A hiking adventure we will go

Before the rain could dampen the rest of the day, I dragged (almost literally) the boys out for a morning hike through the woods. With snacks, water bottles, and diaper bag in tow, our adventure ended up lasting close to 90 minutes! It was not all walking though. We of course had to stop for a snack on one of the many small bridges. Throwing large rocks that they could barely pick up and toss into the water was a must. And an occasional science lesson on how to tell the age of a tree and the fungal plates on the side of a tree.

Try not to be boring ole mom

Yes, I've begun the blogging entries again! That could mean only one thing: hubby is deployed again. And now that Blogger has an app, I'll be even more tempted to add a few entries for him to read from afar.

Today was the first weekend that it's just me and the boys. After having them in camp all week (thank goodness!), I wanted to be prepared with keeping them busy.

In anticipation of rain all morning, I searched Pinterest for ideas to do on a rainy day. However, when we woke to sunshine that meant Plan B: Get Outside!

We traveled to a nearby waterfront to explore. Along the way, we came across several hidden treasures! A walkway leading to a waterfall, a front-end loader, and a gazebo!

Looks like our first day of the weekend started off pretty good!

Who can get the most?

You can tell its close to the end of summer and fall is about to be upon us. Why? Because of all the darn horse chestnuts we have in our front yard. Unfortunately, the squirrels and the chipmunks don't like them either which leaves us to picking them up. With all the things that I have to do in the house, that's just one more thing for me to do outside. So one day after dinner, I decided we should play a game. Who can pick up the most horse chestnuts? I handed both boys a bucket that they had not played with in awhile and said, "Ready? Set? Go!" And would you believe that we had those suckers picked up in less than 15 minutes? We liked that game!

Where are you bir-bird?

For the past couple weeks we've all taken a liking to watching our little hummingbirds visit our feeders by the bay window. It's almost a relaxer of sorts sitting quietly still while our little visitor sips his drink and then buzzes away as fast as he appeared. One morning after breakfast, BBZ was insistent on pulling up a chair to wait for our feathered friend. Unfortunately our friend is a little shy, but he did greet us again at dinnertime.

A nice cold one for everyone!

So its been four weeks now since I started my little Sunday tradition of taking the boys to the track with me to go running. LMA has been a super biker and BBZ, well, he continues to throw things out of the stroller while I am running. But the best thing?? A nice cold coconut frappicino from Starbucks! For everyone!! Now who wouldn't want to go running with me?

Another one found!

I absolutely love the fact that we have been able to find new parks around in our neighborhood. And I blame it on this app: Playgrounds! We have been able to find three new parks in our area and then when I happened to be picking up something at a Freecycle house, we found another one. This one happened to have a friendly face that we've seen before at Aunt Wendy and Uncle Carl's! LMZ was super excited and couldn't wait to share the news to everyone! Hopefully we'll continue our little hunt for new and exciting places to play.

It's potty time

**I apologize in advance if you take this picture offensive, but that's what you get for stopping by here.**

We knew this time would be coming sooner or later. It's time to start getting BBZ on the potty. He's already telling me when he goes #2, most of the time, so that's a start. But when I found this Froggy Potty on Freecycle I knew it was time to start. Now when I say start, it's basically telling BBZ, "This is a potty." His reply? Oh a step stool! This one might take a while too. But hopefully with the help of LMA you never know.

Just alike

The other day I downloaded an app onto my iPod that mapped out local playgrounds and parks. Some we had ventured to before, but others I had no idea that they were there. This particular day I found one right behind our local elementary school. The boys had fun climbing on two different playgrounds and then copping a squat in the grass for a snack. The "inflight movie/entertainment"? Watching the John Deere tractor go around the field.

Time together

Every once in awhile, and they are usually few and far between, the boys play nicely. This particular day, LMA was showing BBZ his Nintendo DS. After this, they argues over who was playing with the firetruck next. Ugh!

Reset Button

Every once in awhile, especially on days that he wakes up at 0630, LMA needs what I like to call a "Reset Button". It's good to know that he can and will still take naps. Of course I can't let him sleep too long or he doesn't go to sleep at night right away and the cycle starts all over again.

