Fifth Birthday Party

Today was Wesley's birthday party. This if the first real party we have had for the kids. We have celebrated in their preschool classrooms but we have never hosted a party for either one of them. About six weeks ago, Wesley started begging for a party with his friends.

I remembered the director of women's ministry at our church telling me that she had several birthday parties for her boys at Hidden Pond Nature Center. She said, "You show a boy a snake and he thinks it is a great party." Wesley agreed that it sounded like a great idea because he really had fun when we went with MOPS last year. He helped me pick out these cute invitations online.
We had around 21 total kids there today. Three high school volunteers brought the animals down to the classroom and a did a presentation for the kids.

Here a few of the boys are looking at and touching a very small snake. I love the look of joy on Hunter's face.

Here is Evan touching one of the turtles.

Lydia touching the rat snake...

... and the corn snake. The volunteer said that farmers named them corn snakes because they found them in corn fields and they thought the snakes were eating their corn but the snakes were actually eating the rats.

The corn snake is Wesley's favorite snake so I made a special request that it be included in the presentation.

After seeing all the animals up-close. We went on a walk around the pond to see the turtles. Thankfully it wasn't too hot and humid for a short walk.

I think the pond is really pretty.

I thought we would do a whole frog/turtle/snake theme for the party but Wesley really wanted a dragon cake. BJ's told us that they could do a photo of a dragon on the cake if we brought in the photo we wanted. We showed Wesley a lot of clip art dragons and he picked this one.

I think he liked everyone singing Happy Birthday to him.

A little while after we were finished with eating cake I realized I needed to clean Lydia up a little.

Chris did temporary tattoos for the kids. I think all but a couple of the kids wanted tattoos.

Wesley had a great time and I think the other kids did also.

Tap Lesson

Wesley got a free tap lesson today during Lydia's class. She is taking a ballet and tap class. He was in school on Fridays and he asked every Friday, "Were there any boys in your ballet class?" Now he goes with us on Fridays and he can see for himself that the class is only girls.

Fun at the Lake

After our hike, we rented a paddle boat. The price went up from $10 last year to $15 for 30 minutes.
Lydia was thrilled to get a pink lifejacket. I did keep a close eye on her and sometimes I even held on to her lifejacket. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had fallen or jumped in the lake.
Here is a video of Wesley trying to pedal the boat by himself.

It lightly rained on us for a few minutes while we were out on the lake but not enough to ruin the fun. After the paddle boat ride, we went back to the campsite and cooked hotdogs for lunch. Then we got on our swimsuits and headed back to the lake. It rained on us for about 45 minutes at the lake but the kids didn't care. They loved playing in the sand.
Chris helped the kids build a sandcastle.

The kids also swam in the lake. Wesley liked to practiced swimming on his back while holding the beach ball.

After two hours of playing, we got the kids ice cream and then let them play a little longer. They didn't want to leave the lake but it was clear that they were very tired. They both fell asleep in the car while Chris was buying more firewood. Wesley said his favorite parts of the camping trip were roasting marshmallows and the lake.

A Family Hike

For some reason Lydia doesn't like to walk. Chris and I sometimes thing she is lazy or that she doesn't like to exert herself. Other times we see her playing hard, running and jumping. Sometimes she surprises us and walks when highly motivated.

On Saturday we did a half-mile hike up to see a waterfall. When Wesley was three years old he easily walked the entire way up and back. Lydia, of course, wanted to be carried. Except for when she saw Wesley running up and down a little hill, she wanted to get down and do the same thing. After the running was finished, she wanted to be carried again. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if something medically is going on with Lydia (I can't help myself).
We saw this millipede on our hike.

Here is a family picture in front of the falls. This is me with the same clothes I wore the day before, flat hair, and no makeup.

On the way back, we took the more strenuous trail. Guess what! Lydia walked the entire way and never asked to be carried! Chris' conclusion is that she just likes a challenge. (Hum, is that why she gives us such a hard time about other things?)

