Jeremiah has really been into building with Legos lately (hey, he's a 5.5 year old boy. It was inevitable, right?) He's got a set of he smaller ones, but I don't like finding those all over when little ones are crawling around. I bought the kids some used duplos  and they're very happy to play with those instead.

Jeremiah wIll build all sorts of things with Legos. Planes and swords are his favorite, but yesterday, he wanted to make a hot air balloon (shown). He was quite proud of it.

Oh, and yes, that's Jesslyn trying to "photo bomb" his pic in the background there. Gotta love little sisters.

Jesslyn's B-Day Party!

On Sunday, September 6th, we had a 'little' birthday party for Jesslyn. I say 'little' because it was supposed to be a simple party with cake and just some family & few friends, but it morphed into something.... bigger. :) Not too crazy, but I just can't keep it easy. 'Twas goot times, though, and we're still eating leftovers. :) Here're some highlights for ya!

Mommy & The Kookie post-nap at her party!

The Kookie's "smash" cake, courtesy of Miss Merry.

"Our" cake, courtesy of Costco. :) 'Twas quite yummy, too.

Staring down her cake... I don't think she liked the candle.

"Hmm.... not too sure about this. I'd better try another bite."

"MMMM! It IS yummy!"

Now, Jesslyn SMASH!!

After....

And now... some video highlights!!

Jesslyn vs. Her Birthday Cake

"Hey, it's not so bad after all..."

Jesslyn SMASH!

OBX Slideshow

Here are the photos from our trip!


And, uh, that's it! I'll write more about it-----later! :)

Herndon Big Trucks Day!

Is this right up Jeremiah's alley, or what???? The kid is obsessed with cars/trucks/anything man-made that moves! Needless to say, he was so much more excited to be hanging around big trucks than a candy store. :) Too bad the weather was kinda iffy, and a few of the other parents there (okay, it was just ONE) didn't know how to teach their kids to share and take turns (and failed to encourage such) but all in all, 'twas a fun day for him!

This was the only truck left with a working horn. Since we hit it at the tail end of the week--okay, the very last day--all the other horns were "dead." And it was LOUD! So loud that Jeremiah was on edge the whole time we were there, as most kids would just lay it on and not let up until whatever adult they were with finally talked 'em down.

"More than meets the eye..." ????

Jesslyn just kinda chilled with Mommy, taking it all in. She, unlike Jeremiah, was not fazed by the horns. Just kept smiling!

How to stop some horn-induced tears? Cookies help! :)

"HI!"

Ah... that's "the dad" that would not encourage his kids to share/take turns. Jeremy and I later saw him while in line to see Star Trek at the IMAX. Jeremy didn't believe me at first, but the more he looked at him, he realized I WAS RIGHT! How freaky is that.... glad I didn't do anything more than send some stern looks his way....

This was pretty cool--you could change the lights as you wanted. Jeremiah enjoyed doing that while waiting for his turn in one of the trucks.

Okay, seriously, am I really the only one expecting these trucks to "transform"?!?!? Don't they look like they should???? Am I really just that stuck in the 80's (and now, 00's, considering Transformers 2 comes out IN ONE MORE WEEK!!!)

Time to go! Wave bye bye, Jeremiah!

Okay, he wasn't happy to leave. He kept wanting to go back... but yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Mommy had had enough of the honking horns. :)

POOL is OPEN!!!

FINALLY!  Jeremiah has been saying, "pool! pool! pool!" for weeks now, waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to open it so he can go in.  So Saturday, we seized the opportunity, with a beautiful, warm day just waiting for us!  

Jeremiah was so excited, he didn't care how cold the water was, he just wanted to go in!  Jesslyn, on the other hand, is a little lady, and like her Mommy, was not pleased with the temperature of the water.  Jeremy tried to take her in, and she was still crying by the time he carried her up the stairs for me to hold.  Awww...

I was quite impressed with Jeremiah's swimming skills this year.  Last year, we bought him a floaty suit thingie, so he could learn to balance in the water himself, but he wasn't quite ready for that yet.  This year, however, he's become a regular fish!  By the time we left, he was walking down the steps into the water and swimming over to Daddy like he'd been doing it all summer!  My little man--such a big boy now!  

And Jesslyn... well, she was perfectly happy sitting on a blanket with me.  :)  So the gals chilled poolside while the boys froze their bums off.  Sounds like a good day.  :)

How to suck your thumb:  By Jesslyn Wilcox

Insert thumb (left or right, doesn't matter...) into mouth.

Hand may be opened or closed--your preference.

When switching sides, be sure to gently remove thumb from mouth, first.

Commence sucking.  

The end. :)

"That?"  I think he was pointing at the boat across the pool.

