Colonial Williamsburg

We spent our first day in Colonial Williamsburg with my mom while she was here.  The kids had a blast - which was mostly because we didn't make them sit through anything historical in favor of eating and letting them run around the whole time.  When we first got there, Kennedy and Noah randomly decided to hold hands and run to the entrance.

It was awfully cute.  Up until Kennedy told Noah that they were going to jump off the curb together.  Of course he didn't understand, and the both fell flat on their faces.

For Noah, the highlight of the day was most definitely riding the bus.  He was thrilled to be riding on that thing with so many people.  I think he would have been content to stay on there for an hour or so.

My favorite parts are the cheese and candy shops (not to mention the Williams-Sonoma) in Merchant Square, which is a modern part on the end of the historical street.

Kennedy liked the candy shop too.  They had Hello Kitty marshmallow pops.

Obviously they enjoyed their candy.  Once in the historical part, we stopped a lot to let the kids run.  They particularly loved the big Palace Green, where grandma let them take off their shoes and lounge in the grass.

They also loved looking in the shops.  We narrowly missed a tantrum when I said we couldn't buy this hat.  I wanted to throw a tantrum too.  It was cute, but not $30 cute.

We have year passes, and have been back already, so I'm sure we will go again before we leave.



Virginia Living Museum

You'll have to excuse the weird picture.  This is the best I could get of them both looking at the camera.

One of the attractions that we have already been to a few times out here is the Virginia Living Museum.  We have a family year pass and have already made our money back.  Best idea ever.  It's like a mini aquarium/zoo, and is big enough to keep us occupied for a while, but small enough to be manageable on a whim.

Captivated by the fish.

Noah loving the microscope and playing with grandma, who came with us the first time we went.

This giant turtle shell is definitely one of the highlights every time we go.  Instead of looking at animals, they want to do something more interactive.  Be an animal, pet the animals (there is a decent touch pool), or, Kennedy's favorite, play virtual frog dissection.

When they tried on these hats in the gift store, grandma couldn't help but buy them.  They are now worn around our house quite a bit.

Of course, we had to go back with dad once the new dinosaur exhibit opened.  And let him cause some trouble.

You can't see his face, but Noah was not very happy to be in the dinosaur's mouth.

The dinosaur exhibit was smaller than I was expecting, but they are all robotic, and they have a cool portion of underwater dinosaurs.  There was, unfortunately, a painful musical puppet show that we were forced to sit through.  The kids had a blast.  I was thankful that it was only 20 minutes long.

And of course, dad had to be a kid too.

Cinco de Mayo

On Cinco de Mayo we decided to go out to dinner.  Completely forgetting about the holiday, we went to the first restaurant that looked halfway decent, which happened to be a Mexican place.  Turns out they were having a full on blow out of a party.

Kennedy was able to go on a very short, but obviously very fun, pony ride.  She was on cloud nine.  This girl LOVES her horses.

The other entertainment was a bounce house (which was closed due to a little bit of rain) and a face painting station.  Kennedy decided to get, what else?  Hello Kitty.

Look how happy she is!  Noah got his arms painted too, and afterward he kept walking around yelling, "Spiderman!"

These were some seriously happy kids.  I'm glad we decided to stick out the Cinco de Mayo madness for them.



Letters of Gratitude

Dear Noah,
Thank you for making faces like in the picture above.  And for falling asleep in the car this afternoon and staying that way as I carried you up the stairs.  If you didn't do that every once in a while, I don't know if I would have survived this past week.  Your twos have been terrible the last few days.  I guess that cake for breakfast isn't a terrible remedy.
Love,
Your not-so-patient mother

Dear Virginia,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for having such lovely weather!  Considering the huge downpour of rain that lasted about a month that we came from, I really appreciate all of the sunshine.
Love,
The lady who needs to get out of the house

Dear Brett,
The flowers that you sent me for mother's day are beautiful.  Thank you for thinking of me even though you've been stuck in school this whole week and very busy.  Also, thank you for convincing me to bring so much kitchen stuff with us.  I love you.
Love,
Your wife

Dear Mom,
Thanks for coming to see us even though you've been busy and traveling.  It helped break up this week.  And helped me not go insane with Noah.
Love,
Your daughter

Dear Netflix,
Thank you for keeping me occupied and for being accessible on my kindle for when I have insomnia bouts.  Although I'd rather be sleeping at 3:00 am, watching Strictly Ballroom in my bed wasn't a horrible second option.
Love,
A tired pregnant lady

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Having a stand-off with Ashlyn over the bubble lawn mower.

This last week, it has been raining, raining, and raining some more.  And it doesn't let up in the forecast.  I finally saw Hunger Games, and was very pleased with the end result.  Noah turned 2 this week.  How did he get so big?  Here's some other things going on:

I have been checking THIS website almost everyday for hints and cute stuff.

THIS is happening this weekend.  I always love these times.

The above means that some of THESE will be coming out of my kitchen on Sunday morning.  Kennedy has been asking if it's Sunday everyday.

I want one of THESE!  Seriously, how cute are they?

Have you heard about THIS??  I have been waiting for this day all my life.