Memorial Day Weekend Recap

We took advantage of Mike's 4-day Memorial Weekend to head north to Virginia and Washington DC.

After Olivia's graduation party we drove up to Colonial Williamsburg. Neither Mike or I had ever been and we love exploring new places together. We all enjoyed the early summer evening wandering around Colonial Williamsburg.



Peter would have chased the fireflies for hours! He didn't catch one but he did come close a couple of times. It was such an absolutely beautiful evening, it felt so surreal...we were there experiencing this beautiful part of America with our kids, chasing fireflies. I almost had to pinch myself.



Nothing says vacation like eating donuts in bed from the continental breakfast buffet!



When Olivia went on her Make A Wish trip we were very generously given a 1 year pass to almost every amusement park in the world. We used the pass for the first time at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. It was a beautiful amusement park and we all had a great time. The best part about being given a free pass to an amusement park is that there's no pressure. We don't feel the need to "get our money's worth" we are able to just relax and enjoy the day. We do whatever the kids what to do, when we get cranky and tired then we call it a day. I'd never been to a Busch Gardens park before and I was surprised at how many rides there were for kids.





This was Olivia's favorite ride of the day! Peter was tall enough to go on it but I thought it would scare the %*&# out of him so Peter and I opted out while Olivia and Mike braved the Elmo ride. Olivia is on the far right.



Olivia and Mike are the last car of the Grover Coaster. Olivia giggled the entire time the coaster went uphill and she enjoyed going fast but did not enjoy the downhill bits.



Olivia and Mike on what we've dubbed the "safest ride in America". The ride operator was training a new operator and it took so long for everyone to be safely buckled in that Olivia almost fell asleep waiting for the ride to start.



Peter saw the balloons and got very excited about going on the ride. Mike and Peter headed to the line while Olivia and I staked out a good photo spot. The next time I looked up I saw Mike walking towards me and the ride starting! Apparently it was a kids only ride. It's a good thing this was a very short ride because Mike and I were a little worried about Peter, we felt like terrible parents, who lets their 2 year old ride by themselves! There wasn't any real restraint, it was just a lap belt. Peter could have easily fallen out! Peter was very good though and he held on to the basket very tightly but I don't think we'll be letting him go on that ride by himself again till he gets a little older!



Peter and Olivia flew their airplanes all by themselves. Fortunately this ride had a much better restraint system!







After our time in Williamsburg we headed to D.C. to visit with Mike's younger brother and his family and our newest niece. We find it intersting that on my side of the family Olivia is the only girl out of 4 grandkids while on Mike's side of the family Peter is the only boy out of 7 grandkids.

The Leiva Boys




My two favorite guys!


We parked across from a firestation and it was all we could do to keep Peter from running in and climbing on the engine.



We were able to spend a couple of hours at Arlington. Our National Cemetery is such a beautiful, peaceful place. I really don't have words to describe this special place but I did see this quote that I thought was appropriate:
"Memorial Day is significant ... This year it marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. This Memorial Day also marks the 10th anniversary of continuous conflict following attacks by al-Qaida on the United States in 2001. The first national observance of Memorial Day was at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868."
SOURCE: Hattiesburg American

A shameless bit of self promotion....

Earlier this month I received an award for some of my volunteer efforts. At first I didn't really give it a second thought, I thought it was just a routine volunteer appreciation award....until I saw some of the email traffic circulating about the award and that the award would be presented by the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, Major General Huggins (that's a 2 star General for you non-military folk, there are only 99 of them in the entire Army!). I was presented with the Dr. Mary E. Walker award for my volunteer work with Army Families with children with special needs. The Dr. Mary E. Walker is a reward for Army spouses whose achievements and performance merit special recognition. The award is a means of recognizing those who have contributed significantly to the quality of life for soldiers, exemplifying personal concern for the needs, training, development and welfare of soldiers and concern for families of soldiers.



And because I love a good backstory.....
Dr. Mary E. Walker is the ONLY female recipient of the Medal of Honor. She was a remarkable woman, here's her bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Edwards_Walker. My Gamma Phi Beta sisters might also find it interesting that she was from Syracuse!

Happy Graduation

Last week we all attended Olivia's preschool graduation party. I was quite proud of the snacks that we contributed to the party....fruit kabobs and diploma roll-ups. I've learned that I should stay away from baked goods and have found my calling as the "mom who brings the healthy snacks."





I generally am very conscious about posting pictures of other people on my blog but since most of the kids aren't looking at the camera I'm going to sneak this one in. Check out Olivia's fancy "carpet time seat belt chair" (as it's officially referred to in her IEP). This allows Olivia to participate in carpet time activities without having to sit on someone's lap. She's been using the chair for about 4 months and she now stays seated in her chair without the seatbelt for carpet time activities each day. Olivia is on the right, seated next to her 1:1 in the black and white stripes. You may notice that there are a lot of adults in the classroom. Olivia's preschool class has become increasingly crowded over the year, there are a total of 14 children, 1 teacher, 2 aides, 1 interpreter, and Olivia's 1:1. We're hoping that Olivia will be in a smaller class next year with fewer students.



The class sang songs and watched a photo slideshow during the party but Olivia's favorite part was by far the food! Olivia was especially well behaved during snack time at the party. She very carefully ate one bite at a time and did not overstuff her mouth. She also was very careful not to flip her plate over and dump any of the food on the ground. This is especially unusual for her. I don't know if Olivia knew it was a special occasion or if she was just really impressed with the wide variety of snacks but she was one of the most well mannered snackers in her class!







We tried desperately to get a picture of Olivia holding her diploma with her 1:1, Ms. Tina, but Olivia wasn't cooperating.

 

Olivia's last official day of school isn't until the 9th so we have few more days to say goodbye before summer begins!

The 90's are here to stay

I was looking at the blog the other day and realized that I hadn't blogged very often during the month of May but it was an especially busy month for us with my trip to New Orleans, a visit from my Mom, a trip to Dallas for a wedding, doctor appointments and IEP meetings for Olivia, school registration for Peter and a trip to Washington DC to finish up the month! Sheesh I'm tired just thinking of all we did last month.

I have so much to get caught up on but until I get around to it........

I don't know when the official start of summer is but here in North Carolina the 90's are here to stay! I know I've said this before but after living in Washington where we would go MONTHS without sunshine I will never take it for granted again. So bring on the sun we're ready for summer!

The last couple of pictures are from the birthday party that Peter and I attended. All the parents were impressed at how well all the kids played together. I was impressed at how much Peter loved the simple plastic pool. We have a much larger inflatable one that we rarely use because it's such a pain. I'm heading to wal-mart to buy the cheap plastic one ASAP!