Birthday Parties aren't just for Kids

Before hurricane Irene came through our area we headed out as a family to Adventure Park USA to celebrate our friend Dalton's 5th birthday. The kids had a blast on the carousel, the tea cups, and the helicopters outside and then we moved inside to enjoy the moonbounce and the many arcade games.

And here's why my post is titled as it is....none of our kids were tall enough for the roller coaster so the adults took our turn on it....first the ladies (sorry no pictures or videos), then the men. They were all excited, can you tell?

Here's a great shot of all the kids enjoying the teacups....I think Carson spun everyone in his cup to death before the ride even started. I'm just glad noone threw up...we had just eaten pizza and birthday cake!

And one quick video of the men enjoying the roller coaster.

After the Zoo....

....the kids enjoyed the sprinkler....

Trip to the National Zoo

On April 19th we trekked down to the National Zoo in DC...we've begun to make this an annual trip over Matt's spring break from the school system....we go early (arriving by 9) so that we can avoid the crowds and the heat! We park at the bottom of the zoo and make our way up the steep hills so that the later part of our trip can be downhill.....less whiny kids! :) We were eating lunch by 10:30....and then had ice cream treats before we left at 12:30 or so.

One of the first animals we saw....prarie dog....good morning!

A quick stop to climb on the monkey statues.

Madison doing her impression of a gorilla.

And now for the real ones! Baby and Dad? collecting their breakfast.

A great close up.

The elephant exhibit (new)....yes you can "peek in their poop" (sort of).

A panda enjoying mid-morning snack....bamboo.

And yes even squirrels at the zoo....this one wasn't caged and the kids were enjoying sharing their lunch!

And just in case you thought Jackson stayed at home....nope!

The lion tribe....their are like 8 cubs up there with mom and dad on the right. Notice how mom is keeping her eye on the cubs and all the visitors while Dad is sleeping....how typical!

And a lone tiger basking in the sun.

And one last pose by the waterfall before heading home.

Geotrax Madness

Over the last few years we've built up our collection of geo-trax train sets. We started with two small sets that I got at a consignment sale and last Christmas we added some more track and remote control trains to our collection. On Christmas Eve Matt used our lincoln logs to build a huge train station and then built the track area around it. The kids were pretty impressed and enjoyed playing with it.
Even Target likes to act like a tunnel sometimes.

Then the kids got the mega-blocks out and had Matt help them build another tunnel for the trains to go through (top of the picture).

This Christmas we added some elevated track to our collection so more construction will be happening soon.

Decorating Christmas Cookies

I did a lot of baking a few weeks ago but had been putting off the cut-out cookies as I know how time-consuming it is...not to mention messy. But the other night I knew I couldn't put it off any longer. The kids were patient as I mixed the dough and cut-out the cookies, then for family night we decorated the cookies after dinner.
Carson shows off one of his candy canes.
Don't let the smile fool you....he wasn't very happy as he wasn't participating much in the activity since he refused to even eat one green bean at dinner....so stubborn.

Madison adds some decorations to her cookie.

Some of our finished products.

Dress Up with Friends

On a particular playdate the kids decided to get all dressed up in some of our gear. Then a quick pose for a picture. Jordis, the firefighter, Dalton, the policeman, and Carson, the army guy.

Gaver Tree Farm

Last year was the first year that we visited Gaver Tree Farm for their harvest festival and we knew we'd come back. For a small fee they have a ton of activities for families throughout the month of October....and we love that there really isn't an emphasis on Halloween. Since our kids get up early we are typically some of the first to arrive at an event that opens at 10am. We went twice this year, once at the beginning of the month and once at the end. The kids love this place and play for hours.

First a quick pose with the "cow" before we entered.
Then each posed with the "watch me grow" sign. We'll have to see how much they grow between this year and next.

Carson acts as if he owns the place sitting atop this wooden tractor.

And he poses with the pumpkins.

Besides all the activities they have a variety of live animals...goats, pigs, rabbits, roosters, turkeys, etc. The kids were eager to feed the goats and the goats were eager to be fed....especially since we were some of the first to arrive.

Carson wasn't scared a bit.

The boys could've stayed and played in this for hours....a "gravelbox" equipped with tractors and trucks. I really liked this idea better than the sandbox since it wasn't sticking all over them!

Jason enjoys a pretend ride on a tractor.

And water duck races....where the kids had to pump the water into the tubes to get the rubber ducks to move. Very cool.

A huge highlight of the place is the double barrel slides. Even the adults can join in on the fun.

A quick pose with Daddy on top of the hay mountain.

Before heading out to the pumpkin patch via a hay ride Matt took a picture of me and the kids next to the scarecrow.

Out in the pumpkin patch choosing a few pumpkins.

Another highlight of the Farm is the huge jumping pillow. It was new this year and so much fun for the kids. Here's a video to give you a glimpse into their fun.

And a quick jump into the hay.

And Carson shows off a little of his skills in the hay pit as well.

September 2010....Outdoor Fun

Matt loves to take the kids to local playgrounds on Saturday mornings to run off their energy and to give me some time at home to get things done. We have many parks to choose from in our area, many of them are less than 10 minutes away. On this particular Saturday Matt took them to Black Hills Regional Park which has 2 playground areas, a lake, and lots of woodsy areas to roam in.

They enjoyed collecting acorns this particular Saturday.

And they also spent some time down at the lake admiring the ducks and throwing rocks into the water.

That very same weekend Matt decided to have a campout with them on the deck. It grew from a one night adventure to a 3 night adventure as he was working a late shift that week. The kids had a blast. I opted out of the adventure and enjoyed sleeping in my bed!

One of the highlights for the kids was having Smores for evening snack out on the deck.