4th of July

On the 4th of July, we followed tradition and went to the parade in Dundalk. As usual, we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast with my parents. Jeremy and Jill met us there too, but didn't eat. After breakfast, we drove over to the parade route and found the rest of the family already set up on "our" corner. It was nice and sunny, and thankfully not as hot or humid as it was last year. Peyton and Hunter enjoyed the parade.

Hunter and Kim

Austin, Peyton, and Doug

Red, White, and Blue! (And no, that wasn't planned)

Jill and Jeremy

Peyton keeps cool with his fan

Our family

After the parade, we went home to eat lunch and so that Peyton and Hunter could take naps. Then we went to a cookout at Kate and Dave's new house. Their house is so nice! They have the best kitchen, and I'm not even trying to hide the fact that I'm super jealous of it! Anyway, Dave grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. There was also corn on the cob and fruit salad. Kate was very patriotic with red, white, and blue tortilla chips, M&Ms, and gummy candy.

Kate and Dave's nephews and one of Noah's friends were also at the cookout. After everyone ate, they set up a slip and slide for the boys to play on. I think the kids had fun cooling off in the water.

Noah and Peyton snuck away to play with a big ball.

Around 6:00, Hunter started to get a little cranky, so we thought that we should drive back home. While we were on the way, we just decided to stop at Ft. Meade so that we could watch their fireworks. Normally, the base is closed to civilians, but they open it up on the 4th for a little festival and fireworks. We were pretty early, so we just relaxed on a blanket. Hunter ate a bottle, and it was the first time he held it all by himself!

Peyton and me waiting for the fireworks to begin

Ooohhh! Aaahhh!

We ended up leaving the fireworks before they were even finished because Peyton and Hunter were both exhausted and we wanted to beat the traffic off base. We got home around 10:30 and went to sleep.

4th of July was busy, but fun. On Independence Day, it's important to remember those who fought, and are currently fighting, for our freedom. USA! USA! USA!

Michigan

We planned a trip to Michigan this summer for a few reasons. First, we really wanted to see all of Kyle's grandparents, and introduce them to Hunter. Secondly, we haven't been there in a few years, so it was definitely time to visit. And third, Kyle's cousin Mandy was getting married, so we picked the dates for our trip based on that.

Noah spent the night at our house on Wednesday because Kate and Dave went to a concert in Baltimore. When they picked him up around 9:30 on Thursday morning, we all started the long, long drive to Michigan. We kept pace with Kate until Breezewood, PA because we needed to stop to feed Hunter and have lunch. They thought it was too early to eat, so they continued on. After lunch we drove for about another three hours, until it was time to feed Hunter again. This was just a quick stop for some baby food and a bottle. The next leg of the trip was absolutely horrific. Hunter screamed for the next three hours straight. There was just nothing we could do to soothe him. He couldn't (or wouldn't) take a nap, so he was super tired and cranky from being stuck in the car seat all day. Finally it was time to stop for dinner. We decided to eat a sit-down restaurant so that we could be out of the car for a while. After we finished with dinner, it was only another hour or so until we made it to the hotel. In all, it took us 11-1/2 hours to get to Michigan, with Hunter screaming for 3 of them. Yes, it was a looooooooooooong ride. Thankfully, Peyton was pretty quiet because we brought the DVD player and lots of movies. He was focused on them the entire time.

We checked into our hotel around 9:00 pm and got the boys settled into bed. We got a suite, so Peyton took one bedroom and we set up Hunter's pack-and-play in the living room area. We took the other bedroom, of course. Friday morning, they actually slept relatively late to about 8:30. We got dressed and went to the lobby for breakfast. We planned on going to Grandma Moreau's house for lunch around 12, so we still had a little time to waste. Peyton was acting crazy and Hunter was bored, so we just went to Meijer to browse. It's not a trip to MI without a stop at Meijer!

Anyway, we got to Grandma's and it was time for Hunter to eat. Then he was super tired so we set up the pack-and-play in the bedroom and he took a nap. Unfortunately, Hunter slept almost the entire time that we were there, so I didn't get any pictures of him with Nana. She put out quite the spread of food for lunch. Actually, I'm going to say it was the most food that I've ever seen set out for lunch. After we ate, Peyton played with the animal Beanie Babies and we chatted with Grandma. Kate and Dave came over a little later and hung out. Around 4:00 Hunter woke up, we fed him again, and then we left for Grandma and Grandpa Rohner's for dinner.

They were super excited to see Hunter and Peyton. Grandma couldn't wait to get her hands on Hunter. He went to her with no problems. (Of course Hunter had to wear his State outfit in MI!)Peyton played with Grandpa by measuring his foot with a toy tape measure.

Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma, Peyton and Hunter

We stayed there for a few hours talking. Grandma cooked chicken and rice for dinner and we had brownies for dessert. Yum. It was getting to be Hunter's bedtime though, so we took off for the hotel so that he could go to sleep.

On Saturday morning, Ryan, Becky, Lindsey, Sara, Kate, Dave, Noah, Linda, and Jim came to our hotel so that the kids could go swimming together. I think everyone had a lot of fun!

After everyone cleaned up from the pool, we all went to Arby's for a quick lunch. We separated so that the kids could take naps before Mandy's wedding, which was at 3:00. Peyton and Hunter laid down for a little while, then we gave them baths and got them dressed. Then we were off to the wedding. Peyton was so sad that we were in a church, but that there was no singing. He loves singing church songs. Both he and Hunter were very well behaved during the ceremony. Here is the beautiful bride and groom.

