aiden's show

Aidan's CARE camp wrote and produced "The Case of the Missing Banana" - He was Ben Bird, a very active hummingbird. I love kid written anything and I think this has so many little golden nuggets.  I think they did an awesome job especially after just a week!

Aiden as Ben Bird, a hummingbird from LB on Vimeo.

keaton's show

Both boys went to Act It Out class this past week. Keaton's class revolved around a story and a lesson each day. The boys woke up ready to go out the door each morning, and I think they loved it even more than I expected. Keaton was especially excited to put on his "very own show for the first time!" He has been a good audience member for Aiden's show and now it's his turn ;) Here he is as the tiger with a realistic roar in the class telling of Giraffes Can't Dance. (My favorite and an audience chuckle moment at 1:38 when Keaton does his best interpretation of the first move in the dance sequence in that old movie You Can't Buy Me Love)

Keaton's a Tiger in Giraffes Can't Dance from LB on Vimeo.

radio

Aiden made it on the radio with Ab solutely Mindy again this week.  This time she was asking kids to call in to tell them adventurous things they will eat even though they won't eat the crust off their sandwich.  Aiden has a really good one, thanks to his dad's idea to eat some bacon and cheese flavored crickets...


Cricket segment from LB on Vimeo.

smithsonian

On a nice summer morning we cruised into town with daddy who dropped us off at the metro station just outside of town. We were planning to see the Roberl Strong magic show at the Ripley theater under the National Mall with our buddies. Before the show we had plenty of time to look around the Castle which houses displays representing each of the museums. The have a cool computer that makes mosaics from your photo and tons of tiny photos of their museum displays.  The show was a hit as expected for all the boys.  They all got a chance to get up on stage and learn some scarf moves. Then afterward the farmer's market was going strong and we found rainbow popcorn. The kids all ate some snacks under the mesquite trees.

surprise

We managed to surprise my dad for his 65th with a birthday party a week early at an unexpected spot, Scholotsky's Deli! There were party quizzes created by the clever Mommu (which I won this time!) and many cupcake cheers ;) 

buddies

It's always so relaxing to hang out with old dear friends, but especially on a nice shady playground on a beautiful day. We also found two geocaches (one hidden by that garden on the top left - hint hint!) and we topped off the day with some yummy ice cream.

ride em

The good ol mall is pretty much a kid heaven. They upped the ante with these charmers - giant stuffed animals on wheels!  You can zip around on them all along the mall corridor, and it is truly a blast. Check out those fun faces!

pool

We hit the Willo pool I grew up visiting, and man it was so fun!  Between the big waterslide and little slide and water fun in the little kid pool, both boys were so happy and it really felt like a vacation spot. The prices at the snack bar seem to have stayed the same too, so 5 cent candies, yes please?!

staying cool

Summer heat hit Ohio right in time for our visit to the Farmer's Market and then a bit later in the day for the Willoughby Art Fest. We carted the biiiig boys around in the double stroller which was convenient and once they were carrying snow cones they were pretty content to look around at all the sunny booths. My sister paid attention and got me the coolest wooden board for my birthday, so that's a big win!  The crab cake sandwiches were another big win!  Then we snuck into the library to cool off a bit more. The boys were thrilled the summer reading revolves around super heroes in the Willo! The boys were super excited to color and stick pennies on their own balancing supermen. Then we had a chance to catch up with the whole family for dinner and some water table action.  Wish I'd gotten more pictures with all the family - eek, how does that happen when I take so many pictures?!

waldameer

Waldameer is such a fun little park!  Aiden drove with Keaton as his bumper car passenger and both of them can ride nearly every ride in the park.  Aiden rode the big rollercoaster with his PopPop over and over again. A highlight was bringing home a bounty of new stuffed friends from "winning" the games.

boogie

Last week we boogied into Willo town and headed straight to the DTW music on the square. After fueling up on some crepes, the cousin buddies grooved it up!  It was the start of a really nice visit.

rockstar

Happy Birthday J! What a rockstar year it has been! Rock on! We love you!

