No more shopping for diapers

Mia has been without diapers during the day since May of last year. Now we also stopped putting on a diaper at nigh after she had a dry diaper in the morning for quite some time. 

National Geographic Family Day

This Saturday there was a Family Day event at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington DC. It turned out to be a lot of fun.
Of course the were some great photos to look at.

Then Mia could get a henna lady bug tattoo:

After that we watched a Middle Eastern dance performance

All this dancing inspired Mia to a few dance moves on her own

After that that she tried some art work and put together a mosaic

Then there it was story time in an oriental tent

Even though we came early we still stayed late and napping time was a bit later than usual

Lorene and Gale

Our neighbor Lorene and her mother Gale came for a chit chat. Mia got some little presents and a story time with Lorene

Back to Preschool

After a three month summer break Mia had her first day in her new "Busy Bees" class today.

Some of the children she knows from her old "Happy Apple" class and also Jacob is in the same class now

Two beaches

A few steps from our beach house was the Atlantic ocean where the water was surprisingly warm and clean. But Mia didn't like the the waves too much.

 There was another beach just a mile or two away which was facing the bay. The water was much calmer and very shallow. Even a few hundred yards from the beach just three feet deep or so. Even the kids could wade out. Mia liked that beach much more

So we endes up going there quite often - especially in the later evening when we had the evening sun

Into the Woods

Our place was only about 6 miles from the light house on cape Hatteras.

One day we checked it out and also the nature program for children where national park ranger Mickey talked about birds. First he let the children use their arms like wings

Then they could build a nest

At another day we checked out the nature trail in the Buxton Woods nearby. For Mia it was one of her first nature hikes. Every 100 yards or so there was a little information board with something about the fauna, flora or the island

After some time Mia used some sticks to help with the walking and later asked papa to carry her

Hanging out at the Beach House

Everybody liked the beach house we had rented, It was a cozy place with lots of space. Ideal for hide and seek. The living room was huge and had a view of the ocean

Good thing Mia had brought her binoculars to check out the view from the porch

We also liked the big dining table

The table also worked well when doing a puzzle or playing some games

Sometimes the kids had dinner outside