Lasts

It has been a week of lasts. Lizzie attended her final sports class on Thursday. We will certainly miss it!

Always sit by your coach! :)

Here is Coach Steve with all the kids. Thanks for a fun program!

Chris attended an Ethics conference in New York on Thursday and Friday. So we girls drove up to meet him in East Rutherford, NJ. The girls loved everything about the hotel room, especially the beds.

We took a ferry across the Hudson over to NYC. Here are some excited faces!

Lizzie wanted to be the photographer for this one.

The bright lights of Time Square awaited us.

And of course, Cate fell asleep.

So Lizzie got her picture taken with Hello Kitty.

And the Disney Store was the favorite of the night!

The girls were sound asleep by the time we got back to the hotel :)

The next morning, after some breakfast, we headed back into the city. This time we took a bus and the girls were equally excited about it.

We entered Central Park and enjoyed a lovely stroll through the greenery.

Recognize this building? (Home Alone 2...THE PLAZA HOTEL!)

We found FAO Schwarz and the girls went crazy.

Cate loved the enormous dogs!

Lizzie found a Pinkalicious doll--it's one of her very favorite stories.

And the princess dresses....oh the princess dresses! If only they weren't $70 each...

After lunch, we headed back onto the bus to explore SoHo. We even found a little park for the girls!

All in all, it was a good trip. Exhausting, but good! Doing NYC with kids is a whole lot different than doing NYC with a bunch of teenagers (last time I was in NYC was when I was a senior in high school). I'm glad we Killion ladies drove up to meet our dad. Chris points out that next time we go to NYC, we should make it just us ;) This week was my last time to host preschool, and Lizzie's last classes with her friends. We focused on BROWN--we made turkeys, decorated gingerbread men, ate an all-brown picnic (ritz crackers, graham crackers, chocolate chips, pretzels, etc.), and had an outside scavenger hunt for all things brown. It was a really fun week with the kids!

Next week: JERSEY The week after that: TEXAS Stay tuned!

National Zoo Preschool Field Trip

On Wednesday we drove down to the National Zoo for a Preschool outing. The weather was prefect--overcast--so the walking was bearable. Here's our standard picture :)

Unfortunately, it seemed that every single school in Montgomery County sent their students to the zoo that morning. But after we ate lunch, they all headed back to school and we had the zoo to ourselves. That was very nice! Cate was very excited about the gorillas.

Cate was very excited about everything! She especially loved hissing at the snakes.

Lizzie loves being with her friends!

Even though the sun was hiding behind the clouds, the "misters" were still on. Of course the kids had to run through them! I think it's one of the girls' favorite things about the zoo!

The kids loved this waterfall, as it was home to many turtles.

Prarie dog lovers! Thanks Wendy for the picture! (My camera died at this point)

Soccer camp has been a fun part of our week since early April. The kids got their shirts on Thursday so that called for a picture with Coach Steve! I love how Cate managed to get into the picture ;)

We hope all of you women had a Happy Mother's Day! I can tell you that I certainly did. Chris took care of every detail during the day and I felt so relaxed. He wanted to cook a German dinner for the occasion, and we invited the Heit's and Turman's over too. Chris took care of the rouladen and spaetzle; the Heit's brought pretzel rolls, lemon cream cheese bars, and strawberry pie; the Turman's brought roasted vegetables and a delicious salad. MAN, what a fabulous dinner! Since it was Mother's Day, we got a picture of the moms. Usually we are the ones taking the pictures!

Both Lizzie and Cate love playing sports but they are true girly girls sometimes...yesterday they were princesses and insisted on wearing these outfits all afternoon! :)

Meadowside Nature Center

Hello from the silly girls! This is Lizzie's and Cate's current favorite thing to do: make silly faces for the camera :P

This past week we went to Meadowside Nature Center for a preschool field trip. What a fun morning! The kids loved it. First we walked along the trail and did some exploring.

We reached a clearing by the stream where the kids stepped down onto the stones.

Then the throwing began! Stones, sticks, leaves, you name it.

The kids proudly hold some rocks for the moms to see!

We found some benches along the trail and we managed to fit all the kids onto one. So cute!

And here is Lizzie with her signature face.

When we reached the outside of the Nature Center, we found some birds, including a bald eagle.

I didn't get pictures of the most fun part inside--there's a little "cave" that kids can crawl through, lots of animals (stuffed) shown in natural habitat areas, a little bridge over a stream, etc. The kids loved it! Past this area was a tiny teepee and wooden canoe, another exciting find.

After we were finished with the inside of the Nature Center, we went outside to eat out lunches. What a perfect morning. We can't wait to go back! Lizzie found my camera on the way home... Cate was fast asleep.

And Lizzie had one more funny face for me ;)