A Great September Weekend!

We are glad to be back into the swing of things around here.  I am feeling much more relaxed about the start of the school year than I have felt in a long time.  Nya has been adjusting to her new Pre-K class pretty well.  Still working on listening...her teacher has informed us that Nya is now trying to avoid doing what she needs to do by untying her shoes...the teacher in me knows that we need to get this under control by Kindergarten.

Well, we have had a great weekend.  Nya was excited as usual for her sister to come visit with us.  Daddy took the girls go-kart riding on Friday.  Now all that I am hearing from Nya is that we are "Team Go-Karts"! 

Kwesi has a real obsession with the fairs and it's that time of year.  I have been trying so hard to avoid them but we stopped by the Prince George's fair on Saturday.  None of us were impressed (Kwesi included) except for Nya.  She enjoyed the rides and games.  I don't think that we will be back to that one next year.

I am trying to make it a priority to get Nya into DC more often.  I really want to visit more of the museums and monuments.  So today Nya and I made it to the Museum of Natural History.  It is one of my favorites.  Nya really enjoyed herself and the trip exhausted her!




Waiting on the Metro

 

Nya watched this video about anteaters at least 5 times...but she learned a lot of information!

1st Day of Pre-K 2012

So school started again on 8/27/12 for Nya and my students.  Nya was much more excited about wearing her uniform this year.  Also, she was really excited about wearing her new Chucks instead of the plain Stride Rites from last year (maybe because Daddy had a matching pair of Chucks).  Her school, Mount Jezreel Baptist Church School, has new teachers in Pre-K and Kindergarten.  Nya's teacher is new to the school.  At first Nya was devastated that she would no longer have Ms. McRoy again.  However, she seems to be adjusting well.  The new glasses seem to be working out well too!

Pretending to feel sad about the first day...

The classroom terrarium

Back to the Grind...

So I can't believe that summer is just about over.  Back to work on Monday and the kids come back the following week!  This summer has flown by!  We are ready to get back into a routine and I will be glad to get a real paycheck!  Kwesi and I keep saying that we really cannot believe that we only went to the beach once this summer!  We normally make beach visits a priority.  Hopefully we can make more visits next summer. 

I taught summer school again this year, but it was so short!  It only lasted a little over three weeks due to widespread power outages as a result of the big storms we had before the Fourth.  Luckily we never lost power but had some down branches and a small tree fall in the backyard.  While I taught summer school, Nya attended camp at her school.  It was great for her to have a chance to spend some time with her friends. 

Other summer experiences included several birthday parties, celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary, visiting my parents in Pittsburgh, checking out the new casino at Arundel Mills, lots of grilling out, visiting LA Fitness alot, sleeping in, playing in the backyard, visiting the park on the non-heat wave days, and just enjoying a simple summer. 

We are looking forward to cooler temps in the fall, apple picking, and our first cruise in October!

Raspberry Picking!

We have been talking about going back to Larriland Farm and we took the time to go today.  They had a nice selection of raspberries for us to pick from!  It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze, too!  Nya was spent after about an hour but we came away with over 3.5 pounds of raspberries!

Inspecting the raspberries

Some of our stash

Keeping Nya Busy

I am trying to make sure that Nya is busy and enjoying each day of summer.  Before we know it, summer school will be starting for me and Nya will be going to camp.  We are thrilled to have a park that we can walk to right in our neighborhood.  There are usually alot of kids there for Nya to play with, but lately it has been too hot for a large turnout.

Over the weekend we attended a birthday party for Kwesi's Aunt Lo.  It was a nice time with the family!

Cousin Jordan and Nya

Brief Respite from the Heat

It was so hot last week!  Thankfully, we are experiencing a short break from the heat wave.  Today was glorious!  Nya and I visited the National Wildlife Center for a presentation on bees.  It was really cute.  Nya learned about how to react if a bee lands on/near her, how bees communicate, and made some bee crafts.  I was impressed with the program and we will be back for more of their family programs.

Coloring bee pictures

They made bee antennae.

Going on a bee walk

Listening intently...preparing for the bee dance

Cousins

Kim came in town this week!  We miss her so much and it was great to see her.  We all hooked up on Thursday for lunch.  I had hoped to see more of her but was glad that Nya had a chance to see her again.  We always have a silly time when we get together.  We wish Kim safe travels as she heads back to Atlanta today.

Aunt Lauren, Nya, Kim, and Steph

Has it been a week already?

We have been enjoying summer for one week now.  So far, so good.  I usually find that Nya and I have to find a rhythm when we don't have a routine to follow.  We have been trying to enjoy ourselves as much as possible.  For Father's Day we went to the inlaws.  Nya and Mani didn't want to leave their grandparents! 

Yesterday we went to the library for a zoo presentation.  They brought some animals and taught the kids about habitats.  Nya enjoyed herself but was disappointed that she was not chosen to hold any of the animals or props.

Today, we went to the movies for $1!  United Artists is offering a kids movie (previously released) every Wednesday for 9 weeks at 10 AM and it only costs $1/person.  We arrived at 9:45 but Happy Feet Two was already sold out.  We had to see Dolphin Tale.  It was a cute movie!  We will be back next week!

Striking a pose on our way out to the movie

A heat wave has hit the area so we can expect high temps in the mid to upper 90s for the rest of the week.  Nya wanted to play outside this afternoon but I decided that we would have to incorporate some water play!

Nya has a Barbie pool but enjoys using a basket instead. Brings back childhood memories! 

Nya had to explain to me the importance of adding rocks to the Barbie "beach".

Pineapple popsicles help beat the heat

Summer 2012 has Arrived!!!

Finally!  Summer has arrived!  It has been too long since I have updated this blog and I am hoping to keep up with it this summer.  We are so excited for summer!  So much to do, experience, and see! 

Nya's last day of school was June 8.  A promotion ceremony was held at the end of the last day.  Nya received the math award for her class!  Yay! 

My last day of school was June 12 and I checked out on June 13.  What a nice feeling! Nya came to school with me for the last few days and it wasn't too bad.  I don't know why she was suddenly so shy when I know my child is the exact opposite of shy.  :)

Nya has been helping me out quite a bit around the outside of the house.  I am really grateful to my parents for their numerous visits over the last couple of months and sharing gardening/yardwork tips with me.

Blooming hydrangeas

Mama's lil herb
helper

fresh peppers

So proud of her work...

Yesterday was the 2nd day of break.  We spent the day at the library, IKEA, and ran numerous other errands.  A few weeks ago, our beat around car was totaled while sitting on the street.  It didn't look like much damage, but it was enough to total it.  I had to turn in all of our paperwork and release the car to the insurance company and I must admit it was a strange feeling. 

Today, Nya and I ventured out to the National Zoo.  It was a perfect day for the zoo.  Sunny, but not too hot and not too cool.  Really perfect.  We had a blast.  At times, I think Nya was very overwhelmed by all of the excitement and seemed to want to wander around.  I was so excited to see that she was having a good time. 

We visited the Kids' Farm section first:

Then we moved on to the other animal exhibits.  So amazing!



Beautiful flamingos!

The awesome beast...

Lions chillin...

"Look, Mama!"

Regal!

Beautiful panda

It took forever to get rid of that popcorn!!!

Cute little prairie dog

Sleeping gorilla...

Break time

The tiger did not want to be bothered.  :)



Silly Nya





Peek a boo!