There was a big thunderstorm over Arlington last night, and around 10.30 pm Adrian woke up crying. He was clearly scared so I took him downstairs, where he cuddled with Sasha for a long time. He was happy to be with us.

On Monday night I took Nora and the boys for a walk. I wanted to go to the barber but it was too crowded so we walked around instead and met Sasha at the Clarendon Metro.

When we were going home Nora picked up berries from behind the church. A minute or two later she started complaining that her hands hurt. It was quite painful and at home we gave her some cream. 30 minutes later it had subsided.

Tuesday night we walked on the same path again and I took a picture of the plant. We still don't know if that's the culprit but Nora won't pick those berries anymore, that's for sure. There are other plants around the berries, one might be poison ivy perhaps.

Yesterday was Nora's last day of school. Sasha and I brought her in the morning.

The Arlington Montessori House has been amazing and we all have had a great year. Nora has learned a lot, and now speaks English quite well. The other parents are great, it's really fun to hang out with them.

The boys figured out how to swtich on the radio, much to their delight. We let them roam around in the living room more frequently now, and they love it.

Leo in particular likes to play with the radio, but I started telling him "nee". He tried twice this morning but after a gentle "nee" he does leave it alone.

The other night when they were playing with it they managed to switch the radio to FM radio, which we haven't tuned so a loud white noise blasted through our living room, scared us all, haha.

This morning Leo tried to touch Sasha's laptop. That's not allowed, and we told him so a few times. And then he tried something else -- he pointed outside, said "brruuh!" (meaning car) -- as if to distract us so he could touch the computer...

Last night I took Adrian for a bike ride and this morning when changing his diaper I asked him: "wat hebben gisteren allemaal gezien op de fiets?" and he remember exactly: "maaa" (=poes), then "wafwaf" (=hond) and finally "brruuh".

Yesterday we visited the Arlington National Cemetery. We talked with Nora about the meaning of Memorial Day, and it did make an impression on her. She asked lots of questions. We saw many bikers, on the road and at the Cemetery.

We planned a barbecue for the evening but it was raining. I played a game with Adrian to distract him from being angry (he might be teething) and I was holding him in the rain for a few moments -- he liked that.

Summer temperatures are finally here. We went for a walk at 9.30 am, before the boys' first nap, since it was nice and fresh outside. We walked to the Highlander Motel to watch some of the motorcycles. The motel always hosts motorcyclists around Memorial Day who are here for Rolling Thunder, and Nora likes to see them. The boys saw and heard them too, from a safe distance in the shadow.

Yesterday we spent the whole day outside, which was great but hot. We put the playpen on the deck as well as the inflatable pool for Nora.

It was suspiciously quiet when the boys were in the dining room.

Both Leo and Adrian were involved, but Leo managed to crawl away before I took the picture.

Adrian made his first step! The boys have been cruising for a while now, but while Sasha was in the playpen Adrian made a quick, independent step.

Update 5/27: Leo also made a similar move. No picture yet.

Today was vrachtwagendag (truck dag) at the Central Library. It has a tradition for us to have a short night the day before, and this year was no exception. Adrian had 105 degrees fever last night, and Nora had a cold so we woke up three times last time -- and then at 7.30 am by Nora again.

Nevertheless, we made it to vrachtwagendag and we had a nice time. The start was a little rough for Leo and Adrian -- they got started by the loud horns of the various trucks.