Camping at Pohick Bay...

After a week of birthday celebrations (and with one big one yet to go) we snuck off to the woods for some camping, football, and friends! 

Pohick Bay was the destination and we were excited to find they had a weekend of fun activities planned. The boys loved playing candy bar bingo. The evening sky was glorious and you can sense that fall was looming. 

We had fun hiking and enjoying the campfire and we got to watch the first Virginia Tech football game in the woods - sadly they lost, but still - football season was here! 

The highlight of the weekend was a spur of the moment mini-Doggy Happy Hour reunion! Was so fun to see some of our amazing friends whom we miss dearly. The kids had fun running around and watching the movie they had set up in the big open field - and of course the adults had fun reminiscing about the good old days in Eaton Square. We thought fondly about all those pups we've had to say goodbye to - but the memories live on. 

Another fun weekend in the woods. 

September Birthday Celebrations...part IV...

Happy 4th birthday to our super hero Harper!! Always a day of extreme joy but it still comes with the weight of the memories of that day and the days leading up to his very early arrival. I think each year that weight lifts just a little - but as I always say - it is part of his journey and I never want to forget the tough times as it is such an amazing reminder of how wonderfully amazing and special our sweet Harper boy is. 

Harper got a special birthday breakfast to start his day. Confetti french toast covered with nutella and strawberries. Then we snapped our annual birthday photo - every year he understands more and more the importance of that picture of him as a newborn in his isolette. He looks at that tiny baby and this year he took a longer moment with himself - almost more than my heart could take. 

Later that morning we headed to the hospital to drop off the goodies. We were so thankful to have seen one of our favorite nurses, Courtney. She was beaming with pride seeing how big and healthy Harper was. 

That evening we celebrated with balloons, presents (his much requested and anticipated Spiderman costume!) and a big slice of cake! Fireworks capped off the evening - the perfect end to a day celebrating our firecracker! 

Harper - you are our miracle and the world is guaranteed to be a better place because you're apart of it. Love you so much! 

September Birthday Celebrations...part III...

In preparation for Harper's big day the soon to be birthday boy and I spent some time in the kitchen prepping treats to bring to the NICU. I love baking with Harper - he's quite the helper and budding chef!

September Birthday Celebrations...part II...

The celebrations continued with Adam's (and my) actual birthday. I made special confetti pancakes for the birthday boy to kick off his day. Always a bummer to have to then go to school (and work.) 

After school it was time for some fun pictures to commemorate Adam turning the big 1-0!!! How he turned 10 still boggles my mind. 

Adam's choice was sushi for dinner - which worked for me too! We went to Ariake which was a fun change - normally we just order in sushi - going out for it is a lot more fun I'll admit. 

Harper loved the miso soup and of course Adam was in sushi heaven! 

Back home it was time for a few gifts - nothing much as he'd already been gifted a brand new bike and Go Pro over the summer - but you can't let the day go by without opening up at least a couple gifts. And of course cake! I may have gone a bit overboard on the sprinkles but this was a milestone birthday (for him, not me!) ;) 

Always happy to spend the day celebrating our oldest - the boy who made us parents - my greatest birthday present. Adam is growing up so so fast but I'm proud of who he is growing up to be - smart, hilarious, caring, interesting, book worm, amazing big brother, handsome, talkative, and did I mention hilarious? Here's to the next decade buddy!