football

The high school hosts a "feeder night" where all the elementary schools that end up at that high school are invited to run the field ahead of the game. They cheer and chant ahead of time. Our babysitter led the charge and Keaton got a toss in the air.  It was quite a rush for them ;)  We lasted until half time where the bands, dance team, and cheer leaders put on a fun show.

mosaic fall fest

Mosaic hosts a bunch of built in fun which is so easy to run over and soak up some fun. We always seem to hit the fall festival where the huge tubs of Legos and the photo booth are big hits.

mount vernon

Way back before school started the boys and I enjoyed a really nice visit to Mount Vernon with perfect weather and tiny crowds. They have a spy mission where you follow clues on an app to locate information to answer their puzzles. It was as awesome as expected with clues hidden inside the well bucket on the side of posts, etc. We layered on their word puzzle sheet to decode the words, another favorite. These guys were pumped to earn their spy bands. Aiden is at the age where he wanted to read every display and Keaton was eager to listen.  We stayed all day and the day was complete with a tour of the house.

just be

A new mural and another excuse to just be...and always take that jump!

good list

Happy first day of Fall!  I'm pretty excited about my new fabric covered pumpkins and this adorable seed pod hedgehog guy. Here's a good list with our new very orange tea towels. The new pumpkin pie hat which will go well with our turkey hats when we cheer on the Turkey Trot this year. A piece of the centerpiece from my friend's wedding is a nice memory spark. These guys still can't get enough of the beary funny snapchat filters ;)

poke pumpkins

Happy first day of Fall! These smiley guys painted some cute pokepumpkins with their dad. 

science

We renewed our membership to the science center and spent a whole day exploring the new experiments, robotic arm, and 3D printer.  The favorite is still building hovercrafts for the wind tunnel.

nintendo

Who knew that Nintendo has a World Tour?! The mall was hosting this giant marketing scheme and these guys were pumped!  They tried out some DS games they'd never tried before.

tidbits

We closed out the summer with the doggy paddle at the pool.  The pumpkin stuff was already everywhere by the middle of August. This guy still enjoys a trip to Build a Bear to get Pokemon gear. Having Aiden's old drama teacher as a babysitter is a really special treat for these giddy guys. We saw a movie about the Improv world called Don't Think Twice which we both enjoyed.

Bowling with friends nearly every other week was definitely a nice way to break up those hot days. We went to the mall a bunch in many attempts to get my iPhone repaired - they gave me a new one!  Friends with giant collections of windup toys rock ;) It was so hot for a while that it even drove us to Chuckie Cheese with our buddies one afternoon.

wedding

A good friend I originally met when we were living in Tucson, moved here to NOVA within a few weeks of our move a couple years back. She got married recently out towards the Shenandoah Mountains at a beautiful farm. I took photos for her (http://lbphotography17.pixieset.com/stephanieandgreg/) while the boys played with all her thoughtful gifts.  The wedding was casual and the after party was essentially a pool party. It was a really beautiful day in the middle of tropical storms.

lake

A visit to the Lake with our friends still living over there...  Such big fish!

icebergs

We made some fast friends out at Wisp Mountain earlier this summer, and we met up with them at the summer installation at the building museum, Icebergs. They have two boys that match in age almost exactly.  The boys ran up the scaffolding and took the very fast slides over and over and chilled on the iceberg bean bags. We also made it up to the Play Work Build zone to do just that ;)

interview with KC

This guy loves what he calls "field trips" and August was full of adventures.  He ate very well on many of these, but here's a hungry guy being interviewed:

One word to describe you would be: 

Hungry

Why do you like being a kid? 

Because you get to eat

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? 

A chicken, because you can eat chickens

Tell about a funny time in your life. 

When I eat food that is gross

What is your favorite thing to do? Why? 

Eat, because it's makes the hunger higher, no lower, no higher?

What do you love most about your brother? 

That he gives me food sometimes

What was the nicest thing you did for someone? 

Put a plate out, and put the food on it

What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now? 

Eating

What is the grossest thing you can think of? 

Eating gross foods

What is your happiest memory?

Eating peanut butter sandwiches 

one second summer

One Second Summer 2016 from LB on Vimeo.

back to school

And just like that we have a third grader and a kindergartener...We joked that with all the school supplies packed to the brim, it was possible K was hiding another kindergartener in his giant bag.  Keaton in his true determined style hopped right on the bus he's been dying to ride for two years and didn't look back.  When the bus pulled up many loooong hours later, I could see Keaton waving through those tinted windows.  He ran out of his seat and almost left his bag behind, but he was happy to see us and especially to see his brother.  It's possible that they missed each other the most. Aiden came off with a huge smile and excitement for his new assignment book.  Keaton was excited to show me the photo treat from his first day.  They both made new friends and caught up with familiar friends.

parade

The Last Stop Willoughby parade has become an August tradition for us.  One year we even cruised into town right as the parade kicked off and caught up with Liz and Cam in the parade!  This year they had a huge amount of really good candy - no more rejected tootsie rolls at the end ;)   All the boys were pumped!

falls

We had a chance to check out Brandywine Falls out by my sister's new house.  After a quick walk down a path filled with pokestops, you got to watch the big waterfall.  Pretty cool spot!

market

Can't beat the treats at this Farmer's Market on a sunny day!  This cute trailer had baked goods out of this world - including what she called a Rosie Rivet, which was like a cinnamon bomb.  Keaton loved his watermelon lime pop too!  Yum!

historic

While we were in Ohio, the historical society was hosting a corn festival where I devoured all the corn we ordered for the not so hungry boys.  Then I watched my boys pull out the same expressions I had when touring old historic homes as a kid - curiosity mixed with boredom, is that possible?  Aiden said that this closet of creepy dolls made the hair stand up on the back of his neck - ha!

great

Chilling on the Wald-a-mere - visiting the great uncle Billy and great aunt Pam ;) - checking out their new kitchen ;)

rides

The fair rides!  The biggest cousin went on the big kid rides with his dad including that crazy spinning one.