Seeing the sights

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and presents in the last week. We celebrated together with Tim, which was a real treat.

And, it gave us a chance to explore a bit, introducing the kids to the sights and sounds of Northern Virginia.

First, we went to a petting zoo--and, the kids weren't all that interested in the animals--not once they saw the playground! And, for Jason, an open field is all he needs.



We were very glad to have Tim on hand for some much-needed help for a tired baby.



I was thrilled to be able to catch up with old friends. Cathy, Lisa, Amy, Erin and ALL of our children. And I mean ALL of them. We filled up the playground.




You know it's a good time when all the kids are unwilling to leave.



We got to celebrate cousin Danica's 3rd birthday, and as always, the boys are parked near the cake, usually closer than the birthday child, ready to pounce when the sweets are cut.



We thought we were going to miss a t-ball game by going away. Turns out there was no game scheduled, so one day, we went to my old elementary school, so Jason didn't have to miss a thing.



Michael didn't seem to mind the surroundings at all.



I know these pictures all look the same, but Jason is truly amazing us with his strength. He can go across the monkey bars; at this playground, there were three different kinds of bars, and he went across them all. Then he did some pull-ups.

Do they award scholarships for this kind of thing?




It's a good thing the boys built up some stamina early in the trip.
We ended with a metro ride to the National Zoo, and a visit to see the world famous pandas.




The boys may have interested in the pandas for about a minute. Maybe two.
But the variety of animals and the beautiful day made it a wonderful experience for us all. Just one Michael meltdown. We felt very lucky for that.




We expected, wrongly, of course, that the pandas would be their favorite stop on our trip to the zoo. Nope. Not even close.

Toward the end of our journey, down a hill after a Michael meltdown, we had the opportunity to watch a tiger in action. That was cool. It was moving all around, seemingly looking around for something, giving a sullen Michael a reason to focus. Then we realized what the tiger was looking for, when she stopped, just over the water that separates her world from ours.

She was looking for a bathroom.
And, the kids couldn't get enough.

Just ask them about it sometime.

"What was your favorite part about the zoo, boys?" we'd ask.
Almost in unison, they'll say, "When the tiger pooped in the water."

Nothing else compared.




We even did the touristy thing and took pictures by any "animal" we saw.



And every time I turned around, Jason, who turns SIX next week, kept doing this. Obviously, he's trying to measure himself against anything that is tall. Funny how all little kids do that. He is growing so fast.



And, we are growing older as well. We finished off our trip with a birthday treat with the family. Thanks, Mom and Dad. And, Happy Birthday, Tim!
We love you all very much!!!