After the wedding, we had a few hours before the reception started. Becky's parents graciously watched Hunter for us while we were at the reception, because it started at 6:00 and he goes to bed shortly after that. Hunter had no problem staying there and went right to Becky's dad. We hung out at their house and took some pictures until it was time to leave for the reception.

Peyton and Hunter

Our family

Cousins - Lindsey, Peyton, Hunter, and Sara

We got to the reception a little after 6:00. The theme of the wedding was the 70's - think peace signs and flower power. While we were waiting for dinner to be served, we hit up the candy table. There were chinese take-out boxes and lots of old school candy, like candy buttons, wax bottles, jawbreakers, and bubble gum to sample. It was after 7:00 before tables were called to the buffet and we were practically the last table to be called. By the time we got our food, it was after 8:00 and we were starving!

After dinner, it was time to get our groove on. It seemed like the kids never stopped dancing! Peyton danced with Lindsey and Sara.

Peyton was ready to catch the garter.

After the bouquet and garter tosses, they sat the girl down that caught the bouquet for the guy who caught the garter to put it on her leg. They blindfolded the guy, and then switched the girl out for Dave! How he got picked, I'm not sure, but what ensued was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Then, back to dancing. Kyle danced with Lindsey.

Peyton even busted out his break-dancing moves.

Uncle Dave used Peyton as his personal drum kit.

Kyle and I.

Kyle and Grandma were dancing to Jennifer Lopez! Grandma danced with Kyle more than I did. What's up with that?!

Peyton started to run out of energy, so we left the reception around 10:30, I think. We stopped by Becky's parents' house to get Hunter and then went back to the hotel for some sleep!

Peyton slept in again on Sunday and we needed to wake Hunter up so that we could get some breakfast and get back on the road. We ended leaving around 9:30 again. It took another 12 hours to get home, but this time Hunter only cried for a little while when he was hungry and we were stuck in traffic and not moving. I crawled into the backseat and gave him a bottle. Other than that one time, the trip home was smooth sailing.

It was nice to see everyone, since it's been a while. We also caught up with Kyle's dad, some of his cousins, aunts, and uncles. While we needed a vacation after our vacation, we did have a good time. Hopefully next time we'll be back sooner.

Science Center

The pictures in this post are all out of order (even though I know I added them in the correct order), so I'm pretty much just going to explain what's going on in each. Because honestly, I'm too lazy to upload them again right now.

I kept Peyton and Hunter home with me the week we left for Michigan. There was no sense in paying for them to be at daycare for only three days. So on Tuesday of that week, I took them to the Science Center. It was my mom's day off of work, so she came with us. And I am so glad she did -- she was such a big help keeping Hunter occupied so that I could play with Peyton.

When we first entered the Science Center, we met this lady who had a little setup to teach about starfish. Peyton schooled her on details about starfish and she was so impressed that he knew so much about them, being so young.
There was a live lizard in this display case. Hunter checked him out.
Peyton and his friend, the Maryland Blue Crab. (I think I ate his cousin at dinner on Father's Day. Hehe.)
Hunter was quite interested in learning how clouds form in our atmosphere.
At the entrance of the museum, this guy did a static electricity experiment with my mom and Peyton. He had the three of them hold hands so that they could feel the electric current run through each of them around the circle. Pretty neat.
In the dinosaur area, there was this big dinosaur skull. I think its a tyrannosaurus rex.
Paleontologist Peyton digging for fossils.
This exhibit teaches how a volcano forms. Peyton was controlling the heat under the ground, which eventually caused the volcano to erupt.
Up in Newton's Alley, we learned a lot about physics.
Here is another picture from the dinosaur area. It's a triceratops skull.
This is Peyton standing next to an actual tire from a space shuttle that was in space. They're pretty big tires!
Astronaut Peyton on Jupiter with Saturn in the background. That space suit was taken up into space in the Space Shuttle Discovery on one of its missions.
Peyton loved laying on the bed of nails. I think he did it two or three different times. It's amazing that the nails do not hurt.
That's me pointing out where my brain tumor was.
Peyton played a harp with no strings!
Hunter decided that the Science Center was just too much fun for him to handle, so he took a little nap.
Peyton visited Antarctica.
And we played with some penguins!
Peyton got to shake "Cal Ripken's" hand. Of course, he has no idea who Cal Ripken is. He was wearing his Orioles gear that day though.
Ewwww, Mom! You're gross.
Captain Peyton was ready to steer the boat. He was taking me on a cruise.
This water table was very exciting to Peyton. I liked that they provided the smocks, because he got pretty wet.
Now Peyton is swimming in the Chesapeake Bay.
Grandmom and Peyton with a big giant crab.
Drop the anchor so that we can set sail, Peyton.
There were many more exhibits that we explored, but I wouldn't want to bore anyone with a million pictures. Peyton had a really good time throughout the Science Center because almost every single exhibit is hands on. He learned a lot about the earth, dinosaurs, the human body and physics. He even learned about stars and constellations by watching a show in the planetarium called "One World, One Sky" featuring Elmo, Big Bird, and some character from the Chinese version of Sesame Street.

We had a super fun day at the Science Center. The day started out rainy, but ended up super hot. Before leaving for home, Grandmom treated Peyton to some Rita's. Unfortunately Kyle had to miss the excitement, but we had a good day with Grandmom instead!