Sunday Play Date

When I was a senior at UMBC, I was the teaching assistant for the ENES 101 class, which all freshman engineering majors take. The class consists of lecture three times a week, where the students have one unit from each of the majors -- chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc... The students also have a 2-hour 'discussion' section each week, taught by the TA (moi!), where they learn Word, Excel, PowerPoint, AutoCad, and Fortran. I became close with a few of the students in my class. One of them was a guy named Joe.

Since I graduated, Joe and I have stayed in touch. He has two little girls, Emily (4) and Julie (2) so we often exchange stories and pictures of our kids. Finally, after not seeing each other for FIVE years, Joe and I and our families met up for a play date.

We all met at Kinder Farm Park, which is near both of our houses. They had a really nice playground, with about 6 separate jungle gyms, so there were tons of slides and other activities for the kids. You have to pay a small fee to enter the park, but it is definitely worth it because: 1. the park is nice, and 2. it attracts better clientele since you have to pay.

The kids all ran around and played, while Joe and I chatted. Thanks to Michele and Kyle for keeping an eye on them so that we could talk!

Peyton

Some sliding action
Kyle wanted to play too (or was taking a break!)
Pretty Emily

Cute Julie

The park also had a section that was like a farm. There were lots of animals there. The kids enjoyed checking the animals out. The animals were all very vocal that day too, so I think Peyton liked hearing the sounds that the animals really make. There were goats, cows, sheep, roosters, chickens, and a big fat pig.

After we looked at the animals for a while, the kids were spent, so we headed to a picnic table in the shade for some juice and Goldfish. Thanks to Emily and Julie for sharing their fish with Peyton! It was nice to sit for a minute, because it allowed all four of us adults to talk. Michele is very nice! When everyone was refreshed, we went back over to the playground for more fun. It started to rain though, so we all decided to leave.

It was so nice to see Joe. Even though the kids really didn't play together much, I think that they'd be fast friends if they have the chance to play together again.

Carnival Fun?

On Saturday evening, we went to a carnival near Peyton's daycare that supports the local volunteer fire department. We walked around a bit first to see what types of rides they had. There were several "kiddie" rides, including cars, dinosaurs, and airplanes. There were also tons of other rides. We bought a sheet of tickets so that Peyton could ride some rides.

We made another lap around the rides, stopping at each kiddie ride, asking Peyton if he wanted to ride it. He adamantly said, "NO!" to each one. I don't know why he's such a 'fraidy-cat all of the sudden -- he used to be fearless! Eventually he saw this giant slide and agreed to go on it. Kyle went with him, and I was scared to death because they wouldn't let Peyton ride on Kyle's lap. They said he needed to go down himself.

However, everything worked out and Peyton loved it! He looked terrified while he was sliding down, but as soon as he came to a stop at the bottom, he looked at Kyle and asked, "More?" So, they went again right away and he loved it again!

After two rides down the slide, I decided that I'd take Peyton on the merry-go-round. We got on, and I asked him which horse he wanted to ride on. He said no to each one I pointed out. So, I just tried to put him on one. Well, that led to him curling up into a ball and crying! So, we just sat on the bench. He wasn't too thrilled about that either though.

After the merry-go-round fiasco, we took another lap around the kiddie rides to see if Peyton changed his mind about riding one. He definitely did not. So, we took another ride down the slide. I went with him this time.

Finally, we all went on a ride called Barrel of Monkeys together. It was one where you could control the spin of your car. We just made sure it didn't spin much at all. But you guessed it -- Peyton was not a fan.

The last thing we did was play this pick-a-duck game. Peyton picked three ducks, and we added up the numbers written on the bottoms of them. That number dictated the prize he got.

Peyton chose this orange dinosaur. Even though he doesn't look too thrilled here, he really did love it. He gave it lots of kisses and hugs.

I'm not sure if Peyton had fun at the carnival. He may have been traumatized by all of those rides. I really hope not...

Orioles Game

Friday night, Kyle's company took all of the employees and their significant others to the Orioles game. The Orioles have a few club-level sections that are All-You-Can-Eat seats. There are special concession stand set up where you can just go and grab all of the food you want. They offer hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, icecream, salad, peanuts, potato chips, and soda. These are the seats that Kyle's company bought for everyone. And Kyle lucked out because the Orioles happened to be playing the Tigers.

