2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

pics from meandering around the Mall with Julie and E Fine during the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Fountains in front of the Capitol

took this one for Grayfer!

the Smithsonian Castle

the National Archives decked out for Independence Day!

even Union Station was looking good

Mom's Visit!

Mom came in town last weekend! Words can't quite cover how good it was to have her here. We did some exploring around Capitol Hill (tried some awesome restaurants!), but we spent a lot of time inside thanks to the heat wave. It ended up being good though, because we revamped my room! Mom was so sweet and volunteered to help repaint my room-- I promise she volunteered! We got our supplies on Friday afternoon and started painting Saturday morning. About thirteen hours of painting, a new duvet and a few pillow shams later... we turned this:

into this!

We actually moved almost all of my furniture out of my room while we repainted, so my back porch came in very handy. Mom was so sweet to come and help fix up my room! It was a fun weekend together.

These two pics are a little random, but I found them when I was looking for "before" pictures. I took these the day I moved into my house and literally the only thing on the wall was my mirror hanging on my closet door! Thought my friends would appreciate my "furrowed brow" in the first one haha

Thankful for a great Sabbath Day worship at Capitol Hill Baptist. We sang "We Rest On Thee" and "How Sweet and Awful" and heard a great sermon on 1st Thes. 5... So thankful for that body of believers.

More updates to come during August Recess... I'll have lots of pics from the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and July 4th!

Play Ball!

Caroline has had the wonderful opportunity to play Ridgeland Challenger League Softball with several of her friends this Spring! In the words of Bill Stone, "[Caroline's softball performance] has been the greatest display of athleticism our family has seen in years!" Case in point:

Caroline's lead-off run to first base!

Now, don't be fooled: Caroline didn't always love softball this way (she has given me permission to share that fact with y'all). But this year, Caroline donned the number "5"- a number shared by fellow slugger Albert Pujols- and has come back with an unprecedented enthusiasm for America's Favorite Pass Time.

Caroline and Pujols not only share the  #5, but similar batting averages!
Photo Source: www.profantasybaseball.com

It has been so much fun to see the enjoyment Caroline gets out of playing softball with good friends from school and Hope Hollow! Softball has even given her the chance to reunite with some old friends from elementary school! I have to admit, I "borrowed" Dad's camera and turned into a member of the paparazzi at Caroline's games. Here is a small portion of the gallery I have accrued. I think I had as much fun capturing the joy in the player's smiles, as they did playing! 

Kayla's walk-out music is Justin Beiber... and she loves to dance along!

Click here to learn more about Ridgeland Challenger League.