We had a busy weekend. Picnic, soccer game at the RFK Stadium, and 3 birthday parties were all crammed in one weekend. We started off our weekend with a picnic. We met our friends at Belle Haven Park, just south of Alexandria along the George Washington Memorial Parkway yesterday. It was a gorgeous day with nice breeze and warm sun. We could’ve not picked a better day for a picnic.
As soon as we got to the picnic site and set up a table with our friends, our younger daughter asked for a yaki onigiri (baked rice snacks). They are our favorite snacks from Trader Joe’s. I microwaved some and packed some yaki onigiri in a Tupperware. Easy, yet delicious. It was a bit too early for eating, but if you recall my previous post about her eating problems I was just happy to know that she had an appetite.
It just happened that yesterday, Saturday, was one of my friends’ son’s 7th birthday. She made a Lego birthday cake for him and we celebrated his birthday with the cake.
We got some pizzas and also brought some food to share. It ended up being quite a spread and we definitely had more than we could eat.
The park was beautiful. At this Belle Haven Park, there are two areas to it; a marina and picnic area. We were at the picnic area. Having the water right next to the picnic area was quite refreshing. We were there with small children, but we didn’t feel unsafe to be there. There was no playground, but I thought it was actually better for the kids and easier for us parents to keep track of our kids. My friends brought some toys, so the kids played by kicking a soccer ball, playing with a bat and a soft ball (a spongy ball), with toys, with each other, and so forth and otherwise, they were just running around chasing each other. The nice thing about yesterday was that one of my friends’ two boys were much older, 10 and 13 years old, and they were wonderful about playing with our little ones. They were so sweet to them and great about making sure that the little ones won’t get in trouble. It gave me a nice break and I loved it! Two and a half hours went by quickly.
Belle Haven Park is not very far from the Mount Vernon. There are a number of pretty parks around the area, but this one has become one of my favorite places for picnic.
The picture on the left is a bag my friend brought. She purchased this bag in Senegal, West Africa. She and her family lived in Dakar, which is the capital city of Senegal for 3 years and just came back last summer. My husband and I lived there for two years from 2003 to 2005. Our older daughter spent her first 9 months of her life there. Her family’s time and our time there didn’t overlap unfortunately, but we have some mutual friends. Seeing the bag made me nostalgic.
I took a picture of the Ultraman mat for fun. As we have two girls, I usually don’t pay attention to anything boyish, but I thought that this mat was cool looking.
We wrapped up the picnic around 3:00 and then we headed home. We had to prepare for a soccer game. Since we were having a tailgate party with my husband’s friends, we had to pack some food and drinks in a cooler. Busy busy! I love busy weekends. If every weekend is busy, that might be tough, but if it happens once in a while, it’s exciting!
Beautiful day and beautiful pictures!! Thank you so much for taking such wonderful pictures. You rock!!
I’m so agreed with busy weekend happens once in a while would be exciting. Every weekend would be too much. and also I agree with the fact the park was just perfect place. It became one of my favorite too.
Thanks! It was fun hanging out with you and your kids!
Is this the one I was invited to too? Man, I missed it!!