more enchanted forest

The Enchanted Forest (used to be a maze before the trees grew too tall) was full of nursery rhymes and fun guys.  We bought Aiden a special hunt book with questions that you could only answer once you found those scenes.  They also had this funny game where you color your fingers in a certain pattern and then you find your sequence on the chart of funny things to do… Aiden loves that kind of thing.  We also took a hay ride around the farm to see all the fun tree faces.  

clarks

Sifting through the ridiculous number of photos I took at Clark's Farm last weekend…. This place is a gem.  It is full of surprises and fun little structures everywhere.  Both boys thought we were at a Disney-esque place, which is a pretty good testament to how well kept this place is.  Although Keaton was disappointed there weren't ride entrances or fast passes ;)  

petting

These guys made friends with these baby goats - They would run up, or it might be better described as prance, and just beg to be pet.  The boys especially like when they can go into the pen with the calm, gentle guys.

mining

This reminds me of the fun rock collection I had when I was younger and a place with a similar setup to this (near Geneva) that we would visit.  Aiden picked out the Shark Fossil bucket, which was a great choice.  He was so psyched to find 43 shark teeth!  There was also tons of petrified wood, ancient sap, and other calcites.  Keaton's favorite was the fool's gold and if you call it gold, he corrects you and says, "nope, sorry pyrite!"

swim season

We hit the pool the hour it opened this weekend... Brrr, although my hot box boys did seem to get used to it.  They went back again the next day, although I think Keaton mostly enjoyed cuddles in his hoody towel. 

good list

It's time for another time capsule of some of our favorite stuff lately...

Mr. Popper's Penguins - A favorite classic and the modern movie was a bonus.

A Rock is Lively and A Seed is Sleepy - there is a whole series of these books and they are so beautiful and well written.

Roboquad - this is Aiden's shadow puppet of the new robot spider that is controlled by an app on my phone - You should see this guy dance like Michael Jackson.

Skechers - these shoes are tough and stand up to serious running and jumping by the biggest guy.  He got a new size on our last trip, but here they are as a record.

Google Earth and this puzzle challenge book that gives you the coordinates and instructions to zoom around the satellite images and street views around the world.  Really cool to zip around the Serengeti and take a virtual ride to the top of the London Eye...etc etc

Ladybug Land - our little guys turned into pupas and 'hatched' in time for us to be back from FL to feed them raisins.  We kept an eye on them for a bit and let them go when they got big enough.

would you rather

This master of fun started tennis team recently and he told me he's just the quiet kid in the corner.  Whaaa, he sure does know how to joke - I've seen this enthusiastic guy do everything but hang out in the corner.  I'm looking forward to more time together this summer.

Would you rather have access to only glue or only scissors?

Only scissors because I use them more because I usually need to cut more.

Would you rather eat stale gummy worms or a real worm?

I'll go with stale gummies because a real worm is bsssssth... [falls over]

Would you rather have to carry a balloon everywhere you go or always wear suspenders?

Always wear suspenders because I could let go of the balloon by accident.

Would you rather have all the books ever written memorized or solve any math problem instantly?

Solve any math problem instantly because that could come in handy for any math test 

Would you rather have to stay awake or in bed for 24 hours?  Stay awake because I couldn't sleep that whole time and it would get boring!

Would you rather spend your whole day laying in bed but not sleeping or sleeping but not in your bed?

Whole day in bed but I could play with stuff and read

music class

Aiden crashed Keaton's music class on his day off from school this week. It was fun to see the brothers together in a familiar setting.  Keaton was excited to show Aiden the fun stuff from his class, which Aiden remembers attending when he was just a little older than Keaton.  The cutest was the AideKeatosaurus that emerged from the dinosaur eggs and marched around and even huddled up asleep during the song.  Aiden says that the dino eventually splits into two Brennanoraptors when it gets older.  Here is some of the action:
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Music Class from LB on Vimeo.

brothers

Right now these guys are on a five day weekend (for conferences and the holiday) and it's a preview of the summer fun we have waiting for us when Aiden is out of school in three short weeks.  I think it's going to be the most exhausting blast of a summer - bring it!

street fair

Mosaic was hosting a street fair to celebrate Israel's birthday.  They also had the farmer's market in full swing at the same time.  The giant carousel bounce house was super fun, but, shortly after the boys were lured away by the giant pools full of Legos, it started deflating from a temporary loss of power!  The petting zoo was full of calm animals including a llama that let you pet him.  Aiden got a big kick out of taking close up shots on J's camera, while Keaton was trying to convince animals to eat the hay he collected.  It made our favorite Mosaic even more fun.

