Jet Planes

On Saturday we decide to check out Gravelly Point Park. It is located just across the river from DC and just happens to be a popular place to watch airplanes up close. I have to admit that I'm sort of a jet plane junkie. I've watched tons of youtube videos of interesting landings and places to "plane spot". I've heard that there's a beach in St. Maarten where you can stand just a few feet under jumbo jets as they land. Maybe someday I will get to that beach, but in the meantime this park was plenty awesome. It's just north of the main runway for DCA, so the traffic was crazy. There were planes landing and taking off every couple of minutes like clockwork. It was super cool! I loved it!

We stayed for maybe close to an hour just watching planes, playing catch, kicking a soccer ball, and climbing trees. The noise was pretty intense so an hour was plenty. It was so neat to watch the different approaches and speeds of the planes. I really liked being right underneath them. Tough angle to get a picture, but so fun to experience. Now, I want to go to that beach even more.

                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlTNj6IWey4

Green Day

Happy Green Day! I mean St. Patrick's Day! Neil absolutely loves the color green, so today was fantastic for him! He couldn't believe all the cool green things that were going on. Someday I will tell him about being Irish and about how we actually took him to Ireland. But for now, we'll stick with the "green day".

This morning started off very Irish with a traditional breakfast of Lucky Charms. What!?!! Oh, the blasphemy. Sorry Mom. We don't like blood pudding with tomatoes. Anyhoo...those were magically delicious. The kids were really excited to dress in all their new swag from Grandma's package. Neil loved his shirt with the "green creeper". They all went off to school with special treats to share with their classes.

Then, Chris and I went out for breakfast. It was so nice to get out sans kids for a meal. After running errands, swim lessons, and shopping the kids were all home from school. Our weather was gorgeous today so we had to go play the afternoon away. It was really great to be outside and soak up the sunshine. We have to take it when we can because guess what? We have snow in the forecast again! Grr! I'm really ready for spring to take over for good.

We played outside for a long time, then came in to make our green dinner. This year it wasn't very exciting, or Irish. We had green pesto noodles with peas. It was tasty and green at least. And who doesn't love a green bath? It was a good day! Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

                                      

Hodgepodge

The last couple weeks have been all about snow. It seemed like everyday we were getting another storm. The kids had pretty much the whole week off last week. It was pretty crazy. They sure love playing in it, but I am getting a little tired of the mess.

This weekend it finally started to warm up. About 45-55 degrees with some sun. Our big snow piles are starting to melt into oblivion. Hallelujah! Bring on the sun!

One night we decided to make our own dessert. We picked up some Flake bars and headed to McD's for soft serve. Our "99's" were delicious!

For our weekend fun we headed up to Baltimore to visit the Children's Museum. We had a tasty lunch at Shake Shack and then we played for several hours. The kids had a great time running through their 3 story climbing structure and playing restaurant. They also learned how to wash windows in the water play area. I think I will be putting these skills to use in the next few weeks.

We all had a good day, although we were exhausted by the time we got home. Everyone slept well that night. 

Yesterday I chaperoned on Neil's field trip to the Planetarium at a local high school. We learned all about the planets, seasons, the sun, and the stars. It was pretty interesting and the kids had a great time.

When the kids came home from school this bird was sitting on our deck. It scared me at first. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but it sure was pretty. It had big ol talons and a hooked beak. We watched it for a long time and it just stared right back at us. It liked to stand on just one leg. I wonder if he was keeping his other toes warm? I did see the other leg, so I know he wasn't injured or anything.

Yes, more snow

Believe me, I'm sick of it too. The kids only went to school one day last week, and then today we got another few inches. The problem really is the ice. Snow starts melting in the sun, then quickly refreezes. I've nearly fallen a few times. Anyway, I'm over it. I'm so ready for spring!

At least the kids are enjoying themselves. Hopefully it will be back to school tomorrow. :)

Brr! It's cold here!

The kids finally went back to school today after being off almost a week. We did get our snowstorm on Monday evening. It ended up only being about 4-5 inches, but along with it came really cold temperatures. Thankfully it was warm enough on Tuesday to play in it.

It was a really dry snow, so no snowballs or snowmen. Things it was good for: snow angels and throwing it in the sunshine like Elsa. There was a lot of Frozen role playing going on. 

Now we are looking at more record breaking cold air coming in tonight. So chances of there being school tomorrow are looking slim. I'm a little bit jealous of all your fantastic pictures of sun and beach from the west coast. I'm ready for a little more warmth myself.

Valentine Fun

On Valentine's Day we finally had a day where everyone was healthy so we headed off to DC for an adventure.

We decided to check out the US Botanical Gardens. It was a nice reprieve from the cold to be inside surrounded by wonderful smelling flowers and plants. It was much larger than I expected and pretty interesting. We'll have to go back in the spring when they have more exhibits open.

After the walk through the gardens we went over to the Air & Space museum to check out a planetarium movie about deep space. We also walked through their area dedicated to aircraft carriers. It was a fun little outing for sure.

We rounded off our day by having pizza for lunch at Costco, taking a nice nap, going to dinner at Smashburger, and then heading home in time for the winter storm that came our way. The snow blew in with 30-50 mph winds and temperatures dropped to the negative teens. It was enough to even cancel Church on Sunday.

Today is President's Day, and we are just hanging out. We are preparing for another big storm. This one is supposed to drop 6-10 inches of snow on us. I guess this long weekend is likely to get even longer. Hopefully it won't be too cold to play in. I'm pretty much ready for spring.

Cold Winter Blues

We are still alive and well. I know it's been forever since I've posted anything. Honestly, we've just been stuck in the normal routine without really venturing out too much. With the exception of a couple nice days here and there, it's been really cold outside. Too cold to really do much besides stay in, build fires, and play games.

I did try to mix things up on a day off school and took the kids to a pump it up.  It was pretty similar to the one we had gone to in Oregon, except here they had a lot more rules. I was hoping for some relaxation time, but instead ended up managing my four year olds every move. I don't think we'll be back.

This week Neil started his very first swim lesson class. I was pretty worried about how he would do. I didn't think he'd stay with the teacher or follow any of the rules. He did have a hard time understanding that he needed to wait for the teacher before running into the water when we first got there, but otherwise it went really well. He loved it! I'm so glad that he actually participated and listened. He is really growing up. The second class went even better. 

Other than that it's just the same old thing for us. Work, school, think about houses, repeat. Hopefully soon we can get back to doing the fun things that we enjoy. Some nicer weather would help too.

The kids received packages in the mail from their Grandmas for Valentines. They were all thrilled with the goodies. (and can't wait to hit up the Dollar Tree with their crisp $1 bill)

Happy Valentine's Day!