Month: August 2010

Stay-cation Day Two

Day two of our stay-cation was another action packed day. We started with a family round of mini golf, cooled off at Splashdown Water Park, and finished up at Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream (some of us, more on that soon).

One of the byproducts of this stay-cation is that Thing 1 and Thing 2 are spending a LOT of time together. Not a problem as long as they are engaged in some fun, new activity. But in between those fun activities they are sitting in very close proximity in the car in DC traffic where they can’t seem to keep their hands to themselves or the decibels to a bearable level. So today SuburbanDaddy had to get tough and Thing 1 ended up sipping water while his brother and parents enjoyed ice cream and smoothies. Tomorrow I think we will build in some separation time.

Here are the pictures… Continue reading Stay-cation Day Two

Stay-cation Day One

We usually take a family trip to the beach in the summer, which is anything but a vacation for anyone but the kids, but with our new addition this year we weren’t quite ready to go anywhere as a family of six.

Instead, we opted for a stay-cation with just Thing 1 and Thing 2. The younger ones will be in daycare all day so we can do some of the activities we can’t do on the weekends with strollers and toddler tantrums and nap schedules.

We have a full lineup of activities for the week and the oldest Things are very excited. Today we took a boat ride on the Potomac, ate lunch (sitting down!) at a real restaurant – the famous Fish Market in Old Town, Alexandria – and hit balls at the driving range.

It was striking as we were walking, with no diaper bags or strollers, and no particular schedule in mind, that this is what it’s like to go somewhere with no baby gear or worries about turning our head away for even a moment or saying “put that down!” every minute.? This is SO EASY!? It gives us hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel for us in a few years.

But it was also noticeable that we were missing two of our Things and it felt a bit incomplete.? Sad even.? But that feeling lasted for, oh, about a second and quickly went away as we actually relaxed and enjoyed the boat ride without worrying Thing 3 would fall overboard or throw something into the water.

A quick recap of our day in pictures after the jump.? Tomorrow, look for more of the same.

Continue reading Stay-cation Day One

New Take On An Old Game

Highlights My First Hidden PictureRemember Highlights Magazines when you were a kid?? I remember reading the old beat up copies at the pediatrician’s office.? One of the features was a puzzle where pictures were hidden in a page and you had to find them.? There were always kids who would color in the pictures as they found them, ruining it for everyone else who came after them.

Now there is a modern take on the old classic…Highlights Hidden Pictures on the iPhone!? Highlights My First Hidden Pictures is a full-color version of the award-winning Highlights Hidden Pictures game for the iPhone and iPod Touch.? It’s designed with younger children in mind. Have fun solving the eight Hidden Pictures puzzles included with purchase plus the additional puzzle packs available.

I let Thing 1 and Thing 2 check it out.? Both were very interested at first.? I had to briefly explain the object of the game.? Thing 2 liked the sound effects and vibration when he correctly found an object.? But the game was actually kind of difficult for them.? The screen on the iPhone is much smaller than it would be in the magazine.? So the objects are either really small, or you need to zoom in and can’t see the entire puzzle at the same time.? They each got partway through one of the puzzles and then gave up.? I think kids a few years older would have more attention span and enjoy it.? Then again, I still think the old version in the magazine that I used to play is better.? As long as some other kid doesn’t color them all in first.

Lessons From Our First Football Game

Yesterday was our long anticipated first trip to a pro football game. We’ve been to baseball and basketball games this year, but there is something about your very first football game that you never forget. Being there yesterday brought back my first Giants game with my dad. Also, having not been to a football game myself in many years, it brought back all the not so great memories that makes football probably the worst live viewing experience of any sport – the traffic, crowds, bad weather, poor views, and outrageous prices.

But it was all worth it to see Thing 1 and Thing 2 experience it for the first time. I hope they have vivid memories because it may be a while before we go to another one.

Lesson #1: “Possible Obstructed View” means you have a big pillar right in front of you which kids can’t possibly see around. This was the view from our original seats.

Leave it to greedy NFL owners to have the nerve to build a stadium with seats like this and charge good money for them.

Since it was preseason we were able to move to empty seats in the upper level where we could see the entire field even if it looked like a bunch of ants playing.

That is, until it started to rain and they wanted to go back to our original seats because the seats were covered.

Lesson #2: When you have young kids with you, splurge for the parking lot closest to the stadium. I pre-paid $35 to be in a grass lot that was ideal for tailgating. We threw the footballs around and had a fun time eating sandwiches, snacks, and peeing in the portable potties (Thing 2: “How do I flush?”, Thing 1: “Where does it go?”). They were very intrigued by the games of beer pong going on all around us and Thing 1 wanted to know the rules.

But then we had to march from the parking lot about a half mile through the other parking lots to get to the game. Which was fine, except I didn’t realize how hard it would be to do after the game in reverse, in the dark, with Thing 1 and Thing 2, exhausted and 2 hours past their bedtime. I may have been completely slightly at fault for taking us in the wrong direction after the game but it doesn’t help to hear “is that the car?” and “maybe they know” and “are we lost” and “I’m tired of walking” every 10 seconds. It took us nearly an hour of walking to find the car. Which didn’t matter, in the end, because we still sat in a ton of traffic.

Just A Little Bit Excited

Tomorrow I’m taking Thing 1 and Thing 2 to their first NFL game. It doesn’t matter that it is a preseason game. Or who is playing. Or that we’ll be sitting in the cheap seats. They have been looking forward to this since the winter.

The game isn’t until 7pm TOMORROW night but Thing 2 insists on sleeping in his uniform tonight, which he’ll also wear all day tomorrow. He’ll add the helmet tomorrow at the game for full effect.

It’s fun to watch his excitement. Even if it is directed at the Redskins.

Totally Unprecedented

It is 6:02am and all 4 kids are STILL SLEEPING! If this happened every day, I could be amazingly productive and write lots of blog posts every morning. I could get used to this. But I probably shouldn’t.

Oh well, looks like I just jinxed myself. I hear footsteps coming downstairs and Thing 4 is awake and needs a bottle fast. It was nice while it lasted.

Playground Personalities

Our three boys are similar in many ways. All very active, in constant motion, and competitive with each other. But they also have developed very unique personalities and it’s fun observe. A recent trip to the playground is the perfect observation booth.

Playground Personalities

To Thing 1 everything is a game. He wanted to throw the ball or frisbee to count how many times we could catch it without dropping (he may have learned that one from me). When Thing 2 wouldn’t play his games anymore, it was how many times could he throw the ball through a spot on the jungle gym.

Thing 2 likes to socialize. After getting frustrated about losing to his older brother a few times, Thing 2 went over to where some others boys were playing. He introduced himself by climbing on a rock and declaring he is King of the Rocks! He is Mr. Imagination. Give Thing 2 a stick, a pair of swim goggles, and a rock and he is off in his play world for an hour.

At first, Thing 3 wants to do whatever his brothers are doing. “Throw it to me! Throw it to me!” A byproduct of being the youngest. But after that wears off, his own personality settles in. He discovers someone walking their dog and sets off in pursuit. He pets, pokes, hugs, and generally provokes the dog. He doesn’t want to leave the dog until he is suddenly distracted by a squirrel. “Look at that!” He chases the squirrel up a tree. Then he wanders after birds and butterflies and I watch him fill his hat with mulch. Thing 3 has a bright future as a park ranger.