Maybe she's born with it

A few weeks ago we spent an entire day with friends. It was not exactly planned, and turned out to be one of the more productive and fun weekends we've had in a while.

It started with a phone call. My friends husband needed to talk to mine. Which in and of itself does not sound like anything special, but it was out of the norm for him to call our house and speak to Fred directly. You see, the wives (me and my friend) are the ones who are friends. And when I say friends, I don't mean the neighbor you hit it off with when you first moved in, or the fellow PTA mom, not even your sorority sister from college. I'm talking about the friend you've known since you were 2 years old. The one who lived across the street your entire childhood. The friend you did everything with, your best friend in the entire world, until you had a horrible falling out in college. The friend who after 8 years of not talking, took the first step to reconciliation at your 10 year High School reunion. The friend with whom you now share a connection as if it never ended. With whom, much like the Phoenix, you have a friendship that was reborn from the ashes; foundation repaired, slightly renovated, and fully restored.

Wow! That crudely summed up 31 years in about 2 seconds. But you get the point. I've known this woman for a really long time. Practically my entire life. We are the friends, our husbands are just along for the ride. So to have them contacting each other, conspiring projects together, was an oddity.

As I sat there on the couch listening to one side of the conversation, pretending to be engrossed on the website on my computer screen, I became more and more curious. What in the world were they talking about? Something involving coming to our house and using Fred's welder. Will we be home tomorrow? The kids could play and the girls catch up. Before I knew it my Sunday morning was already planned for me and I only heard snippets of what that would entail. It turns out, my friends husband brews his own beer. This I already knew. However, he needed to make a new stand for his burner and wanted to borrow Fred's skills and welder in order to do it. Fred, of course, jumped at the chance to play with fire and help out a friend. As I watched him explain the design to me, I could see that familiar smile creep upon his lips. They were going to have way too much fun doing this.

Fast forward, it's Sunday morning, kids bummed there is no Grandma Sunday, but super stoked friends are coming over to play. As the boys disappear into the garage, our kids play restaurant and draw pictures while my friend and I discuss the latest in our lives. She offered to help her cousin with the programs for their upcoming wedding and she had no idea where to start. She was hoping I could help since I am such a creative, crafty guru. A few minutes later I am pulling up Pinterest and seriously getting into designing these programs. We all break for lunch, enjoying our traditional Sunday Potbelly sandwiches and shakes. The boys are done and now discussing how you brew beer. Next thing I know, it was agreed we would all head over to their house to brew beer on the newly created burner. So we clean up lunch, pack up our stuff, and hop in the car.

The kids never missed a beat, returning right to play as soon as we arrive. The boys quickly head off to brew the beer and I sit down at the computer. My friend and I deep in creative discussion about the wedding program. She never had to ask. I love to create! I could sit at a computer designing things in photoshop all day. I was happily in my element, working till it was done and dinner time arrived. As I said, we spent an entire day with friends. While we enjoyed our dinner in the dinning room, the kids quickly scarfed down theirs before returning to play. It was nice to have adult conversation and not be interrupted by screaming kids. It was then, mid bliss, that I realized it had been awhile since we heard any noise from the children. In my house, this usually means they are up to no good. As I mentioned this out loud, Fred went up to the bedrooms to check on them. He returned carrying Sophia, her arms and legs spread out as if she was terrified to let anyone touch them.

"She was on the top bunk," Fred explains. Our first reaction was, how did she even get up there? She knew she wasn't allowed on the top bunk because previously in the day it was discovered she could not get herself down and screaming for me to help her. Then we discovered that was not the worst of it. Fred shows her hands and feet to us. They are messily painted a dark blue. "I boot-iful," Sophie exclaims. That's when it hits us. The realization of what was going on upstairs. Why the silence. My friends face drops. "They were painting their nails on the top bunk? On the brand new comforter I just bought?!" Fred and I exchanged knowing looks. Someone's about to be in trouble.

Her husband returns from upstairs, comforter in hand, blue nail polish, clear as day, smack dab in the middle. I cringe. Then he places the small bottle of Bon Bons dark blue nail polish on the counter. I freeze. Eyes wide, fixated on the nail polish, wondering if anyone recognizes that bottle, because I do. It was one of the favors from Sophie's birthday party. Oh, snap! I'm the one in trouble. I felt so guilty having supplied the contraband that ruined a brand new comforter.

