Burke Lake

Labor Day was a little overcast and cool, so it was very pleasant to walk around Burke Lake Park for the afternoon. We originally went to rent a boat, but they were out of electric motors and we weren't up for rowing against the wind. So, we stuck to a picnic lunch, the playground, the carousel and the train. Emilia had a great time, especially on the choo choo train. I got a little sad that our days of outings as a family of three are coming to an end, but I know that we have lots to look forward to as our family grows!

Personal chefs

On Sunday evening, Corey and Gillian came over and -- get this -- cooked us dinner! They prepared a feast on the grill and a yummy summer dessert. Emilia helped out by washing her favorite fruit: strawberries.

College reunion

Our official college reunion (American University, class of 1999!) is next month. Eric and I expect to be pretty busy with the new baby around that time, so we had a few college friends over this weekend to kick off the festivities. Sarah and Jeremy, Beth and Matt, and Dominique and Phil joined us for brunch on Saturday morning. It was great to catch up, especially with the newest additions.

Check out these big kids -- Annaliese, Emilia and Jacob

Here are the kids testing out the play area in the basement -- Aaron, Jacob, Emilia and Annaliese (baby Evangeline was snoozing!):

Annaliese's birthday party

On Sunday afternoon, Emilia was a guest at Annaliese's (Dom and Phil's first daughter's) second birthday party at Gymboree. Eric took her, and the report was that she absolutely loved it. Of course, while the other kids were enjoying yummy cupcakes, Emilia was eating tomatoes.

Here she is with the birthday girl...

And having a blast...

Family fest

On Saturday afternoon, we stopped by the Family Fest at Dulles Town Center to take in another performance of Emilia's favorite music band, Rocknoceros. We had missed most of the show because of Emilia's nap, but she did manage to see another act and get close to a few unusual animals.

Texas visitors

On Friday night, our friends Greg and Becky were in town from Fort Worth. After meeting up for dinner and staying up late to catch up, they stayed over our house. Emilia took to them right away, and even donned Eric's cowboy hat in honor of our Texas guests. Greg and Becky are amazing parents, so we were doing our best to squeeze as much knowledge out of them as possible. Becky is far better at keeping up with their blog than I am, so check it out for more on their visit.

Tooth doctor

Last week, Emilia had her first visit to the "tooth doctor." I can't say enough great things about the practice, Pediatric Dentristy of Reston. Seriously, I think Emilia enjoyed it more than a trip to Chuck E Cheese. They took us right away, so she didn't have that much time in the fun playroom/waiting room. But, when she got in the chair, she had her choice of video to watch and sunglasses to wear. She was perfectly still and not scared at all. She got a great report (thanks to Eric -- he does most of the teeth brushing). She got a goodie bag, a sticker and a token for the treasure chest. If they took adults, Eric and I would totally switch doctors. She's already looking forward to her next visit!

Worms!

Last weekend, I braved a flock of bargain-hunting moms at the Reston Library children's book sale (17 books for $22!). Since swimming lessons had ended the week before, Eric took Emilia to a little nature program about worms sponsored by Reston Association. Here she is observing the big dig for worms. She even got to eat some worms (gummy worms in chocolate pudding)!

Earning her keep

Emilia has been very helpful around the house lately. She likes to dust and sweep the floor. Here she is "helping" daddy mow the lawn.And, boy, was that exhausting!

Visit with "gamma"

My mom was down a few weeks ago for the entire week. Emilia had a great time with gamma, although I'm not sure what to think of this new fashion trend she picked up...