Trip to DC!

This past weekend the kids and I traveled up to Washington DC to spend some time with Aunt Lynn, Uncle Ed, and "Aunt" Jennie.  (Note to "Aunt" Annie -- You were missed dearly!) Jack, along with every other boy  his age, has an obsession with dinosaurs.  So I thought it would make a fun trip to take him to see the real thing at the Natural History Museum.  After an uneventful drive up on Friday afternoon, we woke up Saturday to scattered showers and clouds.  But, undeterred, Jack, Jennie and I headed off to catch the subway to the museum where we met up with Uncle Ed.  Jack LOVED the subway and if you ask him today what his favorite part of the whole trip was he'll say riding the "underground train" (aka: the subway)!  The Natural History Museum was very crowded so I'm glad that Aunt Lynn volunteered to stay at home with the twins....people were having trouble maneuvering single strollers so I don't even want to think about the trouble we'd have had with the double-wide!!  Jack was surprisingly hesitant about checking out all the dinosaur skeletons and only reluctantly ventured into that portion of the dinosaur exhibit.  I think the actual massive size of the bones caught him off guard and may have scared him a little.  But we checked out some other fossils, watched a paleontologist dust off a real T-rex bone, and then ate lunch in the museum's main cafe. Now, the day prior, Uncle Ed discovered in the paper that the new hit PBS kids' show "Dinosaur Train" was going to have a special showing of a never-before-seen episode at the museum followed by a live appearance by the show's cool paleontologist "Dr. Scott."  Jack also LOVES this show and we have seen every episode many, many times so when we told him that Dinosaur Train would be at the museum he could hardly contain himself.  We came to discover that it was an RSVP event but were able to snag wait list wrist bands which would get us into the show if there were enough no-shows from those who had RSVP'd.  After lunch and while waiting for the Dinosaur Train showing, we had the treat of experiencing the butterfly pavilion (thank you Uncle Ed!).  This is a fantastic enclosed butterfly habitat where literally hundreds of the most beautiful butterflies you have ever seen are just fluttering around you!  It's a climate controlled environment filled with gorgeous tropical flowers and fruit all for optimum butterfly enjoyment.  It was truly fascinating to watch them and observe them up close!  Finally, we made our way to the auditorium and as luck would have it we were able to get into the Dinosaur Train show!!  Jack had a ball watching the newest show live on the big screen and seeing Dr. Scott in real life!  What a treat!!  We also checked out the Hope Diamond but Jack was largely unimpressed with that display.  :-)  Jack wanted to ride the subway home and of course by this time it was pouring rain so we got a little wet on the way home, but otherwise it was a great day!

Sunday, we had an early lunch and then packed everybody up for a trip to the National Zoo.  It was a beautiful day with temps in the mid-60s and plenty of sunshine to accentuate the stunning fall colors...I think DC had just hit its leaf peak!  I always forget too that all the museums and the zoo are FREE!  You can't beat it!!  The zoo was much less crowded so we were able to meander all around without any problems.  The twins spent the entire afternoon in the stroller but never even so much as made a peep.  I think they too enjoyed being outside on such a great day checking out all the amazing animals. 

Monday morning we, sadly, headed home but had a speedy and again, thankfully, uneventful drive home.  We had such a wonderful visit and although we came home tired, it was a good tired - one that comes from spending time exploring a fantastic city with our family.  :-)

Immediately upon our arrival, the twins made a break for the stairs and managed to get pretty high up!  Too bad they still have no idea how to get back down.

Jack on the subway...his new favorite thing!

Washington Monument.

The one and only picture I could get of Jack with the dinosaur skeletons (this is Stegosaurus....one of the smallest on display and I guess less threatening).

Checking out the butterfly guide in the hopes of identifying a few.

First of MANY butterfly pics...sorry! But they were spectacular!!

Dr. Scott the paleontologist!!!  In real life!!!!

The twins wreaking havoc on Aunt Lynn & Uncle Ed's house.

Checking out the rain.

Try as he might, Matthew could not get the freezer door open.  So he resorted to eating the handle instead.

At the zoo!  They were all decorated for their annual Boo at the Zoo event.

Lions,

and tigers,

and bears...Oh My!!

Jack entertaining the twins at the zoo as he so loves to do!

These are NOT fake leaves....see what I mean about fantastic color!!

