Random Randomness

A fun morning at the playground!

Hiking with My Buddy Selfie :)

Local watering hole

A little after-bath, pre-dinner teeth brushing and green bean snack!

A fun Friday evening in our house!

ROAR!

Tiger brothers

Big Brother Tiger!

Ahoy! Pirate Cruise

About a year ago I bought a Certifikid deal for Boomerang Pirate Ship, and we finally got around to using the coupons!  This was week #2 of a Just Jackson activity (last week he went to see "The Lego Movie" with Josh in the morning, and then they went to see a reptile show at the library the same night).  We left Graham at home with Alyssa and Ashley babysitting, we picked up Josh at work, and we headed to Georgetown to catch the pirate ship!

Patiently waiting

The crew was quite good for the boat, but Lovely Lindsay and Crazy Keegan were quite the entertaining duo as they led the on board activities.  The first thing they did was learn some pirate words.  

It was hilarious watching this crew of kids repeat, "Shiver me timbers!"

We did have amazing views as we sailed on the Potomac, but this was not a typical sightseeing cruise ;)

Pirate tattoos by Crazy Keegan were next!

Followed by face painting by Lovely Lindsay!

He's an authentic pirate now!  

The plot of this Treasure Hunt Cruise was Junkyard Josh stole the keys to the treasure chest!  Of course, the three of us got a huge kick out of the villain being named Josh! 

 Junkyard Josh came cruising around two times, and during those times the water cannons on the sides of the boat turned on full blast.  The kids got to man the cannons and spray Junkyard Josh in an attempt to get back the keys.

It was pretty warm, so we think Junkyard Josh had a great job ;)

Checking for Junkyard Josh--the second time he came around, the kids wore him down with the water, and we got back the keys :)

Once the keys were back on board and the treasure chest opened, each pirate got to choose two pieces of the loot!  Jackson got two "gold coins."

There was a super cute line dance, which of course, Jackson got into just as it was ending..

My fierce pirate :)

And, of course, a little limboing to end the cruise!  LOL

We had such a great afternoon!  I would highly recommend this pirate cruise as a special family outing!  There was another coupon deal run this summer, so if you keep your eyes open, I'm betting you can get a good deal.  For out-of-town guests or a super special thing, it would be worth paying full price!

Jackson and his TWO Wheeler!!!

I honestly cannot believe I'm posting this blog!  Jackson has been pretty excited about bike riding ever since we moved here, but he hasn't craved it like I thought he might.  Right when we moved in, he used to stand at the window watching Reagan and Avery ride around and around the cul-de-sac.  I had visions of him riding around and around and being content.  It never occurred to me that training wheels were not-so-conducive to fast and fun bike riding.  Jackson talked about riding a two-wheeler periodically, but he said not until he was ten.  We just let that go since there was really no hurry.  Well, a couple weekends ago, our neighbor, Sage, learned to ride pretty quickly, and I just casually told Jackson this.  He first said that was cool, but he still wanted to wait until he was ten.  A little later, however, he said he thought he might be ready to learn.  That weekend was hot and busy, so we didn't get to it.  He kept mentioning it, and finally the other night, Josh just decided to try it after we took a family walk.  The weather was gorgeous!  I went inside to put Graham to bed, and when I came out about 15 minutes later, he was pretty much all set!!!  I could NOT believe how quickly this process went!  The best part is, Jackson is super proud of himself, and we can tell he really knows how proud we are of him :)  Josh taught him in the street, but he's back on the sidewalk handling all of the curves like a pro.  He asks to go out and ride his bike ALL. THE. TIME now!!!  Graham is pretty happy to pick a riding toy out of the garage and follow along, so they are happy as clams :)

Where to Wednesday Fun!

We had our first visit of the season to Waterworks Waterpark!  We discovered this park last summer during their special 5 and under morning playtime.  For a series of Wednesday mornings, the kid area of the waterpark is open from 9-10:30 just for children 5 and under and their parents.  The rate is discounted, and parents are admitted free.  SCORE!  It is always a bit of a bummer when kid-oriented places charge full admission for parents too--that makes some outings SO expensive!  Sadly, last year, we were only able to make it to one of these special playtimes.  This year, we are hoping to make it to a few!  

We had some friends meet us, and all of the kids had such a good time playing together!  Jackson was AMAZING!  He took Graham everywhere with him and was so helpful--I was so proud of him!  His good behavior was reinforced with a milkshake later :)

I actually got to stand and talk to my mom friends since this area really is perfectly designed.  Graham can do just about everything on his own (he was wearing a Puddle Jumper the entire time), but the "big" kids are super entertained too!  We were all impressed with the number or lifeguards on duty.

This tongue slide is a huge hit! 

After we finished at the waterpark, we hit the library for our weekly summer reading program check-in and to grab some new books.

