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.

"Gymagics"

Peyton goes to gymnastics, or as he calls it - gymagics - on Thursday evenings at Rolly Pollies. Normally, I just pick him up from daycare, we grab a quick dinner, and then I take him to gymnastics. However, I've been having pretty bad back pain lately, and Wednesday night/Thursday morning I had some of the worst pain that I have experienced so far. So, Kyle came to gymnastics with us so that he could help Peyton with the things that required lifting him up. Peyton was excited to have both of us there with him. I took the opportunity to bring the camera and take a million pictures of Peyton having fun.

The class starts out with the kids sitting in a circle. They sing a song that goes like this: Friends, friends, 1-2-3, all my friends are here with me. Peyton is my friend and Whoever is my friend and Whoever is my friend..... They go around the circle saying everyone's name. They they sing Where is Thumbkin, except they say Where is Rolly? Where is Polly?... Finally, they sing The More We Get Together and do sign language to the song. That is what they're doing in the picture below.

Next, the kids play with the parachute. They sing Ring Around the Rosie while they play.

Each week, they have about seven or eight different stations set up for the kids to do different activities. After the parachute, their teacher, Miss Lindy goes around to each station and explains what the kids are supposed to do on each apparatus. It's up to the parents to help their own children at each station. There are three teachers who walk around and assist with different things. This week, we had the following activities:

They had to climb into and out of this doughnut shaped obstacle and then do a forward roll down the inclined mat at the end. Peyton is getting better at his forward rolls, but usually goes sideways while doing them, so we'll keep working on it.

The tumble track is one of Peyton's favorite things. It's open each week. This week there were some noodles on the track that the kids had to jump over on their way down the track.

At the end of the tumble track, the kids can jump into this huge pit filled with foam blocks. There is a rope swing, a rope wall to climb, and some balls to toss inside the pit.

There are also the rings, which Peyton is really good at. He can hold himself up on them and swing for a good period of time. He has excellent upper body strength.

This was a balance beam-type of activity. The kids had to walk along it and then jump over the strings that were wrapped around it. Peyton is good at these types of things too.

They also had the trapeze set up this week. This was the first time that this activity was available. Peyton again did a good job at hanging from the bar and swinging back and forth.

This week was the first that we attempted a backward roll. Peyton did that much easier than he did a forward roll.

Another of Peyton's favorites is this climbing structure.

He's surprisingly good at balance beams.

He's also pretty good at climbing the rock wall. He tries to do everything with his arms though. He doesn't really get that he should step up with his feet first and then reach higher to pull himself up with his arms. He mostly just reaches up with his hands and then drags the rest of his body with him. He can get pretty high on the wall though. He just makes me nervous that he's going to fall off.

Here's Peyton on the official balance beam. It's only 4 inches wide. He can walk all the way across it all by himself without falling off.

They love balance beams, I guess. Here is another one that was set up with bean bags on it. The kids were supposed to pick up the bean bags as they walked across the beam and then drop them in the bucket at the end of the beam. This was one of Peyton's favorite activities this week.

The majority of the 45 minute class is spent doing those stations. There were a few more that I didn't include pictures of. It was hard to get good pictures that weren't blurry because Peyton is constantly moving. The kids gather back in the circle to do I'm a Little Teapot. When the song says "Tip me over and pour me out" the kids do this:

Next, we do Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush with a hula hoop.

Next, the kids get to play in a bounce house. This is probably Peyton's most favorite part of the class each week. He bounces and there is a slide in the house that all of the kids love. They go down it so fast.

Even Kyle wanted to get in on the jumping and sliding action.

To end the class, the kids gather in a circle again. They sing Hickory Dickory Dock. When the "mouse ran up the clock" the parents lift the kids upside down and swing them back and forth which each tick of the clock. Luckily, Miss Lindy normally does this with Peyton because it is so tough for me to lift him up being pregnant. Even though Kyle was there, she still did it with Peyton. He squeals with delight each time he goes upside down.

The class wraps up with a song similar to the opening one, except that this one goes like this: Bye bye Peyton. Bye bye Whoever... We hope you had fun. This was week 4 of 9 of the gymnastics classes. I think Peyton will want to continue with more classes. They are a great way for him to get some of his energy out. I know I'm tired when we get home each week!

Baby Shower and Confirmation Dinner

Kyle went up to Michigan over the weekend to visit his grandfather who he hasn't seen in a few months. He was going to drive up with Kate and Noah, leaving Friday morning. Instead of battling traffic to get down to Virginia Friday morning, Kyle left home after Peyton went to bed on Thursday night and just spent the night at Kate's so that they could leave first thing in the morning.

Peyton and I had quite the busy weekend. Friday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Peyton had a good time playing games and he didn't want to leave, even though it was approaching his bed time. He told everyone that would listen to him about Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday, so he must have really enjoyed himself.

We had two parties to go to on Saturday. The first was a baby shower for my friend Tahis. We went to school together from 3rd to 5th grades (you know, forever ago!) The shower started at 1:00, which wasn't quite ideal, because that is when Peyton normally takes a nap. Fortunately, he fell asleep on the way to the shower. Unfortunately, it was held in Columbia, which was only a 20 minute drive. But, he did really well at the shower. Isn't he cute!?

