Believe it or not, they actually like doing stuff like this. It isn’t often our kids get one on one time with mommy or daddy so it’s fun for them no matter what we’re doing. At least for a short period of time. Plus, SuburbanDaddy watches SportsCenter when he folds laundry so we had plenty of time to discuss the upcoming football season.

The day wasn’t all chores. We went ice skating together, the first time SuburbanMommy or I had been on ice skates in probably 20+ years.  Happily no mishaps to report other than feeling quite old as hoards of tiny kids out maneuvered me.  Then out to lunch, a stop at a toy store, and more split separation time. This time, I did a puzzle and colored with Thing 2 while SuburbanMommy did a project with Thing 1.

Thing 1 enjoys breakfast while reading the sports section. I wonder where he learned that?

Getting ready to skate

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…

Check out that outside temperature!

On the first tee

Two hole-in-one's on the same hole!

Ready to cool off at the water park

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.

Ready to board the water taxi to National Harbor

SuburbanMommy and Thing 2

Thing 1 and Thing 2 leave their mark... J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!

Ben and Jerry's before lunch? Different rules apply when you are on stay-cation

Heading back to Virginia with the Woodrow Wilson bridge in the distance. The Potomac River is even filthier when you see it up close.

Finish the day off at the driving range

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

In our house, we have two iPhones and one Blackberry.  Each one has it’s own charger with a separate power cord.   We keep them all on top of the microwave and it’s kind of a mess.  Maybe you have something that looks like this.

Before: Spaghetti Wires

I decided to give Powermat a try.  Disclosure: I was offered the product to review.  Powermat’s tag line is Lose The Cords and promises to end constant plugging and unplugging and the mess of cords.  Sounds good to me.  Sign me up.

Powermat has a bunch of different products.  A home/office flagship model, a travel version that folds up, and charging mats that accommodate 1, 2, or 3 devices.  Then there are various cases and adapters for iPhone, Blackberry, iPod, Nintendo DS, and so on.  There is an adapter for most of the popular mobile devices.  Although my work Blackberry 8830 isn’t supported.

All the different models work the same way.  A sleek looking mat on which you place your mobile device to charge.  The charging works wirelessly and there are high tech features like magnetic alignment, RFID, audio confirmation, and charging indicators.

It was easy enough to set up but I was surprised at how many pieces were involved.  There is the mat which has a single power cord.  OK, I expected there would still be one wire.  Then you put a 2×2 inch square receiver in contact with the mat and it wirelessly passes charge from the mat to the receiver to your mobile device. Except here’s the catch: You have to plug your device into the receiver with a cord!  I thought cords would be gone?

There are some adapter options, sold as extras, which give a sort of cordless solution.  There is an iPhone case you can use that has the receiver built in so you don’t need a cord, but the case is rather bulky compared to the case I have on the phone today.  Another adapter acts like a docking station with a stand to stick your iPhone in. Technically, not a cord, but you still need to plug it in.  Not exactly end constant plugging and unplugging. Considering the regular charger that comes with iPhones is pretty slim anyway, Powermat is not a huge improvement.  As far as the travel model is concerned, it seems like it would be easier to just take the regular iPhone charger with me rather than the travel mat + receiver which I’d still need to plug into the phone.

Once set up it does a fine job charging the phones.  That is, other than the one night it woke me up with an annoying beeping sound at 3am.  Even if it doesn’t totally eliminate cords, it does look cooler and neater that the tangle of cords we used to have, so we’ll keep using it at home. Here’s what the top of our microwave looks like now with the Powermat.