Welcome Home Otters!
We were up and at ‘em early this morning to welcome a new family to D.C.
We attended a special homecoming for a family of 11 otters who have relocated from Santa Barbara to their new exhibit at the National Zoo.
They are absolutely adorable and definitely worth a visit. As part of the otter celebration, we were treated to an Otterly Delicious Georgetown cupcake and Virginia received an ottergraph from Saffron, the otter. This just about made her day, and it’s only 8:30am!
Baby on Board
Virginia has big news for everyone, she’s going to be a big sister!
We are very excited to be expanding our family with the addition of baby #2 at the end of August. I know you’re doing the math, so I’ll save you some hard work. Virginia and baby will be 20 months apart. Some people think we’re crazy, but we’re really excited about the impending joys and challenges of having two kiddos close in age.
We just passed the halfway mark in our pregnancy and it’s been smooth sailing the whole way. I experienced little-to-no morning sickness during the 1st trimester, which was such a gift! On Tuesday we got to see a sneak peek of our little one at our 20 week sonogram.
In keeping with tradition, we’ve decided to wait until the baby’s birth to find out the gender. I know this kills all of our curious family members and friends, but we love the surprise!
Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
On Sunday we enjoyed a nice morning downtown at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler/5k race. The 10 Miler is my favorite race of all time and I was so excited to get a spot in this year’s competition. Some bunny else was also pretty excited to be at the race.
The weather was overcast and pretty chilly so Virginia sported her cozy and seasonally appropriate bunny costume. She was a big hit with the spectators and soaked up all of the attention she received. Due to some training challenges I ran the 5k instead of the 10 miler. I was disappointed to have to downgrade, but my fan club was very pleased with the shorter viewing time.
The cherry blossoms washed away in a rainstorm last weekend so we didn’t get to see the iconic flowers. Virginia was just as impressed with the landscaping on the National Mall.
Her favorite part of the race was the snacks the runners receive at the finish line. She was all smiles after eating my banana and blueberry muffin.
I have the best fans, thanks for cheering family!
Zookeeper
One of the best birthday presents Virginia received was a membership to the National Zoo. We’ve been able to zip over to the zoo for family outings on the weekends and Virginia and I go for special lunchtime picnics at least once a week. On our first trip she was simply awestruck by the animals and played it cool.
Now, she acts like she owns the place and gleefully says “hi” to the animals and tries to tickle them. The petting zoo is one of her favorite attractions.
On a good day we get the animals to perform.
She also loves the lions, apes and, most recently, the elephants. In an eventful trip with her father yesterday, she had the entire crowd of elephant observers chuckling as she screamed and yelled “hi” to the performing beasts. She also lost a shoe in lion’s pit in a fit of excitement. Oh, to be one again!
Lately
Life has been full lately. Here’s a quick review of what we’ve been up to. We celebrated a wonderful Valentine’s Day as a family last week with a special visit to Jeff’s office. Getting into Jeff’s office is a security and protocol hassle, so Virginia has never been. But, in the spirit of love, we made the trip and it was worth it! Virginia absolutely loved enjoying a special lunch out with her daddy and pulled out all the stops when Jeff showed her off to all of his colleagues.
In other news, we’ve been busy bees these days. I started working part-time from home a few months ago for a local law school and as the peak of application season hits I’ve been spending much of Virginia’s sleeping moments hard at work. When she’s awake, my sweet little girl has turned into a curious rascal. She loves sneaking into our bedroom to play with Jeff’s CD collection. Jordy acts like an innocent bystander but he’s in on the mess-making as well.
She has also discovered how to help her and the dog to snack when mom has her back turned.
So good at sharing with her canine companion.
She recently discovered cookies when the paper bowls she was playing with lost their appeal. Are you noticing a theme here? Virginia is my little piggy!
She’s also become a great toilet-paper-unroller. I think the days of having toilet paper on the holder in our household are behind us.
Never a dull moment around here and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
