Doing the DC Tourist Thing

The sharp-shooter and I had our eyes on each other. Kind of creepy. We were stuck in rush hour traffic as we were driving passed the white house. Marine 1 flew over us and landed in the white house's backyard. There was a reception of people waiting. I assume it was the president that got off, but we were too far to tell who it was. It was pretty cool to watch though. The air traffic in the DC area in general is worth a mention also. There was a constant hum of huge helicopters and huge planes. It was almost unreal.

Paul posing in front of the Lincoln memorial with the Washington Monument in the background. We ate our lunch on a bench by the reflecting pool. Apparently it is a popular spot for people to exercise. It was constant. I felt like I was on the sideline of a race.

My mom and grandmother

Paul and Caleb trying out the pilot controls at the Air and Space Museum. Did you know that all the museums in downtown DC are free? We would have done more if the kids had let us.

This was the coolest frozen yogurt place I have ever been to. FroZenYo. I wish denver had one.

So you pick up a bowl and put as many flavors as you want in, and then you go to the toppings buffet. You pay by the ounce. It was delicious, cool, and surprisingly inexpensive! A must for anyone visiting DC.

Of course the kids loved it.

And I can't forget to mention the highlight of the entire trip, the Boise State vs. VA Tech football game. It was a blast! GO Broncos! I have never seen so many drunk people in my life.

Visiting Great Grandma in DC

Our trip to visit my grandmother in DC was mostly put into motion because she's not able to do yard and house work anymore. I went out to help my mom and my Uncle Dee do some clean up. Our main focus was the yard. We did do a little playing while we were there too.

Backyard before

After

A benefit of having a house that my kids loved.

The mosquitoes were absolutely awful. We were covered with bites. Caleb had 17 just on his face. The kids had a difficult time sleeping unless they were dosed with Benadryl. My mom and Uncle Dee got poison ivy on top of the mosquitoes. I am glad the kids sidestepped that one.

We went to a farm and the kids got to feed chickens, ducks, and pigs. They had good time with all the farm animals.

Camping with Grandpa

Pat's dad came to visit in July and to help us move. We had some good times. We went camping and we had the place to ourselves. Well, we had to share it with some cows, but other than that... Camping mid-week is definitely the way to go if you can swing it.

Beautiful country

Caleb had so much fun playing in the dirt. Man was he dirty. Paul, on the other hand, went through an entire package of baby wipes trying to stay dirt-free.

Much needed daddy time.


So the camera was lost for a while. I had unpacked all the boxes from the move, and still no camera. The only place I hadn't looked was in the camping gear, and our most recent camping trip was the last time I remembered having it. I waited to look there as a last resort because we have a lot of camping gear. I did find it there eventually in my hiking Camelbak though. I found it just in time for our trip to Virginia. Yeah!

We Moved!

We are all moved into our new place. We didn't move far, just a couple of miles, but a move is a move and short moves take just as much packing and effort as across state moves. I am glad it is pretty much over with. I love our new place! We doubled our square feet, and it has proven itself life altering. It is amazing what space can do for my well-being. The kids will go downstairs and play while I do something, anything else. There are a few negatives about the place, but the positives outweigh by a long shot. When we went to pick the keys up to the place it was mid afternoon and I made a comment about how hot the house was. The owner replied, "Yeah, this is about as cool as it gets midday in the summertime." WHAT? Yeah, there is no A/C. SURPRISE! I guess I forgot to ask about that one. That will soon be remedied. Anyone know about good window unit A/C's?

This summer has been crazy busy. Things are starting to wind down a bit now; maybe I should schedule some things...just kidding. I think I need a little down time actually. Just enough time to go to Wash DC in a couple weeks. I am really excited to take my kiddos to Virginia to meet family they've never seen.

I have a bunch a photos, but I haven't been able to find the camera since we moved in. It's either in a box or someone put it away really well.

Playing with Dad

Second Child Syndrome

So, I am the typical parent where the second child's picture is taken a fracture of the amount the first child's was taken. So I have been trying to take more pictures. I still don't like Vista, and it is a huge deterrent for me to update the blog. Well, enough of the excuses. Here are a few pictures...

Going for a little hike. The kids love to get outside with dad. We have some trails not too far from our place.

Lately Paul has been making faces whenever I try to take his picture. It makes it difficult to get good ones, but he sure is a fun kid.

Paul and his new picture face.

We took grandma to a baseball game and saw the July 4th fireworks. It was a great show.

Cheese!

This is Caleb asking to go outside even though it was raining. "Maybe if I make the most desperate face I possibly can she'll give in and say yes."

Look at that sweet face!

Paul's new found love, baseball. Thanks to The Sandlot he has also picked up on some bad language. Say good-bye to that show for a very long time. :(

Birthday Boy

Paul had his fourth birthday. A couple weeks ago I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he replied, "a bird cake with a fox on it." HUH? I couldn't determine if this was something he saw walking by a bakery in a grocery store or if it was from his imagination. So I took him to a bakery and let him flip through the cake binder. He wanted every cake he saw, naturally. No bird cake in the binder though. He was stuck on a Tinker Bell cake (heaven help me I'm thinking) until he saw Spiderman (my saving grace). Spiderman it is, and the cake was so easily duplicated that I decided to do it myself. TA DAH!