There was a ladybug theme for the shower, because Tahis is doing her little girl's room in ladybugs. Peyton was totally in love with the cake. It is super adorable. He often wandered over to it and just stared at it in awe. He was heartbroken when we didn't get any cake before we left (we had to leave early and they didn't cut it yet).

While we waited for the guest of honor to arrive, I read Peyton books. Thankfully we brought plenty of them with us. He sat really still at the table listening to stories. I got several complements from the other guests on how well behaved he was being. I was very happy that he was being so good because I know he was tired and bored. Anyway, Tahis arrived a little later and walked around greeting all of her guests. She's beautiful!

After Tahis got settled, the food was served. It was a brunch-type meal. There was a fruit tray, cheese tray, Cesar salad, bread and croissants, bacon, sausage, and a made-to-order omelet station with a chef. The food was tasty! Peyton ate a ton. After the food, we played several games like Baby Shower Bingo. Unfortunately, we had to leave early to get to our second party, so we didn't even get to see Tahis open any of her gifts. Here we are, as I was leaving.

Next, Peyton and I headed up to a restaurant called Enotria in Forest Hill for a dinner to celebrate Austin's confirmation which was Friday night. Again, Peyton fell asleep on the way to the restaurant, which was an hour away, so I think he felt a little more refreshed when we got there. Peyton was happy to spend some time with my parents, Kim, Bo, Dougie, Nadean, Vester, Austin, and Aunt Bev. He was quite the social butterfly, as usual. The service at the restaurant left much to be desired, but the food was good. I forgot to take pictures at the restaurant. Oops. We left dinner around 7:00 and didn't get home until after 8:00. Peyton needed to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (of course) and then it was bed time. It was a super busy, tiring, but fun day.

My Birthday

My birthday festivities began a few days early, on Sunday, with dinner with my parents and brother. We all went to By the Docks. I really wanted one of their giant, delicious crab cakes! Dinner was quite yummy. My mom brought a birthday cake for me, so when we were finished eating, the waitress brought it out with candles lit and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. There were 4 or 5 other birthdays being celebrated there that night. It is such a popular time of year for births. Anyway, after cake, I opened my gifts. Jeremy got me two movies - Zack and Miri Make a Porno and I Love You Man. Good choices! Mom and Dad got me some new bath towels (which I wanted), a picture frame that says "The Boys" and some money. Thanks everyone! I'm only posting one picture because they all turned out blurry (seems Kyle isn't a good photographer, hehe).

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, I was lucky enough to get home from work around 1:30. I had to travel to College Park and NIST to use some equipment, so my day was finished quickly. I hung out at home for a little while, relaxing, and catching up on The Young and the Restless. Kyle left work early too, and got home just as I was leaving to pick Peyton up from daycare. We decided to go pick him up together. When we got there, Peyton was surprised to see us both and he seemed excited that we both came to get him.

We went home for a little bit before going out to dinner. Kyle and Peyton gave me my birthday gifts. Here's Peyton showing me the drawing he made for me in my birthday card.

The boys got me a Kindle DX and a carrying case for it. It was a very thoughtful gift, but I ended up returning it, because I'm just too cheap to pay for all of the books that I read! I prefer going to the library for free. Kyle wasn't mad about it, just frustrated, I think, because I couldn't think of any gift ideas to tell him. Oh well. This was really the first year that I just didn't care about my birthday. I think I'm getting old. Boo.

I also opened my other birthday cards that had arrived in the mail before my birthday. Everyone was very thoughtful.

As I've mentioned on here for everyone else's birthdays, Peyton loves to sing "Happy Birthday." Here is a video of him singing it to me.

We went to dinner at Red Robin because I'm cheap and had a coupon for a free burger since it was my birthday. It happened to be Kids' Night at the restaurant, so the costumed Red Robin was there. It mostly hung out by the front door. For a while Peyton didn't even notice it, but then silly Kyle pointed it out to him. Peyton was pretty terrified of the bird, just as he is with the Chick-Fil-A cow, the Easter bunny, and other costumed characters. Peyton kept one eye on that bird for the rest of the meal. At one point Red walked by our table and I have never seen Peyton move so quickly to get into Kyle's lap. The bird and his assistant noticed how uncomfortable Peyton was and moved along quickly. Peyton did get up enough courage to wave goodbye to Red as we left the restaurant though. He still didn't want to be near it though.

The Cheesecake Factory was located just around the parking lot from Red Robin, so we stopped in there so that I could get a slice of my favorite cheesecake for dessert. We normally go to the Cheesecake Factory every year for my birthday dinner, but I didn't want to go there this year because my favorite dish that I always order is full of peanuts, which have made me terribly ill each time I've eaten them since I've been pregnant with Hunter. Since I couldn't have my favorite food, I didn't want to eat there at all.

We just hung out for the rest of the night. It was a nice birthday, even if I am old now.