Sophie, however, spent the next 24 hours refusing to use her fingers afraid to mess up her pretty nails even though we assured they were dry. And over the next two weeks she kept showing off her nails and telling anyone and everyone she was beautiful. I admit she does look cute in the polish, and they were perfect for 4th of July. What we can't figure out is where does she get this love for all things girly? I'm talking makeup, nail polish, skirts and tutus, etc. I am not a real girly girl. I hardly every wear skirts or dresses. I haven't had a manicure or pedicure in over a year, and maybe once a year (Halloween) paint my own nails. I don't wear makeup, unless Fred and I have a date, or I'm attending a special occasion. Both of which rarely happen. Don't get me wrong, I like to dress up and look beautiful. It's just not a part of my daily life/routine. So we can't figure it out. We know she doesn't get it from me. The only thing we can think of is this; she is a girl, and girls are born with it.

Let's start over

Reading and catching up on my emails this rainy Sunday morning, I came upon the September newsletter from SARK. If you are not familiar with her I suggest you do so. An author and artist she in an inspiration to many. I was first introduced to her in college when a fellow classmate let me borrow the book, The Ultimate Nap Book: Change your life without getting out of bed. I was hooked. 10 years later: I own eleven books, follow her on twitter, read her blog and subscribe to her newsletter. Oh how great it is that technology allows me so many ways to indulge in wondrous inspiration.

As I said, her most recent newsletter caught my attention. A story about creative dreams. How they are not only projects, businesses or great ideas, but ways of living differently. She writes, "my mom was a grudge holder who was very concerned with being 'right.' I've carried on that tradition while having a creative dream of being and living differently...Don't you love how the world gives us new places and ways to practice?" Below is an excerpt of the story from her newsletter.

The story ended on a happy note and she made this statement: I was profoundly reminded that when we can live and behave differently than our reactive patterns we are also untangling other larger dynamics.

It got me thinking. Really thinking. Most recently about our beach trip and my actions or rather reactions to events that unfolded. Here is my story.

It was the second to last night and our big dinner out as a group. Without discussing it with everyone, Fred and I were just informed that we, as a group, were going to go leave for dinner at 6:30pm. Upon thinking about it Fred and I thought that was a bad idea. We made our concerns known. If we don't leave till 6:30pm, by the time we arrive at the restaurant, get seated and order our food it will be close to 7:30pm and the kids bedtime. While we want to eat and have a good time the kids will be losing steam and getting fussy. It made more sense to leave closer to 5:3o or 5:45pm in order to minimize the meltdowns. While one couple agreed with our assessment when mentioned to the other, they were less than agreeable. Their baby had to be fed at 5:30pm, their son was currently napping and they hadn't had showers yet. My solution to that was, get in the shower now, your son will wake up soon and you can feed the baby at the restaurant. Simple right?

Still they did what they wanted instead, which was stick to the not leaving till they wanted plan. So the closer it got to 6pm the more my kids started to get hungry, bored and meltdown. I knew we had to go and go soon. So I suggested that Fred and I head over there, get a table (my kids settled down and fed) and wait there for everyone else to join us when they were ready. This was of course ridiculous, we could just wait here, and I GOT MAD. I mean really PISSED OFF. I just sat there festering about how wrong they were and how much I disliked them, their selfishness and unwillingness to compromise. And I remained this way the rest of the night. Being unsocial at dinner, taking it out on my husband and kids. My anger turning to hurt. Even spending a few moments crying in the bathroom. How disappointed I was with our vacation this year, how I felt disrespected and disliked by my friends. How I so desperately wanted to go home. I left feeling detached from my friends when I should have felt more tight-knit. I was not feeling good about myself or the whole situation.

I've often thought about the whole trip and the events that resulted immediately and shortly thereafter. Mostly about my behavior. What I could have done differently. Like SARK, I too want to go back and say to everyone, "can we start over?" Because seriously, when I look at how I behaved, it was, again like SARK, self-righteous and defensive. While I was so upset over how I was being treated, how disgusted I was with the selfish behavior and uncaring toward other's feelings I too was acting just like them. I was uncaring how my unwillingness to let it go and unsocial behavior was causing uncomfortableness to those around me. And my anger, while maybe justified, was being directed to those who were undeserving of it's wrath.

