Saturday with my girl

Annalise freezing in front of the Newport Bridge
Annalise freezing in front of the Naval War College Museum
Annalise in front of the Marble House

Playing outside of the Marble House

Warming her hands on Hot Tea (at the "shooshee" restaurant)

Yesterday, while John and Justin raced each other to the bathroom and watched Harry Potter on TV, Annalise and I decided to get out of the house. It was cold, but the sunshine was out so we decided to go take some pictures together after Ballet.

We drove by a house that I love the color of to get a picture (kind of on a main street with no parking options). I couldn't get it the first or second time, so we tried a third time and hoped for a red light. We got the red light, but we were headed the wrong direction so we had to try again. ON about the fifth pass by, we got a picture and hopefully Home Depot's paint department can figure out how to match the color for me. God be with them on that project!!!

After we stalked the house for a while, we went to the War College and took a picture of Annalise in front of the Pell Bridge (Newport to Jamestown). I love the bridges around here and I am going to miss them like crazy!!! The picure is taken from John's campus so you can see he's been having a tough life over the past year.

We drove around taking pictures for a while (Tucker's Bistro, boats, Newport beaches) and then we decided to take the opportunity to see a mansion. We went to the Marble House (Where Ariel and Prince Eric currently live) and toured in a very small group. It was beautiful but we couldn't take any pictures inside. I didn't hear all of the history becaue Annalise and I were busy determining which rooms the princesses danced in. What I did hear was that the lady of the house (very wealthy, of course) was obsessed with French History and she actually purchased several original paintings of royalty which still hang in the house. Amazing...

Once we were done with "Ariel's House", we drove around and found the cottage where Annalise thinks the Seven Dwarfs live as well as where the evil stepmother lives. I was getting hungry and was begging for sushi since we were in Newport. Annalise agreed that we could follow this schedule: "We'll fill your tummy up with shushi, then we'll go to the not expensive bookstore (library), and then Target!". That was an awesome plan for me!!! We enjoyed Sushi at Tokyo House and the waitress gave her a set of barrettes (since Annalise is so cute) before heading to Dartmouth for our trip to Target (birthday present for Brynn) and to Bed, Bath and Beyond (new bedding for both of my kids - they now look like proper California Kids with Quicksilver and Roxy bedding).

I had such a good day with my girl today and, although I'm sad that the boys were sick, I am so thankful to have had the time with her. She was full of smiles, imagination, pleasure, patience, and love for me. Hopefully we can find another day to spend together like that before too much time passes. I love you Annalise!!!