Fireworks, Picnics and the Farm

We spent the Fourth of July at home this year. We took the kids to the Brentwood Parade. Josh loved watching the marching bands, floats and fire trucks. The highlight of the day, though, was all of the candy that was thrown! We went home with a big bag full of tootsie rolls, lollipops and peppermints.

Josh got to play in the annual family picnic softball game this year. The weather was a little questionable, but it only rained for about 10 minutes the entire afternoon. It was a lot of fun.

We've made a new discovery last week. Round Hill Farm. Joshua has an infatuation with everything farm related, so of course it was a huge hit with him. We had a guided tour arranged for MoMo, and we all had a great time. We weren't even 1/2 way home before Josh asked when we could go back again. Apparently there were several other kids who were asking the same thing, because we went back one week later.


The second trip was to feed the ducks in their pond. Of course we walked through the rest of the farm, though. All of the kids (and the moms, too!) had a really great time. The weather was gorgeous - blue skies and it was in the 70s. When we were done walking, we drove up to a grove with a playground, and had ourselves a picnic.




News from Chelsea:

In the last couple months, Chelsea has learned a lot! All within 2 weeks, she figured out how to roll over, sit up, and crawl. I was worried because she was running behind on some of these things, but she finally figured it out. She's a little speed demon now, chasing her brother down the hallway. It's really cute.

Come to Me

God saw you getting tired, and a cure was not to be,
so He put his arms around you and whispered, “Come to Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you, and saw you pass away,
and although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.




We'll miss you.

June in Review...

Joshua and I went to Soergel's for a Pony Party. He wasn't thrilled about the horses, and wouldn't ride one, but we had a good time, anyway.





They have great climbing structures, and a barn full of farm animals, and for a little boy who loves everything about a farm... it was a TON of fun.

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We went to many playgroups, park play dates, and made a trip to the zoo with MoMo


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We made our first trip of the year to camp. It was Chelsea's first time there, and I think she REALLY enjoyed the water. Joshua got to ride the tractor with PapPap, and we all enjoyed the relaxing weekend at the river.






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We had a tour of PNC Park with MoMo. We saw everything from the Press Box and VIP Lounge, to the batting cages and dugout.




Overall it was a very full month!

E - I - E - O

We spent last weekend at the farm! We started off our trip with a flat tire in Ohio. Totally unexpected, and annoying, but we lucked out. We were only about 15 minutes from Scott's cousin at work, and he put us in touch with a tire store. From the time the tire blew, until we were back on the road, only about an hour went by, so it wasn't too bad.

Joshua has been very excited about going to a real farm, and once he realized that is where we were going, he wouldn't stop chattering about it. When we finally got there, he didn't know what to do first.

It was absolutely beautiful when we got there, and since the rest of the weekend was questionable, we decided to try and do as much as we could before it got dark. We headed over to the part of the farm that has the horses. Josh was so excited! We traipsed through the field - some of the grass was higher than Joshua's waist! They also had a few pigs, which have become Josh's new favorite animal.



From there we went over to the cow barn. There were plenty of tractors there to crawl on, mud to squish through, and hay to feed to the cows. There's a trampoline near by, and Josh learned how to "Jump High!" After we tore Josh away from there, we headed up to the pig barn. He ran up and down the aisles between the pens, and was super excited.



Saturday we went to Velvet Ice Cream Company. We took cheerios to feed the ducks, then went in for ice cream. Josh was more interested in playing than in ice cream, so afterwards, we played in the playground behind.



For supper, we had a cookout at the farmhouse. Most of the family came down, and we were able to catch up with everyone. The kids made use of the swingset and the trampoline, and even crawled on top of some hay bales. It was a really nice evening.

Sunday morning, we visited all of the animals one more time before we left. Joshua was very upset we had to leave.

Josh starting asking when we're going to go back. He understands that it's far away, and we won't go again until next year, but it doesn't stop him from asking! I've been taking him to the Game Perserve, and we have a trip to Round Hill Farm planned in a couple weeks. Hopefully that will be enough to hold him until Spring!

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures, you can view them in the Farm Album.



