We had to go thank the Easter bunny and join him for another egg hunt at Ticonderoga farm. They were in two different age brackets. Aiden hunted around the xmas tree farm area and Keaton was around the rocks and daffodils.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
easter morning
The eggs were all decorated and the bunny brought the baskets! They were hidden behind the bottom edge of the curtain and the new couch, and Aiden nearly tripped over them while turning the light on but took a long time and hints to find them. The bunny managed nearly identical baskets for both the boys - rock kits, mixel legos, star wars bottles, ring pops, bunny pez, and two beanie boos. The bunny knows what they like ;)
easter at home
My folks arrived just in time to get ready for Easter. The boys made lemon bunny cookies and named them ;) Right after my folks rolled in off the road, I scattered the eggs around the yard and they were off to hunt. Most of them were full of these vintage lego mini figures the boys really wanted that I found on eBay. They were pumped! Then it was time to decorate some eggs. Egg Showdown! Lotsa giggles!
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
maymont aquarium
The cute river otters were sleeping, but the aquarium was pretty neat. Keaton couldn't keep his hands off that snake they brought out for a visit.
maymont gardens
We had a beautiful morning to walk nearly the entire 100 acres at Maymont. The boys were really looking forward to going back for a second visit. We even found a waterfall.
maymont wildlife
The boys were excited to go back to the other side of the giant Maymont property to see the wildlife and gardens. I missed photos of the bobcat and the bear was too far away, but the boys were excited we saw them.
Monday, March 28, 2016
maymont mansion
The boys were such good little adventure buddies, and they were especially sweet when we caught the last tour of the day at Maymont. J was off giving his talks at the University, so I had expected to just wander around the property, but they were game for the 45 min house tour. They listened to our bow-tied tour guide and asked lotsa questions. Keaton was very proud that he uncovered a "mystery" when he asked the tour guide what was in the closet and found a riding outfit. The tour guide was very sweet and had questions for them too - like what type of ivory makes up the vanity next to that giant swan bed? Narwhal tusks! It was fun to see an American home from the exact time period as the English countryside home in Downton Abbey. Aiden took tons of photos including the majority of these below:
richmond yum
We had a tiny peek at the Richmond food scene and it was pretty tasty. We ate at the popular Shockhoe Bottom's Up Pizza when we first got to town where a pizza slice is thicker than the thickest book you can imagine according to Aiden. Then we enjoyed dinner at the New Zealand inspired Burger Bach where we has limeades and fresh fries that were OOC. We had breakfast at our Inn which we figured out was the oldest place we've probably slept since the building was built in 1852. Then we picked up some yummy meat pies (the pork verde was so good) and a chocolate chess pie at the Proper Pie Co. It was just a bit after Super Pi Day and they had mugs for the perfect souvenir. Daddy had dinner with his colleagues while the boys and I enjoyed massive amounts of food at Perly's. The matzo ball in my soup was much larger than my fist and so delicious, and the egg salad was slightly sweet - yum yum yum. We brought home a big batch of the fresh chips to share with daddy. The next day we checked out the 821 Cafe for some peanut butter and jelly french toast. I'd like to go back just to try more of the cafes like that...
science 1
We are science museum fans, and who wouldn't love hands-on exhibits, dome theaters hosting humpback whale imax movies and rats trained to play basketball - you know, just all the normal stuff at the Virginia Science Museum ;). The animal trainer taught us about conditioning and animal psychology. The Boost exhibit gave everyone a personal code and they had challenges like how far you could jump, how far they could balance on a tight rope, reaction time, and even how small they could become. There was a super sleuth exhibit to track down a mystery using all sorts of evidence. A whole exhibit about genetics giving you info on how unique you are. Aiden is like less than 0.2% of the population!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
children's imagine
Our little mini spring break trip down to Richmond didn't disappoint. Proof that you don't have to travel very far to find adventures ;). We cruised straight to the Children's Museum and the boys were both into it immediately. They had so many fun areas for imaginative play. The favorite roles were the news reporter/cameraman, waiters, and teacher - Mr. Aiden Brennan only had to put Jason's name on the board once before he shaped up.
Friday, March 25, 2016
children's play
So many amazing spots for the kids to spread out and play. I could've planted on those fat bottom cushions in the reading spot, but these guys had lotsa other plans for fun. The shows they put on at the stage area were so fun. The outdoor backyard area was full of cool instruments and those funny doggie chairs Keaton wanted to take home.
artist workshop
The Artist's Workshop is a place I'd like to visit every day. These boys went back again and again to this funny spot with cool color discs hanging from the glass ceiling. These guys made sun and wind masks to pretend with in the theater area. Then Aiden loves making collages and picked food as his theme from this huge batch of magazine cutouts.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
puppets
Aiden is cast as the Beast this season in his spring performance, so we took him to do some character research at the Puppet Co.'s version of Beauty and the Beast. ;) They always do a less Disney version of the story that seems more authentic but still entertains.