We cannot change others, how they behave or think or feel. Change comes with a desire to be a better person, with respect for human life. As SARK says, we all have the opportunity to live and behave differently. And I for one have the desire.

So, let's start over shall we.

Summer Adventures: Great Country Farms

We finally made it out to Great Country Farms. Though the night before Fred arrived home from a week long trip to California and Mason, so desperate to see and spend time with daddy, did not want to go. I expected as much and had to talk up all the cool things, including picking blackberries and peaches, just to get him to put on his clothes. However once in the car, and at the Farm he got real excited.

Once everyone arrived, we headed in the direction of the kids playground and barnyard. First up was the thankfully, perfectly shaded play area. Fully equipped with spider web rope climbs

and wooden tractors to climb and slide down.

The kids were having a great time and we all got to take a break from the heat. I met a new fellow momma and hopeful friend whose daughter is about the same age as Mason. The first thing I heard her ask her mom was for a snack. And continued for a while. It made me chuckle to know that my son is not the only one who wants to snack ALL DAY LONG. Fellow snackies unite!

Next we headed in the direction of the barnyard but found the corn box and detoured that way. What a good choice that was because it was hours of entertainment. Well at least it felt like it. Such a relief to us to be able to sit and relax while watching the enjoyment of the kids getting along and playing nice.

It was also covered so there was shade and a nice breeze and the right amount of adirondack chairs for us to sit in. This is the life. Sophie, though, not so much.

She got tired of sitting in the stroller so I brought her in to sit on my lap. She tried so hard to get into that corn pit, it must have looked like so much fun to her. But one attempt to put them in her mouth and right back up she went. And not all too happy about it either. She flailed, and squirmed, and whined and fussed. Just about throwing one of her tantrums. I kept telling her, "wait another year. Or even a few months. When you're not putting anything and everything into your mouth and you too can play." Though I'm not sure that reassurance helped much. It also could have been crankiness due to it being right in the middle of her nap time and awfully close to lunch.

Once lunchtime arrived, we had to drag the kids out of the corn pit and made our way to one of the many pavilions around the farm to set up. The kids were fascinated with the random chicken running around. Trying to feed him pieces of corn they found stuck in various parts of their shoes and clothes. Except Nathan. He was scared.

I figured since we were out and with friends and doing things, Mason would actually sit and eat his lunch. I was mistaken. I had to repeatedly tell him to sit and eat his peanut butter and jelly which he had asked me to make for lunch. Even threaten to take a stone away. Yes, we have started back up with the stone jar and earning bag of matchbox cars. At least I wasn't the only one having trouble getting my child to listen and cooperate.

While the rest of us finished up our lunch, Mason and James were playing, and at times ran off to where we couldn't see them, or James would fall, or Mason tackle him and he would whine or James and Sophie would just cry or whine for no particular reason; and it was hard for us to keep it together and not want to scream at them to just SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!

Clearly the kids were anxious to get back to the activities of the farm, so we packed up as fast as we could, sanitized our hands and were on our way.

We hit the barnyard first, where the kids got to stick their heads in the cardboard cutouts and be dogs, pigs, sheep and cows. We met a donkey named Sophia, some baby lambs which lead to the retelling of the Mommy getting attacked my goats at the animal park story, and once again ran into the anatomy of a certain animal and scratched our heads wondering WHAT IS IT WITH US AND ANIMAL GENITALIA BEING PRESENT?

Next to the barnyard was a small concrete circle with these roller things on them. I had no idea what they were. Some sort of twist cart or something. Emily knew though and was trying to explain how they work. Instead she said, "I'll show you" and hopped on one. It was the funniest damn thing to see her scooting around on that contraption, all the kids following her, wanting a turn. Finally they got one.

I think Mason's was broken because he didn't go very far compared to the others.

As you can see in the first picture of Emily and the kids, there are stairs in the background. Those stairs lead to a tube slide. One of many on the grounds of the farm. However that particular one seemed awfully big for the kids. Looking around we found another, slightly smaller slide and subsequently ushered the kids in that direction.

