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.

Birthday Party!

On Friday we had a little party for the twins' birthday! We had the pleasure of lots of wonderful guests for the party - Rick, Lindsay & Cate, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Pappas and Laurie & Zach too!! A big thanks to you all for enduring the heat, humidity and passing thunder shower to hang out with us!!!

The Nemo cake I ordered from the little local grocery store turned out pretty well....and tasted pretty good too!!

Here is Jack getting ready to blow out the candle on behalf of the twins. :-)

Again, sorry for the yucky picture....I fought with my camera all evening and obviously lost. Anyway, here is a cute--or rather would be cute if it was focused--shot of Jack and Cate sharing a snack.

New Friends

Jack made a new friend the other day when Mike, Tara and Liam stopped by for a visit on their way home from a trip. Jack and Liam had a great time driving Jack's power wheels jeep, eating dinner on the porch while admiring the birds at the feeders, and rounding out the evening with some Curious George and ice cream. :-)

Jack & Liam enjoying dinner on the porch. They really did carry on a whole conversation about the animals they saw while they were eating...too cute!

This is just a shot of all three kids enjoying the view of the river from the porch. We spend LOTS of time out here (Grandpa & Grandma even put some carpet down to make it more crawler-friendly)!!

One of the twins latest tricks is to bang on the glass in Grandma's china cabinet as hard as they can and see who notices.....not one of Grandma's favorite games. Don't let those innocent faces fool you...these two are ornery!! :-) (sorry for the blurry picture...having trouble with my camera)