This past Saturday we went to the Kennedy Center for their open house featuring an "underground circus". There were lots of events, but the biggest problem was the start time. It didn't begin until 12 pm. so we were able to get in just a couple of performances before it got to be a bit much for Lillie. Not to mention it was pretty hot and most of the events took place outside.

Here is a big water fountain that Lillie thought was fun...NOT part of the actual event!


First taste of cotton candy. It was a hit!!!


The Kennedy Center is a place for the performing arts, so they had a "petting zoo" of instruments. Lillie got a chance to try out many instruments. I know it seems kind of gross, especially the ones put near the mouth, but they had people washing the mouthpieces after each participant.

Trying out the flute.


Lillie is really feeling the music with the cello. Ahhh, just like her mommy. ha ha


Not too thrilled with the trumpet.


The saxophone was a bit difficult to get any sound.

You'll have to watch the video as Lillie played the violin. Ahh, just like her daddy! ha ha Lillie has been seeing a lot of violins lately - on Sesame Street, at stake concerts, etc. so she was excited to get to the violins. However, as you'll see in the video, it was at the end of our stay, Lillie was hot and tired, and you'll notice the violins were in the sun. So, you might not hear it, but at the beginning, Lillie refuses to play because the shoulder rest on the violin was hot!! Overall, a fun day!!

This past Saturday, we ventured out to the Kennedy Center for a fun event. Check out the video.

Here are some pictures from the Maryland State Fair that we went to last week. There is a video further down in the blog. Here is Lillie pigging out on a corndog!!



What a clown!!


Animals and more animals. The cows were RIGHT there to touch and see. The only gate was next to their heads, but the whole "backside" was an open walkway.



Random goat picture.


Here's the Strawberry Shortcake doll daddy "won" for her at the fair. In actuality, there were not a whole lot of people playing games, so when we saw the doll, we asked the guy if we could play for Strawberry Shortcake. He said sure. We paid $3/person and played that game where you shoot the clown's nose with water. Well, the game calls for at least two people, so Keola and I played. Keola won. Basically, we paid $6 for a Strawberry Shortcake doll! All that matters is that Lillie loves it!! Of course, her doll sleeps with her Strawberry Shortcake blanket that Aunty Shirley made for her.

Lillie has this incredible ability to memorize. Now, I know that it's a mommy thing to have the ability to totally decipher what she says, but if you listen carefully, you too can understand SOME of it! Just in case, I wrote it out for you before she reads it. Sorry for the unclear video. I'm not quite sure why it's a bit blurry.

Excuse Me!

This is one of my favorites!

Lillie's third book for today. Enjoy her sharing one of her favorite books.

Maryland State Fair

This is a late post, but the Sakais went to the Maryland State Fair lastweek Saturday. I think Lillie has seen more farm animals than any other kid in the city!!

Mommy's feeling crafty again! I finally finished knitting this little shirt for Lillie. She was so cute. She couldn't wait to put it on, so she wore it on Thursday to go to lunch with some friends from the ward. Such a serious look! But Lillie was just gearing up for the photo shoot that follows!


(Especially for Aunty Momi) When I told Lillie I wanted to take a picture of her cute outfit, she quickly said, "BOOTS! BOOTS! Wear brown boots!"


First day of preschool! Not really, but doesn't she look ready?!?!?


SMILE!


First day of Kindergarten! Okay, so I'm jumping ahead.



The wacky weather this week has allowed Mommy and Lillie to go galavanting all over the city. Wednesday's weather was nice and cool, so we headed to the zoo. Thursday, was still a bit cool, so we met some friends from church for lunch. Today was HOT and HUMID all over again. So...we headed over to a church members home for a fun POOL PARTY!!


The girls next to Lillie are Sophia and Mirabel. They are twins from the ward that Lillie sometimes plays with. Eli is also from our ward and he has his back to the camera. The boy with the bucket on his head is Noah. Noah is the grandson of the women who hosted our little party.


The little girl behind Lillie is Elizabeth. She was adopted from Guatemala.



Lillie not only mimics just about everything anyone says, but she has also become quite the copy cat, as you can see.


Along with the wading pools, there was a crazy little spraying hose that the kids LOVED! Lillie and Noah were the first to take hold of the little hoses. You'll have to watch the video below to see Lillie (and the hose) in action.



Lillie and Noah became fast friends. They played so well together.


After a GREAT time in the water, we changed into some dry clothes and headed inside for some lunch our "hostess" provided. We ate a great burrito lunch, which surprisingly, Lillie enjoyed. Well, she didn't exactly have a burrito, but she did have some refried beans w/cheese, hamburger, and she loved the tortillas. After lunch, Sonja, our hostess, prepared some peaches and cream. Lillie was lucky enough to be the recipient of a pre-dessert treat!


Licked CLEAN!

Pool Party!

All the adults agreed, we will HAVE to do this again!!

I took Lillie to the zoo for the first time today. She LOVED it!! We went with a friend from the ward and her infant. The weather has been pretty hot and humid lately, but the past two days it's been a little rainy, overcast, and cool!! So, with confirmation from the weatherman of only slight chances of a drizzle, we headed out to the zoo to check out some of the animals Lillie loves and imitates.

First stop, Ape House. Some of the gorillas were far away, and some were...

not! Lillie loved watching these gorillas. We also saw the orangutans playing. They were so cute!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics.


After spending some time in the Ape House, we went to the Small Mammal House, where we saw this crouched over Armadillo. After coming home, I realized I didn't take as many pictures as I thought. Anyway, we also saw some lemurs, rats (YUCK!), a porcupine, tamarins, and more monkeys. Lillie was fascinated.


Here are a couple of horses that Lillie kept saying, "Neeeeigh" to. Maybe she was trying to communicate with them. ha ha


Next stop, the elephants. We also saw some hippos, but they stayed under water the whole time, so we didn't take pictures. Lillie was the most fascinated with the elephant. I don't think she realized how big they are. I'm glad she got over the trauma from the first time she saw live elephants from the circus parade through the city.

Like I said, she was mesmerized by the elephants. That's my cute little girl!!


We couldn't go home without seeing the famous pandas. Here's Lillie giving a big hug to the wooden panda.


Caught in mid laughter and excitement.


Then, the REAL pandas. We thought of cousin Na'i the whole time!!




I know she looks like she's being slightly tortured, but I promise she had a GREAT time. This was just her, "I'm doing it because you're asking me to, but I really just want to watch the panda" smile.

A two and half hour trip to the zoo, and we didn't even see half of the animals. Oh well, we'll just have to check the weather for another pleasant day to see more of the wild!!!