Mason followed the group up the stairs, insisting I follow. I was skeptical about him actually going down the slide. Two years ago he LOVED, L-O-V-E-D, slides and it seemed the bigger the better. Once he was two, and the closer he got to three he developed a fear of slides and swings and that fear grew and grew. Once at top, we watched one by one as the others went down and just as I suspected, he freaked. I finally convinced him to ride down in my lap and to ensure he would be scarred anymore than he already was, I purposely slowed us down. It must have worked because he raced back up the stairs yelling back at me that he wanted to go down alone. But once again, at the top his fear set in and I had to sit at the bottom coaxing him to come down, ensuring him that he would not get hurt, that I would catch him. Eventually he came down and the smile on his face said it all.

Up again he went. Over and over and each time he laughed and smiled more. Eventually everyone took a turn. Even Sophie. She laughed and smiled. So down again we went. So happy she didn't cry and thinking once again that maybe Mason has been able to get past his fear of slides. I suppose we'll have to wait till the fall and Pumkinville to find out for sure.

While Mason went down the slide, one more time, the others found their way back to the corn bin and we joined them. The day was winding down, we were getting tired and enjoyed the rest, the cool breeze, and simple conversation.

Time to say good-bye to good friends and a long eventful day. But not before I snapped a few pictures of butterflies.

Pack the kids up in the car, put on Curious George, because it is a long trip, and head out of the parking lot.

Noooooooo! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE! I WANT TO GO BERRY PICKING!!!

I had totally forgot that we hadn't gone berry picking until we were heading back to the car. But since everyone was too tired to stay and heading home he would forget. I should have known, my little elephant, the one who never forgets a single thing promised to him. I couldn't resist the wails and pleads to do the berry picking I so very much talked up to convince him to come today. So I quickly turned around and headed back into the parking lot.

Situating Sophie into the Ergo, I took Mason by the hand and headed back into the Country Store in search of the berry fields. After getting direction and halfway to the vines, I realized I didn't have anything to put the berries in. *sigh* As I got closer I saw that not many ripe berries were left anyway. Plus, I'm not a big fan of black berries and wasn't sure Mason would be either. But in we headed anyway.

Look Mom, I found one.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that we were hot and tired, I could barely keep my eyes open for the drive home. Or the nostalgia of picking berries having worn off since we do this in our backyard every night with raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, etc. But after two or three, we made our way back to the car, sweaty and Mason not wanting to walk anymore. Lets just say both kiddos took exceptionally good naps after passing out in the car.

I think we will try this berry picking thing again. However, next year we will come during strawberry or blueberry season when it is more exciting and something we would actually enjoy eating.

Summer Adventures: Mill Recreation Center

Shortly after Sophie was born we were invited to go to the Mills Recreation Center pool by our good friends, the Poonawalas.

I remember it being a whole lot of fun. Mason especially, loving the fountains at the entrance to the big pool. He kept running in and out of them, laughing, splashing and genuinely happy. I remember leaving that day wishing that our neighborhood pool was as cool as this one. I remember coming home, downloading and editing the photos and writing a post about our day. Though it seems to have disappeared from my blog. Disappointed and bummed that I lost those memories and wallowing in my confusion as to how it happened.

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A year later, we found ourselves here again. The original plan for our outing this week was to head to Great Country Farms and do some berry picking. Now wouldn't that be fun for the kids? However, the insane heat stuck around and our plans changed. It was voted to go to one of our neighborhood pools. Late Monday night Ginger came to our rescue with 5 passes to her pool. Since she lives in Ashburn Village she gets access to all the pools in that neighborhood. Mills Recreation Center being one of them.

Tuesday morning we packed up the thousands of pounds of gear (baby floats, sun hat, towels, swim diapers, sunscreen, water, snacks, etc.) and drove the short distance to the pool in order to meet our friends by 11am.

Sophie of course fell asleep in the car so I let her rest a bit while unpacking and waiting for the rest of the group.

The day ended up being not so hot and perfect weather for berry picking, but still it was a good time had by all at the pool.

