Grease Lightening!

I took William for a haircut on Friday. He did just great and never made a whimper. I think it was because I told him he could have an airplane toy if he was a good boy during the haircut. Once it was over, I thanked the lady at Hair Cuttery and she quickly said, "oh no, I must put a little gel in it before you go."

Weird Face Wednesday!

Move over Picasso

William tapped into his artistic talents this morning. I set him up on the deck with my old paints and a fresh white canvas and just let him have at it! He wasted no time dipping the brushes in paint and then on the canvas......and then on himself! He loved it. After he completed his masterpiece, we turned on the hose for a little water table action and clean up. It was a great activity on a hot, sunny Monday!

Our Dada ROCKS! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Today is Father's Day! I am forever grateful to my incredible husband, for the life he's created for our family, and for being the best role model for our son. Our "Dada" is 110% devoted to his family and I can't begin to count the number of memories and abundance of love he's left on our hearts, so far. I often wonder what I did to deserve such an amazing husband. DADA - YOU ROCK!




William made this rock for Dada during his preschool summer camp. He also posed with this sign and it's proudly displayed at Dada's office! YOU ROCK DADA!



We honored Dada by heading to 2 different Nordstoms' in search of some new dress shirts. After scoring him some new duds, we headed towards White's Ferry. It's the last ferry left on the Potomac River and a historical landmark. When Dada told William we were going to ride on a boat with our car, William's eyes got HUGE and he said, "Ohhhh yessss, a ferry boat with Dada's wheels!" He could hardly stand the 10 minute drive to the docks. Once we got there, we loaded the car on the ferry and enjoyed a quick 8 minute ride across the Potomac.

We decided to hang out for awhile and enjoy the pretty weather, so we parked the car and walked around the old canal. Of course, William had a ball because there was water everywhere! "More watertalls, more watertalls!" and "oh here comes the ferry boat!" and "ok, that car get on the ferry boat and buy tickets and then bye-bye cars. See you on other side!"



Notes on White's Ferry: After the Civil War, Confederate soldier Elijah White bought the ferry and named the boat after his commanding officer,General Jubal A Early.

More then a convenient river crossing, the ferry provided a place of commerce between the C & O canal and the community. Farmers from Virginia used the ferry to get their crops to market at Washington D.C and Maryland via the Canal. In the days before modern refrigeration, a farmers access to reliable transportation meant the difference between prosperity and watching a years worth of work rot in storage. Together the canal and the ferry shortened the time it took farmers to get their goods to market. Today White's Ferry continues to serve the needs of the community by providing safe passage over the river and a living link to the past.

Just Talkin'

Dada to William: William, are you ready to watch your show (meaning Thomas the Train before he goes to bed)

William to Dada: No Dada. Watch Let's Build a House.

Dada to William (after much thought): Oh, you mean This Old House?

William to Dada: Yes, Dada. Let's Build a House!

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Kid at the park to William: What's your name?

William to Kid: Mine's William

Kid at the park to William: How old are you?

William to Kid: I am a two

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William to Mama: I need to go to the living room

Mama to William: Why?

William to Mama: I have a crazy idea about race cars

ZOOper dooper fun Friday!

Fun Friday consisted of a trip to the D.C. National Zoo. I have been so eager to get William to the zoo and take advantage of yet another D.C. opportunity, but we always divert to the airport or a train ride because those are his real obsessions. He does like animals, but he's not fully entertained by them nor does he really care to play with animal toys that much. It just so happens that he's more of a transportation kind of guy. However, every kid likes a trip to the zoo, and I knew that William would have a "zooper" time once we were there.




Carrie, Ava, William and I loaded up in the car this morning and headed into D.C. where we met up with our friend Meredith and her 2 girls, Ella and Maddie. We arrived around 10:15 am with just enough time to pile on the sunscreen and hike over to the elephant house to watch the elephants take a bath. Carrie knew exactly where to go, so when we got inside the building, we parked ourselves on the front row. The zookeepers came out, turned on the hose and got a large bucket of soapy water ready. The elephant knew exactly what to do and sat down on the floor waiting for the hose to hit her! The zookeepers called out a serious of commands for the elephant who in turn changed positions accordingly. William was completely wide eyed. You could see his wheels spinning, "so this is a real elephant....wow, how big!" and his eyes were glued on the elephant the entire bath.




