ifly video

In order: Aiden, Keaton, Heather, J, and Lauren iFly! from LB on Vimeo.

eclipse

Skipping ahead in my camera roll that is busting at the seams with fun FL pics, to share these treats from the eclipse yesterday. We invited a great group of neighbors to the park down the street. We shared our photo board we painted - I could never be a mural painter - challenging!  The shadows were great and our pinholes were working well.  Our views were great with eclipse glasses, until literally 3 minutes to the maximum eclipse and a huge cloud rolled in with a loud thunder clap - ha!  We all ran for cover and made it out just in time for a huge 15 minute thunder storm.  We made it back out to see the last bit of the eclipse after it cleared out. I'd say that the clouds made it more memorable ;)

florida video

We got home late last night after an extra bonus day in Florida (after our first flight was cancelled)! I have so many fun photos to sift through, but thanks to the GoPro Quik app which made these fun highlight videos ;) Love it!

Sailing! from LB on Vimeo.

Beach! from LB on Vimeo.

Swimming! from LB on Vimeo.

hive

We made it to the summer installation at the National Building Museum.  This year they built a really cool structure packed with drums and chimes and plenty of cool views called the Hive.

building museum

The NBM has plenty of fun for these guys as they created with the tiny blue blocks (they want some at home!) and these giant round builders.

Check out the big Frank Lloyd Wright stickers on the wall waiting to be colored in (looking past whatever was causing them to bubble).

animals

We made it to a summer reading library program about animal survival skills. They had a bunch of cool animals most of which they let us pet.  That chinchilla was the softest fuzzy guy.  

pokemon go live

It's my birthday and I'm scheduling this post while thinking back on this fun year! ;) A great addition to my life this year has been my experience with Make-a-Wish. The kids that I've managed to sign on with have taken Disney trips and one is trying to get a seat at the all-stars baseball game in the Spring. But being able to volunteer at their other events and including the boys is especially fun!  This wish was a unique all day experience for a 7 year old who wished to experience Pokemon Go in real life!  They had all sorts of stops throughout DC, and these photos are from the Grand Finale at the Hyatt where we welcomed him and cheered him on as he caught that giant Snorlax. There was a cosplay convention going on right down the street so there were tons of cool costumes. I brought my Pokemon experts to talk to him about all his catches throughout the day ;)  Gotta catch em all!

tidbits

Making posters to cheer on a Make-a-Wish kid who wanted to experience Pokemon Go in real life!

The hammock is swinging again after one of the nylon straps broke ;)

good list

Our friends invited us to the 38 Special and George Thorogood concert and it was truly Bad to the Bone ;)  I was so surprised that I recognized so much of the music and especially enjoyed 38 Special's 80s prom music and George strutting all over the stage with his hand on his hip. 

Catching up with good school buddies at the science center is a treat!

Check out that Tsum Tsum collection of cuties!

The Book of Why was a fun book club complete with science experiments of floating play dough and fresh popcorn.

The boys made these lego minifies really happy by buying then accessories like Brick Pieces, brick tarts, and pokemon go players.

The new rolled ice cream place at the mall is pretty amazing!

brickfair 1

So many cool lego MOC - my own creations!  The boys were immediately inspired to build themselves.  The derby was a great spot where you could build your own car to race down the ramp.  Aiden came in first and Keaton second in the six car race. I loved seeing all those cute little habitats, the trains, and especially the mindstorm robots.

brickfair 2

These guys were pumped to check out the Lego Brickfair.  We hadn't been back since 2011 when Keaton took a nap in the Moby the whole time while Aiden gawked at everything.  This year we learned the best time to catch it is after the initial rush on Sunday afternoon.  

hidden oaks

After all these years, it's fun to see the boys continue to enjoy the awesome nature centers in this area.  They had fun saying hi to the corn snake.

eclipse news

We met the local meteorologists at the science center to hear all about what to expect with the eclipse.  They filmed live over three different segments and you could see us in the background doing experiments and then during the pinhole viewer workshop.  The kids were especially excited to enjoy some rolled ice cream afterward too ;)

fossils

I've been wanting to head to this spot in Maryland along the Potomac for years, and we finally found the perfect day with the tide schedule just right for a fun afternoon. We packed a picnic and took off for the less than hour drive to Purse State Park. The water was warm and the weather was perfect to search out tons of shark teeth and vertebrae fossils. Check out the teeny tiny crab J found. We believe that the first big tooth that Aiden found is an otodus (megaladon) tooth. The teeth are from the Paleocene era, 55-60 million years old. Most are goblin and sand tiger shark teeth. Awesome spot!

climb trailer

Climbzone from LB on Vimeo.

climbzone 1

This climbing gym up in Maryland is such an amazing spot!  We hadn't been since Aiden was about Keaton's age, and it was good timing.  The walls are great for both their ages with the auto belay system.

climbzone 2

The boys had a blast wearing the go pro on their heads while climbing. It was really fun to get a live view from my iPhone app of them climbing up and looking down.

face paint

Simple pleasures of Glory Days (crab cakes!) ice cream sandwich dunking and face paints!

national night out

Our neighborhood has a pretty long tradition of National Night Out block parties. I think this year there were over 20 to choose from scattered all around.  The police show up to hand out coloring books, sidewalk chalk, and let you check out their cruiser and its really loud sirens.  It was genuinely fun to meet some new neighbors and greet some we don't see that often.

green springs

These summer buddies using summer reading coupons to collect presents at Green Spring Gardens. They had some preschool memories of field trips at this spot. The blossoms and leaves this time of year are enormous!