While the kids played in the kiddie pool, we ordered pizza for lunch. You know I don't know why I never thought of it before, but when Amy put her daughter in the baby float in the kiddie pool, it seemed the coolest idea ever. One that I think I'll be doing again and again, on my solo trips to our pool. Sophie LOVED it. Being able to walk around and explore by herself around the pool. Mason even joined in and pushed her around for a bit.

The pizzas arrived and we took a break for lunch. While feeding Sophie her Lunchables Jr. I noticed her nodding off while trying to put the mini crackers in her mouth and missing. It was so cute, everyone started taking pictures. She was then passed out for the next hour if not at least 45 minutes.

After lunch we headed into the big pool where the boys ran and splashed through the fountains and chased and kicked and threw the ball they found nearby. Unfortunately, the rough surface of the walk areas made perfect little circle cuts on Mason's big toes causing him to bleed and shed a few tears. Especially when I tried to put on band-aids. Though a few little scrapes, bruises and cuts won't slow down my tough little guy. He didn't want to leave, neither did James, so while the rest of the group left around 2:30pm we stayed a little longer. Borrowing a squirt gun from the lost and found, thinking we should get some for our beach trip, and subsequently changing our minds once squirted in the face.

Again I left the pool wishing ours was a little more kid friendly, meaning toddler/preschool age like The Mills, and a little less like your average, traditional neighborhood pool. I guess you can't have everything, and that's why we have good friends who are willing to bring us to their kick ass pool for a fun playdate.

I love my friends.

Summer Adventures: Rocknocerous

Last week our group decided to come up with an indoor activity after the horrendous, sickening heat we endured at the animal park. Yeah, we weren't going to make that mistake again. So after much going back and forth on Facebook (we plan all our get togethers over Facebook. Ah, social networking. How we'd be lost without it) we chose the children's musical group, Rocknocerous who plays at Dulles Town Center, outside Macy's, every Thursday morning at 11am.

Our plan was to meet at the play area at 10:30am figuring that would give us enough time. My friend Dani and I met at Jared's at 10am to drop off some jewelry that needed to be fixed and headed off to the mall. We ran into Emily in the parking lot and headed to Macy's, meeting Ginger once over there. I was unaware as to how popular this event would be because as we strolled up, it was packed.

Seriously there are people who come to this EVERY WEEK. I wasn't sure what to expect but we ended up having a blast.

Mason, wanting to be able to see while he jammed out, was standing on the stroller and bouncing up and down. Of course this meant Sophie couldn't see so I eventually let her out to walk/crawl around. The mom's all grabbed a coffee at the shop behind us and I shared my marshmallow campfire concoction with Mason. I think he just wanted the whip cream and marshmallows.

We all sat or stood where there was room and watched the show.

While the boys, Mason and James, danced and played and jammed to the sounds of the trio, echoing throughout the open area of the mall.

Even Sophie rocked it out. In between moments of stealing James' pretzels, as I discovered she can actually eat them without choking. Check, for another snack food available on the ever growing list of things she is eating these days.

This video always makes me laugh. Seeing her dance, stop to eat, and then dance again. All the while sporting that over-exaggerated smile which makes my heart sing.

Halfway through the show I had this thought of me in Elementary School, sitting in the cafeteria listening to the hysterically funny music of Barry Louis Polisar. If you haven't heard his music, I highly suggest it. All too funny. I grew up listening to this so much that I still remember the words to his songs. And about spit my coke out my nose when I heard All I Want is You during the opening credits of Juno, and to my husbands embarrassment tried to sing along before he made me shut up.

Ah, the memories of our childhood. They are priceless, aren't they?

I could only hope that these moments, these outings, and my documenting of them are creating little pockets of memories inside my children's heads, that they too can look back upon someday when hanging out with their kids.

Summer Adventures: Leesburg Petting Zoo

Last week our pick for a play date was the local animal petting zoo over by our old house in Leesburg. Our family goes every year for Pumpkinville but none of the other girls had been.

We arrived, meeting the girls and other kiddos in the parking lot. It was HOT! And when I say hot I mean frying in a pan like bacon hot. Sizzling. Almost unbearable. But we braved it anyway.