Update: we celebrated with a Cirque de Soleil Varekai show, kid made chocolate cake, and BBQ.

monkeys

An afternoon bouncing around with a bunch of buddies is always a treat. These guys were sweat monsters by the time we left.  Keaton keeps showing me his Monkey Joe's stance with hands on his hips and asking to go back.

rock out

They opened a new section of our favorite spot in town, Mosaic. The Jammin Java folks hosted a series of concerts on the green. My guys were ready to rock on a beautiful sunny afternoon fueled by some chocolate milk and grahams.

good list

J got another chance to visit this hot sauce mecca. The checkout area had these cricket treats that caught Aiden's eye. J said they'd been talking about how eating bugs is a thing and they are actually good for you. At first Aiden said no way, but was easily persuaded by daddy when he said, mommy will eat one if you do too?! So inexplicably I was choking down a little pokey, crusty, very dry cricket as Aiden quickly gobbled his in record time. I don't know how J convinced us to do that, but Aiden is excited he can say he did it now.  

In a much tastier realm, the new Duck Donuts opened here in town! This is a legendary donut that people who go to the Outer Banks are always talking about and now we are no longer in a donut dry zone - woot!  These donuts are hand dipped to order right off the belt and they are amazing! They have a peanut butter glaze which is doubly amazing! The lemon and orange glazes are equally as good! It was crowded when we went and we actually had to line up outside the store to get in, but it's totally worth it!

The sunflower Keaton planted blossomed! One out of the three is really big and almost as tall as Aiden! The other is laying sideways and one was broken off by an animal. It's fun to get a clear view of all the moths and insects that visit it as we walk by.

This big guy sometimes reminds me of his littler self and especially in his dino/dragon fleecey robe. He's been cuddling up in it at night, ya think we might need to turn off his fan or have the air up too high?!

Keaton picked this little pocket magnifier as a souvenir from our trip. He likes to dig a little all around and look at the "crystals" he finds up close.

These funny brothers watched some America Ninja Warriors and want to imitate them every chance they get. So here they are racing across the railing like it's their job. My job is to keep them out of the emergency room.

peter pan

This show caught my eye immediately since it was close to home, although at first I couldn't figure out how I didn't know there was a theater there before I knew it was a big tent for an aerial show. The 360 theater with awesome projections on the sides of the tent did not disappoint. It was full of music but kept to the original book and didn't have the same familiarity as the Disney type shows. It was a good blend of pleasing the little kids and adults. These guys love Peter Pan!

burke lake

We met up with some old college friends at Burke Lake on a nice comfortable summer day. It's nice when everything aligns and a perfect day unfolds. My friends and I couldn't get over how many kids we've accumulated and some of them are turning into pretty big kids.

We played on the playground, visited the geese, attempted to find some geocaches (which a according to the logs seem to have washed away in the ridiculous rain storms we've had lately), rode the carousel and train, and had a bus picnic. It was fun to catch up and I wish we could do it more often!

cars n toys

At Luray, we popped into the old transportation museum full of really old carriages and cars.  Even the train setups have caverns underneath!

luray caverns

Our little cavemen were ready for some more cavern exploration so we headed down from the mountain to see Luray. This cave is touted as having the biggest formations, and they really are huge and difficult to capture on camera. They are also the most developed cave so some formations seem to be harmed when putting in paths, etc. They even have some stalagtites they have tapped as organ pipes which are played from a real organ installed many years ago. It sounded a bit faint but pretty impressive. The boys' favorite were these two formations that looked just like fried eggs (bottom right).

50s flair

The juke box, the local honey, the train displays, the pretty covered bridge are all good ingredients for a road trip back in time. You could get a burger for $3.25 and a giant shake for a quarter more. There was even a little museum full of old 50s/60s store front displays, mostly animatronic animals after my heart. So much to fill up the imaginations of these happy goofballs.