Carnival

Since we planned to potty train Peyton over the long weekend, we knew that we weren't going to be able to leave the house for those three days. So Friday night we went out to dinner and then to a carnival to have at least a little fun for the holiday weekend. We met my parents, Jeremy, and Jill at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Everyone enjoyed their food.

The carnival was to benefit the volunteer fire department by Peyton's daycare. We drove by the carnival every day that week on the way to daycare. Peyton knew exactly what it was and each morning said, "Ooooh rides!!" I told him that we'd go to the carnival so that he could ride the rides on Friday. It was threatening to rain all day. I was praying that the rain would hold off though, because Peyton really would have been heartbroken if he didn't get a chance to ride those rides that he'd been checking out all week. Thankfully, the weather was perfect in the evening, so we were able to head over to the carnival.

We bought some ride tickets and Peyton just rode ride after ride after ride. He had a blast. Here are some pictures of him on the rides.

After Peyton used up all of his ride tickets, Grandmom paid for him to play one game. He chose to do this ducky game. He picked three ducks, added up the numbers of the bottom of them, and then got to choose a prize.

Since he is pretty obsessed with The Lion King right now, he chose a stuffed lion and immediately named it Mufasa.

Peyton was not too happy to have to leave the carnival, but it was past his bed time, so we had to get going. He had a really good time, which was a completely different experience than last year, when he was scared of all of the rides and just wanted to go home. I just love watching him have fun.

Party Animals

Last weekend, we went to a party at one of Kyle's coworker's houses. The guests included most of Kyle's company, a few other people that work in his office, and some of the homeowner's friends. They provided the main courses of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, and steak pieces. All of the other guests each brought a dish. There was lots of yummy food and tons of beer and wine. Those people know how to drink.

The house was located on a large piece of property. The kids had fun playing with balls, on a big swing set, and just running around. After everyone ate, they set up a slip-and-slide. Peyton had never played on one of these before, but he had a good time.

It started to rain pretty hard, but no one was really bothered by it. The kids were already wet from the slip-and-slide, and there were several tents set up on the deck to keep everyone else dry. After they were finished with the slip-and-slide, the kids (and some of the adults, including Kyle) played a little game of wiffle ball. That was fun, until someone broke the wiffle ball in half.

After the wiffle ball game, it was getting close to Peyton's bedtime, so we had to leave. The party was still in full swing though. I guess they had fireworks to fire off later on when it got dark. Too bad we had to miss that. It was a good time though.

Air Show Videos

Here are two videos that I took with my Flip. They're short, but give a sneak peak into the types of things that we saw at the show.

Air Show

Last weekend was the Joint Services Open House at Andrews Air Force Base. As part of the festivities, there is an air show. We headed down to the show on Sunday. As there was no parking allowed on the base, everyone had to park at either FedEx Field or the Branch Avenue Metro Station. We decided to drive to FedEx Field and park there. We left home around 10:30. Peyton was very excited to "go see the airplanes." We were less than 5 minutes from our house when Kyle reminded me that I probably would need to have my ID, which I didn't grab from home. So we turned around and went back to the house to get it. When we pulled up outside of our house, Peyton was very sad and asked, "Where are the airplanes?" We explained that I just needed to get something and then we would we go see the airplanes.

Once we got to FedEx Field, we parked and then walked what seemed like a million miles to the security check point. There, we waited in line for close to 30 minutes before it was our turn to walk through the metal detector. There were at least 20 metal detectors, but the lines were still slow moving, because everyone's bags, chairs, etc. needed to be checked by hand. After we finally got through security, we waited another 10-15 minutes until we were loaded onto a bus. We were fortunate to draw a coach bus for our ride to the base. I think the bus ride may have been Peyton's favorite part of the day. The whole time we were waiting in the security line and the bus line, he couldn't stop pointing to the buses excitedly. He couldn't wait to get onto the bus. For the entire ride over to the AFB, he either looked out the window or turned to me and said, "Mommy, I like this!" (over and over and over) It was so cute.

It took about 15-20 minutes to get over to the base. They dropped us off right at the entrance to the show. When we first arrived, we strolled around a little bit and looked at some of the planes that were ground displays. I don't know what types of planes they were, but here is one.

As we were walking around, a group of helicopters began a routine. I think it is amazing how close together they can fly. They did several different formations.

Here is another plane that was on display. You could walk into the plane, but the line was so long that Kyle and Peyton didn't feel like standing in it, so we just checked it out from the outside.

Peyton had a great time. His expression in this picture pretty much sums up the whole day for him.

We had lunch while we watched the show. We enjoyed a yummy hot dog and some potato chips. Everyone around us was eating ice cream, so when he was finished with his lunch, Peyton begged for ice cream too. I got a M&M cookie ice cream sandwich and Kyle got a Snickers cone. Peyton liked Kyle's better which was fine with me, so I didn't have to share!