This particular day they had a coupon for a few dollars off if your child drew a picture of their favorite animal. Mason colored some squiggles on the sheet of paper and said it was a whale. I thought it was quite creative and am kicking myself for not having snapped a photo of it. Shame on me, Mrs. Photographer. Oh well.

Anyway the kids ticket came with a cone of food. We've never attempted to feed the animals before. At the time I thought maybe it was because of the cost or that we weren't sure if Mason would enjoy it. However he loved it.

Kept telling me that it tickled and come back for more.

Thought it was hysterical that the donkey and other animals were trying to eat the cone. Laughing that hysterical laugh of his and me snapping away. We eventually ran out of food and Mason wanted more. Knowing how much fun it looked I went and bought a cup of the food (it was a better deal than plunking in quarters for refills).

At some point, I think it was my brilliant idea, we decided to head to the contact area. The open space where animals are roaming free and you can pet and feed them. We've experienced this before and I must state that all previous encounters were incident free because of the story I am about to tell you.

Trying to get in was a bit of a pickle. Seeing as we were like the ONLY people there due to the horrendous heat, the animals flocked to us. This made it extremely difficult to get into the open space without letting free a few animals. I braved the swarm, with Sophie on my hip and snuck in, then took the food from Mason. My plan was to lure the animals to us so that everyone else could get in. The first part worked like a charm. The second, not so well. The animals did follow and invited all their friends till Sophie and I were surrounded by goats and a llama. Well they were impatient for me to feed them and started to jump on me. Yes I said JUMP ON ME. That's when I yelled, "HELP!" to anyone who could hear. The others seeing this, laughed and I'm sure said to themselves, girl is crazy if she thinks we are going in their now. So in my attempt to free Sophie and I of the madness I started flinging the food in hopes they would chase after it. In my flinging I noticed a little baby goat off to the side. Aw, I bet he's hungry. I thought to myself and headed in his direction. Bent down to give him some food from the cup and SLAM! Out of nowhere this other, bigger goat, came charging and rammed the poor baby goat causing him to hurl out of the way and the remaining food to go flying. It was this point that I said out loud to myself, "time to go." And with that I fled the area as best as possible as to not let free any more animals. Phew! Um, yeah, never doing that again. Now I think I know why we never attempted to feed the animals before. My poor son, screaming in fear at the sight of his mother being attacked by goats. I'm sure that will haunt him for life now. Gee, way to go Rachel. Perfect mothering skills right there. Let me tell you.

We tried to wait around for the pony rides I bought the kids but it was too darn hot and we all were wasting away. So back into the car and off to my house for some much needed A/C, yummy BBQ sandwhiches and mac-n-cheese.

It was an adventurous day. Maybe next time our visit won't be so traumatic or so blazing hot. One can always hope.

Independence Day: July 4th

July 4th. America's Birthday. The day of our independence from the tyranny of England. I think it is easy to forget the true meaning of the day and get caught up in the commercialized party. My kids are too young to understand, so yes, I am one of those who sees the day as an excuse to hang out with friends, get drunk and blow stuff up.

Every year our friends hold a bash at their house on a cul-de-sac. We each bring a dish, this year I made the cupcake pops patriotic style. Of course they were a hit. We chat, catch up, drink, laugh and wait for it to get dark. This year we brought our moon bounce and they had three kiddie pools set up. The kids had a blast. Especially since it felt like 100 degrees in the shade. Oh my this heat is going to kill us, if the humidity didn't already do it.

Someone must have put a little too much goodness in the Margarita mix because we all found ourselves a little tipsy to say the least. Good think we had the fireworks to get sober. The kids did great. I put Sophie in the Ergo carrier and Mason had daddy holding his ears, till our friends let us borrow his ear phones. No crying or begging to go home so this year is considered a success.

I tried out the fireworks setting on my canon powershot and was pleased with the out come. Though maybe next year I'll bring my SLR and tripod, and I still need to work on those pool photos. *sigh* Next year.

Summer Adventures: Discovery Museum

Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum

This week we went to the closest children's discovery museum in the area. I had been told by my niece and sister that it was a great place, but it was actually amazing. The kids had so much fun.

Mason headed straight for the marbles of course. This has been a favorite ever since he got an apparatus like this for Christmas.

