Home Again, Home Again

On Saturday we had another low key day of playing outside on the swing set and packing to go home. After a great trip at Oma and Opa's we headed to the airport early Sunday morning. You could tell the boys were tired and they weren't the best behaved on the plane. However we all made it back in one piece. The boys have been adjusting back to life at home. I had to work Monday morning and the boys were up at 4:30 (gotta love the time change). There have been more tantrums and a lot less listening lately but I hope they will be back on track soon. They boys talk about our trip daily. If they see a picture of some tower it must be Obama's big tower. They love to tell people about the beach and they ask almost everyday when they will get to go back to Oma and Opa's house.

Big Towers

On Thursday we had a more low key day to recover from the fun day the beach. Justin and I took the boys to the mall play area to play and ride the carousel and then home for naps. The only official (meaning not in a car) they took the whole trip. After a yummy dinner at my favorite place in Maryland we put the boys to bed earl and got ready for the sights the next day.

On Friday we headed into D.C. Justin wanted to see the new WWII memorial and the boys wanted to see President Obama's house. They boys loved riding on the "train" into D.C. and as soon as we got off the train they spotted the Washington monument. Carter had to go see the big tower and touch it. From there the boys loved looking at all the fountains at the WWII memorial, however Justin probably would have liked more time there. From there we went to see the White House where the boys decided the the President had a very big yard. After some lunch we headed over to the Natural History museum and me up with one of Justin's friends from high school - Jen. Carter really liked the dinosaurs, especially the stegosaurus since he had one on his shirt that day. Tyler seemed to enjoy looking at all the different kinds of bugs. From there we headed to the Air and Space museum and Tyler was in heaven. He kept wanting to go on all the airplanes. His favorite part was getting to ride in a flight simulator. Once we were done there the boys were getting pretty tired. We said good bye to Jen and started to head back to the subway. Carter refused to walk anymore (they had been walking all day) so Justin put him on his shoulders. Within 10 seconds Carter was asleep. He didn't wake up again until we were back to where the car had been parked. Tyler also fell asleep on the train for the last 20 minutes of the ride. We got home to where the boys were almost to tired to eat and after taking Dickens for a walk they went right to bed.

Beach Day!!

On Wednesday Oma, Opa, the boys, Justin and I headed to the beach. We weren't sure how long the boys would want to stay at the beach, but we packed plenty of stuff just in case. Its a good thing we did, because the boys LOVED it. As soon as we got there and got everything set up they wanted to go into the water. The had a blast having the waves come up to their legs while Opa and daddy held their hands. It was great having four adults there as well as we could go up to the boardwalk in shifts for food and the boys could play the whole time.

They also loved the sand. They made sand angels, dug holes, and even got buried in the sand. The boys did not mind having sand all over them. Carer at one point hid a cracker in the sand and then both boys shared eating it up - yum yum. Also at one point Carter was caked in sand. Every single crevice on his face had sand on it - he couldn't even close is mouth. The best part of the sand was when they got a bucket of water to make mud. They couldn't believe we were telling them to play in the mud. After a little while Justin helped them make a sand castle. The boys thought it was so neat. Plus every time Justin would go fill up a bucket with water the boys would run after him and then run back up the hill to dump the water out. The boys played in the water a few more times and because they were so sandy they both got dunked a couple of times, and they still loved it. I would think Tyler would be crying because he didn't like the water just for him to turn around and I would see that he was actually laughing in delight.

Once we got changed and cleaned off we headed for dinner and then home where the boys feel fast asleep. I am sure glad we went to the beach. It was so much fun watching them enjoy it so much. Thanks for taking us Oma and Opa!!

Ice Age

On Tuesday we took the boys to their very first movie in a theater. We have been wanting to do this for a while but there haven't been movies that I thought the boys would like but not get scared at. I did have some apprehension with Ice Age 3, but the boys did very well. They got to sit in little boosters seats and each got a kid pack of popcorn, lemonade and a little candy. They did a great job of being quiet during the movie - only Tyler asked a couple questions. With about 20 minutes of the movie left Carter did fall asleep, but I would call it a success! Tyler liked his kid pack so much he ate every bite. When we was done with it he handed me the empty tray. He then started getting out of his seat. When I asked him what he was doing he told me he had dropped two pieces. He didn't complain when I told him he couldn't have them off the floor, but man does this boy like his treats.

Cousins!

On Sunday we headed over to Todd and Jessie's house for some playtime for all the cousins. They were having so much fun playing that my boys didn't even want to stop to eat. It was somewhat chilly as it had rained in the morning but all the kids still wanted to play in the pool. Carter only lasted a few minutes before he was to cold but Tyler kept going no matter how much he shivered. Once we finally convinced them to come inside they ate some dessert and played some more. It was so much fun seeing them all play together and to finally meet baby Asher.

On Monday,Acacia and Shiloh were so sad that everyone had to leave, so Jessie brought them all up to ply at Oma and Opa's. Again the kids had a blast. They played on the swing set, played baseball, ate popsicles in the grass, and just had a great time. Oma, Jessie and I took all the cousins to Chick-fil-a for dinner and then said goodbye to Jessie's gang. When we got back we had Tyler,Carter, and Toby watch a movie together so that all the adults could have one nice meal made by B.J. The boys did well watching the movie and we had a great dinner.

Happy 4th of July!!

We got the boys up nice and early (5 am) to head to Denver for our flight to Maryland. The boys did great on the flight, but didn't nap at all. They were so excited to see Oma and Opa once we landed. They did fall asleep on the ride home but woke up as soon as we got to there house. After some lunch Toby woke up and the boys had a great time playing together. For fireworks we headed over to a hotel that overlooks a lake. We all had a nice dinner buffet there and settled down to watch the fireworks. It was a great show and Carter really enjoyed the, Tyler however thought they were a little loud and looked away for the majority of them. We all had a very long day, but the boys were loving every minute of it.

Brothers

I know I have said it before but I need to say it again - I love how much my boys love each other and are friends. As I type this the boys are doing puzzles. Carter wants help with his puzzle (not because he can't do it, he just doesn't want to do it himself). Tyler offered to help him and the whole time saying, in a nice tone, "here Carter, be patient Carter, here Carter". When those pieces were done and Carter started whining again Tyler immediately leaves his puzzle and looks to Carter "what Carter?" and starts helping him again. Priceless.

Here are a couple pictures of what I see my boys doing the majority of the time they play - they are together. While at Uncle Wilbur Tyler ran over to Carter to point things out to him. Tyler knew Carter was a little anxious and was trying to get him to play with him. Then at home during snack Tyler decided he wanted to sit on the mat that is by the front door. Carter saw this and decided he needed to sit on the dog bed. Eventually they decided that the best thing to do was to sit on the dog bed together.