Doggie Paddle

As Labor Day approached, so did the Annual Doggie Swim at the Little Rocky Run pool.  We have forced Lucy into this horrifying fun event for the past two years and it was time once again to get her doggie swim on.  Poor Lucy prayed for thunder and lightening all day so that she could skip it this year, but luck was not on her side. :)

We headed over to the pool after dinner and were greeted by many four legged friends.  Ed wasted no time and got Lucy in the pool before she could run and hide in the locker room.  As much as she hates swimming, she is really good at it!  She keeps up with the big dogs and is much braver than dogs three times her size!

James and his friend Noelle were there to cheer Lucy on, but James was less than enthused about the entire thing.  I think he was turned off when the big black Lab continued to get him wet as he shook.  He did get a kick out of seeing his Lucy girl running around like a crazy woman with her little friends.

To keep James entertained, I thought it would be a good idea to take some selfies with him.  Again, not so enthused.

All in all, Lucy did great.  She now has lots of time to take a break and start worrying about next year. 

End of (Summer) Days

I can't even believe that it has been over a month since I last posted on Being Mangiaracina.  Don't worry...I've slapped my own hands.  :)  To be honest, life has been going about 100 miles an hour lately so I have been just too exhausted to get online and put it all out there.  Even with this post my head is not totally in the game, but I vowed to jump start the blogging again so here we go.

Our summer was jammed packed with activities - always a good thing when you have a very active toddler.  I thought I would share quick recap using a photo montage of our end of summer days.

Weekend in Richmond
We decided to take a weekend road trip down to our state capital to check things out.  We had heard that the Richmond Children's Museum was a "must see" and we felt compelled to check out the Carytown Watermelon Festival.  Neither disappointed!

Burke Lake Park

We happened to get lucky with some awesome weather one weekend so we decided to take advantage and hit Burke Lake Park to "hike" the trail.  Lucy joined in on the fun and only had to be held 15 minutes of the 2+ hour walk.  James had a blast looking at all the trees and the ducks and riding in his car.  We ended the journey with a picnic in the car.

Neighborhood Fun

We always try to make sure we have a plan to keep James busy and entertained during the weekend and that typically takes us outside the house (which is a good thing since he is likes to tear the place apart!).  We took lots of walks (kid is obsessed with trees and will point every single one out!), clocked lots of hours at the playground and made some fun new friends at Toys R Us and Old Navy!

Pool Days

We learned this summer that our little guy is a bit of a guppie - he LOVES the pool!  We took advantage whenever we could and invited Grandma and Grandpa to join in on the fun.

Before we knew it, Labor Day was here, the kiddos were going back to school and life was a little bit more back to normal.  There is lots more to tell - especially since it is already mid-September so stay tuned.  I'm just getting started. :)

Brilliance in Ashburn

The weather was grey and rainy last Saturday so rather than stay in and risk one temper tantrum after another, we decided to check out a local indoor playground.  We had heard about it from friends and had been meaning to take James for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity to check it out.

Chibis Indoor Playground is a Godsend for any parent looking to get their kids out of the house and burning energy.  When you walk in, you are greeted by friendly peeps behind the counter and very colorful walls.  We singed in, handed over our shoes and headed to the playground.  Chibis has an area for the little kids so that they are not run down by the older ones.  James had no interest.  He went straight for the climbing structure and didn't look back!

Mommy and Daddy even got in on the fun.  There was a great twisty slide that James fell in love with after his first ride down.  Since we couldn't let him do it on his own (too many big kids to push him around!), we had to take turns going down with him.  It was a pretty slick slide - very fun!

This place is great - and is a seriously brilliant business model.  Ed and I both had a "why didn't we think of this" moment.  Especially since the place was PACKED!  James played his heart out and took an exceptionally good nap afterwards making this our most favorite place on earth!