We got to the park around 5:30 even though the game was scheduled to start until 7:05. It was forecasted to rain, so we wanted to get into the stadium before it started so that we didn't get wet. We made it just in time. It rained like crazy right after we got into the stadium. Since we were so early, we walked around a bit before heading to our seats.


We made it over to our special concession stands, where they have a bunch of tables set up. Kyle and I grabbed some food and hung out, watching the rain. We made a few new friends who sat down at our table with us. We chatted about baseball, hockey, and football while we all ate. Eventually, Kyle's friends from work all showed up and they joined us too. They delayed the start of the game until 7:30, but that was fine, because we were having fun eating and talking. Here's Kyle sitting at the tables by the concession stands.

At 7:30 we went out to our seats to watch the game. It was a great game! Luke Scott hit a home run and a grand slam. That made 4 homers in 2 games for him. He's on fire. A rookie named Matt Wieters, who everyone thinks is going to be the Orioles' "savior" made his debut last night. Everyone was taking lots of pictures and cheering like crazy for him everytime he was up to bat. I felt bad for him though because he went 0-4.

My boyfriend, Brian RobertsKyle and I

When all was said and done, the Orioles won 7-2. Woohoo!

Here's Kyle and his bff, Karl.

After the game was over, there were fireworks, since it was a Friday night game.

It was a good night!

Memorial Day Weekend

We started off the weekend by going to one of Dougie's baseball games. The game was at Eastern Regional Park. The park was huge and seemed pretty nice. We took Peyton's lawn chair and he sat in it and watched the game quietly for a good 15 minutes. But then he saw another little boy playing with a ball and he, of course, had to play with it too. The boy was nice enough to share with Peyton and they had a good time. Peyton also had fun spinning around in circles and falling all over the ground. He ended up dirty with a cut lip! We had to leave before the game was over, but Dougie's team was winning when we left. I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. Oops.

We spent Sunday doing things around the house. We did our laundry and I went grocery shopping. Kyle's friend from work brought his kids over to our house and they cut our grass. These boys are nuts and actually enjoy cutting grass. Works out well for us, huh?

On Monday, we attempted to have a cook-out, but of course my parents brought the rain with them when they came over. I had the table and chairs all set up, and had to run outside quickly to bring everything back in before it got soaked. Peyton didn't care that it was raining, he still wore his sunglasses. (Thanks Grandmom!)

Kyle brought the grill into the garage so that he didn't have to get wet while cooking. He grilled up some scrumptious hamburgers and hot dogs.

Here is the rest of the spread. There was a lot of food for just the five of us.

Peyton enjoyed his dinner... once he finally decided to eat it. He's so strong-willed these days and he does everything on his schedule. And if our schedule happens to differ from his, a temper tantrum usually ensues. Yay.

Our outdoor activities had to be cancelled in favor of some TV watching and t-ball.

And here's a picture of my dad, so that he doesn't feel left out.

Hi Plane!

Our house is pretty close to BWI airport. Peyton can recognize the sounds of planes when they fly by. If we're outside and he hears a plane, he'll immediately stop and look up at the sky to try to find it. He likes to check them out.

Friday evening, Kyle and I took Peyton to a playground that is right next to the runways for BWI. All of the planes that land at BWI fly right past you as they prepare to touch down. The first picture is taken at the point where you can first see the plane in the distance. The second picture shows how close the planes are to you when they fly by.

The planes go by about once per minute. Each time one would fly by, Peyton would stop what he was doing so that he could wave and yell "Hi plane!" After the plane had passed, he was right back to playing on the playground.

This playground was cooler than the playground that we have in our community. This one had a total of five slides, a few climbing structures, and a bouncy bridge. Peyton had a good time going down all of the slides. He would slide down and then go right back around to slide again. Kyle stayed at the top of the slide to help Peyton and I stayed at the bottom to snap pictures! Every time Peyton would reach the bottom, he'd ask, "One more?" Not sure where he got that, but it was funny.

The only problem with the playground was that it was very busy. The older kids could have cared less that Peyton was there. He was getting trampled and pushed out of the way. And the parents of the year that were there to supervise were all too busy sitting on the benches talking on their cell phones to say anything to their kids. Annoying.