Spiderman party with sticky hands, silly string, and rubber spiders. The kids were happy, and Paul had a blast. After all the kids left the party Paul was complaining that he was cold. The only times that happens is when he's sick. Sure enough he ran a fever for the next few days. Poor kid sat on the couch not feeling well on his birthday. At least he had a good time at the party.

Red Handed

I found Caleb hiding with a nearly empty bag of chocolate chips. The little sneak retired to that little spot several times during the day with his blanket and bear. I thought it was rather cute until I realized the real reason why he was hiding there. He's a sly one.

Some other tidbits on Caleb recently is that he is finally saying daddy "deedee" and mommy "meemee." He was saying mama before, but finally figured out daddy and then mimicked the sound for mom. It is so endearing to hear your own child start speaking.

Caleb likes to stick things in his ears. He has a fetish. The other day he had dryer lint stuffed into both ears. Nothing has gone in that can't come out yet, thank heavens. His favorite things to put in his ears are long skinny objects like crayons, Q-tips, and bobby pins. I open my bobby pins with my mouth and I can think of very few things that taste worse than ear wax.

I Turn My Back For Two Minutes

The other day Paul came to me while I was blow drying my hair. This is nothing new. My kids always want to tell me something as soon I close the bathroom door to shower, go to the bathroom, blow dry, whatever. There is some sensor that says "Mom's busy," so they decide to need an extra amount of attention. Anyway, Paul came to me frantic not able to complete a sentence. So after several attempts to tell him I'll be done in a couple minutes I give up and look into the problem. I find Caleb on top of the high counter with a lolly-pop. I had forgotten it was up there, but Caleb didn't. He wheeled his Cozy Coupe into the living room, climbed on top of the car, and got on to the counter while I was drying my hair. I have two very good climbers.

Good News!

Some really good news about Pat's work. We have been anticipating a transfer to another city for Pat to take a promotion. He was offered an interview in Texas when Denver came back and offered a promotion for him to stay in Denver that was too good to turn down. So we are here in Denver for another two years. Staying in Denver means that we don't get a "backyard house" quite yet though. We are excited that we won't be moving right when my brother moves back, and we also love all our friends here in Denver and it would have been hard to say goodbye. So we're staying put for now.

Congratulations Pat! Here's a little shout out to my husband. I love him so much. He is such a kind and patient man. Thank you for working so hard for our family.

Easter

We had a couple Easter Egg Hunts prior to Easter day, which the kids loved, but when it came to Easter morning they were hunted out and I ended up collecting the eggs around the house (full of candy) later that day. It was somewhat of a letdown for me. I anticipated two sets of excited eyes searching the house and getting hyper off of too much candy. Oh well. Our highlight this year was the egg dying instead. The kids loved it. Caleb ended up spilling and cracking eggs, but he was happy.


Lily, Paul, and Mason

Candy!

Hmm, it's a good thing he spilled orange and not blue or purple.

Cousin Chris and Sarah


That week my brother and his family came to town. They were here looking for a house. They're moving back to Denver in a couple months, yeah!!!

Winter Hiking

We love to hike and a few weeks ago we had a warm spell. So we packed the kids up and went hiking with grandpa. I was hoping the snow would be melted away with all the sunny days, but to my disappointment there was still snow and a LOT of mud. We still had a good time. It's hard not to have a good time being in the mountains with your family on a sunny day.

Piggy Banks

Pat's father came for a visit and he had a pocket full of change to give the boys to put in their piggy banks. They didn't have piggy banks to put the money in, so dad and grandpa helped the boys make piggy banks out of some canning jars I had. The kids love any opportunity to paint. Thanks grandpa!

Highlights From Boise

Caleb's first movie. We went to see The Princess and the Frog as well as Chipmunks 2. Caleb's attention span isn't quite ready for the movies, but it was fun to try.

The giraffe slide at the zoo was a hit.

Just me and my grandma.

Paul is always good for smiles. I wish sometimes he moved as slow as a turtle.

My mom put one drop of food coloring in a pitcher of water and 'vuala' the kids thought they were painting the sidewalk. An easy hour of entertainment.

Cheese

What kid would turn down a popsicle in 40 degree weather? I think my kids went through 3 boxes of popsicles while we were there. Grandmas's a sucker.

The trampoline is always the favorite pastime at grandma's.

Our Little Mess Maker

Caleb has always been a good eater, but he sure can make a mess. We call him our little mess maker. I know that it has a lot to do with his age, but man this kid can whirlwind his way around the house like nobody's business. If mess making could be quantifiable like running the 100m in 9.5 seconds I think we'd have an Olympian in training.

The other day Caleb found some chocolate syrup that Pat had made for a dessert. I noticed pretty quickly, but I wanted to get a picture. By the time I got the camera he had the chocolate smeared all over his face. I took a couple pictures and put the camera down to get a wash cloth. By the time I got back to him he had quadrupled the mess, but man he was HAPPY!