May is ALL the Holidays.

I turned 43 this month, a celebration wedged in between work trips and soccer games, because May is quite frankly madness.  I had dinner with old friends in Charlottesville, and made it home in time for tacos and family (read: dancing in restaurants) time before racing off to another course.

We celebrated Mother's Day with allthemeats at Fogo de Chao in DC,

and Finley and I made a whirlwind trip down to Carolina Beach to see friends who are family, in from Germany.

Longsuffering Grandma Jayne tried to one-up my zoo debacle last months and survived a farm field trip in sweltering weather,

and Seth graduated with his MBA from Georgetown (also in sweltering heat) after two long years of hard work. We are all so proud. 

We had a lake blowout for Jayne's birthday (May is literally chock full of holidays), 

and even celebrated Norway's National Day at DC's only (!) Scandinavian restaurant. In our batman capes, naturally.

And Seth and I cracked the code on anniversaries (thanks, per usual, to Jayne), with a just-us overnight getaway to a resort, followed by a pool day (complete with cabana rental) including what Finley told us was "the best part of your marriage- us!" Indeed.

In a major break from tradition, and possibly out of sheer exhaustion, we didn't grill a single thing for Memorial Day weekend. We did make it to the (lake) beach a few times, acutely aware as we are that our magical Lake Barcroft days are numbered,

and Arlington, for the same reason. We have loved being able to swing by frequently with Finley and Ford, so that they have an easy familiarity with one of our nation's most beautiful places, and what it means to all of us. Memorial Day was no different- we popped by before the crowds with coffee and flowers to visit one of our favorite low-traffic sections.

And then we spent Memorial Day as most Americans do, at an overcrowded water park with friends,

followed by a pool at which tidal waves were created by bad acrobatics. Par for the course (but a nice break on a summer dominated by job transitions and a largely DIY move.)

On that note, we (hallelujah!) secured a stunning rental house on the Severn River in Maryland, where the kids will still have easy water access and my commute will remain un-horrible. It was a major relief in a market this tight, and we are grateful even if we are dreading the actual move.

I'm working late, and June 1st hits in about 45 minutes. I am beyond grateful to have survived May! And asking for any good karma you can spare for the wild month to come.

Our Baby Turned 6, and I Survived a Field Trip.

If March was a blur, April made our heads spin. We hit the ground running after Spring Break. Seth was in Texas for his MBA capstone, so Ana & Ata bailed us out for a week. It was too busy to snap many photos, but they did #allthedcstuff and we were grateful.

They fled just in time to avoid all the birthday parties, one of which inexplicably included ice skating,

and luckily April & Gunnar showed up just in time to cover down while Seth had an infection and Finley snapped her humerus in half jumping on the trampoline.

We are two-for-one ER customers, if nothing else.

We celebrated Easter and the return of Jayne & Tony,

Earth Day,

and Ford's birthday (one million times.)

Including with the "Rocky" themed boxing party of his dreams,

which required not nearly enough liability waivers, and an alternate activity for poor Finley.

And, with our baby now 6 and our big girl sadly on the sidelines, we finished up the month with so many soccer games and a few one-handed life saber fights,

a Korean BBQ goodbye to Grandpa,

milking our injuries,

and a field trip to the National Zoo experience I would literally not wish on anyone, for any reason.

And now it's May....!