Monday, March 21, 2016
pi day
Almost forgot to document the second Super Pi Day rounded this year! We had our smaller Super Pi shirt in rotation, Aiden's new Star Wars intro inspired 3.14 shirt, and my new Octo-pi shirt, ready to visit the library for the scavenger hunt (Aiden solved all on his own this year).
pizza pi
Couldn't have planned it better, but K's class had a field trip on 3/14 to the pizza parlor. Pizza pies on pi day! The pizza cook hats were so much fun!
Sunday, March 20, 2016
interview with AB
One word to describe you would be:
Intelligent
Why do you like being a kid?
Because you can learn new things in school!
If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?
Blue whale so I could be the biggest animal in the world and not very many people hunt blue whales
Tell about a funny time in your life.
When I came home from school and no one noticed that I had come in because there was too much noise, and I walked into the room where mommy was on her computer and scared her
What is your favorite thing to do? Why?
Read, because reading is better than watching tv because you can picture them in your head and you don't have to see what they actually look, you can make it up and think of it your own way
What do you love most about your brother?
When he dances
What was the nicest thing you did for someone?
After we went shopping I helped bring in some of the bags
What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?
Getting married, ok no, delete - changing my name to Lone Wolf
What is the grossest thing you can think of?
Dissected Prairie Dogs which I actually saw one before! Remember when I was doing that Prairie Dog presentation and I was doing research online at school and I saw that picture.
What is your happiest memory?
When we went to Disney World!
spring fling
Happy First Day of Spring! Here is this guy with his entry in the school spring fling poster contest:
Saturday, March 19, 2016
interview with KC
Brother
Why do you like being a kid?
Because it's fun and I can have a brother
If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?
A cheetah because want to be a fast runner!
Tell about a funny time in your life.
When Aiden tickled me one time, I was like ahh! and then I just looked around and I saw that it was Aiden sneaking away
What is your favorite thing to do? Why?
Play with my brothery, because he's fun to play with and I love him
What do you love most about your brother?
When he hugs me and stuff
What was the nicest thing you did for someone?
Say please
What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?
Can I change my name and stuff and dye my hair blue?
What is the grossest thing you can think of?
There are actually no grossest things I can think of
What is your happiest memory?
Aiden hugging me and sharing for me
Friday, March 18, 2016
bunnyville
These guys turned shy for 90 seconds and hopped in to meet the Easter Bunny. How is it that Aiden is so far off the 'how tall' chart?!
Thursday, March 17, 2016
happy st. pats
Happy St. Patrick's Day from these guys! Aiden was convinced that if we didn't set a trap for the Leprechaun he'd bring us treats. He brought green Beanie Boos and plaid dancin' socks ;) Aiden drew a shamrock in JavaScript this morning to celebrate. Wishing you a pot of gold and all the joy your heart can hold!
tidbits
Kidding Around Yoga has been such a perfect match with Keaton and his buddies. Who doesn't love a good yoga shake down?! They moved outside last week to enjoy the beautiful day.
We cleared out the mishmash extra chairs with toys hidden under and around them and added this min sectional. New couch day doesn't happen very often, but when it does we lounge.
Keaton picked out a coconut and a pineapple for his unique try deal with daddy. They cracked into the coconut and both seemed to like the coconut milk/water inside.
This pineapple and chicken deal represents J on spring break! Check out that fancy business - eating out of a pineapple ;)
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
destination imagination
This past Saturday was the Destination Imagination regional tournament. The Mantuamals were representing again this year in the Rising Stars challenge. This year it was all about maps in a challenge titled "Change in Direction." We had so much fun incorporating all their creative ideas and tidbits they'd learned about mapping into a skit called the Search for Acorn Village. They enjoyed the Instant Challenge first thing in the morning - they worked out 3 of the 4 bits that I can't mention since we are sworn to secrecy! Then they got a chance to enjoy the cake walk this year and Lucy won a bunny cake to share. We also made all sorts of duct tape creations in the duct tape room. They sweetly gave me flowers and a knit shop gift card for coaching them all year. I'm going to miss our Monday's after school! I had so many warm fuzzies on Saturday, and I was really struck with how much older they seem this year versus last year.
Monday, March 14, 2016
100 days
Some art with numbers on this Pi Day! Happy 3.14!
Aiden celebrated his 100th day of school last week and brought home some fun art from their family rotation. My favorite is the drawing her did of himself at 100 - His class voted that he looked like the oldest old guy ;) He was really into creating drawings out of the numbers.
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