Elise and Grandpa Hike at Westmoreland State Park

The weekend Jason and I saw Springsteen, Elise's Girl Scout troop went for a hike at Westmoreland State Park.  Because we couldn't take her, Grandpa Joe volunteered.  I think he had as much fun as Elise!

Exploring the visitor's center

Pictures with the troop

Heading to Fossil Beach to look for
fossilized shark teeth!

Getting up close with the Potomac River

Grandpa Joe and Elise up in a tree!

Exploring the wonders of nature

Biker Chicks

Two growing girls need bigger bikes!  Today was the perfect day to get new (bigger) bikes and get outside and RIDE!

I can't believe how grown-up
Elise looks on this bigger bike!

Anja learned to ride without training
wheels last spring, and it didn't take
her long today to get the feel
for it again, even on a bigger bike.

Anja is pretty excited about this
fancy helmet.  It is a cat princess,
if you can't tell.

Jason may be a little too big for Anja's bike.  And her helmet.

Elise's bike has pegs on the tires for passengers and Anja tried them out.  They both thought that was pretty cool.

Thank you, Easter Bunny!

What a hoppy, hoppy Easter!  We started our fun on Saturday, when the girls colored Easter eggs.

Sunday morning the girls woke to find the Easter Bunny had left some treats and later we had Easter brunch with Mom and Dad at one of my favorite Fredericksburg restaurants, Bistro Bethem (are you figuring out that Fredericksburg has some good restaurants?).  We came home and had an Easter egg hunt, then hung out for the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the absolutely beautiful day while the girls played with goodies from their Easter Baskets.

The Easter egg hunt commences...

LARGE bubble wands from the Easter bunny create much fun bubble making...

Though we didn't have much space, the girls still enjoyed their kites...

What a great day!

Thanks for the new sunglasses, Easter bunny!

Mom and Dad enjoyed the beautiful day, too.

Getting in a little snuggle time.

Darcie's Birthday

Last year I passed a significant birthday.  I was going to say I celebrated a significant birthday, but "celebrated" doesn't capture my feelings last year, "passed" does.  I just wanted to get past last year's birthday without recognizing it at all.  For several years, my birthday has not been something I look forward to, and last year I was down-right dreading it.  The fact that I was turning a number ending in 0 was a major factor.  Once past that birthday, for the next year, I didn't think of myself as 40, but as 39.  On the treadmill I use, I enter my weight and age before I begin my workout.  For the past two years, I've been entering 39 for my age.  I know, logically, that age is just a number, but my heart didn't like last year's number.

As this year's birthday approached, I again experienced dread at the approaching date.  Then I decided that my feelings had everything to do with my attitude and there was nothing else to blame.  If I changed my attitude, I could re-gain the joyful anticipation of birthdays I used to have.  So I decided to just get over it, be excited, and this year I had one of the best birthdays in recent memory.

I worked the day before my birthday, and while I was out, Jason and the girls made me a cake.

After work, Jason and I had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Fredericksburg, Kybecca.  The next day, on my birthday, I got to sleep in then read a book on the couch (gasp!) because the girls had spent the night at mom and dad's (thank you!).  I had a massage downtown, then Jason and I had brunch at another of my favorite restaurants, Foode.  After that we had a little fun in the photo booth...

then headed to mom and dad's for cake and some celebrating.

The girls sing "Happy Birthday" to me.

Gifts galore!  A soft and cuddly blanket from Anja...

beautiful flowers from Elise...

Surprise!  Earrings made by my friend, Dawn,
given by Jason.  I had seen these on Dawn's
website and they magically appeared on
my birthday.

An awesome scarf from Jason's mom, printed
with text from Pride and Prejudice.  So cool!

Beads for my bracelet from mom and dad.

Let the era of happy Happy Birthdays begin!

Springsteen and Virginia Beach

When we were in Virginia Beach a couple weeks ago
it was cold and rainy.  This time it was sunny, warm
and beautiful!

I don't have a bucket list, but I do have some things I would like to do in my life.  At this point, most of them involve seeing certain people or groups in concert.  I can now cross one off the list, last weekend Jason I drove down to Virginia Beach and saw Bruce Springsteen!  We stayed the weekend and spent some relaxing time near the beach.

Waiting for the show to start!

I had heard Springsteen put on a terrific show, and
he did.  Three hours of solid music and entertainment,
not a boring or slow moment in the whole show.

We were not close to the stage,
and it was still a great show!

The morning after the show we watched the sunrise
on the ocean.

To cap off the weekend, we spent some time wandering on the beach, watching dolphins and soaking up the sights and sounds of the ocean.