Random Fun

Usually by mid-June, we're full blown involved in water play and pool time.  But, this year has been a very cool spring.  We've had so much rain.  The boys always want to go out and splash in the puddles when we get a good downpour and I occasionally indulge them.

It occurred to me that Tyler might not know how to blow out birthday candles, so we had a little practice session.  He did just fine and should be ready for his 2nd birthday cake.

I though this picture was cute of the two boys on the couch.  Tyler LOVES Lightening McQueen and was flipping through a Cars book that we have.  Brennan was playing on the phone, of course!

We've had a couple of playdates at the park.  Tyler is usually pretty fearless, but he hasn't been willing to slide down any slide and will only go through the tunnels when highly encouraged.

My friend's daughter, Tiara, spent Sunday afternoon with us.  She is the middle sister of 5 girls and was excited to play with someone who was like a little brother!  Since Tiara was here, Brennan has been going on and on about her.  He said he liked having an older kid here, someone like an older sister, who could teach him things.  So cute.

Visit with Grandpa & Grandma

Last weekend, my in-laws were in town.  I had some work to do, so Brian and his parents took the kids to the Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum at Dulles.  They were having a special outdoor exhibit that let people sit in the airplanes.  Brennan seemed to really enjoy it!  He and Brian also went into a space shuttle launch simulator, which he really loved.

Grandma and Grandpa with Tyler in front of the space shuttle.

That weekend, we found a little turtle crawling next to our fence.  Brennan was very excited about this find.  We released the turtle into the common ground behind our property, but Brennan was very sad to see him go.  He named the turtle, "Good Friend," and hopes that he'll come visit again.

My in-laws bought us a beautiful fence, which was installed a couple of weeks ago.  The fence install resulted in even more debris that needed to be removed from our yard though!  We had a hard time finding a company who was willing to clear the yard - mostly because of the huge dirt mound that resulted from the playground.

We finally found someone to do the job, which was completed this weekend!

The yard is looking pretty good now - and Brian put down some seed down in the dirt patches.  It's great to be able to use the yard and not have to worry about the kids running off!  Thanks, Gary and Caryl!

Overnight Trip to DC

On Friday, we took the kids into DC for an overnight trip.  While Brian and Tyler headed over to the hotel to check-in, Brennan and I went to the Air & Space Museum.  It was pouring rain and I left my camera in the car when Brian dropped us off, so I don't have any pictures of Brennan in the museum, but let me say that he was excited!  We got to walk through the former space lab (a replica?) that was the predecessor to the current space station.  While we were waiting our turn, Brennan was brimming with excitement and proclaimed that, "My dream has come true!  I'm going to be an astronaut!"  Very cute!  We watched a show at the planetarium and then took the metro to the hotel to meet Brian and Tyler for dinner.  Brennan has been talking about riding the metro for months, so he was very excited about that.  We had to switch trains and at one point, he ran down the escalator with me to catch the orange train that was already at the platform and we made it!  It was raining, so we decided to take a cab to dinner, which the boys loved.  Brennan had heard about a taxi cab, but didn't fully understand it until then.  On Saturday morning, we headed over to the National Zoo.  We got there early enough to get street parking right outside of the zoo's entrance!  The zoo is free and the meters can be refilled using a cell phone app, so it was perfect!  The zoo officially opens at 10, but the grounds open at sunrise.  We were there before the buildings opened, but there were many animals out and available to see.

We walked through the Asian trail and the bird exhibit first.  We also got to see the giant panda.  Brennan really enjoyed the house of Apes.  Unfortunately, we never got to see the Lions and Tigers - the enclosure was being watered and we didn't stay long enough to make it back.

Tyler was eating a piece of candy from the hotel front desk and it slid down his throat and didn't choke him, but he was clearly unhappy.  He cuddled into Brian for comfort.

Right below the Lemur exhibit was a pond full of red ear slider turtles.  Looks like we found a new home for Flash (haha!)  Brian did not like my joking about that!

I didn't take pictures of the exhibits, but the zoo had made so many wonderful improvements since I had last been there.  The elephant exhibit was beautiful and included a bridge that allowed you to walk right over the elephant enclosure.  As we went through, I kept thinking that it was nicer than I remembered.  The weather was perfect - in the 70s!  We will definitely have to go again.  After about 2+ hours, Brennan was tired of walking and we decided to head home for lunch.