Playgroup

Our playgroup has introduced us to some pretty fun spots.

All the kids piled into a canoe at the nature center.

 Nick and Beckett enjoyed emptying the cupboard with all the old-timey kitchen utensils.

We also went to Storyville for the first time with our playgroup. It's like a mini-children's museum in a library.

Beckett loves the dollhouse. In this picture he was making the dolls take showers.

Here he was telling the doll "get off the table, please." I think he's maybe heard that phrase a time or two.

Every time we go to Storyville Beckett empties all of the eggs in the mini grocery store into one of the shopping baskets.

Trying a strawberry.

Looking at letters in the reading nook.

"Flower up high. Back down."

Beckett the super hero.

Taking care of a baby in the kitchen.

Mail Time!

SteveSongs

While I was at the baby shower the super nice sisters in my ward threw for me, Nate took Beckett to his first concert. They went to see SteveSongs. You can see SteveSongs on PBS. "It's Music Time with SteveSongs." We love SteveSongs. We own two of his albums, and Beckett can sing every single song on one of them. Listen to Steve's music here.

Nate said Beckett loved every minute of the concert. 

 

Fort McHenry

Back in January we visited Fort McHenry to see where the Star Spangled Banner flew during the War of 1812. The British claimed Baltimore was a "nest of pirates" and mounted a multi-pronged attack against the city that ultimate did not go their way. Francis Scott Key witnessed the attack on Fort McHenry from a boat in the Chesapeake Bay where he had been detained by the British during a prisoner exchange negotiation.

View of the bay from the walls of the fort.

This flag is not as big as the Star Spangled Banner.

Cannons facing the bay.

Enter the fort through the archway.

Fort McHenry reminded me of our trip to Fort Scott.
 Both have two-story, balconied buildings set in a semi-circle.
The round roofed building in the picture below stored all the arms and gunpowder. It was actually damaged during the bombardment but the walls were thick enough that the gunpowder did not explode.

Beckett wanders through the fort.

Beckett also got his very own little flag. He loves flags and is very good at spotting them from the car. The whole time we were at the fort he kept telling us "nice to the flag."

Warm January

The weather this winter has been amazingly warm. On one warm January day we took a hike at Patapsco State Park.

Beckett, like all boys, loves to throw rock into the water.

We checked out the train tunnel. Beckett is a huge fan of tunnels. He seems to find them everywhere. (As my friend Eve said, he believes in loosely interpreted the word tunnel.)

Post-church Nap

We have church at 1pm this year. This past Sunday Beckett came home, lay down on the floor in the living room, and fell asleep. He had never done that before. We covered him with the blanket and let him sleep on the floor for an hour and a half. He didn't even take his shoes off first.

Nursery

Once again the youngest member of our family is going to have the nicest room.

 The animals on the wall are illustrations from a picture book that I framed.

I am especially pleased with how the bookcase turned out.

We took a cheap bookcase:

We bought a new back to replace the flimsy accordion-style backing. Nate spray painted the back white and the bookcase blue. It adds a lot of color to the bland neutrals of our rental.

We are just waiting for the room's occupant to arrive.

Guess What's For Dinner

Check out what we had for dinner last night. It's only 16 miles from our house, and it's the real deal.

This is one of only three Cafe Rios east of the Rocky Mountains. Aah a little slice of Provo.

Baltimore Aquarium

Last weekend was cold and a little snowy, so we, of course, thought it would be the perfect chance to go to the Baltimore Aquarium. We got there just after the aquarium opened, and, just as we had hoped, the snow kept many people at home.

Here's a look at a snowy Inner Harbor.

The Baltimore Aquarium is the National Aquarium, and it is pretty impressive. My pictures are not going to do it justice at all. We saw lots of sharks, sting rays, some turtles, puffins, sea anemone, and lots of lots of fish.

Beckett loved the aquarium.

We all loved the dolphin show. Beckett loved when the dolphins jumped out of the water. He threw his arms up in the air and cheered. He kept asking us when they were going to jump again.

The aquarium has a South American and an Australian exhibit. The Australian exhibit is particularly impressive. I snagged some pictures of these reptile relatives.

 The dwarf caiman lives in the Amazon.

And this is the Australian freshwater crocodile.

I really like taking photos of jellyfish. Here are a few from Baltimore's exhibit.

This is a spotted lagoon jelly from the South Pacific.

We seem to see the moon jelly at a lot of aquariums.

We also saw the pacific sea nettle in Monterey.

As if those other jellys weren't wild enough, here's the upside-down jelly. Instead of swimming it hangs out on the floor of shallow seas.

We might have to go back on another snowy day.

Air and Space

We are doing our best to squeeze in some fun before this baby comes. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum out by Dulles on New Years Observed.

Seeing a space shuttle was definitely a highlight of the trip. This is the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and it hasn't actually been to space. It was used for tests on the ground and in the atmosphere. Check out how big it is. We read in a recent National Geographic that now that the space shuttle program has come to an end that the Smithsonian will house the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The SR-71 is also huge.

A Huey medical helicopter from the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

Beckett enjoyed this museum. He especially liked the helicopters and the little model planes. He kept saying "another plane, more planes." The museum has an upper walkway that allows visitors to look down on the planes displayed on the floor and get eye level with the suspended planes. You can see the supersonic Concord in the background.

The museum also has an observation tower where you can see some really nice views and watch the planes land at the Dulles Airport. This was also a highlight for Beckett.

Happy New Year

In the Stephens' household we aren't sad to say goodbye to 2011. Welcome 2012!