Music Festival and Ice Show

In late June I took Katie to an ice show at the Kettler Ice Arena in Arlington. It featured performances from various skating classes across all ages. She had a good time and enjoyed the performances. The skaters were good but it made me appreciate how good the pros are. The show's theme was the 4 seasons. We saw performances about winter and skiing, spring and baseball, summer and beaches, and autumn and halloween. But without a doubt, her favorite part was when Tinkerbell skated. She was so excited. During intermission and after the show, she was determined to find Tinkerbell. But, alas, Tinkerbell had changed outfits.

During intermission, some of the skaters were standing in costume in the hallway and chatting. It was really cute to see Katie's reaction to them. She treated them like celebrities. She stood near them and waited patiently, staring up at them the whole time. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she wanted to tell them her name was Katie. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the show resumed before she had the chance.

After the show, she wanted to go back to the hallway. Lots of skaters were there and Katie took my camera and shot dozens of pictures as they walked by. She was so excited. I don't think the skaters were expecting any paparazzi to be there. She did manage to get her picture with the lady who was Tinkerbell, but she was in a different outfit by then.

A week later we walked down to the always-fun Del Ray Music Festival. It's an outdoor music festival with bands from 10am to 10pm and lots of good food and games. It was hot but not nearly as bad as its been in previous years. We stayed down there for a few hours, enjoying the music, eating bbq, chatting with neighbors, and running around with Katie.

Then we hiked back home and cooled off for a while before heading back to see the headliner, Emmet Swimming. They're a local band from Fairfax that had a few hits in the late 90's. We were a little worried they'd be bitter and angry that their career trajectory had brought them down to a small neighborhood music festival. But they seemed really happy to be there and they sounded great. Katie danced around for a while and then climbed in her stroller and fell asleep. Peter fell asleep too.

More photos are here.


The ice show. Sometimes each skater had their own interpretation of the choreography.


Katie got cold during the show and crawled in my jacket.


And then we made silly faces.


All the skaters came out at the end to say goodbye.


Katie meets her favorite skater.


At National Harbor after eating yummy burgers at Elevation Burger.


Katie plays with her food.


Peter hangs out on the swing.


And then gets a push from his sister.


The boys on the stoop.


The girls share a shake at our favorite diner, Bob & Edith's.


The Del Ray Music Festival


Katie on the moonbounce, which suddenly deflated shortly after she got off.


Katie shows off a coupon card she picked up.


We cool off at the house before heading back to the concert later.


Emmet Swimming




Dancing with Mommy




A short video of Katie dancing at the concert


Cooling off in the backyard on a hot summer day.


Peter watches his silly sister play in the sprinkler.