Happy Monday night guys!
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. The title of this post pretty much sums up our action-packed weekend. Here is what we were up to.
My dad was in town from Geneva beginning Wednesday evening through Saturday morning. It was so nice to spend some time with him and having Ava interact and love up on her “Grandpa” for a few days. 
On Friday night my mom, dad, and I fixed a delicious dinner of fried oysters, crab cakes, corn on the cob, and steamed mushrooms and bok choy. My parents had invited an old family friend of ours to join us for dinner and we all enjoyed a yummy meal eating outside in the delightful weather.
The next day, Saturday, while Tommy went to yoga in the morning, Ava and I had a (new )park date with my friend Liz and two of her three kids, Leah and Max. When we were trying to find a time to get the kids together several weeks ago, Liz had mentioned she was dying to try out a new park in McLean, Clemyjontri Park.
No joke guys, this was the mother of all parks – at least to me. I had never seen anything like it. The park is a 2-acre playground with a maze, a carousel, and other interactive activities for kids of all abilities. (Meaning this playground was also designed for kids with disabilities in mind to still enjoy the space and all its offerings.) So cool.
Ava loved “driving” in this car.
There are plenty of picnic tables and turf-areas that you can spread a blanket out and make a picnic area of your own, which is what Liz and did with the kids. I also noticed a couple pavilions people can rent for private events for a fee. There were two separate birthday parties happening while we were there.
Entrance into the park is absolutely free (though there are costs for groups. Go here for more information). The only thing that costs money is the carousel – $3 a kid. If your child is too small to ride alone, than an accompanying adult is free.
Of course, you know who had to go on the carousel. She wouldn’t ride a horse solo, but preferred to sit on a bench with mama. She may or may not have protested once her carousel ride was over…
Cuties.
After a couple of hours at the park, it was time for everyone to say good-bye and continue on with their days. Ava did.not.want.to.leave. The park was such a hit with Ava and me, Tommy and I plan on going back this coming Saturday with another family for a picnic breakfast and park date.
As soon as Ava and I got home, Tommy had “Ava Duty” as I quickly got ready to attend my friend Nova’s baby shower. She and her husband, Shimon, are expecting their first child, a boy, in July!
Lovely, simple flower arrangements at the shower. (Side note: I’m co-hosting a baby shower in July for a college best friend, Sarah, and I envision Nova’s arrangements to be similar to Sarah’s).
Once I got home from Nova’s baby shower, I was able to capitalize on the remaining 30-minutes of Ava’s 2 hour nap to lay down myself and catch my breath. Once Little One was up, we were back in action!
We took a family stroll to the Front Porch on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray to enjoy drinks and food on the patio. It was a wonderful end to a great day.
It was crowded!
Sunday began with a family walk + Violet at our regular standby Fort Hunt Park. Once we had gotten our “first-born” tuckered out, we were headed for this day’s adventure to tucker out our other baby!
Ava’s best pal, William’s, parents invited us to go to the Leesburg Animal Park with them. While I had seen this place passing by, I had never been here before and was intrigued. We had to shift a few of our previous day’s plans to accommodate this adventure, but we’re glad we did!
So stinkin’ cute.
As the name implies, the venue is a zoo that allows kids and adults to feed various animals. There is also a petting-zoo area, several playground installations and playhouses to explore, a huge slide for kids to go on, a regular playground area, and a soft-play area for kids to enjoy. Not to mention pony and wagon rides and animal demos and lectures throughout the day. Tommy and I felt like the admission price was well-worth it.
While Ava loved feeding the animals behind their cages, she got a little overwhelmed when numerous animals came towards her for feed in the petting-zoo area. William? Not so much. 
What did surprise me was Ava totally loving her pony ride (especially after her being scared of the fake horse on the carousel the other day).
Before the ride.
Go, Ava, go!
Once we got home several hours later, our evening was spent preparing for the week ahead – grocery run, some chores, and lounging after our busy weekend.
Hope you have a great week!
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