Climbing out, all by himself, with a fishy in hand (it's actually supposed to help warm the water, but it was too breezy that day to use it.)

"It's not cold--see how happy we look???!"

Swimming all by himself.  What a big boy!

Jesslyn preferred to crawl around and be cute on the blanket.

"It's too cold to swim, Mommy.  Why did Daddy take me in?  It was too cold!"

"Okay, I feel better now.  The sun is nice and warm."

"Aww, c'mon Mommy, I don't wanna pose..."

A Day at the Farm

This is the weather I've been waiting for!  Sunny, warm (lower 80's) just slightly breezy.  A perfect day to head to the farm!

For those of you who don't know, we live right across the street from Frying Pan Farm and Park.  It's owned by the county, so totally free to get in, but also has an actual working farm on it, complete with lots of animals and crops and tractor rides throughout (which I have yet to do, and it appears that the price has gone up, so we'll see if we get around to it...)  

On Wednesday mornings, from May - October, they have a Farmer's Market with a bunch of different vendors.  It started last week, I think, but today was our first chance to get out there and check it out so we did!  And I must say, I think it's going to be even better this year than in years past (at least the two seasons we've been here.)  Before, there was one of each vendor--one guy each selling veggies, fruit, meat, bread, herbs and spices/dips.  Now there's another 'goody' vendor (mostly cookies, cakes, muffins, etc,) and I think TWO other veggie vendors.  This is good, for me at least, because I didn't care for the produce from the veggie vendor that was there before.  And they're all priced the same (they kinda have to...) so I can go around and find the best of the best.  Looking forward to it!

Of course, we had to stop and play on the playgrounds, which were a little busy, but I've seen them busier (so I'm guessing most of the crowds had left for lunch, since it was after noon.)  It's really neat to see Jeremiah on the playground this year, because when we first started going, he would need help just walking up the steps to go down the slide.  Then he was able to do the slide on his own.  Now, he can do so much more!  But he's still very passive and cautious--if someone pushes him out of the way to go down the slide ahead of him, he just sits there and waits until he has a chance.  This frustrates me as his Mommy, of course.  If he's playing fairly, why can't the other kids?!  But alas, there's little I can do except applaud Jeremiah for being such a good sport and waiting his turn!  

Jesslyn could really care less about being there.  She kinda kept freaking out when I would go help Jeremiah with something, probably thinking I was going to leave her in her stroller alone.  So I had to carry her around most of the time, which was okay.  She did like the "walk" part of our trip, until it was encroaching on her lunchtime.  Then she'd had enough!  So we came home....

But not before we stopped to look at some animals!  I usually do this on the way out, since we got there near the end of the farmer's market.  We didn't stay very long, though...  Went to look at the piglets that were newly born, and Jeremiah sorta freaked because the bench they had to stand on was really wobbly, and I'm sure he thought he was going to fall off.  I had to keep my hands on him the entire time!  And Jesslyn, once again, thought I was leaving her, so I had to hold her, Jeremiah, and the camera, trying to shoot some pics and videos of everything.  Yesh.  

After the piggies, we looked at the baby goats and cows.  One of them "sneezed" (I think it was a sneeze) that kinda sounded like a fart (that's the best way I can think of to describe it, but I don't think it was...) and that made Jeremiah laugh.  :)  The sheep, though, not so much.  He was fine for a little bit, watching them walk in the pen, and baaa-ing.  But then he got down, waiting for me to put him back in the stroller, and was startled when the sheep gave a great big "BAAA!"  Yeah... if you know Jeremiah and how he is with loud noises, you know he didn't like that one bit.  

So that was the end of our trip to the farm!  At this point, I was once again carrying both kids (one crying and starting to make the other cry,) and trying to push a stroller.  As soon as we got outside, I tried to strap 'em in for the walk home, but Jeremiah could still hear the sheep and was not happy about it.  I was finally able to get them both in, and we were on our way.  I don't think Jeremiah was ever so happy to leave the farm.

"Get me outta this stroller!"

"What's going on over there?"  Checking out the Farmer's Market.

"Mommy, I'm too busy to stop so you can take a picture! Just let me play!"

Here, he realizes that there's "stuff" all over the "rocks" and he doesn't like it.  I had to help him up so he didn't have to touch anything.  So silly!

"WHEEE!!!!"

Checking out the piggies on a wobbly bench.  He is smiling right here, though, since I had one hand on him.

I know many a Mom's who can relate to what this mother pig is feeling, I'm sure... The video is funny, as at one point, they all stop, like they had just noticed we were there, and were watching us... Kinda creepy, actually.

The offensive goat. :)

Looking at the sheep, not too sure if he likes those "baaas" or not...

This is immediately post-BAAA!  You can see the fear on his face, as he breaks into a yell and cries the whole way out... My poor little man...