Anna Grows

After a two consecutive rainy sundays, we finally made it to McIntosh Fruit Farm in the Shenandoah valley for some fresh peaches (along with tomatoes, flowers, and assorted other fresh fruits and vegetables that we could not pass up). In addition to enjoying the lovely scenery and fresh country air, it is also educational to see just how much the mark-up price is for fresh produce at the DC farmers markets vs. the pick it yourself markets in the mountains (it is substantial). Anna was very excited - for the first 10 minutes. She quickly discovered that the lovely sunny day and 90+degree temperatures made her sweat. Then she discovered that there are A LOT of bugs on the farm...something she is not particularly fond of. In short, Anna is a city/suburban girl and prefers to pick her produce from the AC, bug-free displays at a grocery store. Mom and Dad are considering taking her camping soon in an effort to develop a greater appreciation for the outdoors. In the meantime, everyone enjoye

August 21, 2010 marked the a major milestone for Anna: her ballet stage debut. Well, it wasn't really a stage but rather a bunch of small chairs lined up in a small studio with dozens of adoring parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles with cameras. The performers: 10 ballerinas, ages 3-4 (you have to give a lot of credit to the ballet instructor who is able to get 3 & 4 year olds to do anything that remotely resembles ballet). Aunt Loren and Aunt Mary had driven all the way down from New York for Anna's ballet debut. Unfortunately, Anna had other ideas. After arriving at the studio, Anna took one look at the crowd and ran to her Mom. Mom walked her in to get her costume, but Anna wanted nothing to do with it and ran back to her Mom crying. The teacher managed to coax Anna back in for the beginning of the performance...briefly. While the rest of the dancers were doing pilates, Anna dashed out of the room and back to her Mom. Of course part of the reason for this quick depa