Peyton was having a blast playing on the slides and waving to the planes. Needless to say, he didn't want to go home...

DC101 Chili Cook-off

On Saturday, Kyle and I went to the DC101 Chili Cook-off. For those that are unfamiliar, it is a benefit for the National Kidney Foundation, sponsored by DC101. There (obviously) is a chili cook-off component to the event, but it is also a big outdoor concert. This year the scheduled acts were Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Puddle of Mudd, Papa Roach, Shinedown, Third Eye Blind, and The Offspring. I got the tickets to the show from my parents for my birthday. The concert took place on one of the parking lots for RFK stadium, which is where DC United plays, and where the Redskins and Nationals used to play.

The forecast was highs in the low 80's and scattered thunderstorms. It was overcast all morning, but then as soon as we stepped out of the car around 1:00, the sun came out. It was pretty hot! I got awfully sunburned too. Stupid me, not putting on sunscreen!

We arrived just at the end of Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' set. Since there was no band on stage, we walked around the chili competition area. Each team has a booth set up where you can sample their chili for a small donation, which gets turned over to the NKF. The team that collects the most money wins "People's Choice." There are also other winners who the judges choose.

Puddle of Mudd was up next. I thought they were great. They sang all of their hits, including Control, Blurry, Drift and Die, She Hates Me, Away from Me, and Psycho. Then they busted out Summer Lovin' from Grease and The Joker by the Steve Miller Band.

After Puddle of Mudd, we headed to the concessions to buy some water. We waited in line for almost 20 minutes! And, of course the water was way overpriced at $4 a bottle, but it was hot, so what cha gonna do?

Next, Papa Roach took the stage. Kyle said that they didn't sound too good, but to me, they mostly just scream, so how much worse could they sound? They sang Last Resort, Scars, and Lifeline, amongst others. Although you can't really see it, they were on stage in this picture.

The next band to perform was Shinedown. I like their new song Second Chance, which they sang. The only other song that I recognized was 45.

I decided that I am too old for these types of events. There is just too much weed smoking, drunk idiots, and people wearing clothes that they shouldn't be wearing. I saw way too many guys with their shirts off, who definitely should have kept them on. And there were a few too many dudes with pierced nipples. Ew.

Kyle and I

After Shinedown was finished, an announcement was made that "severe" weather was moving through the area. While we couldn't hear exactly what was said, the gist was that everyone was supposed to leave the concert grounds and would be readmitted with their ticket and that the show would go on once the weather had passed. Kyle and I decided to hang around at first. But then we heard someone ask an event staffer what was going on, and he said that the weather report said hail was coming and that once it started, it would be hailing for over an hour. Nothing was even happening yet at this point, and we didn't feel like waiting around for the hail to start and then standing around in the hail for an hour, so we left.

I was pretty bummed that we missed Third Eye Blind and The Offspring. Just as we reached our car, it started raining. It never did hail, but we were driving back towards home, so maybe it did down in DC. Grr. Stupid weather.

Kyle and I stopped at Don Pablo's on the way home and had a nice dinner, complete with an appetizer, drinks, and dessert.

Meanwhile, Peyton spent the day and night with my parents. They had fun playing together. Thanks guys for watching him! And thanks for the tickets.

More Cousin Lovin'

The other day, we received Noah's birth announcement. As soon as I pulled it out of the envelope and Peyton saw it, he immediately started yelling, "Noah! Baby! Noah!" He snatched the picture from my hands so that he could hold it.

Peyton even gave the picture of Noah kisses.

In the picture, Noah's hands are up, so Peyton gave him high fives too. Peyton really loves his cousin.

Isotope Softball

On Tuesdays, Kyle plays in a softball league that is affliated with his work. His team is the "Isotopes" which is the name of Springfield's baseball team on the Simpsons. This week the weather was perfect, so Peyton and I headed over to the field to check out the action.

My hubby getting a base hit!

Look at those base running skills!
Playing 3rd base
Peyton made a new friend

Mr. Cool in Daddy's sunglasses

We had a good time watching Kyle play. Peyton played with his ball, his new friend, some softballs, and even sat with me on the bench some. He would cheer, "Go Go Daddy!" Unfortunately Kyle's team had a bad day and lost all of their games. Better luck next week, guys!