Davis' Farmland

Today Emma and I went to Davis' Farmland with some friends. Davis' Farmland is this AMAZING farm/petting zoo where kids really get to play with the animals. They also have a playground, hayride, maze, and splash park.Emma really loves animals...I know most kids like animals, but Emma LOVES them. Like hugging, kissing, have-to-drag-her-away love. We had a great time at the farm and took tons of pictures, of course. Here are a few favorites.

This cow was really interested in  camera

Bottle feeding the baby calves

Baby goat kisses!

Petting a 3-day-old chick

Feeding the cows

Pony Ride

This sheep wouldn't stop trying to eat the bows on Emma's shorts!

Feeding the cow...yes, that's it's tongue!

Emma, the Goat Whisperer. She sat down and all the goats in the pen ran over to her...it was really strange.

Emma said her favorite thing at the farm was cuddling with the baby goats and being licked by the cow. Those would be my two least favorite things! I told you, she LOVES animals!

Why I Love Summer Vacation

Summer vacation is wonderful! I love getting to spend so much time with Emma. She is so much fun and so full of life. Sometimes I wonder what I ever did before I had her! Anyway, yesterday Giffy took us to get pedicures. Emma is the most pampered four-year-old I know...this was like her fifth or sixth one!

They even have special chairs for kids to sit in! Emma always gets the polar bear chair.

Emma & Giffy getting pedicures.

Today, Emma and I spent the day at the beach. We had a great time! We caught some crabs, swam A LOT, played in the sand, and went for a walk. We were there all day an she was so tired she fell asleep in the car before we were out of the parking lot!

Here are the crabs we caught. Three hermits and a little Asian shore crab (I googled it...turns out they came from Japan, probably on commercial ships, and now are all along the Atlantic coast).  

Our pedicures look so pretty at the beach :-)

Emma kissing "Crabby" before putting him back home.

A Little Hobby

Back in February I started making Emma little hairclips and headbands for fun. I hadn't made any in a while, so she picked some colors and I made these last week.

Solo trip to Washington, D.C.

I know this blog is called "Emmabean & Me", but this post is really just about me. :-) Last week I went to Washington. D.C. for a conference at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. I teach a semester-long course on the Holocaust & human rights so this was a really fantastic opportunity professionally speaking. The conference was exceptional as was the museum. I also got to do A LOT of sightseeing while I was there. I took over 150 pictures (it's genetic, I blame my mother), but I'm only posting a few. These are the "self-portraits" I had to take since I was the only one there! It was REALLY hot, so pardon all the sweat...

In the Jungle Room at the U.S. Botanical Gardens

Capitol Building. If you look closely, you might see the Congressmen I will not be voting for in 2102

(j/k, they're tourists)

Another tourist felt bad for me and snapped this shot in the foyer of the Library of Congress

Ok, not a picture of me but the REAL slippers Judy Garland wore in my favorite movie of all time.

At the World War II Memorial...beautiful monument!

At the Lincoln Memorial

Again, someone felt sorry for me and took this picture of me in front of the White House.

At the Supreme Court...where I'm gonna work someday :-)

A shout-out to my love, Teddy Roosevelt. The Rough Rider Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

At the Vietnam Wall.

I saw so many things when I was there! A quick list- the Botanic Gardens, the Capitol, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Washington Monument, White House, Holocaust Museum, National Archives, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, George Washington University, Arlington National Cemetery, Korean War Memorial, and 7-11. :-) All in 4 1/2 days! It was great...a trip every American should take in his/her lifetime! I did miss Emmabean terribly, though.

Girls' Trip to Storyland

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time! We've been so busy this summer I haven't uploaded any pictures! Anyway, I finally got around to it, so here are a few of the best!

Two weeks ago my mom took Emma and me to Storyland in New Hampshire. It's a cute little storybook-theme park for kids. We had a great time on our girls' trip!

Emma rates her ice cream :-)

Giffy & Emma on the flying shoe ride

Of course, Emma's favorite part about Storyland was the duck family living in the pond

Flash forward 12 years...SCARY

Who do you think had more fun?

Absolutely SOAKED

We had such a great time, Emma wanted to know why we don't do girls' trips all the time. :-)

Fourth of July!

Emma and I had a great 4th of July weekend! We spent a lot of the time at the pool, of course, and to Emma's delight Papa joined us on Monday. After a BBQ at my parents' house, my dad, Emma, and I went to a fireworks show in a nearby town. Emma loved it, but was so tired she almost fell asleep!

Here are Emma's patriotic toes!

Loving the weekend

Today we spent yet another day at the pool, only this time Emma's friends from upstairs (twin 5 year-old girls) and their dad came with us. We had a great time swimming and playing. After nap, we went to our friends' house (the Turner family) to play outside, have a BBQ, and roast S'mores over the fire! Here are some pics of Emma playing with Dylan Turner.

Birthday banners

Emma and I are having a bit of a lazy day today. We went to my Mom's house this morning so I could work out and then I made a birthday banner for my friends' son's party (he's turning 2 & it's a truck theme). Emma told me it was "too boyish" and "didn't have any sparkles". I think she missed the point. :-)