colonial faire

My childhood was full of visits to places where you take a step back in time…so I knew that the Colonial Faire at Claude Moore would be a hit with my folks (visiting for Aiden's recital).  We stepped back to 1771 which Aiden was excited to introduce.  This time we had a chance to dip our own candles, watercolor some old prints, see the puppet show, visit the tradesmen, churn some butter, chase some chicken, gobble at some turkeys (those gobblers were really gobbling back), pretend to be a miniature militia, and shop for colonial treasure and treats (like the chicken off the pit fire and my mom's potato pasty).  Keaton was visiting the seafarer's table and an airplane flew by right when the seafarer asked what he heard in the seashell, and he declared that the shell sounded like a roaring plane…which Aiden thought was funny.  We are members now, so we can go back to explore the farm whenever we want.

recital

This guy and his set of three challenging piano pieces skipped into his recital on a bright sunny afternoon.  I wouldn't have imagined this day last year before Aiden introduced himself to his teacher and asked her if he could take lessons at the Mantua Made Fair last November.  Since his first December lesson he has learned so much; lessons in perseverance, concentration, and the joy of doing something you love. His teacher has a philosophy on recital songs showcasing the level you are at, but not being perfectly polished songs you've played for months.  So he was given his Disney songs for the themed recital (The Unbirthday Song from Alice and Wonderland's Mad Hatter's Tea Party, The Winnie the Pooh Theme, and Lavender's Blue from really old Disney movies) about three weeks ago (one of which we were on vacation), and he had a countdown to the recital.  The songs he had partially memorized were easy to lose track of, but he kept at it and most importantly he was pleased with his performance.  I can honestly say I was convinced I was going to cry, but remarkably kept it together even with his little bow and smile at the end...until one of the older kids played a piece he composed for his mom called My Heart.  I couldn't help but flash forward to Aiden in a much larger neck tie that probably doesn't zip up (he loves that tie).  I was so touched that his teacher chose to give him the recital prize (you can hear her give it to him at the end of the video), and he told me after he thought he might have to make a speech.  His prize was the Lego Play book, and boy does she know him well!  He said it must have been because he brought her a lego piano creation a few weeks ago.  We all enjoyed a little reception afterwards with 'Unbirthday' cupcakes (which were 'Lavender Blue' cake inside) we made with the Mad Hatter toppers Aiden designed.

AB's first piano recital from LB on Vimeo.

carnival

One of my oldest, dearest friends has six year old twins!  I can still remember the day they were born when AB was about six months old.  These buddies had fun celebrating at the carnival party they threw for two full classes of kindergarteners.  It was amazing how many kids can have fun at the same time in one place!  Ironman with the baby cheeks says thanks for having us!

aiden's trip book

Aiden wrote this book at school when we got back from our trip with a rundown of the trip.  He told me that he should probably make some more chapters to give more details.  Sounds a lot like his blogging mom, eh?  My favorite is the top of the page divided into the four parts of our trip with a schnazzy rendition of the Epcot space ball.   There are a lot of verys added to Legoland, so I'm so glad that we made it there!

raccoon run

Aiden ran in our neighborhood school's fun run this past weekend.  He was pumped to get to the start line and do the warm ups with Rocky the Raccoon.  He took off with the crowd of kids for the little over one mile race as most of the parents filtered over to the giant balloon arch with raccoon ears.  A few kids came running around the bend, and we cheered.  Then before I expected him, Aiden came tearing up the field.  He was pretty fast at just about 12 minutes in his first race.  He wanted to explain that it was 12 minutes "with a water break and a few breath breaks."  Rocky gave him his medal and he fueled up with the band playing.  He headed home pretty pumped up to tell his dad and brother about the fun.  Then we headed to the Man tua Made Market down the way at the swim club.  Both boys enjoyed a molasses cookie pop just like last time.  It's so fun to be part of such a fun neighborhood.

lego miniland

The Miniland area of Legoland was really cool.  There were tons of city areas, a race track, and life-sized mock ups of cute animals hiding in the gardens.  The whole top area was Star Wars set ups.

They had a very cool DC and even Georgetown University setup!  You could see a version of Healy Hall where we go for J's Christmas parties.  Keaton finally discovered what a difference 3D glasses can make in their theater. That red SUV was built with over 382,000 legos!  The Einstein head took over 300 hours to complete.

legoland

We made it to Legoland on our last day.  We didn't have to be to the airport until dinner time, so we went straight into the park as it opened and managed to fit it all in to the sunny day. Legoland is decked out in creatures and signs made out of legos. The real Land of Chima has a boat ride with squirt canons which we all rode the first time and then I jumped off to be their target the second time around.  The park wasn't crowded, so we managed to squeak in everything without waiting (woot!)  The most memorable where the laser challenge in Adventureland and the driving school.  Aiden earned his license and only crashed three times.  He had never driven a car not on rails, so he was pretty excited about that.  Meeting Max and Laval was a definite highlight that keeps getting brought up around here. The amusement park aspect of Legoland is really fun with rides to make everyone happy.  The 3D movie with Clutch Powers was a bonus.