Fun at the park...

Grandma and Grandpa have the BEST park just down the street from their house. There are so many things to play on it's hard to stay focused, but all that running around from slide to balance beam to tunnel to dinosaur to fire truck makes for one tired little boy. I think parks should all be graded on a scale of 1 to sleepy. This park definitely earns a "sleepy." Great success!

Lady Bug...

Our neighbor has a cute little lady bug in her front flower bed and we can't walk past without saying to hi to her.  Adam just loves Lady Bug and has the most adorable conversations with her.  The other night went a little something like this...

"Hiiiiiiiiii Lady Bug. I played outside, yeah, and rode bikes. I had a turkey burger for lunch and I didn't take a nap. Ok, bye bye Lady Bug. See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!"

These conversations usually begin with him patting her on the back and typically end with a kiss.  You can't make this stuff up, and I'm so glad I don't have to!

Play dates...

It appears that Adam is quite the ladie's man, hosting two play dates last weekend with girlfriends Adelyn and Blake.  The best part was that it meant I got to get caught up with Sommer and Erica-win/win!

Adelyn is so sweet and her hair is just the most adorable color.  I'll admit she was a little bit more interested in spending time with Liddy, but she and Adam did toss a ball back and forth for a bit.  The two of them really have no choice when it comes to being friends, seeing as Sommer has been one of my best friends for, oh, about 15 years!

As for Blake, well, she is just getting bigger by the minute.  She is such a little lady, but had no problem playing with race cars and trains. 

Two adorable little girls with two awesome moms!

Visit to the Air & Space museum...

Last Saturday we took a visit to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum.  It was Grandpa's birthday, so we were happy that he and Grandma wanted to join us.  It had been about 6 years since I had been there and was amazed at how much there was to see.

Adam loved it and we're still hearing about all the helicopters, airplanes, and rocket ships he saw.  We also took a trip up to the observation tower which required a long ride in an "elebaaaaator" which I think was actually the highlight as he won't stop talking about the "elebaaaaator!" 

It's a really great museum and for just $15 to park, it's a pretty good value for what you get, especially when you get to hear your son talk about it day and night! :) 

Sous chef...

Loving that my little guy wants to help out in the kitchen.  He even helped make Grandpa's birthday dessert.  I've never seen someone pour chocolate chips into batter with more style.  Look out Bobby Flay, there's a new kid in town!

PS: Isn't his apron adorable? Thanks Auntie Bebe!

Goldfish...

Adam sure does know how to get Liddy's attention...

One goldfish for Adam...

One goldfish for Liddy...

And so it goes.

An afternoon date...

What a gorgeous day it was yesterday. It made for the perfect evening trip to the park.  We recently discovered a hidden park in our neighborhood that has great slides, big kid swings (a.k.a. a swing that Mommy can enjoy), a balance beam (a.k.a. a train track), and best of all, a turtle to ride on!

Daddy had some extra work to do, so it was just Adam and me. We had a great talk about his day on the walk over.  Apparently he painted, rode bikes, read stories, and had crackers.  Sounds like a good day at school to me!

Once we got to the park we just played and chased each other.  We took turns "riding the train" and riding on the turtle (sorry turtle, but Adam insisted Mommy take a turn), we went down the slide together about a gazillion times, and he held my hand each time, and we even sat on the swing together.  I think that was my favorite part.  He just sat on my lap, rested his head on me, and we just swung back and forth. 

A perfect date if you ask me...

A day with Nemo and Flipper...

With nothing on our schedule for Sunday, we decided to take a little family trip to Baltimore to show Adam the aquarium.  From the moment I told him that we were going to see fish ("Like Nemo?" He asked) and a dolphin show, it was all he could talk about.  Even the episode of "Octonauts" he watched as we were getting dressed featured dolphins.

The tickets were a bit pricey, but with Adam being under 3, at least we got him in for free.  They don't let you use strollers inside, which at first was going to be a deal breaker, but then they said we'd be able to use one of their back-pack carriers.  What a clever idea!  Once inside we quickly realized a stroller would have taken up way too much space in the exhibits and Adam wouldn't have been able to see a thing.  Riding on Daddy's back he was able to see into the tanks, get up close to the exhibits, and tickle Daddy's head from time to time.  It was perfect!

We had two hours to wander through the museum before the dolphin show and we were happy to find that there was plenty to see and plenty to keep Adam entertained.  We saw huge turtles, skates, sea horses, eels, blow fish, clown fish (Nemo!), starfish, jelly fish (eek! though I was happy to learn that the jelly fish I normally see washed on shore are "moon jelly fish" and don't really sting and if they do, it's not painful.  This was a life changing moment!), frogs, tropical birds, and sharks! Lots and lots of sharks! At times I felt I was trapped in Jaws 3-D, but luckily the glass stayed in tact, phew!

After seeing all the exhibits we found our way to a little play/activity area.  It was a great chance for Adam to get out and run around for a bit.  He had fun digging for seashells in the sandbox and putting on puppet shows.

Then it was time for the main event, the dolphin show! I remember loving it as a kid and couldn't wait to see Adam's reactions.  He was simply mesmerized, sitting there in awe of what was going on.  After the dolphins would do a trick he'd jump up and down clapping and cheering.  It was almost as adorable as the dolphins (oh come on people, admit it, dolphins are the cutest!)

Adam spent the car ride home talking all about the fish and the turtles and dolphins jumping out of the water.  He never even fell asleep.  That evening all he wanted to do was act like a dolphin, so we pulled out his shark costume that he was given for Halloween (and refused to wear, but let's be honest, sharks are scary) and told him it was a dolphin suit.  He couldn't have been happier!  Our little Flipper!