4th of July

As most of you might know, my hubby's b-day is on the 4th of July, so we always have some people over to celebrate. This was the last year he will get to celebrate being in his 30's, so next year should prove to be a more rowdy event, since he will be ringing in the big 4-0!

I got lots of party hats, glasses and tiaras for the kids, which naturally the girls and Gunner and Hudson really liked...I couldn't believe I managed to get a pic of them all sitting together at the same time!!Here is our little Uncle Sam, complete with red, white and blue shorts that Ms. Alicia brought him as a present, and which he promptly pulled down his pants, mid party, to put on. He DID look festive!

I made a purchase I have been meaning to make for a while...our own bouncy house. Now I don't have to take them to the germ filled bounce parks and overcrowded festivals until they are a little older! The greatest discovery was what a fabulous babysitter it is....parents could sit on the deck and enjoy a beer while the kids jumped away...worth every penny! This will be pulled out for every party we have!

Just to prove I actually have adult friends, here are two of my party guests & good friends, Sarah and Maren...naturally I realized I, once again, have no pictures of me!!

Hudson stylin' and ready for some pool time...

Hudson takes a swim with Mr. Terry (don't tell him he is on my blog, he hates getting his pic taken!)

Here is Gunner and his friend Michael "floating in the jet stream"...this was before Swim America scared him to death...now we can't get him to go in by himself with the vest and wings on...but he is slowly getting comfortable again...

The cake my friend Tracy baked for me...she is, as usual, the godsend regarding dessert...I can NOT bake and don't like trying...Tracy to the rescue again!!

Well, this is the last pic I have of all the kids trying to give each other rides in our wagon. I love my friend's daughter in the background, 1/2 naked and covered in paint (I had a craft table for the kids where they could make visors and paint ceramic flowers).

We ended the night with sparklers and watched some random fireworks that neighbors set off over the lake / trees. I don't have pics because my camera doesn't do well at night, and I can't figure out how to get Alicia's pictures from Snapfish to my blog...but the kids did really well with the sparklers (no burn unit injuries!) and were sufficiently tuckered out by 9:30 p.m. (all except Hudson who we put to bed an hour earlier). The one thing that we learned...if you want your kids to eat at a party, have a bounce house and pool....it was the first party where everyone was so hungry they sat still and ate their dinner! We all had a blast, I can't wait until next year!!

Busch Gardens

We had a very fun family week right before the 4th of July, Lenny took leave and we made the trip up to my parent's house, then we braved a day trip to Busch Gardens, using our once a year, military, free admission. We all had fun, despite it being a pretty hot day.


All of the rides were pretty tame, except the children's coaster, which was kind of high and definitely very fast. I don't have a pic of Gunner on this, because I couldn't get the shot, but I really kind of felt sorry for him. He looked pretty terrified, apparently he has inherited my fear of coasters, poor kid. He kept saying "I didn't like the roller coaster Mommy, I was SCARED, that was NOT my favorite".

He did really like the first ride we went on, the giant swinging "worm"...it was basically just like a smaller version of the swinging ship rides at all amusement parks, and even though I was a little nervous they would be scared (Gunner looks a little unconvinced before we start swinging), they were both giggling the entire ride.

This was the outdoor show, and one we had to watch 2 times while we were there because Gunner had to see Elmo again.

Taking a break to have some water while watching the show...Hudson is too busy watching the other rides in total awe.

Gunner was scared of all the characters up close, at first...he would not get near them without me, and it was pretty hot for those poor people in costume, so they didn't come out for more than a couple minutes at a time. This was the only pic I paid for, because he asked for a picture w/ Big Bird and then wouldn't stand next to him without me...so we both got our picture w/ Big Bird...for $15 dollars I might add...a bit of a scam, but it made him happy!

Finally warming up to Cookie Monster after following him around for a couple minutes! Luckily this pic didn't cost me anything!

Hudson and Daddy ride the seahorses...poor Lenny barely fit in the thing!

We decided to do Sesame Street rides, then take a break to cool off in the water play area (new header pic is from "Elmo's throne" in this part) before heading on to the other "kiddie" section of the park. This turned out to be a great idea, because we were just getting a little too hot, then we got wet and that cooled us down so we enjoyed the rest of the time.

Hudson not sure what to make of all those fountains...

Gunner getting water dumped on his head...

An unexpected spout of water...

Playing oh so nicely together!

Making friends...I really can't believe I ever thought Gunner would be shy! He will go up and talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime! The best part is he does not care a bit if they don't want to talk to him, he just shrugs his shoulders and moves on...I could learn a thing or two from that attitude!

The Clydesdale ride, we also got to see a few real ones which both boys liked.

Walking to the other side of the park underneath the Loch Ness Monster Coaster...this is what Gunner is looking at. I think he was afraid we were going to try to get him to ride that!

The kiddie "ferris wheel", Daddy and Hudson riding in the next car.

Gunner rode with me, and I am so freaked by heights I felt a little ill when we would get to the top, so I just kept smiling and saying "isn't this fun Gunner!" . Fortunately he didn't seem to notice!

This was his favorite ride because "red is my favorite color Mommy, and I like ladybugs"; and he kept laughing with the boy in front of him and yelling to me "Mommy, I have a new friend".

