Boys, Boys, Boys

What a fantastic trip to Virginia last weekend to spend some time with great friends and check out Kim and Preston’s new home!  I just loved the house Kim and am very impressed at all the great things you have and can keep in one piece with such an active little boy living there!

Jason had to work all weekend so Peyton, Jaxson and I got to enjoy lots of quality time with Jenn, Simon and Jude riding to Virginia together.  It was so nice to have that time to actually talk with Jenn since normally we don’t have much chance for adult conversations.  Jenn, you are super woman and I completely understand why there is a gate at the bottom of your stairs after watching you chase Jude all day up and down the three flights at Kim’s!  You are awesome!!

Peyton and Jaxson had lots of fun playing in Preston’s room with all his toys (thanks for being such a great host Preston!). 

  

Parker driving the ambulance

Preston and Peyton

Poor Jaxson is having a hard time understanding sharing.  He absolutely believes that sharing means “I want to play with it so give it to me”  Oh, it’s a long process, but we’re working on it….

Preston was so proud of his soccer trophy!

Fun with bubbles!!

I love this next picture because there’s just so much going on!  Simon is sneaking another peanut butter cup while Preston was doing acrobatics on his mom’s couch and Peyton and Parker are just oblivious to all the action going on around them! LOL

Next we were off to Kim’s parents house where they graciously hosted us for marshmallow roasting and play time in their backyard.  As you can tell, it was an exhausting 3 minute ride….

It was a very small nap and he was up and running with the other boys very quickly

I didn’t get many pictures of us roasting marshmallows, but Peyton was all business.  He searched for all the right sticks and just knew he was going to get the perfect marshmallow!  (I’m pretty sure all of his ended up burned and dropping off the stick into the firepit, oh well!)

Such a fun day!  Till the next time!!

Summertime FUN

We’ve had a few INCREDIBLY HOT days around here in the past week or so.  Days with temps reaching 100 degrees or more.  So after school and work we made time for the best kind of summer fun….

A little sprinkler action!

Both of my boys have great imaginations, but Peyton has really been on top of his game.  Who needs a water park when you have a big brother….

If you can’t tell from this Jaxson had a BLAST!

And on another night, Peyton came up with the great idea to fashion himself a boat out of the kiddie pool and a plastic tub we use to hold all of their outside trucks.  Who knew this would be so much fun?!!

Don’t you just love his eyes in this picture

I could not stop laughing at him.  Soooo much fun with the simplest of toys!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part Two (Strasburg Railroad)

After our trip to Dutch Wonderland on Saturday we stayed at a little B&B in Strasburg, Pennsylvania so we could go ride the trains the next day.  The B&B was a HUGE hit with the boys when they realized that it was above the Creamery and Deli store.  This place was awesome!  They had tons of ice cream flavors and homemade waffle cones with a viewing area so you could watch them being made along with homemade candy, including fudge, peanut brittle, chocolate upon chocolate and more chocolate!! 

After we enjoyed our homemade breakfast of waffles, eggs, Canadian bacon, fresh fruit and lost of pastries on Sunday morning we left for the train station.  

We bought our tickets and waited for the first train to leave at 11:00am.  Both of the boys announced they had to use the bathroom, which of course was all the way at the other end of the station, so we walked all the way back to where we started.  While waiting, Jaxson spotted Thomas the Train and insisted he needed to ride.  He was so excited!!

 

We soon boarded our train and waited to depart.

There were conductors on each train car that spoke and told stories about the different areas.  At one point we stopped and listened for a “ghost train” to respond to our train’s whistle.  Peyton thought this part was the best! 

After about 20 minutes we stopped and the engine that was pulling our train switched to the opposite end so they could pull us back to the station.

 

It was an absolutely beautiful day.  The windows were open in our car and the ride back to the station was very peaceful.  I think when you add all this to the exciting day we had the day before, it just proved too much for the youngest of the family….

