Hurricane Irene: August 2011

Well, we're more than ok (especially now that we have power back), but Irene sure left an impression. Here are some pictures of the aftermath.

This tree in the back was really our only casualty. Like I mentioned, nothing really.

This tree also fell in our yard, but it's technically the neighbors since "the roots" are in her yard - at least that's what the neighbors said, so we're not arguing with that.
So during in the middle of the hurricane, we found we had a problem that consisted of some clogging, some leaking, and a few new "friends." One of our windows in the basement has a metal siding barrier on the outside of the house. Well, with all the rain, the dirt/mud that formed must have clogged the drain in that little alcove. The water began to rise and unfortunately, we found the window had a leak. So, Keola and I went down to the basement to see what we could do to relieve the buildup. What we found were Friend #1...

And Friend #2

Friend #3 was a little frog, but he went AWOL before I could take a picture. I won't go into the gruesome details of how we actually got all the water out from the OUTSIDE alcove, while still staying inside the basement, but suffice it to say, water is out, the friends are "free", our feet, legs, and pants are drenched, and I'm THANKFUL I got a quick bath before our power went out!

Some leftover debris on the deck.

Now, this neighbor didn't fare so well. A tree had obviously fallen on the roof and created a LARGE hole. Apparently, the other side was completely exposed. We had found out that this happened at 8pm the night before, right when the heaviest of the hurricane began.

Other damages in the neighborhood consisted of some fallen trees at the opening of our subdivision.

As we drove around the surrounding neighborhoods, we found some pretty frightening things.

Trees fallen on power lines.

Trees fallen on homes.

And just plain 'ole large trees fallen over, some with roots and ground uprooted.

This isn't a great video, but I took a little of it while driving home.

All in all, we lost a tree or two, have some fallen leaves and branches, and lost power (which includes no water, so sump pump for the toilets, no regrigerator, stove, or oven, and NO AC!! Yikes) for almost 36 hours. We survived with minimal casualties and now, we're up and running and ready to go. Lillie was out of school today and will be out again tomorrow. So with clear skies and beautiful weather, Lillie is loving a mini vacation.

It's official...School is ON!

Yesterday was the...

I should have taken a picture without the sign, but Lillie wore one of her new dresses to school. Let me explain the significance...Lillie received a LOT of clothes from her Nana and Papa. She LOVED every bit of it, but was wanting for dresses AND a little heartbroken that we were giving away some of her old clothes (and when I say old, I mean she still had AND WORE pants that were 18-24 months!! Talk about elasticity!). Anyway, we told her we would go shopping for a few dresses for the new school year. So when we got to the mall, I asked her what kind of dress she wanted, and here was her reply, "I want a pink dress with roses and shiny things." Ok, well, we searched and searched and lo and behold, I found a dress that had pink, a rosy/heart shape on the chest, and glittery sequins on the skirt. What the princess wants, the princess gets! ha ha

Meet Mrs. Doyle! She will be Lillie's 1st Grade teacher this year.

Not a great picture, but once announcements were made and instructions were given, it was time to get to work.
After Lillie got settled, I took Keola to work up in DC and we had brunch at a new found restaurant we LOVE. They are famous for their homemade pop tarts (super yummy! Who knew a homemade pop tart could taste so good?!!?) and their milkshakes (my personal favorite - Chocolate & Peanut Butter Nanners (Bananas) SOOO tasty!! Lillie was introduced to milkshakes when we discovered this restaurant and found it to be her ultimate best dessert -
Chocolate Soup!! - As she calls it!

We're all SHOOK up! Well, not really. So many of you probably heard that an earthquake registered at 5.9 hit the city of Mineral, VA yesterday. Amazingly enough, the earthquake was so strong, we actually felt it right here in our family room - many, many miles away. It didn't seem like it was too long, but it was probably the strongest earthquake I've ever felt - which isn't really saying much. I will say it was more than just trembling, and I did lose my balance, but all in all, we didn't get much impact. A few things fell in our house, nothing big, and people were a shaken up, but all is well in Southern Maryland.

Keola had to evacuate his office, as did most buildings in the DC area. And Lillie's school was having an orientation/"Meet you teacher" day, and the school had evacuated as well. But since we were far enough away from the epicenter, we didn't get anything like this...

or this...

Last Days of Summer

Lillie has REALLY enjoyed her summer vacation. Her daddy likes to call it our "staycation" (aka. fun right here at home). Right before Lillie's kindergarten year ended, she realized a kindergartener in another class was actually our neighbor across the street. She has an older sister who also goes to the school and was in 2nd grade. Pretty much ALL summer, the 3 girls played together. They play outside, inside, on bikes, in garages, upstairs, and everywhere. Lillie has had loads of fun!

Even in the rain, they find ways to have fun.
There have been LOTS of treats...mostly consisting of ice cream.
There have been quite a few play dates at malls and at friend's homes.
Some with friends we knew, but most with new friends we met.
There's no mistaking who's the Queen Bee!!