Yay for the zoo and a beautiful fall day!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Today was Jack's preschool field trip to a local farm/pumpkin patch/petting zoo (Hunt Club Farm).  We had a great day - partly sunny with a nice cool start to the morning.  Welcome fall!!  The farm was so much fun for the kids!  They started their trip with a hay ride (which, due to the stroller, the babies and I had to watch from the sidelines), then they were able to play in a large area that contained chickens, rabbits, goats, ducks, pigs, donkeys, and peacocks most of which you could get right up to and pet.  There was also a gigantic mountain of hay bales that all the kids loved climbing, falling, and sliding on.  Even better, they also had several large swing sets/slides (the really nice wooden kind with tunnel slides and rope ladders, etc.) which kept the kids occupied for a long while.  After they all played and petted to their heart's content, we had our snack, a few coordinated photo opportunities with the respective teachers, and then all the kids were able to wander through the pumpkin patch and pick out their very own baby pumpkin to take home.  As usual, the babies were confined to the stroller the whole time but they endured it fairly well.  They're such good sports (most of the time)!  I can't wait, sort of, until they are walking and can explore all on their own without having to sit back and watch everyone else have all the fun.  :-)

Hay rides!!

The twins waiting with me for Jack to return from the hay ride.  It will be your turn soon enough little ones!

One of the wagons all decorated for photo ops.

"Driving" the tractor.

Jack's "perfect pumpkin."

Children's Festival

The Virginia Children's Festival

On Saturday, I made a last minute decision to take the kids downtown to the Virginia Children's Festival.  This is an annual event that looked really promising in the entertainment department - plus, it was only a $3/person admission so it was cheap too!  So, we ate an early lunch in order to wait out a passing rain shower and then I packed everyone up and headed down to the waterfront park where the festival was taking place.  Unfortunately, once we arrived downtown we quickly discovered that there was NO WHERE to park.  We finally found a parking garage (many, many blocks from our destination) that still had spots and, of course, they only took cash....and do you think I had cash?  Of course NOT.  Thus, we made a speedy exit out of the garage in a frantic search for an ATM so that we had some hope of making it to the festival before the next rain shower hit.  Finally, I located an ATM and made it back to the parking garage so we could actually start our adventure!  After walking what seemed like about 10 blocks, we were approaching the entrance when, as luck would have it, a man with his son gave us re-admittance wrist bands that they did not use - score two free passes to the festival!!  Yay for us!  A good thing too because the weather was looking ever threatening as the afternoon waned.  It was worth all the trouble, though, because the festival was fantastic!  They had tents with all sorts of fun activities for youngsters (from cooking, to painting, to building, etc.).  Jack had a blast and we managed to meander around for about an hour and a half (with spotty rain most of the time) before the rain became too much and we headed back to the car.  The twins were good sports the whole time too despite being restricted to the stroller and enduring the wind and wet toes.  :-)

Jack standing in front of the "toddler zone" which will be perfect for the twins....next year.  :-)

Play-doh everywhere!!

Jack really loved all the physics experiments (part of a display by the ODU Physics Dept).

And magnets are always a hit!

Three Little Munchkins

(from left: Nathan, Jack & Matthew)

I posted this pic on Facebook but then forgot to put it on here as well.  It's increasingly difficult to get everyone to sit still (which is why Matthew is blurry) but this is still a pretty good shot of all three boys that I thought those of you NOT on Facebook might appreciate. :-)

Updates

The Big Park

Jack really enjoys going to what he calls the "big park" which is just the Chesapeake City Park. It is actually a fantastic park with lots to do and is quite large so there can be a number of families/children there and it won't feel overcrowded. It's also mostly shaded by large trees which make it much cooler! We recently made the trip up to the park with the intention of checking out their Farmer's Market. The Farmer's Market ended up being one weathered woman and a rickety wagon selling about four different vegetables. Oh well, Jack was all excited to pick out some yummy veggies and I certainly didn't want to squelch any excitement related to what might actually lead to eating vegetables....so we bought two cucumbers for a buck and called it done. Then we went over to the kids park and ended up having a fantastic afternoon. Jack found a new friend, Conrad, and I kid you not - those two spent an hour and a half joyfully exploring the park together. No squabbles, no incidents, no nothing! It was amazing. So Conrad's mom and I got to talking and it turns out I made a new friend too. :-) We met up a week or so later for a little educational field trip but more on that in another post...

This is Jack's best attempt at: "Please stand still for two seconds so I can take your picture!"

Peeking out from one of the towers.

Nathan LOVES to swing...can you tell?

