & 1 bath less. (Via military invitation) The building is really nice. Brand, brand new and really nice facilites. Caelan has been such a trooper through everything. He still wakes every morning with a smile, reminding us what is so important. We are so blessed to be able to be together!

Happy Spring

Always stop to smell the roses!