We just discovered an American Girl store in one of the big malls here. If you don't know American Girl dolls, well, they're quite the collector's item. We told Lillie she would need to wait until she's 8 or so. I kind of wish I took more pictures, but the store sells outfits for the dolls that match outfits for their owners (the girls) - really cute! Then you can bring in your doll to the "salon" to get her hair styled and have tea with her at the cafe upstairs - all for a fee, of course! It's actually quite cute. Keola and I kept laughing because the one thing we kept focusing on was the comparison between Lillie's Rapunzel wig (remember that??!!?) and the hair on these dolls. Actually, there IS no comparison. The dolls hair feels like the hair off my head!! In the salon, we watched as they put the dolls in salon chairs, put on their cape, then went at the hair - braiding, curling, straightening. It was quite a site.

We thought this doll was pretty cute since as soon as Lillie saw it, she said, "It's just like Aunty Nani!"

Today is the last day of summer, but Lillie is SUPER excited and ready for First Grade tomorrow!

Lillie's primary class had a little pool party at their teacher's house - apparently for being good in class. It started with a little of this...

Then it went to a little of this...

Then there was a whole lot of this...

And this...All of this was followed by a homemade pizza party with a chocolate frosted cupcake to top it off.

What fun!

We LOVE the National Building Museum! We love the water fountain on the GIGANTIC main floor. We love posing...can you tell??

We love the architecture, the light, the arches...
and who can resist the COLUMNS!!

And last, but not least, who doesn't love the perfect platform for a short dance recital!

With my most "recent" acquisition of a new iPod touch, I'm finally getting around to tinkering with the video component. We may now be able to actually post short videos!! Here's me playing with it yesterday as Lillie was singing to her newest favorite kid's show...Bubble Guppies.

This is how my day started...

Yes, 14 years. Can you believe it?!?! Keola surprised me with dinner at the Blue Duck Tavern! We've always said that we wanted to try one of those restaurants from Food Network (one of our favorites!!). Well, our anniversary was the perfect date to S*P*L*U*R*G*E*
Here's Lillie trying to look calm and serene.

This is not a great picture, but we had to get at least one picture of the action in the open kitchen. This picture was taken from our table. It was neat to watch all the cooking going on.

Here's our first course...Foie Gras Brulee with rhubarb, strawberry, and homemade brioche. SOOOO, delish!!! It literally tasted like creme brulee, then you got the hint of foie gras, with the sweetness of the fruit. And let's not forget the homemade brioche!! And this was only the beginning!!

With that start, we couldn't WAIT for the main course!! Well, it didn't disappoint. I had braised beef ribs, Keola had oven-roasted Maine scallops, we shared creamy polenta with blue cheese and garden fresh young carrots with a maple syrup glaze, AND Lillie had the same carrots with Mac-n-Cheese!! No, the restaurant did NOT offer a kids' menu, but Daddy was on top of things and made some mac-n-cheese for his little girl and we smuggled it in!

So now you may ask, did we have room for dessert? OF COURSE!! We weren't about to go to a top notch restaurant and NOT have the best part! So we ordered 3 scoops of homemade honey vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce (for Lillie - of course). Keola and I shared THIS...a seriously delicious apple pie.

Here are the chefs at work.

Look at these luscious apple pies and berry cornmeal cobblers on the left, just waiting to be devoured!!

Oh so wonderful! Here's the lovely anniversary couple. Oh, I forgot one sort of funny thing. Once we were seated in the restaurant, we were admiring all the surroundings, and I heard a *pop*! Well, I didn't think anything of it, until our waiter came by the table and said, "I hear we are celebrating an anniversary." Once he said that, I knew EXACTLY what I heard. The waiter then proceeded to put champagne glasses down, and said, "we would love to celebrate with some bubbly". At which point, Keola had to let him down gently that we don't drink alcohol. Which he kindly replied, "No problem, that's why I wanted to ask first." I guess he meant, to ask before he started pouring, but I thought, poor guy should have asked before they popped the bottle!! Oh well, maybe some other lucky couple was able to enjoy the bubbly.

Of course, it may have been our anniversary, but we had to end with a picture of the best part of our marriage!

Happy 4th of July!!

Who needs fireworks, when you have a brand new semi-public swimming pool facility!

Lillie was LOVING the water and trying out all the new skills she just learned.
Good 'ole floatie gave Lillie the confidence she needed to venture on her own.
She's a floating pro!

Swimming with Daddy

Even though swimming skills is important and fun, the REAL excitement was the kid-size pool! See the frog slide in the background, and yes, those are fake palm trees scattered throughout.

There was a short walking ramp with varying spouting fountains.

There was a GREAT water feature with 5 buckets of falling water. Lillie loved it!

Then there was the BIG snake! Don't be fooled! It took Lillie a little while to get into this position!

Hanging out with her dad.

Fun, fun, fun!!