Soccer snacks

OK super-soccer-mom status has to be deferred as the stress of getting these beauties to the sideline had me roaring at the kids when I failed to park effectively despite their guidance (!) and then had to hike two blocks with all the stuff to the pitches.

However the utter satisfaction of a tray cleared in seconds and many return rounds of orange smiles and no remarks about the lack of sugared drinks, which means I'll be back for another shift.

Before possession of the cake, M got possession of the ball for quite a decent amount of time too.

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A grape family under the sea..

Grayhaven Winery and Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Two alcoholic beverage establishments in one day... oh boy, childcare is hard. The first was actually a mission for rooibos tea from a South African vineyard with a ramshackle and informal feel - today we played on their 1970s roundabout and wandered down to the pond, fed the ponies and ran through the vine stumps.

Back in town we got on our bikes and went off to support various folks running the Twilight4Miler from Hardywood Brewery - the kids hooted and rang their respective bike horn and bell. We gathered our various foodtruck meal items - gourmet pizza and tofu tacos. Then the serious business of the belgium wheat beer and more cheering as the runners returned.

The ladies bringing up the rear at a quiet saunter, were amusingly shaken into a jog as the police car behind them put on his siren and herded them over the finish line.

Earth Day

6am for the first child to enter our bed and then wriggle and fuss for a further hour or so was enough to start this day with plenty of growling.

However once up we were ushered through to the girl's room for a carefully arranged scavenger hunt with handmade gifts made from recycled goodies for each one of us. It was hard not to feel utterly churlish.

The celebration of Earth Day didn't end there - pyjama breakfast, dancing and then football had been planned. Two out of three became reality, before clothes and the everyday beckoned.

House hunting...

So there's the sensible option - deep rental market, bit of potential, great school catchment area... OR the heart-stoppingly unsensible - uninhabitable, architecturally significant with prehistoric wildlife on the prowl, but with sculptural remnants like this on the acreage - you can imagine which one we've fallen for.

That is poison ivy on the wall - trifolate and in abundance.

The ants are back...

... but this time it's exclusion by alternative means.

First up, thanks to the wisdom of a Virginian grandpa, chalk lines combined with bay leaves for mild effectiveness; then onto athlete's foot powder in lieu of talc for a slightly medicinal smelling solution and finally the fragrant and super effective joy of talcum powder lines. No snorting for us but those ants aren't happy and the dishes can remain untended in our usual style. The table legs rise from tiny islands of white.

C&O Canal, Georgetown, Washington DC

The Swedes know how to build an embassy ... right on the water, sleek and stylish. Linking the Harbour-front full of fit girls getting ready to row with the old worlde delight that is the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

Water raged through the lock gates and pansies filled the window boxes. A French cafe was open and we drank beer/chilled wine/hot chocolate respectively and shared pomme frites, whilst J slept, before heading to Dulles Airport and the send-off.

Tidal Basin, Washington DC

Why do some president's get a monument and others not? Jefferson has a great Palladian pile,  Lincoln has the fabulous spot at the end of the reflecting pool and Martin Luther King (Malvern Link King says J) has a giant carved stone. We pondered all this amidst preparations for Maggie's funeral in the UK and as our thighs truly worked the pedals on our boats. The kids just grinned and we made it to shore with one illegal passenger exchange.

Really we were here for the blossom but it was grey and the official season was over. It was all quite subtle. I wandered for a few moments with petals falling around me, whilst big vans carted off catering tents from the Cherry Blossom Festival. I wanted more pink...

National Gallery, Washington DC

Finally we made it through the doors of an institution on the National Mall. It's a pretty serious place with a genteel atmosphere and the art, well it's stellar! Picasso by the loo, says it all. I fell for Degas & Ligon (pic); P for Modigliani; D for Cassatt & Manet; M for Fantin-Latour and J for Calder.

It was hard not to keep on strolling through room after room. We found some sketching focus, got mesmerised by Leo Villareal's light installation (him of San Francisco fame), before tiring. The girls heading outdoors to an amazing fountain with mini glass pyramids poking up from the ground and I got a moment with Ellsworth Kelly and Brancusi.

The Pipeline, Mineral

Dead turkeys mark our path today and the odd deer carcass remains from the shooting season. All is peaceful however as we stroll down the pipeline, heading for the brook, which we bridged with rocks and branches before paddling, ignoring the tiny, leaping spiders.

There is a pastoral view of cattle beyond the marshes and behind some extraordinary tall, wobbly hides dot the route and the odd mound for the cross-country motorbikes and assorted vehicles. We kinda love this place.

Japanese Garden, Maymont

The blossom is coming out and the trees are turning green... the waterfall is on and the sand has been immaculately raked. Spring has pretty much sprung from nowhere.

The Tooth Fairy

... is English in our house and did not to leave the requested hundred bucks or tooth, though promised to return it one day, if many greens were eaten in the intervening years. Three dollars later and a Family Dollar store mermaid has entered our growing stash.

Don't try a floss slip-knot set-up in your front garden, as it tightens and gets stuck under the gum - trauma for all in the vicinity!

Colonial Williamsburg

The Union Jack is flying, the cottage gardens are beginning to bloom with tulips and one day soon - wisteria, plus there are wooden bridges across little streams and horse & carts, or rather carriages.

We boarded the Queen's coach and were taken nobly around by Mr Bob and Captain & Ranger. So civilised! The sun beat down a little harder by lunchtime so we picnicked under an expansive notable tree of Virginia and gently strolled on the shady side of the street. J had even got in a bit of watering-can training from a '1770s' gardener.

Sunset at the VMFA, Richmond

Every picture tells a story... look closely and you will see the wobbly tooth and the poo bag! Need we say much more. There were sculptures and fountains and a sunset to distract us, plus M took us on a brilliant mini art-looking-tour.

Scott Mountain, Appalachian Trail

We didn't plan to climb the steepest mountain to hand but joined the trail at McCormick Gap and headed upwards and south. We felt intrepid as we went vertically through the bare trees, with glimpses of wide open countryside to east and west. It was breathless-making and sunny and just great to be on the Appalachian Trail, somewhere along it's 2200 miles. Of course Bill Bryson was in some of our ears, as we steadied along a contour line.

Before all this, The King Family Vineyard down in the valley below had been the location for a great family-neighbour picnic, some heady wine tasting and an impromptu dose of American Football coaching. The vines were bare and the mountains grey but the view grew with beauty as we relaxed. At the close of the day we made our way into Charlottesville and wandered...

Beaver Lake Trail, Pocahontas State Park

Perhaps the greatest achievements are unplanned. This gentle dawdle became a hike and we all completed the full 2.56 mile circuit!!!

In the midst of it we had injuries to all with their hands held out, outsmarted trolls on long wooden walkways, waded in clear forest streams and crossed rivers with giant tree trunks as balance beams. P downed a substantial land-based fallen trunk system with a loud crack.

BBGB on Kensington

There's a cute, little bookshop on the corner and it's called BBGB. We had tokens and they have fabulous children's books. Today's personal choices were:

• Head to Toe by Eric Carl - J
• Let's go for a drive by Mo Williams - M
• Extra yarn by Mac Barnett - M
• Have fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell - C
• Nurse Clementine by Simon James - Gift

Even more Yorktown

We saw three (actually two) ships come sailing by... and the bridge swung open.

It was super, sunny, gorgeous and we pottered by the beach, caught jellyfish who stung themselves into a stupor, did the Delly with the Y, got a tram ride with a dash of history (seriously, it was French & Americans vs Brits in 1781- Oh boy, these things can pass a girl by) and found downed bamboo for a horse jumping and races.