In other news, Chelsea has her first 2 teeth! The first one broke through last Tuesday, and the 2nd on this past Wednesday. She has the cutest little grin! If you look close, you can see them.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! We're only half way through the day, and the kids are sleeping, so I thought this would be a good time to update the blog.

We spent the morning at the National Aviary. We always enjoy ourselves there, and today was no different. We timed it perfectly, we saw 2 feedings, as well as the "Flights of the North Shore" presentation. I was actually able to help feed. It was pure luck Scott got this picture when he did, but I think it turned out great!




This was actually the 3rd time I've had the kids at the Aviary in the last couple months. We purchased a membership back in March, and we have been trying to go often, to take advantage of the savings. Joshua LOVES the birds, and is always excited to go. It only takes about an hour to walk through, and that includes one or two presentations. Afterwards, if the weather is nice, we'll walk through West Park, and look at the ducks in the pond, and have a picnic lunch. There is also a playground we'll play on before we head back to the car. It is a nice way to spend the morning, and it's perfect for the attention span of a toddler and an infant.

We have a lot of fun things planned for May and June already! We have memberships to the Zoo, Aviary, and Children's Museum, so we'll be spending plenty of time there, I'm sure. We've started our weekly walks in South Park with MoMo, and we are signed up for some fun playgroups and field trips, too.

Scott has relatives who own a farm in Ohio. We'll be making a trip to stay there for a few days, soon. His parents, and Aunt are going to join us, as well. They have cattle, pigs and horses... and most importantly: TRACTORS! Joshua is very excited about the trip. Every morning he asks me if today is the day to go see the tractors. I made a calendar, and every morning we mark off the day before, and count how many more days until we leave for the farm. I'm not sure he actually understands the meaning of time in days or weeks, but he likes to cross off the days.

I'll update again in a week or two - there will be lots to talk about!

Looks like spring is here!

We have had some wonderful weather the last couple weeks! We are spending as much time outside as we can!

We made a trip our first trip of the summer to zoo! Josh was thrilled, because we had a special treat of seeing an elephant get a bath. He talked about it for days! For Chelsea, this was the first time she was actually awake while we were there. She seemed to enjoy it, as well.

We went to cousin Brooklynn's house for her birthday party! Josh (with the help of his Daddy) learned how to climb a tree. He was absolutely thrilled sitting "up high." Me? Not so much.

One of our playgroup friends arranged a trip to a local Fire Dept. Josh was thrilled. He wore his Fire Fighter coat, and was so excited to sit in the seat. He still talks about "touching a Fire Truck!"

The next day we made use of our Aviary membership. Other than not being allowed to throw pretzels to the ducks, Josh enjoyed himself. We were lucky enough to be there on the same day as a school trip, and we saw a special presentation on their penguins.

Yesterday was the first birthday party for our playgroup. We had over 200 people there from all over the area. It was so much fun. We have been planning it for almost 4 months, and it was wonderful to have it finally be happening, and have it be perfect! I honestly can't believe we've been a part of MoMo for over a year already. I'm not sure what I did without them!

April Showers...

...haven't stopped us! We have been taking advantage of the warm weather, and have been outside quite a bit. We have a lot of playdates in the park scheduled, a trip to the zoo coming up, as well as the 1st Birthday Party for our Playgroup!

We made a visit to the Children's Museum for the first time! We enjoyed it so much, we opted to purchase a membership - the plan we purchased includes membership to the Aviary as well, so we'll be making some extra trips there, too! Josh really enjoyed the waterplay area at the Museum - and thankfully I had been given the heads up to bring an extra change of clothing!

Thanks to one of our MoMo friends, we've discovered a new park! There is an awesome climbing structure with slides and tunnels that Josh adores. We're planning on playing there a lot this summer!

To help celebrate the coming of spring, we decided a trip to Sarris for ice cream was in order! 9 MoMo's and their kids met for lunch first, then we all trekked over to the best chocolate factory / ice cream parlor in the area. We had a lot of fun. Josh and I shared a hot fudge sundae. If you had asked Josh, you would have thought it was Christmas all over again. He REALLY enjoyed it.

After our ice cream, we were able to visit with friends we hadn't seen for awhile. They've added a new addition to the family, and are starting to get back into the swing of things. Josh's little girlfriend Ella missed him a lot!