The kids posed on a big rock near the end of our hike. We will just have to keep trying to get Lydia to hike and walk with us. Maybe we should stick with the harder trails.

Camping in the Rain

This weekend we went camping at our favorite campground, Cunningham Falls State Park, MD. We almost didn't go because of the threat of severe thunderstorms on Friday. I was reluctant to cancel because it is our favorite campground, we had reserved our favorite camp site, and it can be hard to get a reservation there on the weekends. After listening to several weather reports, we decided to go since the chance of storms kept decreasing.

The weather was great Friday. It only sprinkled very briefly while our steaks and asparagus were on the grill.

Lydia loved cleaning the picnic table. So much so that she would put gravel on it just so she could sweep it off. She also spent a good amount of time cleaning the cooler. She also cleaned a couple of the toys before we left on Sunday. I have to find a way to make this work for me at home.
On Saturday, it started really raining while Chris was cooking dinner (hamburgers and corn on the grill). Our camp site was surrounded by large trees that blocked most of the rain. The kids and I sat under the van's lift gate, while Chris stood under it, to eat dinner. Despite their faces, they liked dinner and seemed to like sitting there. The rain didn't bother them at all. We were able to roast marshmallows in the rain. Chris built a great fire despite the rain (and the trees blocked a lot of the rain). The kids went to bed at 8:30 and Chris and I went to bed early also.
At one point during the night, Wesley woke up and wanted some water. Lydia had one of her arms on his air mattress almost in under him. I repositioned her back to her own bed. When Wesley woke up at 6:00 this morning, Lydia was had her head on his bed. He wanted me to take a picture of her.

Those air mattresses are great. That is the reason why I can still go camping at 31 weeks of pregnancy.

The kids love camping. They always say their favorite part is roasting marshmallows; even though, the really just like eating them without roasting them. Another highlight is watching the cooler "go potty." Yes, bathroom humor rules in our family.

Wesley found a little worm this morning and enjoyed carrying him before letting him go. We saw lots of bugs this weekend. At least one spider made home in our dirty clothes. Chris took him outside and let him go.

We gave Wesley some freedom on his bike. We let him ride his bike all the way around the camp loop alone a couple of times this morning at 7 AM. Mostly we just let him ride a third of the loop by himself. Our campsite was right beside of the bathhouse road so he could ride on that and then circle back on part of the loop.

Lydia is getting better at riding her balance bike. Thanks to some bribes, she is more willing to ride it. She earned a lollipop by practicing riding down the little hill toward the bathhouse this morning.

We went to the aviary after packing up our camping stuff. We saw this red-tailed hawk who only weighs three pounds.

The kids and Chris posed in front of the black vulture. Lydia was a little afraid of him because he kept coming right up to where she was standing. Black vultures are more aggressive than turkey vultures and this one did seem aggressive .

Despite the rain on Saturday night, we had a really good time camping. It is fun to get away and just hang out and spend time as a family in the great outdoors. I read more books to Lydia than I usually do at home. Wesley and I played ball with the velcro paddles. We also hiked and played at the lake (blog posts coming soon). It is nice to just focus on the kids and having fun. I came home to a messy house. After taking a nap (with ear plugs so I couldn't hear the kids), I cleaned the bathrooms and did laundry.

"Let Me Dentist You"

Since going to the dentist a few months ago, Lydia will often says to us or our friends, "Let me dentist you." She finally found a fully cooperative patient at EdVenture Children's Museum.
Maybe she will be a dentist one day.

She even let Wesley have a turn while she inspected the extra large teeth.

Rocket Boys

On Sunday we went to watch the Boy Scouts launch their rockets. Daniel's rocket seemed to be the best design.
The boys pulled the cord to launch the rockets.

And up they went. Daniel's rocket went the highest. We were all proud of Uncle Stephen, I mean Daniel.

Wesley was really into hanging out with Jacob and watching all the rockets. It was pretty cool and I had a good time also.
Lydia watched the rockets but mainly she begged for dinner.

Here is a video of Daniel's rocket. Just turn your head sideways. (No, I wasn't the one who did video.)