Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Gravelly Park for our Memorial Day weekend (Airplanes!!!!)



Tyson had this brilliant idea to spend some of our Memorial Day at Gravelly Park. There were a million families out on a huge open grass field all watching the planes from DCA almost land on top of them. It was so much fun to point out airplanes coming in for a landing every 5 minutes or less. We played. We ran. We watched airplanes. And we looked over the Potomac. It was a perfect way to spend some of our holiday together. We can't wait to go back again.










She may look scared here...but she LOVED every minute! Even with the super loud plane noises.


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Playing around D.C.for Graduation weekend


Tyson took his parents to a few of the tourist locations around D.C. They have both been here several times so they knew the 4 spots they wanted to see. 



WWII Memorial, The Holocaust Museum, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Arlington Cemetery 





Tyson's Grandfather came up on the search results at the Memorial 
Sherrod Smith Jr. 



Mt. Vernon
It wasn't apart of our original plans but when Tyson's brother, Todd, told us about the bus tour they had reserved, we decided to join in! 









Taryn adored her cousins Alyssa and Harrison. She said every night that she wanted to see "cousins" and asked "where is lyssa?" "where is Harrison?" She even said she wanted "Uncle Todd" one night :)






I took these two girls to see the animals on the Mt. Vernon estate. They both touched the soft lambs wool as the baby lambs moved about their pens. Taryn wanted the bulls to eat the hay from her hands so badly. I'm glad that they didn't want to !!

Overlooking the Potomac River




Taryn was in her element with animals, open grass fields, dirt and rocks





Arlington Cemetery was very busy the day before Memorial Day but I couldn't think of a better way to start off this Holiday. We saw the little flags placed at every grave (over 400,000 grave sites) and while we were visiting, there were large groups of people distributing roses to each grave. 





Taryn sat on Tyson's shoulders while watching the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. I think she had the best spot in the house! 

The weekend flew by but we had a lot of fun being with family and taking them around D.C./ VA




Monday, May 27, 2013

He's a SAIS Graduate







We had a wonderful time celebrating on Thursday (and through the weekend) for Tyson's graduation.
These past two years have truly flown by. Taryn was only 6 months old when Tyson began at SAIS! We've lived in Bologna, Italy and now in Washington D.C. It's been a great adventure, taking us thousands of miles, meeting many people from around the world, Tyson writing and reading (and more reading and writing...) and us growing so much over the last few years. Tyson has worked so hard to make it this far and we are so proud of him.







Taryn was so excited to see Tyson graduate. When it was his turn to walk across the stage, she began yelling, "There's my Daddy!" over and over again. From the top of (what I call) the nose bleed section of the DAR auditorium, I'm pretty sure everyone could hear her! It made me so happy and I know that  Tyson loved seeing his daughter cheering and waving like crazy for him.


Tyson and Taryn walking to SAIS for the Reception after Graduation.





Sitting for 3 hours during a Graduation Ceremony- yeah- not her thing. After awhile we spent our time  at the top of the auditorium while Taryn ran up and down some empty rows. Thanks to Grandma Smith, Taryn had a new little stuffed dog and some goodies to keep her occupied. She was very happy to run outside when the ceremony was done.




Once a Sun Devil, always a Sun Devil- Go ASU!
We were so happy to have Tyson's parents come in from Arizona and spend the weekend with us. Also we were lucky to have one of Tyson's brothers, Todd and his family out for the weekend too! We had not seen them all since last August. It was a great weekend of catching up and enjoying time together. 



Congratulations Tyson!!!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Pictures!!!! I now have pictures!!!! When my parents came to visit for the weekend

I can't tell you how long these past few months have seemed without a camera. I was so sad because I felt like Taryn really grew a lot! She is super tall now and her hair (thanks to the humidity) is just amazing!



Hey pretty blue eyed girl

My parents came down for a very quick trip last weekend and we were so happy to have them. Taryn was so happy to show "Bamma" and "Bampa" her baby robbin eggs in our backyard. Those cute little eggs hatched and we now have 4 baby robbins in a nest that Taryn constantly checks on daily.

We spent time with Brittany and Seth and my parents on Sunday and on Monday I was able to show my parents to the Library of Congress. I had been there so many times for Story Time with Taryn in the past but had never seen the upstairs of the Thomas Jefferson Building. It was amazing and brought me back to my days of studying Art History in Italy. 






Such a curious little girl



Taryn and I picked a bench inside the Great Hall to enjoy a snack together. 






I promise that Taryn was so excited every time we were able to ride an escalator with "Bamma" and "Bampa" (even though her face doesn't show it in the picture!) Taryn would run up and hold hands with my Dad, my mom, or me as she took her other hand to hold onto the railing. Her favorite part was jumping with Grandpa at the end of the ride. She was in heaven considering that she just starting riding escalators senza stroller. So many fun adventures! She is getting too big!