More fun times

So I'd like to get up to date on our activities before the baby comes, because well, who knows if she'll be a baby who lets me blog.
On Thursday, we went to a local park in the area, Piney Run. It was a popular park for us to take field trips to while in Elementary school. We hiked around the lake for a bit, and made our way over to the Nature Center. The kids enjoyed being able to run along the trails.
At the Nature Center there was a "beehive" which the kids thought was pretty cool.
Nate also really liked the stuffed Beaver.


All of the Grand kids with Grandma. We had all just come up a steep little hill, so it was convenient to have a little bench to rest on.


On Friday we took a trip down to Baltimore. We started out trip on the Metro. My kids happen to love the Metro.

We stopped at John's Hopkins Hospital first. Matt works there right now, so we got him, and went to lunch in the cafeteria. The kids did pretty good in the hallways, at walking quietly. Things did get a little hairy in the cafeteria, especially when they finished eating, but they did their best. It was a little weird for me, since it was the first time I'd been back there since I was there when my dad had surgery to remove part of a tumor. It seemed like just a few months ago, it's weird to think it had been about 2 years.
After the Hospital, we got back on the metro, and went down to the Inner Harbor.


We were headed to the Science Center. My kids hadn't been there since Erin was last here, over 2 years ago. It is just about the perfect place to take 6 kids 8 and under. They enjoyed being able to run around, and touch everything, and play with things.

After spending a little time in Newton's Alley, we worked our way upstairs to the children's room. It's great because it's got a guarded door, so you know that your kids will have a difficult time escaping. We did pretty much keep an eye on them though. :)

They enjoyed playing at the little water table area. I'm thinking we'll need to get a water table for Graham this year. The kid likes to play in the water, but hates being wet. So I don't foresee much time IN the swimming pool for him this year.

Another crowd pleaser:

And of course, if there is a train table, Graham will find it, and want to play there. The boy loves playing with trains.

We wore him out pretty well that day. Of course, this is him falling asleep on the metro one stop away from the end where we were getting off. But he stayed asleep as I carried him to the car, and then slept the whole way to my mom's house. It will be so nice when we are finally back to normal napping times!

On Saturday we had a few things that we needed to get done, and Nate had a birthday party, and we thought it would be nice for Graham to have a nap at home. So we hung out most of the day at home, and then at dinner time the whole family made it over to Grandma's house. We had a cook out, and then hung out for a while. There was a quick rain storm that passed through, but afterwards, we made a fire in my mom's fire pit. We made s'mores, and then the fireflies came out. My kids really have not had much experience with fireflies, which is pretty sad. The problem is that they don't come out until like 8:30, and that's past their bedtime. So they were excited to stay up and catch the fireflies. Nate did a really good job catching them. Graham wanted to, but anytime he got too close he would freak out.

So that's pretty much it. On Monday we just hung out, did a little shopping. Today is my last day with Erin. I have a few things to do in the morning, and of course, I can't stay late because tomorrow I'm having a baby, and I have things that need to get done at the house. But we'll just hang out one last time this afternoon. It's been nice to have Erin here. It's getting harder for her to come out, since she keeps on having more and more kids to buy plane tickets for. And well, it's the same situation for me to go out to see her. So we just make the most of the time that we do have together.

The fun so far

So my sister Erin got to MD a little over a week ago. She is staying at my mom's house, and brought her 4 kids. When Erin comes, I generally stop my own life, and hang out with her every day. So we've done a lot of driving to Grandma's house this past week.

The first day that we hung out together, we drove up to Hanover, PA and toured the UTZ factory. Those of you who live within a few hundred miles of the UTZ potato chip factory know why when it comes to potato chips, only UTZ truely will do. I'm pretty much a potato chip snob.

The second day, we went up to Hagerstown to shop at the Outlet Mall up there. Erin is going on a cruise, and she needed a formal outfit. They don't have many options for her in ID where she lives.

On Saturday since we had a few more adults available, we decided to go down to Washington DC. We hit up the American History and Natural History museums. I think that one day I may be able to go to one of those museums and see something other than the hands on room, and history of transportation, or the hall of mammals, and hall of dinosaurs. We did get a picture of the grand kids with Grandma in front of the large Elephant in the rotunda at the Natural History museum. But the kids were worn out, and we didn't feel like walking too much farther, so we just called it a day after those two museums.

On Monday we took the kids down to the National Zoo. It was a beautiful day, and nice to be down there while it was not too hot and humid.

It's always fun to see the Orangutans out on the O-line. They were particularly active that day.

Aren't they the cutest brothers ever!

I'm trying to get more pictures of the boys with their Grandma. They love her so much, and I just never take pictures because we see her all of the time. I thought this was a cute one with Grandma holding Graham up to show him the lions. (He was very excited to see the lions that day!)