We then headed over to the panda house in hopes that the star of the National Zoo would be outside. We were lucky! One panda was outside walking around and the other one was inside his house eating some bamboo. William climbed up on a rock to get a bird's eye view and laughed when the panda picked up the giant bamboo stick to chomp on.




We gave a shout out to the tiger and gorillas before lunch.




After walking around for over an hour, we were all getting very hot and hungry. So, we just decided to find a spot on the ground (even though it was on the main path of traffic) under a fabulous shade tree. We threw out our blanket and set up our picnic.




The kids were starving and quickly dove for each other's meals. The moms were happy to have a sip of water and sit down for a few minutes. We all enjoyed the picnic and what's funny is that many people along the path stopped to say how prepared we were to think of bringing lunch and a blanket! The three of us laughed at the thought of bringing 3 toddlers and a 5 year old to the zoo in 87 degree weather without food or drink....that would be a disaster.




After the yummy picnic, we packed up and headed home. William really had a great time and wanted to stop and see the waterfalls everywhere we went too. He's mentioned the elephants and the panda a few times this afternoon when I asked him about our morning, but he prefers to fly his airplanes, race cars and carry around this school buses. He's just a wheels loving boy!

Great Falls and Glen Echo

Today we hit Great Falls and Glen Echo Park. We started at Echo Glen where we walked around the old 1920s amusement park that still houses the original carousel. William was terrified of the carousel and freaked out as we got closer and closer. I really think he was scared of the loud "clown like" music coming from the ride and also, I don't think he knew what to make of the horses and lions moving up and down on the ride.



So, I decided to ride the carousel in an effort to show William that it is really lots of fun. When he saw me get on the horse and the loud music started, he freaked out.



Then when saw that the ride went around in a circle, he kinda perked up. He'd watch for me to come around the corner and then he'd wave with a big grin on his face. After it was over, I asked him if he wanted to ride with me and in response, he gripped my neck with all his might and whimpered, "No, Mama."



He found an old bumper car from the 1930s and gave it a test drive.

After the trip to Glen Echo, we headed towards Great Falls, Maryland. We hiked around the park and then took the boardwalk along the water's edge to see the roaring rapids and huge "watertalls" as William calls them.



He had a super time just staring at the water and listening to it rush over the rocks. It was pretty hot, so after an hour, we headed home. William was beat.




He fell asleep pretty fast tonight. As you can see below, he's still in love with his school buses.

A room with a view

William set up camp in the hall closet. He's got a new hide out and likes to lay inside his small space with the door open.

Just Talkin'

Dada to William: If you could be any train car, who would you be?

William to Dada: Thomas. Cuz he's got a great whistle. Dada, you be Gordon.


William to Mama: Mama, hold my body peeze.


William to Mama: What's wrong wid chu?


BELOW: Mama and William driving in the car and Mama sees a taxi in the lane next to us-

Mama to William - Oh William, look! There is a taxi!

William to Mama - Oh yes, airplanes taxi on the runways Mama. The airplane takes off and control tower says, "see you in a bit!"

Mama to William - That's right William. And then, the airplane lands and people get their bags.

William to Mama - No Mama, the airplane gets a parking place at the gate. Then passengers get off and get their suitcases. Ummm, and some people get purses and just backpacks.

Mama to William - Where are you going with your grocery cart?

William to Mama - To see a Scottish castle and the windmills.

Welcome back to the spray park!

Last weekend we headed over to Lyon Park to celebrate Luke's birthday (William's cousin) and to ring in summer at our favorite spray park. William was not quite sure about the whole thing at first and preferred to stay on the playground.

After awhile, he wondered over to the spray park area and watched the kids jump through the water fountains. After a few minutes of accessing the situation, I think he remembered playing at the spray park last year, and he joined the other kids. He ran through the waterfalls, dipped his head in the water, filled up buckets, and had a great time.


I am sure we'll make many more trips back to the spray park this summer. It's such an easy way for the kids to cool off and also have playground time.