May and June

Here is the last round of pre-#3 pictures. These are rather out of order, but maybe that will help you experience our whirlwind of activities in a more realistic fashion! June pics are first, then May. Enjoy!

Even David can climb this wall now!

There goes monkey Josh too.

Ready to go.

What? A playdough sandwich at the pool? Not exactly.

Joshua loves to paddle about in this ring.

David likes it too but not so much in the pool.

WWII flying ace.

Another handsome fearless flyer.

Rrrr...rings.

All the above photos are from our weekly pool day at a wonderful friend's lovely home. Rachel thank you so much for providing this incredible time for our family on a weekly basis! Look forward to coming back with the little one next month!
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A family in our care group invited us over one afternoon and the boys had a great time playing in their yard, as seen below:

Slip'n'slide...

Ker-splash!

During a recent family fun night, we broke out the children's golfing set that Chris's aunt and uncle passed down to us. I have to say it was the best golf I've played in years. I think I aced every hole but one. Chris told the boys not to smile because golf is serious, but I didn't get the message. =)

Our harvest, about 8 lbs. Not quite as many as I hoped but quite enough to enjoy for a while.

Hot, tired, and happy strawberry pickers.

Josh and David with friends Sam and Matthew

We vacuumed and rearranged the van to install the baby's seat. Joshua has the back to himself now and seems to be enjoying it despite the more limited view.

For one family fun night we practiced a magic trick called "The Floating Egg."

Can you guess how it's done?

They won't tell, and neither will I.

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Memorial Day Parade, Washington D.C.

Joshua helped carry gear since I was so pregnant. I put their bathing suits on because we were anticipating getting to play in the fountain we've enjoyed before, but this year, alas, it was off. A pity too because it was quite hot!

But that didn't diminish our enjoyment of the parade.

In addition to all the various bands and floats, some new things this year included:

A model motor torpedo boat,

a fighter plane,

and the space shuttle.

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On May 28th, the day after skating, we went with friends to the butterfly exhibit at Brookside Gardens. We were amazed! So many gorgeous butterflies everywhere we looked, flitting freely around a large greenhouse. Here are a few examples:

They will even land on you!

Challenge: Spot the butterfly causing this crazy reaction!

These were so beautiful but difficult to catch resting with their wings spread. Joshua pointed out this one to me.

Daniel, in the middle, is a super active kiddo who gave a daring butterfly the ride of its life when it rested in his hair. For some reason, maybe shock, it wouldn't let go and fly away! I had been telling Joshua and David that if they stood still and waited maybe a butterfly would land on them. They did so for about 10 minutes with no result. Then Daniel ended up with that one on his head for a good 5 minutes, all the while jumping and running and bouncing around! I guess my philosophy about attracting butterflies isn't exactly correct.

After the butterfly house we went through the outdoor gardens and Joshua found this feather, which the other boys quickly coveted. Here David is having a turn with it. Thanks J for sharing your feather!

Then we headed to the children's garden, where Joshua tried life as a gnome.

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Still riding multiple times a day if time and weather permit.

And building Lego creations in between rides.

Race car.

Tractor with lawn mower attachment.
It is so wonderful to see his creative powers developing!

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Inspired by children's cookbooks, Saturday morning pancakes took on a slight variation one morning.

The boys came downstairs and were thrilled to see their names in pancake!

Just a tip if you want to try it, we used the turkey baster to squirt out alpha-numeric pancakes on the griddle and it worked really well!

Continuing the fun food theme, when we babysat some other boys overnight we made personal pizzas, and these were the kids' creations. David's has the upside down mouth on the lower left, and Joshua's is the most symmetrical on the lower right.

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May 26th, Last Day of Preschool!

The school year zipped by incredibly fast.

Last day on the school playground...looks like Joshua made the most of it!

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A friend invited us to go ice skating May 27th. Nevermind that I was 8 months pregnant, it sounded like a great opportunity, so we went! Renee came along to assist and I couldn't have done it without her. Being a careful (some might say over-careful) mom and to help the boys not be as afraid, we put their bike helmets on in case of crashes.

Joshua edging along near the wall.

David skating with our friend. Her son was confident enough that he didn't mind letting go of her for a few minutes!

A natural reward: watching the zamboni at the end.

Below see footage of Joshua in the pool:

And of Joshua describing his playdough creation:

Some day we'll get some movies of David posted! I don't have any recent ones. But with this new little guy coming on the scene, I expect the camera to be seeing plenty of action in coming weeks.

At the doctor today, I found out I am 3 cm dilated! He'll be here any time now...

Richmond

Well, the wedding has dominated the past couple of weeks and rightly so, but it's time to wrap up our vacation post before it is ancient history. We spent the last day in Richmond, where we got to spend an evening with my dear college friend Virginia and her husband Charles, who, FYI, recently published a book - pretty impressive!

Maymont Park

The next day we traipsed through one of our favorite city parks, right up there with Como Park in St. Paul, Central Park in NYC, and Wheaton Regional right here at home.

There were lots of cute baby goats to see, along with their parents and some sheep,

as well as a zoo that includes a black bear, bison, and bald eagles.

After you wander through beautiful gardens, cross the stepping stones, hike up to the waterfall, and then climb up the hundred or so stone steps beyond, you get to this gorgeous garden with a trellis walk just made for wedding photos. Then we cut across hills and over rustic bridges like the one below to finally circle back to our parking lot, where we threw open the cooler and guzzled juice boxes like we had just crossed the Sahara.

Were we on a mission to get the kids tired out? I'm not sure we actually intended to wear out the boys, but they walked probably a couple of miles in this place in fairly intense heat. But I wasn't content to stop there. I knew they would just love...

Tredegar Iron Works & Belle Isle

And they did. The machine pictured at right made little pieces of iron that connected two pieces of rail, and another machine made railroad car wheels. They were quite impressed. We surveyed these relics while Chris parked the car a long way away. David fell flat on his face while we were crossing the street - thankfully no cars were coming! - and then fell again on the other side - fortunately right into a thornless blackberry bush, which was bursting with ripe berries for the public picking. That cheered him up right way! I couldn't believe it, such a thing seemed very un-American (why wasn't somebody profiting from these berries!) but we thoroughly enjoyed them until Chris caught up to us.

Then we called upon the little legs to keep on trucking, over this pedestrian suspension bridge which dangles between a car bridge and the James River, to Belle Isle,

which the boys apparently thought was called "Belly Isle" as Chris observed.

The rapids viewed from rocks in the midst of them were arrestingly powerful as usual.

Naturally we did not let the boys go near them and instead bade them cool their feet in the somewhat stagnant water pooled among the rocks.

By the time they had walked back across the bridge and part of the way to the van, this refreshment was long since forgotten. I had meanwhile trotted up a huge hill to the van to bring it back to meet Chris and the boys. He definitely had the easier part walking down hill earlier! And we once again were drenched in sweat and quenched our thirst with juice from the cooler. Multiple juice boxes on one day is definitely a sign that we are on vacation!

And indeed, the boys were completely tuckered out. It was a good day, and a good way to end our trip. We're thankful for lots of great family memories and quality time together.