Latest Happenings

 I haven't posted much about what we've been doing this summer. Mostly because we've been really busy. The fountain is open by our house so we are playing there a few times a week. There is also a weekly concert for kids that Calder is loving here in downtown Silver Spring.

 Our garden is growing and Calder is a fabulous gardener!

 We go to the zoo all the time and Calder loves these misting machines. You push a button and mist comes out. Genius.

 We hang out on the roof a lot. Calder likes to take our lunches up there and have little picnics. We also play a lot of tag and hide and go seek.

 More fun at the fountain.

 And more roof pictures. You can see we take reading material up there too.

We hope everyone else is having a wonderful summer! We sure are.

Father's Day & 7 Years

 I am so glad we have a day to celebrate the dads in our lives. I am so lucky to be surrounded by amazing guys. Jason is the most amazing dad for Calder. He is patient, fun and smart. He would do anything for Calder and I love him so much. And, to make the day even sweeter today is our 7th anniversary! Happy Anniversary Jason! You're the best!

 My dad is amazing. Because of the good qualities I saw in him  growing up I was able to choose my husband with similar qualities. My dad is strong, not afraid to show emotion and caring. I love the special bond he has with Calder. He will read as many books as Calder asks him to. Calder's favorite is Curious George and since we have the complete collection it can lead to very long reading sessions. Thankfully my dad is also patient. I love you dad!

Jason's dad is a great dad and a great grandpa for Calder. He is fun and loves to play whatever game Calder comes up with. He will spend hours playing basketball with a rubber ball and laundry basket, if that is what Calder wants to do. I'm glad that Jason and his dad have such a good relationship. Love you John!

Happy Father's Day!

Baltimore Boats

A few weeks ago LuAnn and I went to Baltimore with the intention of taking our kids to the Children's Museum. They were closed because it was Monday. Who knew a museum would be closed during the week? Since we had driven all that way and already fed the meter, we wandered around the harbor. There is a pretty cool boat tour that we ended up doing. We saw the submarine and a really big Navy boat. (I can't remember the name or details of it. Lu?)

Baltimore is a rather funny city. It is beautiful and has some really amazing neighborhoods, but it also has some really scary neighborhoods. I know every city has that to a certain extend but it seems Baltimore has less of a divide between the good and the bad. It also seems to have more sketchy neighborhoods than other cities. I should say, I've only been there a few times, so I could be reading it all wrong. It just seems that way to me.

Memorial Day

I have always thought of Memorial Day as a wonderful kick off to Summer. Having not had anyone in my family serving in the military and honestly not knowing many people at all serving in the military I didn't take the holiday as seriously as I should have. 

For the last year we have been living in an apartment building with a lot of very recent veterans. Most of them are missing limbs and are in rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. My eyes have really been opened in the last year. I can't even imagine what they and their families are facing and how hard their every day lives are now. My heart especially goes out to their wives. These guys are in their very early 20s and their wives are about the same. They have to do so much and I am so thankful that they are here, sticking it out with their husbands.

We've had some great conversations with some of our neighbors about the war, their recovery and their future plans. I am so glad many of them have great plans for their futures.

I'm so thankful that Calder has had the opportunity to get to know some of these guys. He now realizes and understands that those who look different than he does are still just normal people. I hope Calder's open understanding and compassion have been cemented enough to last a lifetime.

Thank you. To all those who are and have served our country. Words cannot describe my appreciation for your service.

Grandma Kate's Visit

 We just finished a wonderful week with Jason's mom. It is always fun to have her come visit. She took us to the National Aquarium which Calder loved because he hasn't ever been to an aquarium before. Honestly, it wasn't worth the $10 per person that it costs. It is really small.

 Grandma Kate bought Calder a fish. He loved showing his new fish "Oriel" all the other fish.

 At the building museum Calder gave Grandma Kate and I the job of building him a really tall house. He loved it.

 One of my favorite parks in the area is Wheaton Regional Park. I love it. They have a carousel and a little train to ride. The tickets are affordable and it is just a lot of fun.

We also went to Good Stuff. We take everyone there after we take them on the Supreme Court tour. I know I've blogged about it before. Calder even knows we go to Good Stuff after the SC. And he gets a toasted marshmallow shake.

Fire Station 1

We had a wonderful trip to the fire house for play group last week. It was awesome! The firemen were so sweet.

 We had such a great turn out.

 We celebrated Ciedra's birthday in the back of an SUV because it was raining. A lot. There were cupcakes and singing. It was so much fun.

As soon as we got home Calder had to practice his fireman skills. There was a lot of pretend 911 calling and stop, drop and rolling.

Megan & Family

 My sister Megan and her family came to visit a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful time! They stayed in the guest suite in our building which was perfect. Calder struggled with sharing his toys but was bummed when they went home. We did all sorts of fun things. Basically they wanted to do kid friendly things, so Calder loved it. We went to the zoo, the temple visitors center, the Museum of American History, the National Mall and the Building Museum. It was an awesome week.

