Balloons anyone?

Balloons are a lot of fun initially , and then they deflate and then take over bedrooms!! :)

Chaaaa--Chinnngggg!!

Dandeelyon opened her very own savings account today with a banker friend of mine.  She'll start to deposit her "chores" money and begin watching her money work for her. According to Dandeelyon, the most exciting thing for her was

A.  The sucker....Duh!   :)

B.  The Bank Statement will come in her name each month telling her how much money she has ( or doesn't have)

When asking her how much she wanted to save, she said enough to buy herself a horse. Anyone know what a good horse goes for these days?

 

BIG Girl Gauze at the Horse Races!!

So Dandeelyon accompanied her daddy and his "circle of friends" at Colonial Downs for a stellar day of horse racing ( Colonial Turf Cup) and what an eventful day it was. Dandeelyon pet a horse which proceeded to smile at her (not kidding--look at the pic) and she had a mis-hap on the green ( skinned knee) and landed herself in the infirmary where Dr. Shaun helped her recover so we could catch the last raceof the day...

She off course now wants a horse of her own. My friend Brit thinks it's doable...maybe she can help me figure out how to make that a reality??I think we'll start with some lessons... ( baby steps)

Dandeelyon's Loses her first tooooff !!!

So Dandeelyon was a little bit nervous but received tons of encouragement and support from her friend Eilidh, Fiona, Alexander, and Deb as her mommy pulled her first toof!!

So proud of my baby girl!!  

Swine Flu and Convertibles..

Yeah FAKE smile, cause Dandeelyon had swine flu. Yuck...we pulled her from school the day before, she started running a fever of 102 and they confirmed it this am. They had to make a call to report it to the health department. Wierd...  She is fine though, just hot and bothered. I told her one day she could forward to feeling this way all the time and it would be called menopause. She asked what men went through and I said mid life crisis...she asked what that meant and I said we would wear hawaiian shirts and drive convertibles...

Dandeelyon just realized life is NOT fair. Indeed it's not.

Memorial Day in DC

So Dandeelyon and I go to DC to visit my cousins from the North who now live in Alexandria, Virginia. My cousin has been in the Navy since about 2000. He has been from the Persian Gulf aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, to Alfghanistan, to Pearl Harbour, to most recently Tokyo, Japan. He and his wife ( they dates since like the 6th grade) are now parents to a beautiful little..who Dandeelyon absolutely adores!!

We headed into DC for the National Memorial Day Parade..and Dandeelyon being Dandeelyon had to get so close that she could beat the drums for the Marching Bands... a great time indeed!

The most memorable quote of the day was when Dandeelyon said the WW2 Veterans ( Pearl Harbour survivors) "looked old...like Skeletan Old" but also sweet like Dad-dads ( her code word for grandaddy)

Dandeelyon's First Race!!!!

So it all began several years back when Dandeelyon was just 3 ( 2006) when her daddy reached over the barracade and carried her across the finish line at the Marine Corps Marathon. Dandeelyon recieved her very own medal that day and has been watching daddy run races..but also chomping at the bit to run herself. 

Dandeelyon had her chance at the Carytown 10k on May 17th. Her proud daddy ran hand in hand with her until the end. My proudest moment came when she looked at me, about 100 yards from the finish line and said, "Daddy, let's turn it on!!"---and we ran as hard as we could across the finish line!!!

Atta Girl!! Looking forward to running many more with her... 

2009 Monument Avenue 10k

So as I ran the race, Dandeelyon teamed up with some friends at the Mile 2 Hydration Station handing out power-aid and water to the runners.  She had a BLAST, but was a little miffed that the Kenyans did not take water she offered them... to quote her, "The Nerve!"

Afterwards, she joined me and all of our Area 10 Church friends at the 1st Annual Post Race Chile Cookout for some chile, hot dogs and veggie burgers!!  Yumm...

 

Box Car Drive In night!

So Dandeelyon and some of her closest friends got together at our favorite Carytown hot spot, Carwheels & Coffee to decorate their own box cars and then have a drive in movie night. Dandeelyon. Dandeelyon won the prize for box car with the most windows...

It's snooowwwiiinnggg!!!

...says Dandeelyon as we exit the Byrd Theatre this afternoon...and boy was she right! 

The view from inside the Byrd Theatre of the snow outside with the lights accenting it was amazing!! I wish I had a camera on my at that moment..

I took a picture as soon as I got home...Baked Mac & Cheese and cuddle time under the covers tonight. Winter has Finally arrived in RTown.

Dandeelyon explains why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day...

So tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day and Dandeelyon is very grateful to Dr. King because she gets out of school because if him...so when having a discussion about why else he matters she tells me a little story.. it went kind of like this. 

Dandeelyon: Daddy, do you know Martin Luther King?

Daddy: I sure do, why do you ask?

Dandeelyon: Because we get out of school to celebrate his day.

Daddy: Oh is that so?  Why is he so important to have a whole day named after him?

Dandeelyon: Because when he was alive, white kids had to go to white schools, black kids had to go to black schools, and chinese kids had to go to chinese schools.

Daddy: Wow, and then what happened Dandeelyon?

Dandeelyon: He gave a big dream speech, now they let the black and chinese kids come to the white schools. 

She had it kinda right....kids are so funny.

Tomorrow night we are going to a candlelight Vigil at Boaz and Ruth...5 Corners. Should be a neat thing for Reagan to experience. 

Dandeelyon made a Christmas "Funny"

So I am having a discussion with Dandeelyon about the Christmas story, when she tells me that baby Jesus was visited by wise men and they gave him gifts....when I asked what the gifts were she said, "Oh daddy, everyone knows that, they were gold, myrrh, and a sentence."