Our last stop was the giant treehouse, which both of them really liked, but we were all a little wiped by this time and decided it was time to head home until next time...

The B & O Train Museum

We went to visit my parents for a couple days and they wanted to take the boys to the Train Museum in Baltimore that I went to as a kid. It was a great idea, because Hudson loves "choo, choo" and there were plenty of things for them to climb on, explore and see.

This is a pic of us in the roundhouse. You can see Gunner's CARS backpack and metal lunchbox that he takes everywhere with him now. He has a soft lunchbox that he puts his trucks from the movie in; that goes inside his backpack. Then he puts the cars in his metal box and has to carry both with him at all times. He even has Hudson keeping his cars in another metal lunchbox which he makes him put in a little wheelie suitcase...I think Hudson just assumes that all cars must be stored this way, because he makes sure they are always put away and carries them around the house this way.

This was the boys favorite exhibit, the caboose. They had berths to climb in and a closet to crawl through. We could have spent all day letting them do just that and they would have been happy!

The aforementioned closet, it had another door they could run out of, making it even more fun...until they had to share it with some other kids!

Things look different from up here...

"This is REALLY HIGH Mommy!"

The outdoor model trains, I find it amazing that it withstands the elements and still works and looks good.

Driving the train...the best part was the bell on the front...best for THEM, not anyone else within earshot!

Grammy, Pop-Pop and Hudson play "cargo" per Gunner's request.

Driving the steam train...he looks like he is ready to jump out of the seat because the last train we saw made realistic noises that scared him 1/2 to death, so he was a little wary and kept saying "this train isn't LOUD is it Mommy?"

Hudson loved turning every knob....

Watching the indoor model trains, they loved these, we had to come back into the car twice to see them...

Mesmerized...

So that was our trip to the train museum....more activities to come.....

"Picking apples" w/ Jack, Bradley, Zach & Mikie

I have not been keeping up with this blog at all lately, so here is my first attempt at loading one of the first of our many activities over the last month....

While my friend Lynn was visiting D.C. & Virginia I had the opportunity to meet up with her, our friend Tracy, and all of our boys at the Richmond Children's Museum. The Museum was really fun and ended up being a perfect choice for a place to meet. I just wish I was able to get more pictures of the boys together! I realized when I loaded all my pictures that someone's back was turned in every one where I tried to get them together...probably because there were so many cool activities to do! They were off and running by the time I turned on the camera! I also never remember to get pics of the Moms....note to self to do that next time!

Here is the only pic I got off all three of the boys from our old playgroup together...

Hudson had a blast running back and forth over the bridge to the main part of the museum....

Getting a ride on a triceratops...we need to work on his "CHEESE" face...he looks like he is in pain in a lot of pictures lately!

Going down the stegasaurus slide...

This was everyone's favorite exhibit...the boys started off here and I didn't think we would get them to look at anything else. Gunner played with it for about 40 minutes straight. They could "pick" apples from the tree and collect them in a basket...

Then load them back into the sorter, which would replenish them by shooting them thru tubes into the open holes on the "tree"...

Sometimes the kids picked them faster than they could be replenished!

Hudson finally gets one, and proceeds to carry it around the entire Museum ...

The second favorite exhibit was the "James River" water table. Gunner loved sending things down this "slide".
Hudson was pretty wet by the time he was finished trying to figure out this fountain...

I wish this picture were clearer, I love catching moments of Daddy playing with the boys...

Bradley and Lynn playing in the little farmhouse area...Bradley looks pretty excited to be there!

Hudson finally gets to be in the drivers seat...something his brother doesn't give him the opportunity to do very often!

Catching some fish in the "pond" at the "farm"....

Daddy and Hudson join in the fun...

Hudson exploring the treehouse, I have about 10 pictures of the back of his head because he was running and climbing and jumping all over this thing faster than I could follow him. I had to laugh, because you can totally tell he is my second kid, I was letting him climb around by himself while another parent (with only 1 child) was following 2 steps behind her son of about the same age on every level and step....which is totally what I would have done with Gunner back in the day!

Playing cameraman at the "T.V. Station"....

Naturally his favorite position was IN FRONT of the camera...I couldn't get him to stop looking at himself on the screen long enough to even look at me!

Gunner's favorite exhibit was the mechanic shop...he got to put tires on a play car. His favorite characters in the movie CARS are Guido and Luigi who have a tire shop and change Lightning McQueen's tires. He kept saying "I am doing tires just like Guido Mommy".

Screwing in his first tire.....

Crawling through the cave "looking for bats"....

"Do you see any bats Mommy? They hang upside Mommy, but they aren't scary...they eat LOTS of bugs" (One of his favorite Magic School Bus books is about bats)

A dinosaur ride on the "Brachiosaurus because that is my favorite dinosaur Mommy" (as if I could forget!)

I love this pic, they all look so big in this picture, trying to figure out the echo exhibit on the way out...


I have to give all of them kudos, they did great and even sat through lunch, which was slow in arriving to the table...probably because they were all so wiped from running around!

It was so nice to get a chance to see Lynn and Tracy and have the boys play together...we were missing Tate, Grant, Calvin and Ethan...maybe one day we will have to do a family vacation somewhere with everyone!