June

More strawberry picking...only this time with friends (Seth, Eva and Grant). Eva called her friend Seth a few weeks ago when it was her birthday. After a lengthy conversation, Eva handed the phone back to me. She said Seth had to go because "his ear hurt." I laughed for a long time about that one. I think Randall can sympathize with Seth surrounded by a house full of girls. Sometimes when you get a girl talking...

May

I love strawberry season! As you can tell the girls aren't worried about eating a little dirt with those berries when they've just been picked.

My friend Michelle made adorable matching green skirts for the girls. I took these pictures with Daddy after church. We were in Raleigh for a family medicine conference over the weekend.

When Randall was on his surgery rotation he brought home extra surgical hats, gloves and scrubs for the girls to dress up in. Randall always seems to know how to liven things up and make things more interesting for everyone. It's probably because he is still a kid at heart.

April

Are you sick of pictures from the botanical garden? Since we live in an apartment, we treat the garden like it's our backyard and try to go as often as we can. I think I take more pictures when I'm really happy, and I'm really happy when we are outside running around, enjoying nature, and I don't have to tell the kids "no" or "don't touch that."


We took off the weekend following Randall's shelf exam to explore one of the most beautiful cities in Virginia: Charlottesville. We visited Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's estate) and took turns entertaining the kids so we could each enjoy the guided tour. We also happened upon a local fair and let the girls ride on the carousel and experience cotton candy for the first time. We stopped for lunch at a pretty park after church and let the kids get their wiggles out before our long drive back to Norfolk. This turned out to be one of our best short family vacations yet--fun for all!