A new helper at the book return :)

And, in the afternoon, it was time for out last afternoon playdate with the Wolfe girls.  Sniff, sniff!  I will always remember the day I really met Hallie.  She was walking Izzy and Mary in the double stroller, and I stopped her to chat.  Mostly I was intrigued that there was someone who just liked to walk around the neighborhood like I did!  I'm pretty sure it was shortly after that meeting that I blurted out I was pregnant with Graham (it was right after Halloween, and I was confessing how I was mooching Jackson's candy--it was too bad he had a preggo mama at Halloween time!).  She just has that kind of personality where you feel comfortable talking.  We became fast friends, and we were outside playing in one of our yards almost every afternoon after naptime.  During our friendship we both got pregnant and added one more kiddo to our houses, and Graham and Violet have been adorable and hilarious friends ever since!  I will miss having Hallie to catch up with on a daily basis and to do Girls' Nights with.  The next adventure for the Wolfe Family begins in August in GERMANY!  Thank goodness for Facebook, Skype and e-mail--I can't wait to follow along with their adventures and hear all about life abroad!  Jackson will be stoked to get international mail--we are hoping for a little pen pal action :)

So sad to say our third goodbye to a wonderful friend, but I am so excited for this next step for them!

On a lighter note, we noticed the butterflies had realized our butterfly bush was in full bloom!  Jackson loves checking out the butterflies!  The one in the picture below was drinking nectar, and we could actually see that when we got up close!  Ah, nature at it's finest!

Coloring, Junior Rangers, and Team Toni

Just a cute picture of the boys coloring before we took Jackson to camp!

Jackson completed a four-day Junior Ranger camp at Leesylvania State Park.  He LOVED it!  Each day they hiked, did a craft, played at the playground, and checked out various animals.  This picture is from a little closing ceremony they did where each camper received a certificate proclaiming them Junior Rangers and a t-shirt and a badge to iron on.  

Right after Jackson's Junior Ranger ceremony, we hurried back home to catch the last of the sno-cone party for Toni.  Toni and her family had just moved to their new duty station, but Toni was in a pretty serious firework accident on the 4th of July, so they were back in this neck of the woods seeing doctors and taking care of other things.  We were SO happy to get to visit with her and her mom, and to hug them in person :)  We put together a bag of goodies to keep her in good spirits while she works on her recovery.  We are sure going to miss her smiling face around the street!

Ashley, Toni, Jackson, Alyssa, Graham, Violet, Izzy and Mary

The girls are wearing pink t-shirts that have a special "T" emblem on them to represent Talon's Team Toni!  We are so glad our friend will be ok :)

Fourth of July with a Little Taste of "Home!"

When the Kennedys asked us if we were interested in going to the Cubs game when they were in town to play the Nats, we said, "Sure!!!"  This was months ago, so who knew we would get such a gorgeous day???  It barely broke 80, and there was a pretty nice breeze all day!  

Situated in our seats!

Even better, Mrs. MacHenry was at the game!!!  We knew she is an avid Nats fan, and that she likes to go to lots of games, so we were hoping she'd be at this one!  We took a little field trip over to her section to meet her, and Jackson was SO excited!  I hadn't told him where we were going when we left our seats  :)  Here they are in their opposing t-shirts ;)

We all made it through the 7th inning, but then we decided to move the fun to the Kennedy house!  Josh has Graham on his shoulders, and Craig has Donovan on his shoulders.

Resting up before more playtime!

Cute lil' Cubs fan!

Future swimsuit model?

Craig and Bianca had the pool set up, corn hole to play, tons of food to eat, and a wonderful yard to enjoy the day and good company :)

Pool-break selfie!

Muah!

The Original Snuggle Buggle :)

Almost sitting in order--Graham (2) and Hunter (1 1/2) should be switched.  Donovan will be 4 soon and then Jackson is 5 1/2.  

Popsicles to end the fun day (so far)!  

My original plan was to be home around 6:30 so we could lay Graham down for bed at his usual time, and let him nap for a couple of hours before getting him up and taking him to fireworks.  But, as I suspected, we were having such a good time with the Kennedys that we didn't want to leave :(  We finally tore ourselves away, and we pretty much just swung by the house to grab a blanket and went right to the fireworks.  Graham did snooze a bit on the way home, so he was hanging in there, but we could tell he was a little befuddled as to why he was still awake and not in bed.  LOL  We scored an invite with the Walburgers to go see some great fireworks super close!  They had invited us two years ago (when Graham was just a month old--those are some sweet memories), and it was a wonderful display with no traffic to fight :)  

We had a truly lovely 4th!  Josh and I are SO proud of both boys!  We can't remember the last time we were gone from the house all day.  They both hung in there and did awesome!  Hooray!