We have had a couple of really fun Richmond outings recently.
Last weekend, the entire family attended a parade in celebration of the 134th birthday of Bon Air (a neighborhood very close to where we live).
While Will and I assumed there would be a marching band or two (for Frances) and maybe some fire trucks (for George), we had no idea how many of each there would be, that there would also be motorcycles, horses and a slew of dogs in the parade, and that nearly every parade participant was throwing out candy to the spectators. Needless to say, we had two very happy children on our hands.
Frances and her marching band
George and his firetrucks
And just when she thought the best part was over...
Dogs and horses and motorcycles (oh my!)
George, still in shock
The Rotary car, in honor of my mother
Our loot!
Once the parade passed us by, we were able to follow it down the street to a local church where Boy Scouts were selling BBQ and had a spontaneous family picnic.
"Are you going to eat that?"
This is Frances's best attempt at a smile in exchange for her special treat. (And as an aside, I am currently gathering the pictures where I look most tired - this one is a front-runner. Ugh.)
Just when we were about to call it a day, we saw a sign pointing us to “Children’s Games” behind the church. When we turned the corner, we saw this…
A moon bounce – Frances’s heaven on earth. She bounced, and bounced, and bounced and then bounced some more while Will, George and I happily watched.
And there may be some of you thinking (because I know I would be) that while these pictures may look like we had a good time, it must have been hot, buggy, and humid; the kids must have been tired, hungry, grumpy, fighting and only happy in the pictures I happen to post; and it must have been a fun but exhausting day. But in all honesty, the day really was about as perfect as you can get. The weather was a sunny but cool 65 degrees and the kiddos had a fantastic time (okay, yes the “fun but exhausting day” part is completely accurate). While I may jest about Frances and George’s fiery personalities, they are behaving wonderfully these days (I fully realize I have likely forever jinxed that). They are at the perfect ages right now for having these morning outings—everything still feels very new to them, but they are also both mobile, eating normal food (no more bottles or baby food) and genuinely love being with each other and their parents.
For our second recent outing…
Frances and I ventured this past weekend to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which I had promised to do with her several weeks ago. She was the perfect little date for this excursion, which lasted (as I had anticipated) less than an hour (not including lunch of course). And while I failed to take any pictures of the incredible masterpieces the VMFA has in its collection, I took numerous pictures of Frances’s favorite part—the fountains outside of the museum.
She was trying to show off her dress for Nana (that really is what she said, Mother!)
We topped off the day with a hotdog (bun-less) and ice cream (her actual favorite part of the excursion with the fountains being a distant second).
Not a bad way to spend two weekend mornings! And if you've made it through this entire post, you deserve an outing, too.
I like that you got your ice cream from McDonalds, and that when Frances told me where you'd been, she called it "the ice cream store".
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