The next group of planes to do a routine were old WWII planes, I think. They had narrators talking about what the planes were doing, but it was so hard to hear because the planes were loud and there were so many people.

After those planes, another set of helicopters flew around for a while.

Finally, there was some modern-day fighter jet. It performed alone and was incredibly loud. It was so fast compared to the WWII planes and helicopters. One maneuver that it did that was pretty cool was a 360 degree turn while hovering in the same spot. That's what these pictures are of it doing. It was too fast to catch as it was flying by!

It was a gorgeous day - very sunny and about 75 degrees. I got pretty sunburned. But it was worth it because Peyton had fun. Here's Peyton and I.

And Peyton and Kyle.

This is how Peyton spent much of the day because the planes were loud.

We ended up leaving around 2:00 because Peyton was getting sleepy. I wanted to say because the Blue Angels were scheduled to perform at 3:00, but Peyton actually asked to go home because he was tired. We took another bus back to FedEx Field. This time it was just a school bus, but Peyton was still impressed. He was almost asleep by the time we got back to the parking lot though. We walked the million miles back to our car and then drove home. It was a fun day.

Lazy

I have been so lazy with uploading pictures lately. I have a post or two waiting to be written, but until I put those pictures on the computer, I can't write them. So maybe I'll eventually get it together, but until then, be patient. I'm sure everyone is just dying for my next post. Haha.

Mother's Day

I had a really nice Mother's Day. Of course I am lucky enough to be Mommy to the cutest, smartest, best little boy ever! Sundays are my sleep-in days anyway, so Kyle got up with Peyton when he woke up. I slept until around 10:00. When I came downstairs, Peyton ran right over to me and yelled, "Happy Mother's Day!" It was super cute. We proceeded to play catch for a little while. Then Kyle asked Peyton if he wanted to give me my gift. Peyton said yes, then turned to me and said, "Mommy, it's fruit!" He doesn't quite get that 'keep it a secret' thing yet.

They brought me cards and my gift. Peyton (and Hunter!) got me a Mickey Mouse card. How fitting.

I got an Edible Arrangement from my boys. It had chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered apples, some grapes, pineapple flowers, and cantaloupe. Isn't it beautiful? It was quite yummy too! Peyton is a fruit-aholic, so he helped me eat it.

There was also a bag with another gift. Peyton helped me open it. It was an apple shaped dish and some chocolate sauce. Kyle didn't realize that everything in the arrangement was going to be chocolate covered already, so he got the extra sauce. But that's ok. I'm sure I can find something to dip in it!

Next, Peyton gave me a gift that he made in daycare.

It was this cute art project, with a picture of him, his hand prints, and a cute little poem. These gifts are better than the material ones. I'll keep it in his art book so that I can look back and remember how little he used to be.

We didn't do much for the rest of the day. We had another busy Saturday, so we just relaxed. It was pretty nice not having to go somewhere on the weekend for a change. I feel like we never have a free day.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms! And thanks Peyton and Kyle for making me feel special.

Birthday Party

Yesterday I took Peyton to his first birthday party for a friend. It was for Olivia, a girl in his daycare class. The party was at Pump It Up. There were four large inflatable structures for the kids to play on. There was a giant slide, an obstacle course, a basketball court, and another bounce house with a smaller slide inside. Also, there were hula hoops and bouncy balls out on the floor for the kids to play with. Peyton had a blast at the party. The first hour was spent playing in the activity room. The entire space was just for Olivia's party, so there were no other people there except for those attending her party, which was nice. I took a ton of pictures (like usual!)

After an hour, the kids moved into the party room. The pizza for lunch had not arrived yet, so they tried to have the kids play limbo. However, none of the kids knew what limbo was and no one bothered to try to explain it to them. So the kids were sort of just walking around the room (under the stick occasionally) all dazed and confused. Since that was a bust, they set up a table for the kids to color a picture. Here's Peyton and his BFF Levi. They are only 2 weeks apart in age, so they've been in the same class forever. (I can't even stand that he still uses a pacifier. He's 2 1/2 for goodness sakes...)

Peyton's picture was lovely. It doesn't look like he colored it, but I think the color just doesn't show up in the picture very well.

Turns out there was a problem with the pizza order, so it never came, so the kids had potato chips, party mix, yogurt and cake for lunch. I don't think they exactly minded. The theme of the party was obviously Dora. Peyton was ready to party.

Peyton was excited to sing Happy Birthday, like usual. And I think he enjoyed the cake - or at least the icing!

I didn't want to put any pictures up of Olivia because I didn't get permission from her mom or anything. But, she opened her presents next. Peyton gave her a game, which she seemed to like. Her favorite gift though was a toy vacuum which she didn't want to let go of after she opened it. She only opened those two gifts, and was saving the rest to open at home.

Here's Peyton opening his goody bag.

We left then because the party was over. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way home to get some lunch because we were both hungry. Peyton had a fun time jumping and playing with his friends at Olivia's birthday party.