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to get him away from all these but I managed to get him to follow the other kids into the Native American Iroquois village room. Where the drums were an instant hit with ALL the kids in our group.

Even Sophie got in on the action. It got pretty crazy in there for a while but it looked like so much fun.

Next was probably the most mesmerizing room for the kids as a whole. You get to create your own "roller coaster" and then test it out.

and the visit was ended with Mason showing his strength and skill in the apple packing production line.

Wheeling the apples to the pulling system.

Pulling the apples to the top. And I know I shouldn't have been surprised that he could do it, he is a strong little boy and has been from the young age of only a year old. But I couldn't help myself, being so proud of him for doing it.

My little apple packer. So proud.

After, we all drove to Jim Barnett park to have a picnic lunch. It was such a fun time. Mostly because the weather was so nice. Mason was freaking out that the tablecloth and every thing else was going to blow away with the wind. Sophie and James fought over the blueberries. The boys played in the rocks and with sticks along the path.

We laughed, shared stories and enjoyed a brief change in these blazing dog days of summer.

Summer Adventures: Smithsonian National Zoological Park

The zoo. A classic amongst kids and adults alike. Since Mason turned a year old it has turned into a yearly venture for us. The thing about the zoo, yes, the animals are same but you never get the same experience each visit.

Last year we saw panda cub Tai Shan (though not really a cub anymore) before he was sent back to China. This year, we met the baby Gorilla, Kibibi.

She was a hit. Playing it up for all the visitors plastered to the windows of the Great Ape House. While daddy sat watch.

The Orangutan under the blanket was funny and Sophie kept trying to pull herself out of the stroller just to see.

They don't allow strollers into the reptile house so we moved on to the Small Mammal house.

The highlight of the trip and by far the most entertaining (to the kids) were the meerkats.

Running around. Jumping. Scratching at the glass. Running again. They were high on sugar or something. (Though, yes, I did read the article about how sugar does not make kids hyper). Here is a video of the neurotic behavior.

At this point it was about noon and we were all getting hungry. So off to the Panda cafe for lunch. The food left something to desire. Let's just say McDonald's fries they are not. But the kids meals did come with a animal lunch tote.

We must have been a funny site sitting there eating our meals, some kids still in strollers, others on the bench table with us holding our big ass umbrellas while it briefly started to pour down rain. But hey, at least we weren't the losers getting all wet.

Next we saw the Pandas.

It must have been a lazy day because not many animals were out, and the ones that were, were not very active.

Though it seems that something funny happens each time we go. Last year it was the Orangutans that threw up whatever it was that they were eating right there up by the glass window and then proceeded to eat their vomit. All while James, Mason and the other kids watched with amazement and every parent within viewing distance gasped in horror, quickly turning our kids away from the mess. This year it was the Elephants

who peed right in front of us. We weren't sure what it was at first. Thinking it was his trunk he was squirting water out of. And once we realized...oh, the hilarity of conversation that errupted between us.

The, "I should have gotten that on video," and "OMG is that his...? Where's my camera?" "Did you see that?" And just as we were mid cracking up, the female peed too. And it started all over again. Mason thought it was funny too, trying to see. Sophie and the other kids just looked at the animals and us with quizzical looks on their faces. Oh in due time. YOU, too, will get the joke.

It was time to leave however, when the male elephant ate the pee off the ground and started flinging it. Our knowledge of these large mammals falling into the TMI category.

A few more animals to try and see, the sea lion/seal habitat was closed due to remodeling. The Zebras, Tigers, Lions, Praerie dogs, etc. I put Sophie in my brand new Ergo carrier (trying it out for our trip to the beach) since the rain stopped. It made the stroller sooooo much lighter to push up those hills.

She eventually fell asleep. I guess it's comfortable enough for her.

Finally it was time to call it quits. The kids getting tired, restless and wanting to avoid traffic. But not before getting some ice cream on our way out. Mason was introduced to dippin dots. Once again these two got along incredibly well. Isn't that just too cute? Last year they were reaching out to each other from their strollers, causing my friend Dani and I to collide every so often, making animal noises and laughing at each other.

I'm really going to miss this when they move at the end of the summer. :( So sad.

Overall, it was a really great day and look forward to all the events we have planned for the rest of the summer.