 Since there were too many people to fit in my car we took the metro everywhere. Calder loved taking the metro to church. It took twice as long as driving but it was a fun adventure.

Thanks for coming Mike, Megan, Anessa and Jaelyn! We had a fun time and can't wait to see you next month!

Haircut Party

 Calder and his friend Abraham both had very long hair and it was causing a lot of sweaty heads. So, Abraham's mom and I decided to throw a hair cutting party for the boys. We let them watch a movie and eat candy while we cut their hair. This is a good before picture. The boys spent the morning running around a very warm park. They got dirty and sweaty and then we took them to Costco. Oh and don't you love Calder's shorts? I just got them at the thrift store. You can see more pictures here.

 Look at the fear in his eyes. Calder hates the clippers but his hair was so long I had to use it for the back and sides. I used scissors on the top.

 Abraham's mom did his and I think they both look really good! Calder loves that it is cooler on his head. He loves that he can spike his hair again.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and those of you who are mothers felt celebrated and loved. Heck, I hope all of you, mothers or not, felt celebrated and loved this weekend. 

I had a fabulous weekend. I got to sleep in on Saturday and then took my little boy to National Train Day at Union Station. It was awesome. We watched demonstrations with celebrity Chefs Michel Richard and Gerard Bertholon. They made us chocolate mousse and it was delicious. Calder's favorite thing was probably the model train exhibits. There were two large displays that he could get right up to and were right at his height. He also liked the professional hula hoop performances. Who knew there were such things but these girls were good! It looks like National Train Day is a traveling thing. They are going to Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, LA and a few other locations, so check it out.

Today was also wonderful I woke up to an awesome water color picture the boys made yesterday and a very large pot of white chrysanthemums. I love them! Hopefully they stay alive.  Calder was so excited about the picture and I absolutely love it. I can't wait to frame it and put it above my desk. 

Our ward handed out chocolate at church, which was wonderful. And Calder went to nursery with enthusiasm. I couldn't ask for a better gift. 

After nap time today we went to Downtown Silver Spring to meet Tow Mater, Lightning McQueen and the new car Finn. They are here visiting to promote Cars 2, which comes out in June. We got pictures with each of the and hopefully they will be up tomorrow so I can post them. Calder hasn't seen the movies but he is really into Tow Mater and thinks the movie is all about him. He calls McQueen "Mater's Car". 

What's Going On?

 We've been having a great time lately! I feel good (finally) and the weather is beautiful (finally). I have been trying to have more days where Calder chooses our activities. This is us riding the purple bus that goes all over Silver Spring. It is free and it goes from our house to his favorite park. We ride it a lot. I don't honestly think it is much faster, but Calder loves it and that is all that matters.

 

This is Calder's favorite park. There are so many things to do here and it is always clean. We've met so many nice kids and moms here. 

And this is Calder and his friend Jack playing in the sand box. Jack is one of Calder's dearest friends and they play so well together. I love how they work together to make a sand castle or fix a problem. I hope they can be friends for a long long time.

I'll leave you with some funny quotes from Calder. 

"You're the best mommy in the whole wide city!"

Around 10:00 this morning Calder said: "I need my daddy because I love him so much."

On the way to the pharmacy.
Calder: I want a treat at the pharmacy.
Me: Okay, what kind of treat would you like?
Calder: Chocolate milk and a bike seat.

"So, boys have a penis and girls wear tights, is that right?"

"My tummy told me we are going to make pancakes and I'm excited"

"Someday when we're married we will have a hole in our ceiling". (explanation: both of Calder's favorite friends have holes in their ceiling. It drives him nuts that we don't. One is an attic and the other one is roof access in an apartment.)

 

Grandpa John

 Jason's dad came to visit us this last week and we had a wonderful time. Calder loves all of his grandparents and gets so excited when they come to visit. It's nice to see other people adoring and doting over your kid as much as you do. 

We took Grandpa John to the zoo. Calder was determined to walk the whole way but basically made it about half way before asking to be carried. He understood that if I had to carry him he would have to ride in the stroller the next time we went to the zoo.

Grandpa treated us to ice cream. Calder slowly licked his until the very end. He doesn't like to bite ice cream. He just licks.

We went to quite a few fun museums and had a good time. John also went to quite a few on his own as well as oral arguments at the Supreme Court. 

We went out to dinner on our way home from the Native American museum at this awesome Mexican restaurant. We had an assortment of tacos and Calder had quesedilla. In fact, it worked out that he had that three days in a row. Oops. On the way back to the metro after the restaurant we stopped at Red Velvet. It is a great little cupcakery on 12th St. in DC. Calder is a die hard chocolate fan and chose chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We ate before we got on the train and as we stood there tons of people laughed out loud at his face. He was embarrassed at first but then thought it was pretty funny.

And of course we went to visit the Easter bunny. Calder was excited to see him but refused to smile for his picture. Now he carries around the picture and tells everyone about it.

Thanks for coming John! We had a great time!