Harper and Ida Jane loved visiting the Renaissance Festival. Ida Jane went last year and had a blast - this year they both got to experience the magic.
Harper got herself a lovely hat:
Ida Jane got a fairy wand, and made some "interesting" friends:
The watermelon was a big hit!
There was a kid's story hour, which featured some more characters. Harper, Mama and I watched as she helped Mother Goose and others make "Peas Porridge." (She's standing behind the pirate!)
The "King" and "Queen" of the Festival!
In other news, Harper is learning to eat solids. Here she is taking her first bite:
The biggest news from Rockville is Harper's growing success in staying up in a seated position. She can usually last about a half minute before "bailing out." If her sister is sitting nearby, she'll stay up for longer.
The girls went up to Baltimore to visit Pop. Here's Harper in his lap.
Aunt Carol was also there from Hawaii, which was a treat!
This was mom's last week before going back to school (Tuesday). Fortunately, the weather was very nice all week so there was lots of fun things to do outside, including a trip to get ice cream with Sofia!
Thanks to Sofia's Mimi for the matching outfits!
We also took a very exciting trip to the park, where we went on a train ride.
We're back in Rockville after a great trip to the Outer Banks. While we encountered some unpleasantness upon our arrival (our house had been robbed, believe it or not), it won't diminish the great memories we had of our trip.
Here are the Zoll Girls, getting ready for a big day out:
Here's the clan at the beach on a nice morning - including Olivia, who always had her eyes on the girls, herding them away from the ocean when she could.
Harper loved hanging out with her Mama.
And Ida Jane had a great time flying her fish kite!
One of the coolest things Ida Jane experienced was putt putting (Harper is still a few months away from that). Here she is at a Dino course she went to with her mom.
Needless to say, more exploring than putting took place!
We arrived at our vacation cottage safe and sound on Saturday evening. It's been a very busy two full days here.
Here's Mom, Ida Jane, Harper, and Olivia, all taking a walk out on the beach:
Ida Jane loves playing in the sand.
We went to the aquarium, where it was the Year of the Frog, one of Ida Jane's favorite animals. They were giving away free frog masks, so Ida Jane (and Dada) got to hop around like frogs for a while:
Harper got herself a stuffed clownfish, which she really enjoys as well:
At the end of the day, it's nice to talk Olivia for a walk.
Before we begin, Ida Jane has a few words to share, from her new big girl bed.
Now, the title of the post promises parties and piggies, so let's get to it. We had a great time at Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary this weekend. Poplar Springs takes in rescued farm and lab animals and provides them with happy, long lives. Ida Jane loves visiting her friends there. Here she is, making friends with a pig (whose name, we later discovered, is Suzie Q).
Other friends we met included goats, sheep, chickens, and a rooster who came up to Ida Jane to holler "cock-a-doodle-do" which was very impressive. She's been saying it ever since.
The other big event this weekend was our best friend Sofia's birthday party. Here's a "pre-game" picture, before we converted Ida Jane's crib into a big girl bed with rails.
Harper is quite the social butterfly, and got all dolled up for the big party:
She wasn't quite sure what to do with her party hat, though:
Amy celebrated her birthday last week. What better presents could she ask for than her two girls?
Harper is getting so strong! It's going to be hard to keep up with her once she goes mobile. Here she shows off her head strength:
And here she is, ready to join her sister at a pool party:
Ida Jane, at our neighbors the Smiths, is ready to jump right in!
Did we mention Ida Jane loves doing her hair now? Here she is with pigtails!
Harper likes to participate in all play activity, and, when she gets her own time in her chair, she prefers if Ida Jane comes over to help her learn.
(Daddy is experimenting - slowly - with some HTML changes to the site. It will improve shortly! If you haven't noticed, our blogroll has expanded a bit, and updates to show who's got the latest post).