Matthew loves to swing too...although he's still such a little guy that I always worry he's somehow going to slip out of the swing. (he's quick and coordinated too...just the other day while I had both babies in the tub, I had turned my head---literally only pivoted my body around from my position next to the tub---to make sure I had two diapers ready and in the seven seconds it took me to turn around Matthew had climbed out of the tub and landed face-first onto the bathroom floor!!!  And I was sitting RIGHT THERE!!  Thankfully he was fine.  Hence my fear he's somehow going to escape the swing even though I'm guarding him closely)

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 Grumpy

Matthew having just woken up from a nap....I'm pretty sure I have a similar expression upon waking up as well.  Right honey???  (heehee)  At least I have coffee to brighten my mood - poor Matthew just has to get over it.

And he does!

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Big Wheels
I recently purchased a Radio Flyer "big wheels" for Jack mostly because he still insisted on riding around on his old tricycle that I'm pretty sure has a max age of three years.  He looked like a giant on it but he loved it even though he can (and does) ride his bicycle too.  And Wal-Mart offered me 97 cent shipping on the thing so I really couldn't say no!  I need to get him a larger bicycle too, but that can be the next purchase.

Here he is on his maiden voyage...which was hugely successful! However, he quickly discovered that if you go really fast and turn the wheel sharply you can do donuts to your heart's content.  Thus, he is now required to wear his helmet when riding the big wheels.  :-)

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Nauticus
This past Thursday, we traveled downtown to explore the maritime museum known as Nauticus. We were able to enjoy a wonderful afternoon of lunch and meandering through the exhibits with Jack's new friend, Conrad, his mom and his little sister. The museum turned out to be quite a hit with the boys and we are hoping to make a return visit in November for the upcoming pirate treasure exhibit.

Jack manning the mock-up submersible.  You could actually move the mechanical arm around and try to pick up objects off the "ocean floor."

Concentration!

Jack & Conrad.

All three kids enjoying what amounted to a really big water table.  In actuality, it had something to do with teaching about rivers and channels (I think) but the kids just loved sending the plastic boats down the current and changing the barriers to best enhance their chances of "winning."

Jack the mermaid.

Stickers

My dear friend Meredith sent me a birthday card which also included adorable pictures of her little girl Lauren and stickers for Jack (thanks Mere!). Apparently, at 4 1/2 Jack still isn't too old to think that putting stickers all over your face is a fun thing to do. He actually had them on his eyelids too but I didn't get a picture fast enough....he quickly realized that stickers on your eyelids feel really weird.

This One's for Kristie :-)

Okay Kristie, here's my attempt at getting an up-close shot of two babies who will not stay still wherever they are!! What do you think....do they look alike??? :-)

First Day At His New School

Today was Jack's first day at his new preschool and boy was he excited! He'd picked out a new backpack and matching lunch box at LL Bean and then we come to find out that his class does not bring back packs to school. :-( Oh well, so here he is about to get in the car this morning with his new lunch box. He had a great day and didn't so much as bat an eyelash when I dropped him off!

Deer Isle

Each summer my Aunt Lynn & Uncle Ed rent this beautiful house located on a small island off the coast of Deer Isle, ME for a few weeks. We were lucky enough to be able to spend two nights and a day out there with them as well as my cousins Jennie & Annie and Annie's boyfriend Sam. Unfortunately, I managed to snap very few photos of our time out there---sorry to Annie, Sam, and Uncle Ed for I have none of you guys!!! We had a fantastic time relaxing, eating lobster (yummy!!!), and playing games in the evening. Thank you again from all of us for a wonderful time - upon our return home, we all commented on how we should have stayed an extra day! Maybe next summer and then Jay can come too!!!! We missed you sweetie!!

Here is one view of the house - it is an absolutely beautiful home with ocean views out of almost every room. The island where the home sits is privately owned and only accessible by car at low tide (otherwise you have to use a boat) and even then you literally have to drive across the beach to get out there! Needless to say, the minivan didn't make it out to the island!! :-)

Another view of the house from down at the beach during low tide.

The babies enjoying breakfast in the dining room.

Great Aunt Lynn, Aunt Jennie, & Jack searching the sand at low tide for beach glass. Jack spent virtually every waking moment outside either on the beach or exploring the island. Thanks to Great Aunt Lynn for taking him to the garden to pick vegetables...which he then actually ate!!!! Amazing. :-)

This is a view of the beach just below the house during high tide.