Can't be comfortable

I'm pretty sure the title says it all about this post. But what does this really say about my child? Sometimes he's just outright silly.

Still going...

So this blog IS suppose to be about me, so I thought I would throw one out today that at least included me in the picture. Sort of. Last week after everyone in the house was awaken by LMA at 0630 I needed to get out of the house. Not being able to take the kids to the gym to at least get my blood pumping, I decided to hit the track. I brought LMA's bike along, even though he decided to sit on the side lines for the 30 minutes that I was running. Today was a different story. He was racing me for the first few laps, then would take a rest. Afterwards, we all stretched our legs and headed to the Farmer's Market. It was a nice start to our day.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

For awhile it seemed as though LMA was the one that was copying BBZ and following him around in desperation to get him to play. Now I see that BBZ was just watching LMA from a distance. They both sit at the table across from each other and peak under the table. They both love to sit and thumb through the books for several minutes. And clearly, they just love each other.

Just try

I signed LMA up for swimming lessons this month and next. Thankfully this year he was able to become more comfortable with moving around in the big pool. Partly because he realized this year that he had grown quite a bit from last year and was able to move around with his head way above the water level. That being said, he still would slip and disappear below the surface and come up terrified-looking. But he would always go back in for more which was encouraging to see. So when I signed him up for lessons so he could be MORE comfortable, like going under water on purpose, floating on his back, and blowing bubbles in the water, he was a little skeptical. Thankfully, he's started taking steps to putting himself under water. Maybe by next month he'll get it, but even if he doesn't he'll get it sooner or later.

Poster Child

So it turns out BBA likes Chick Fil-A. I mean, what's not to like about Chick Fil-A? You get a good nutritious meal with fruit, veggies, and chicken. You get to play, run, and climb around after you eat. And, if you are really lucky, you get an ice cream cone or share a milkshake. Or in BBZ's case, have a milkshake. This child should really be a poster child for Chick Fil-A.

My little princes

We took the boys to B&O Railroad Museum, BBZ's first visit. He was just as excited the first time LMA went here. And wouldn't be with all the trains, even in the parking lot! For Toddler Time each child was able to make and design their own crown. Little Man wanted him to be the King and Daddy and BBZ be the prince. Either way it didn't last long after this shot because the heat and humidity that day made the foam crown leave a red ring around his forehead. Thankfully it was gone the next day.

What's not to love?

I love the way this photo came out. We had taken a Harbor Riverboat Cruise in D.C. with Gramma and Pop-pop and afterwards found a nice shady spot to have a picnic. The boys of course after they finish, needed to go wander. Don't let their innocent faces deceive you though. They are a handful.

Time for a change

Wow, didn't realize it had been over a month since my last picture of the day entry. Lately, I've been adding more entries into Facebook than I have here in Blogger-land. Mainly because I have an automatic update button from iphoto... and not to mention the Facebook app on my iPod. So when I stopped by to add some entries for those of you who do not follow me on Facebook, I decided this ho-hum blog design needed a facelift.

Voila! I think it's whimsical, fun, and exciting. Not to mention it has purple in it to complement the orange background, which Little Man loves the color purple.

Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to entering a picture of the day. Bear with me while I try.

Odd places

For whatever reason, BBZ loves to hang out in our dog, Maggie, crate. I have no idea why. Normally, I would shoo him out, but lately? Well, I just don't care anymore. I guess it's just an odd place to hang out, but he likes it all the same.

Military Fun

Last week, we took LMA out of school for the day to see the Andrews Air Force Base Air Show. Although it took us a little bit longer than expected to actually get to the air show field, it was a day filled with excitement. Ever since we went to Miramar Air Force Base Air Show in California last year, BBZ just LOVES airplanes. In fact, I'm pretty sure "WOW" was his first word there. Now, it's "Oh, Wow!" and "Airpane" (yes, that is spelled without an 'l' because that is how he says it). I was thinking of staying only until 1pm or naptime, but I thought if BBZ was really that tired, he could just fall asleep in his stroller. It wasn't until 3:30pm that he finally fell asleep and only for 30 minutes! We caught up with some school friends, walked around "Texas" for a bit, and sat in a few cockpits. We will definitely be going back next year if we are still in the area!