Poor Jaxson, but I have to say I enjoyed the ride back to the station with him just as much as the ride out.  He’s gotten so active I don’t get a whole lot of cuddle time anymore!

Once we were back at the station it was time to check out the shops and get some souvenirs to take home.  Peyton had such a hard time.  He knew he wanted a train, but the models were way too expensive and the others were too babyish for him.  After going back and forth between 2 or 3 stores we finally settled on this.

He loves this train and has been playing with it nonstop since we arrived home!

Jaxson on the other hand had no trouble finding something he wanted to bring home!  There was one store which was completely Thomas the Train.  Everyone knows Jaxson is very musically inclined and makes everything into a drum at our house.  So, of course, there was no stopping him when he found this.

 

As we searched store to store for Peyton’s train Jaxson walked around playing his drum.  At one point I turned around and I swear it was like he was leading his own parade!

After leaving the train station we found a little playground and pond area for the boys to have free time to run around before dinner.  Peyton’s favorite part was obviously the pond with the ducks and geese.  He loves all kinds of animals and was pretty funny as he chased some of them around.

Jaxson really loved the big boat that he could climb on.

On Monday morning we stayed in Strasburg to watch the Memorial Day parade.  PNC Bank had kids handing our free water bottles and small flags to wave during the parade.  In our travels we also found a really nice memorial on Main Street.

 

Positively our best Memorial Day Weekend to date!  Thank you to all the veterans, past and present, who made it possible for us!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part One (Dutch Wonderland)

Memorial Day Weekend was soooo much fun! 

It started the Thursday before when Peyton and I went on his school field trip to see the Orioles.

I know, I know, anyone who follows baseball has to be thinking, the Orioles???  They don’t exactly have the best record and frankly Peyton likes the Yankees and tells me that the Orioles stink, but it was still a really fun field trip.  Of course, this is also about the same time the 100 degree heat wave started and we only got to watch into the 3rd inning, but all in all, a pretty good field trip to attend.

Friday was Field Day at Peyton’s school so I took another vacation day.  The morning consisted of outside activities for the entire school.  Each class traveled around to different stations set up such as tug of war, water sponge duck duck goose, obstacle course, relays, etc.  Sorry, I tried really hard to find some pictures, but they all have other kids so I can’t post.

On to Memorial Day weekend!!!  Jason and I planned to take a couple of long weekend trips this summer since we aren’t going to be able to make it the LPA Conference in Anaheim and don’t have any other big vacation plans.  Last year we took a trip to Dutch Wonderland and had a BLAST so we thought we’d do a repeat, but stay the weekend and add in a day at the Strasburg Railroad.  We all had soooo much fun.

Jaxson loved playing in this little play area while we waited for Peyton and Jason to ride the Log Flume.

  

Here’s the boys on their log ride

Next Jaxson and I watched a few ducks and geese while Peyton and Jason rode the bumper cars.

It was pretty warm again that day and Jaxson was ready to ride something so we decided to grab a few icees and take a boat ride.

Peyton was a great big brother that day!  He had lots of opportunities to ride stuff that Jaxson couldn’t but also took the time to ride some of the slower stuff that Jaxson could also enjoy.  Jaxson was so excited to be able to drive the monster truck and shoot from his fighter jet!

Peyton loves riding the big swings whenever he gets the chance so he absolutely had to ride on them as soon as he saw it.  Actually, I think he rode them at least twice that day….Jaxson and I took the opportunity to listen to a little folk music ;) 

And later, Jason gave me a chance to ride my favorite ride with Peyton – the Spinning Turtles!  We all four rode last year and Jaxson cried the entire ride :(

Can you believe Jaxson actually asked to ride the Carousel this year?  Anyone who remembers last years post can understand why I was pretty hesitant, but he really wanted to go and we were walking right past it on our way out so we thought, oh well, let’s give it a shot…..Much better outcome!!!

Unbelievably fun day! 

Part 2 coming shortly – Strasburg Railroad