Mt Vernon

Today we decided to go down to Mt Vernon. Neither Jesse nor I had ever been there, so we thought we ought to go. We got a bit of a later start than we wanted to, and Graham didn't nap on the way down like he should have, so that made things a little hairy at times, but all in all, it was a good trip.

We got down there at about 1, and went straight to the mansion. And by straight to the mansion, I mean straight to the line to get into the mansion. We waited in line for about an hour and a half, but the kids were allowed to run around a bit, and that helped. When we finally got up to the house, Graham was pretty much tired of the whole thing. We put him on the monkey leash, but he didn't like being held back from rushing up to touch all of the centuries old furniture. But we made it through. By the time we were done with the house, he just about lost it. So we went and ate lunch, and after that things were a little happier. The big mistake that we made was that we didn't bring the double jogger stroller. That would have made a world of difference. Instead we had Graham in the backpack carrier, and wow! He's heavy! I think he gained like 30 lbs from the time we got there to the time we left. It was probably all rocks in his pockets and shoes. :)

This is the back yard overlooking the Potomac River.
Anyway, we walked around the grounds for a while, and saw the tomb of Washington and his wife. We walked all the way down to the river, and looked out on the water for a bit. But Nate got really really tired. He was such a trooper, and I'm so proud of him for walking so much. As were were headed out, Graham tripped and fell. Not so unusual, it was probably the millionth time that day, but this time he started to bleed pretty bad, so we were right near a gift shop, so we stopped in and asked if they had any bandaids, and they did have a little first aid kit, so we got him bandaged up, but he was pretty sad. So we just went home. As Jesse went to get us some more water, Graham passed the time splashing in a puddle out front. It was probably his favorite part of the day. It was all fun and games until he fell down, and got really wet. Of course he didn't mind, but the I had to carry him back to the car. So by the end of the day, we were all exhausted, and of course, the kids ended up sleeping in the car on the way home. Here's hoping that they sleep in tomorrow morning.

swim time

Well, we got the pool out today. Thanks to our new pump that we got for the bounce house it was a breeze to blow up the pool. And it took no time at all. The water was quite chilly today, and I imagine it'll be a few weeks before it warms up. Nate didn't care at all that it was cold. But this is my cold boy. He likes everything cold, washes his hands in cold water, eats cold food. He's a weirdo.

Graham on the other hand, didn't want anything to do with being in the cold water. He asked twice to get into the pool, and immediately wanted to get back out. So he just took all of the toys from the bucket and put them into the pool. Anyway, they both had a good time. I guess we're set for the summer now. Swimming and jumping every day.

The Original Washington Monument

On Saturday we drove out to Boonsboro, and we visited the original Washington Monument along the Appalachian trail. There is a parking lot and park quite close to the monument, so it was just a quick morning thing. The hike from the parking lot is perhaps a quarter of a mile, so it was not a bad walk at all. The monument was the first one built in the country to honor President Washington. It was built in 1827. There are some windy stairs inside of the monument that you can climb up to get to the top to see the view of the valley beyond west of South Mountain.

The kids enjoyed running around, and on the way back to the parking lot, it was all down hill, so we even let Graham walk the whole way, and he loved it.

So that was our fun little afternoon outing, Nate keeps on asking to go back, which he does of any place that we visit. (And for some reason, Nate would not show his face in any pictures. He is totally a Markham.)

The Party Continues

So today was Nate's birthday, and I can't believe how grown up he is these days. He started the day telling me that he just wanted to be 3 all day long. By the end of the day day he was walking around telling people that he was 4. I guess he came to terms with it. We spent most of the day just hanging out. Nate watched a few movies while I ran around trying to get things ready for the party. Then we had the craziness begin. I think that when all was said and done we had 10 kids there today. Almost all of them had a parent stay at the party, so it wasn't so bad. They ran around inside,

they ran around outside,

they ate pizza,

they ate cupcakes,

fun was had by all.

