Colonial Williamsburg

We currently live about 20 miles from Williamsburg and since Colonial Williamsburg is the history nerd's Disneyland, I have been dying to go. But, the price of admission is currently out of our price range, I couldn't justify a visit. Then I learned that you can actually visit the city without a ticket, you just can't go inside any of the homes or partake in many of the extra tours, demonstrations, and programs. That was fine by me, I just wanted to wander around the city and breathe in the history.

We actually visited the city briefly a few weeks ago to meet one of David's oldest friends, Renee. We ate a late lunch and then wandered around the "Revolutionary City" for about an hour. We even got to see their military review that they put on every day at 4:30. Since it was outside, we didn't need a ticket and we could to watch them shoot muskets, cannons, and march to a fife and drum band. It was pretty cool.

 That first visit (however brief it was) whet my appetite for more, so I convinced David to go back for another visit last Wednesday. We packed ourselves a little picnic lunch and strolled through the town, enjoying the old buildings and soaking in some of the history.

 

Of course, I would love to go back again sometime soon and actually pay to go into the houses. I might just go back by myself and visit the decorative arts and folk art museums (which you can pay to visit on their own for a much lower fee). 

 We still had fun with what you can do, though. You can go into all the shops (of course) and I lusted after the old soaps, candles, dolls, clothing, toys, and slateboards. And to his credit, when I told David that someday I'm going to have to buy all that stuff, he just nodded his head and said, "I know."
 

 It was a relatively chilly day (and a Wednesday), so there weren't many visitors which made for a very pleasant visit. It warmed up in the afternoon. 

 This tree was awesome and twisty.

 And of course, this is the cutest baby bear ever.

 I just love Zara's big grin in this photo.

Yup, I definitely want to go back again soon. I would seriously spend a week here, just enjoying all the tours and programs. It also reawakened my desire to go to William and Mary. Maybe some day.

A Comparison of Daughters

When Adelaide was born, David and I marveled at how similar she looked to Zara. We'd compare pictures of them as newborns and could barely tell the difference. Both had full heads of dark hair, blue eyes, and chubby cheeks slightly indented by the promise of dimples. David called them our clone babies. 

But miss Adelaide has definitely grown out of her Zara phase and is becoming her own little person. A very cute person, I might add. Unlike Zara--who's hair never fell out and just continued to grow long and dark and luxurious--Adelaide's brown locks have slowly fallen out and in bits and pieces, and is being replaced by blonde baby peach fuzz. I think her eyes are just a bit bluer and her dimples much deeper. She's remained a large baby for her age and her thighs are simply the most delicious things I've ever seen. 

At five months, Adelaide is adept at rolling over and has even started to army crawl, just this week. She loves to smile, but doesn't giggle very easily (much to David's dismay). She seems interested in food but makes the most hilarious faces of disgust when we try to feed her solid food. (So far, just a little bit of rice cereal and applesauce. We're not pushing it too much. I think I started Zara way too early and have wanted to wait until Adelaide really wants to eat it.) She thinks electronic devices and kitties are delightful and is trying to bang on my laptop as I type this. 

But the very best, most wonderful thing about Adelaide (in direct opposition to her older sister) is that she a wonderful, fabulous, super easy-to-put-to-bed sleeper. I cannot express my deep and abiding love for this child for this one thing. She takes at least two naps a day (and her afternoon nap is often 2-3 hours long) and all I have to do is feed her some milk, make sure her diaper is clean and put her in her bed and then I CAN WALK AWAY. She just sticks her thumb in her mouth and puts herself to sleep. It's the most wonderful thing in the world. If all my babies were this easier, I'd have a lot more. And by more, I mean one more. Because that's all I want. Okay, maybe two. But I'm only saying that for David's benefit. 

We love our Miss Adelaide. (And Miss Zara, of course, but she's already gotten a lot of love on this blog.) 

To compare our little girls, I pulled out some old photos of Zara to compare with some new ones I just took of Adelaide, wearing the same dress. In these photos, Zara is only 3 months old, and Adelaide is 5 months, but you can see a lot of the similarities and the differences.