One of the greatest things about summer is that the day seems to last forever and you can still play after dinner. Last night Ben and I tried out our tennis skills (or lack thereof). Our attempt at a tennis match turned into “let’s see how many we can rally” and a lot of laughter. Regardless it was really fun, and I apparently have to hold the racket like a baseball bat in order to hit the ball in a straight line. Who knows, maybe we will be able to play a real game by the end of the summer.

We have set out on the quest to find the best ice cream in Annapolis and I do believe we found a winner right on Main Street at Annapolis Ice Cream Company. This place knows how to make some ice cream. Not only is their ice cream homemade, but it didn’t melt all over me and through my waffle cone which is huge bonus points in my book. Ben had strawberry and Oreo and I stayed true to my favorite pick, peanut butter chocolate. Although we have a few more ice cream shops in the running, this will be hard to beat. I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

For our wedding, we received a gift card to Lewnes’ Steakhouse, and we decided tonight was the night to use it. I guess we could say it was celebrating almost two months of marriage. Hooray! It has been the most beautiful weather recently and I have grown to really love watching the sunset over the water.

Both Ben and I had heard nothing but great things and Lewnes’ did not disappoint. We started out with mini crab cakes before Ben’s prime rib and my shrimp with our sides of potatoes and asparagus arrived. So good. We felt pretty spoiled getting to treat ourselves to such a nice meal.

These past couple of days have treated us so well.

Saturday afternoon we spent laying by the pool and it was very needed. After spending practically the entire month of June either in Mexico or laying by the beach at Hatteras we gained quite the tan. But since moving to Annapolis we were missing some time in the sun.

Sunday morning was a good one. A while back, when Ben and I were looking for places to live this summer, I somehow through a ton of connections found our current home. It was a great  deal and the perfect location and Ben said to me, “I owe you a crêpe.” He knows that I have been smitten by Sofi’s Crepes in Annapolis as I have visited over the past four years. This entire summer I have not let him forget this IOU and we finally went on Sunday morning. 

Our next stop was over to the farmer’s market to stock up on chocolate milk (seriously the best I have ever had, think melted chocolate ice cream in all its glory), vegetables, and a bouquet of flowers I had my eye on. They made themselves right at home in our little abode. We were off to church and then  spent the rest of the afternoon watching the World Cup before I headed off to work. Might I add I predicted Germany to win and won the Radford family bracket pool. Major bragging rights in this household.

On Tuesday we headed to Six Flags on a whim, and it was a real good decision. Ben and I have never gone on a roller coaster together and it was a blast. Our first one was a wooden roller coaster that looked nice and easy (I mean there were like five-year olds riding this thing), but boy was my perception wrong. Apparently I had more confidence in myself. We worked our way up on the roller coaster list from the wooden to the standing up one, then on to the feet dangling one, and then the storm of the century rolled in. Sadly, our fun was cut short when the sky turned black. I really hope we can make a trip back to finish off the roller coasters (I was looking forward to Gotham City) and head on over to the water park. I truly forgot how fun those things can be!

Last night, Ben and I fancied up and caught the metro into the nation’s capital. We ate a wonderful dinner at District Commons, a nice restaurant we stumbled upon in Foggy Bottom.

For starters: a hot pretzel baguette. Anytime someone wants to bring me a large, hot pretzel baguette feel free. Ben had a flatbread and I tried the roasted portobello topped with quinoa and it is safe to say we could go for seconds on both. 

After dinner, we headed off to the Kennedy Center where we had a few minutes to kill before curtain call.

It was our first time at the  John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and it was beautiful! I have seen the Lion King once before on Broadway, but I still acted like a small child. I know just about every word to every song and kept nudging Ben while pointing at all the animals and different sets. All in all, I would say it was the greatest of nights. [Aunt Jane– thanks for the tickets!]

This weekend was a good one. Ben and I somehow managed to spend every fourth of July while dating apart for five years. So, when this weekend rolled around we were more than excited to celebrate, and that we did! We had a slow morning and then made a [not so American] lunch before heading into DC. 

Being in our nation’s capitol was rather fitting for the day. It was filled with red, white, and blue and the weather was on its best behavior. All morning Ben and I were craving ice cream so as soon as we stepped off the metro our first order of business was to find peanut butter cup ice cream and plop down under a shaded tree and dig in. Messy, and perfect. 

Then we wandered on over to the mall, found another shaded tree and took ourselves a nap. It was one of our best decisions of the day.


We headed back to Annapolis for the evening to grab some dinner with friends and watch the fireworks. Apparently we planned it perfectly to get back home right when the parade started and people were flooding the streets of Annapolis so walking proved to be our only option. But I really can’t complain about our view walking to dinner. After dinner we headed on to the yard to watch the fireworks over the water and man was it quite the show. Something about fireworks makes for a dreamy night. I really could not of asked for a better first fourth with Ben. America, we love you!