This year I made cupcakes for the party. I made some dirt ones,

and some elephant ones. (even though they look like koalas with weird multi-colored noses.) After all of this work, Nate decided that he doesn't like frosting, so his cupcake?

naked.

So happy birthday Nate! We sure love you!

Let the Party begin!

Tomorrow my little boy turns 4. How that happened I don't know. In what world do I have a 4 year old? Oh yeah, the world that I will be living in starting tomorrow. Tomorrow we are having a party for him, but Grammy Markham was not able to come tomorrow, so she stopped by today with a present for Nate, and what a present it was- His own little jumping house.

We didn't have a good pump, so we weren't able to blow it up while Grammy was here to see it, but we did get it blown up. I started out with our little foot pump. Does anyone know how many calories you burn working a foot pump for about an hour? So I finally got the top of it blown up, but the bottom part was not compatible with my pump, so we were going to need a new pump. However, the kids had fun playing in it even if the bottom was not blown up.

Since you can get pumps at Walmart for cheap, we went ahead and got one tonight, and then, let the wild rumpus start! I don't know that I have ever seen Nate so excited about anything in his whole life.

The rules say that only one child is allowed in at a time, but well, that would mean taking turns, and what fun is that? So we plan on letting them both jump for the next 6 years until their combined weight is over the 70 lb limit. So thank you Grammy for the fun new toy, just in time to entertain at the party tomorrow!

Check, Check, Check

So, the month of May has been really boring over here, so I won't bore you with the details. A lot of rain, mixed in with a few nice days has kept us inside more than I would like. Which is unfortunate, because if today is any indication, I would say that the nice weather of spring is gone, and the humidity has taken over. blech!
The one really nice thing about this month has actually happened today. And, btw, this is like, part one of my #4 random blog post. One thing about myself that I would like to change: I am terrible at procrastination. I am really REALLY lazy. My mom taught me right, it just somehow did not stick. So I've known for quite some time that I needed to sign Nate up for preschool for next year. I have also known that the longer I waited, the less chance there was of getting him into a place I wanted. I'm having a bit of trouble with this whole preschool thing. I never thought I would preschool my kids. I can teach them what they need to know myself, and well, that is money each month out the door that I would rather use on something else. BUT- one of my least favorite things in the whole wide world is that the state of MD now has mandatory all day kindergarten. ALL DAY! And well, that's just cruel to make a child that age go from nothing to all day, so I knew he needed something. Also, well, Nate just has certain issues, and preschool would be good for him. But it was just hard for me. I only get my kids for 5 short years before I have to send them out into the big bad world, and well, I'm reluctant to let that go. But I needed to, so I did it. I called the other day, and made an appt to go and check out the school, and I signed him up. So now Nate is signed up for preschool. Check.
Also, I called and made an appt to see the dentist today. It has been way WAY longer than I care to admit since I have been to the dentist. It's not that I'm scared of going to the dentist, and it's not that I hate going to the dentist. I don't LOVE it, but well, that's normal. The problem is that I didn't have a dentist, so I needed to find one, and it's always difficult to just point and pick, so I asked for recommendations. That was a big step for me.... back in March.... But I called today, and made an appointment. It's not until the end of July, but all the same, I have an appointment. Check.
So now I don't have a lot of things that I can procrastinate. Just little every day things. I mean, there is always my calling, and that's lots of fun to see how long I can put off doing things before I feel like I'm shirking. (Because let's face it, we all have work, let no one shirk.) My house needs to be vacuumed, that's the main one I'm putting off right now, but I can't put it off forever, because Nate is having his birthday party on Tuesday, so it has to be clean for then. So there you have it. I'm having an exciting day because I checked off two things that have been on my to do list for well, a really long time.

Happy Mother's day

So today Nate had a party to go to, and I thought that I'd take him and leave Graham home with Jesse. So we went, and he had tons of fun, it was at one of those kid play gyms, and he loved it. On the way home I said, "did you know that I like hanging out with you?" And he replies "Yeah, I like hanging out with Daddy." Well thanks Nate, I love you too.