So still to come- adventures at Piney Run park, tomorrow we're going to Baltimore to play at the Science Center. A cook out at Grandma's house on Saturday, and who knows what else. The cousins all love playing together, and it's been nice and warm, so they have been in the pool a few times. The great thing is that everyone is really getting along well too. No bullies in the group, and they have not gotten so tired of each other that they have started fighting. And, not to jinx it, but they are also doing a really good job of sharing all of the toys. We've really lucked out so far. So a little less than one more week with them here, and we plan to make the most of it!

Best Friends

One reason I'm not freaking out about having baby number three: Nate and Graham are best friends. I'm so glad that my two older kids are old enough to entertain each other, and get along so well. They play together all of the time, and really love hanging out together (most of the time anyway.)

Happy Birthday Nate!

How in the world did my baby turn 5? However it happened, it did. I went back and forth about a party this year, but finally decided that full term or not, this would be the last bit of "all about me" time for Nate for quite a while, so we ought to go for it. We went small this year, and only invited the original playgroup from when he was born. I think that there only ended up being 5 or so kids there. It was very nice to have just a small party for him. Much less stress on me.
The kids just played the whole time, inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs, and the mommies just sat at the table and snacked. It was lovely. I asked Nate if he wanted to play some games, and he said no, he just wanted to play with toys.
We did have cupcakes, as per Nate's request. He loves cupcakes. Graham got a bit dirty.

Pretty exciting!

That night he was able to open the presents from mom and dad. He got Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. That was very exciting.

He got swords and shields. Those were pretty exciting as well. He and Graham like to pretend to be pirates.

And he got a Lego Toy Story 3 train. When he saw this, he said, it's what I always want! He was really excited about all of the presents he got from us.

It only took me about 2 1/2 hours to put together the Lego train. We have managed to only misplace a handfull of pieces in the past week. Although Graham always plays with the Engine, which is the most breakable, so I put that together about a million times a day.

The next day we went to Grandma's house, and we had a joint party for Nate and Aunt Erin. It was her birthday the previous week, and she flew into town on Nate's birthday.

Nate didn't want to blow out the candles though. I think it had to do with all of the new cousins staring at him.

On Sunday we went to Grammy and Grandad's house to celebrate with the Markhams. (Yes, this is the longest birthday celebration ever!) Grammy and Aunt Cammi created a "treasure hunt" where Nate had to follow some strings and ribbons to find his present. It took him downstairs and outside...

Around the corner, to find a bike!

This is Nate's first 2 wheeler. He was very excited about it.

He put the helmet on, and was a natural! He did really well considering it really was about the first time he's ever done it.

So happy birthday Nate! Now you're a big 5 year old. You'll be a Kindergartner this year. You get to have another sibling this year. You'll learn how to read this year. You may even grow bigger this year (but only if you start eating first.) Sounds like 5 will be a pretty great age!

Railroad Museum

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went on a day trip up to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. We figured that the boys love trains, so they'd love this. We were right of course. They had a ton of fun looking at all of the trains.

We got tickets to go on a train ride while we were there. It was a 4 mile ride that took 45 minutes. We went really slow. The kids loved it though. There were several times I was worried that one of them would lean out the window and be lost by the side of the tracks. It didn't happen though.

Getting ready to go on our ride.

Nate and Graham could have spent all day in the discovery room. They had just about every brand of train toy imaginable there. Since they had been watching the "Geotrax" movies a lot lately, they really loved playing with the set. Graham especially.

The boys really enjoyed playing in this area where you placed "coal" into the engine fire box. They played there twice. Graham had slight difficulties. As you can see above, he finally decided it was easier just to pick it up with his hands.

They loved looking at the trains, but especially loved the ones that you were allowed to walk onto.

And loved looking out the windows.

They were all pretty big!

This is how Jesse felt by the end of the day.

Ringing the bell in the train yard.

Running on the train tracks.

All in all, it was a fun day. We were all pretty tired by the end of the day, but the boys really enjoyed it.

Nate's Graduation

Nate is no longer a preschooler. I guess that means that he is now a Kindergartner. We won't think about that right now. He of course had to have a graduation ceremony from preschool though.
Walking into the ceremony. The largest part of the program was the children singing the songs that they had learned over the past few months. Most of the children did this fairly well.
This is what Nate looked like the ENTIRE time the kids sang. No emotion on his face, not moving at all. Certainly not singing.

He got his diploma from his teachers.

Ms Karen, his teacher this past year.

Ms Donna, the assistant teacher this past year.

So that's it. Good job Nate! You made it through a year of preschool. Now you are ready for Kindergarten.