Mom’s Visit!

Posted on April 21, 2012 by familiavincent

A long-awaited visit from my mom….

We spent a good amount of time just hanging out around the house- doing what we usually do with our days. But for fun memory-making with the kids we had a few special outings.

First we hit the Discovery Museum:

We took a special night out for the Dogwood Festival. Lucas had been looking forward to Meemom taking him here for months. He had such a fantastic time and fearlessly went on lots of rides for the first time!

Sophie loved Meemom’s games, fun voices and snuggles. I think my mom caught the tail-end of “BABY” Sophie. It seems the next month she was decidedly more of a “Little Girl”.

We miss you Meemom, and are already planning our next visit to Tucson!

Anniversary Ride

Posted on April 16, 2012 by familiavincent

For our 7th anniversary, Laith and I decided to splurge on a hot air balloon ride! Laith has been wanting to go for years and years and though I had been once before (with my Dad and Janice in Colorado), I was just as excited about this trip. My expectations were high and I was far from disappointed- floating with the breeze is the most peaceful and happy experience, and the world below is so breathtakingly gorgeous!

Here’s our balloon getting inflated:

and the other balloon (the two went up simultaneously- made for great pictures):

The other balloon lifts off!

2 photos from the ground crew:

and my photo of the ballon right next to us. I brought a fisheye lens so the earth appears to curve a little in these pictures but I like the effect.

when we landed, the ground crew got a photo of us all before we climbed out of our basket:

The guys had to pull on the ropes to drag the balloon and help it deflate.

When our pilot asked who wanted to jump on the balloon to pack it in to it’s storage bag, I volunteered Laith- I knew he’d like it.

Thanks Boars Head Ballooning for an amazing trip! We loved every minute!

Pigtails!

Posted on April 15, 2012 by familiavincent

Jefferson’s Poplar Tree

Posted on April 14, 2012 by familiavincent

A playdate with our neighbors the Masris at the Monticello Trail Poplar tree stumps and feeding the geese too!

Easter

Posted on April 13, 2012 by familiavincent

We drove up to Fairfax to spend the holiday with some of the Vincent clan. Ameer and Andrea and the girls were waiting for us at the restaurant booth where we’d have Easter brunch! Lucas was excited to see Amity and Zayna!

Afterwards we went to their house for an egg hunt

Sophie wasn’t particularly impressed with A and Z’s princess basket they loaned her for egg collecting. There was something else in the yard for more interesting…

A ball!!! A giant ball!

After Sophie’s nap, we drove to Laith’s Dad’s house in Annandale…

where we got to catch up with Christine, GGma and GGpa, Janeen and Brian.

The kids spent the afternoon playing on the sport court

and hiking in the woods in the backyard

Amity loves dogs

Time for another egg hunt!

One thing I think is cool about the Vincents is that 3 of the 5 siblings have lived in and love Texas. There’s just something about that state that makes you want to embrace it! Texas’ proximity to Mexico enabled those of us who’ve lived there to adopt many of the fun celebratory customs from our neighboring country. One of them is Cascarones: hollowed-out eggs filled with colorful confetti (or birdseed in this case) that you smash on your friends’ heads!