ABCs...6 months ago

Could it be?  Could I finally have wireless internet fast enough to upload videos to the blog?  Giving this one a shot from back in December!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day with my cuties!  We had a delicious brunch at PJ Skidoos, which is the new favorite meal among the under 7 crowd here in our house.  We spent some time at the park later in the afternoon just soaking up the fantastic weather!  I could not be more thankful!

National Zoo

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.  How about you, you, you?  You can come too, too, too.  We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

This was a big adventure including lots of train riding, walking, eating, and playing.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed this lovely Spring day.  The kids favorite part of this beautiful zoo is the prairie dog tunnels.  Not necessarily any one particular animal, but playing in these plastic tunnels.  Everyone was ready for bed by 7pm this night.

Frying Pan Farm Park

These little baby goats were my most memorable part of Frying Pan Farm Park.  The kids would rate the carousel and playground higher on the list, but those new baby goats were simply adorable.  This park is part of the Fairfax County Park District and boasts farm animals, a historic Herschell carousel from 1918, wagon rides, and a large indoor/outdoor area for showing horses.  I'm sure there is a lot more to see but for our first afternoon visit, we saw plenty!

Camping

Brad and Alex completely embraced their first camping trip with the Cub Scouts in early May at a local park's campgrounds.  They had a great time and I see quite a bit more camping in their future.  He loved spending time with his new buddies and sleeping outside in his new tent with Dad.  I think the campfire was his favorite part, or maybe it was making the coke bottle rockets.  Either way, the only negative he mentioned the next morning was "it's kind of uncomfortable sleeping on the ground".  And he's probably right.  Brad said Alex did not want to get out of his sleeping bag in the morning as he was so nice and warm.  We are so glad he had a positive first camping experience!  That said, Brad has signed on to lead Alex's Wolf Den in the fall as there are so many boys they need to split from one den to two!

Lots of Grandmas!

Brad's Mom and Grandma (Gigi) visited from OH last week.  Our move to Virginia has simplified travel on Brad's side of the family tremendously as we all live in the same general area now.  They were able to see all of us at once and it was great having everyone over for dinner a few nights.  We had lunch across from Brad's office one day, which is not far from our new house here.  They were able to visit Jackie out at the winery where she works one day and happily walked Alex to and from school each day.  We even threw Alex a little surprise early birthday party one night!  Abby had a pile of stuffed animals needing repair and Grandma was happy to serve as the doll hospital.  She also enjoyed teaching Gigi and Grandma all about the iPad.  Between Grandma Eileen's visit last month and Grandma/Gigi's visit this month, our flower beds out front and on the side of the house have never looked so clean!  Grandpa's coming next week and I know Brad has a decent size list to tackle with him as well :)  We are certainly thankful for all the helping hands!

RISK!

 A few Sunday's ago, Brad and Alex played hours and hours of the game Risk, while Abby fought off the stomach bug.  She was back to her pleasant, happy self again by dinnertime, so Brad conceded victory to Alex.  For the record, none of the three of them changed out of their pajamas that day.