It's a Beautiful Day in Our Neighborhood

We started Thursday with a trip to Buzz Bakery for some chocolate croissants for Frog & Toad and a cappuccino for mommy. The boys have been begging to go to Buzz because they thought their friend Fly Guy and Buzz, from the series of books with the same name would be there, naturally. They didn't see their friends but they did find "Fly William" and "Fly Colin" in the toy kitchen and spent the next thirty minutes taking them all over the store and introducing them to all sorts of other people, produce and anything standing still. 

After some not so exciting errands we decided to spend a few hours exploring our back yard. The boys drew mommy's peony bush along with the ground, sky and a treasure hunt maze. Funny how every drawing always turns into a treasure map. 

I managed to capture a rare moment of what I can only assume was a little brotherly love. Of course it was followed by both boys spitting water over the edge of their "fort." *sigh* Seriously? The grossness aside it entertained them for at least four trips back inside to refill their cup so I won't complain. 

And lastly the boys tried out their new flippers for the pool. Who knew how much fun flippers could be out of the water? Will even slept in his that night. I couldn't bare to wake him up by taking a picture but it was rather adorable. Here is a clip of Colin learning to walk in his flippers. Clearly he needs a bit more practice! 

Till Next Time, 
Momma, Frog & Toad

Memorial Day Marathon

Please note the boys faaaavorite shirts! 

We had a fun filled Memorial Day weekend with good friends, too much food & drink and enough running around to wear out both Frog and Toad... for at least one morning. 

As this is the third year in a row that we took the boys out to Burke Lake Park, I guess we can start calling it a tradition. Each year the kids appreciate it just a little more. I appreciate it because I remember a time before kids or marriage that Jim and I walked the park's lake side trail. We might have even held hands, well no, probably not but I've digressed. 

 

Now we pass that same trail yelling "choo choo" as we whoosh by on a child sized train. Afterwards we climbed aboard the carrousel on horses the boys named, "Snuggles" for Toad (Colin) and "Daddy" for Frog (Will). 

Then it was on to the playground followed by an intense round of mini-golf. We were situated after a family of nine... that's right, nine kids, adults and grandparents playing each hole together. After a lot of "not yet" and "you need to wait" we skipped past the family and a few holes, probably negating the score card we never actually started. Colin did a great job and even managed to hold his club the right way. He keeps asking if he can "play golf" we shall see about that. Will however was resistant to any help or advice. *sigh* 

Colin says his favorite part of the park was "everything" but when pressed it was "going down the slide millions and millions times". I swear if the kids went down once they went down fifty times. Who knew that with all the park has to offer that a typical playground slide would be that much fun. 

Will tells me he liked "all of them best but the train was the bestest" and I'll skip what he "didn't like best" as noone wants me to share all of his potty training details. Lets just say some days are better than others. 

After a much too short nap we freshened up and headed out to a friend's house in Del Ray for grilling and cocktailing while the ten little ones ran around in the backyard. Colin attempted rollerskating {insert gulp} and the adults enjoyed some delicious food and libation until late in the night. I couldn't believe how well the kids did and even slept in till 9am the next morning. That is a first!

Clearly my favorite forced family picture of the weekend!

Sunday was a blur with church, hosting the first summer welcome "coffee" and Jim's various responsibilities then off to the Nat's game with one of Colin's friends and his dad. We had amazing seats along first base, on the third row. Though to be honest I like the accessibility of Jim's seats better than the proximity when you have to run for popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, peanuts, water and thats just for the kids! Needless to say we over ate and I had to take the kids out around the 7th inning to burn off some energy on the playscape so we missed all five runs but we had a blast anyway. 

Afterwards we had another late (to families with small children) night at friends house with fried chicken and biscuits... yum! We were still home before the sun set so I guess, "late night" is all relative. 

Monday we stayed closer to home with a scooter trip to the nearest park with neighbor friends and a grill out at home. Jim tried out some new brats shipped from Wisconsin which I must say I loved more than he did. 

Pheeew! That was quite a long post. Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend. 

Till next time, 
Mamma, Frog & Toad

The National Air and Space Museum

Yesterday we explored the National Air and Space Museum for the first time. We arrived just in time to stand in line and wait as class after class of students entered ahead of us. Once inside I overheard someone saying how empty the museum felt. If this was empty I shudder to think about it crowded. 

Not to be deterred we made it to the Flights of Fantasy story time and arts and crafts activity that drew my interest this morning after I realized the 50 degree rainy weather meant we were not going to start our first day of summer at the pool. The story was about surveying the earth from a plane and what it looked like from above. It might have been a tad over their heads but they loved making their own telescope and made everyone around them say "stinky diapers" as they pretended to take their picture with toy cameras that they museum folks provided. 

After that and a not so quick trip to the bathroom, also filled with a bus full of elementary school kids we headed off to explore the rest of the museum. The kids were absolutely enthralled by every single thing they saw. They couldn't believe that real outer space astronaut "stuff" was here. They had to look at every rocket, plane and cockpit available. And I must admit that after recently reading The Aviator's Wife, a book about the Lindberghs, it was pretty cool to see the Spirit of St. Louis.

On the floor examining the two story rockets

We went up and down the stairs numerous times because they thought they'd missed something. Also I learned the boys are scared of "escamalators" as Colin called them. Clearly something I need to work on, at least we got some exercise. 

All in all it was a great morning. I had no idea the kids would like this as much as they did. We clearly need to take them to the Air & Space Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles. 

Till next time, 
Mamma, Frog & Toad

The Summer Adventures of Frog and Toad: The Beginning

Toad and Frog 2.0

The boys and I decided we wanted to write a book about our adventures this summer. Obviously a book of this caliber should be permanently preserved for their adoring public (aka Grandma, Grandpa and Namma). How better to accomplish this in today's high speed world than by creating a blog!?

The boys love the Frog and Toad series of books so Colin and I decided, while Will was napping that 'Frog and Toad Summer' was the perfect title.

Its our hope to post as frequently as possible with pictures, quotes and favorites of the day.

Your Friend,
Mamma, Frog (Will) and Toad (Colin)