Funk Family Tours: Fort McHenry, Playgrounds, and the National Zoo

My sister and her family came to visit! We had a lot of fun and packed in some great day trips.

On our first day together we went to Fort McHenry, the home of the original Star Spangled Banner. It was pretty rainy, but that made for absolutely no crowds. I was actually able to watch the movie in the visitor's museum, something that was previously impossible due to kids mixed with crowds.

Paige's crew in the gateway to the fort.

Both the Funks and the Stephens both rocked the stacked double stroller this week.

On day two, we sent the Funks to the National Air and Space Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center to see the Space Shuttle. When they got home we went to the playground.

I'm now skipping ahead a few days because our other tours deserve their own blog posts, but on Saturday we braved the weather and the crowds at the National Zoo. We tried a new route this time and drove to Bethesda and then took the metro in. 

We were glad we did because all the zoo parking lots were full. 

I didn't take many pictures at the zoo. 

We got a glimpse of the Giant Panda.

Paige and I agreed that the panda is so strange and doesn't quite look real.

All of the kids found something to love at the zoo. A. loved the reptile house and spent a long time looking closely at every animal. C. loved the invertebrates and told us that every jelly fish and anemone was "beautiful." Beckett loved the beavers on the American Trail. The beavers have a river with a waterfall and a tunnel. Beckett was running back and forth watching and exclaiming about how the "beaver was swimming. He's going in a tunnel. He's running." Paige and I loved the American Trail too. We went there at the end of the day when most of the exhibits were already closed. It had turned into a nice evening, and we enjoyed seeing the beavers, seals, sea lions, and bald eagle. 

Best Library Finds (6)

One Gorilla is beautifully illustrated. Every page has a different group of primates. This book would be a real winner for an animal lover. Beckett likes it too, and he isn't an animal fanatic.

Trainstop is a wordless picture book. This is our second time checking it out from the library, and I love the way the book illustrates imagination. It's a good little introduction to fantasy as well. This is definitely a good pick for train lovers.

Little Owl Lost is my favorite of the bunch and perhaps Beckett's as well. I love just about everything about this book: the story, the illustrations, the colors, the font. The design is basically perfect. Little Owl falls from his nest and a squirrel and a frog help him find his mama.

Almost 4

It's not Beckett's official birthday yet, but we've already celebrated. We decided to hold Beckett's birthday a little early this year. The kid has been 90% potty trained for quite some time, but he refused to wear underwear until his birthday. We kept telling him that he was capable of wearing underwear, and he would reply, "I wear underwear for my birthday." So we had his birthday. We are tricky like that and have the advantage of being able to tell time and understand the calendar.

The night before the birthday celebration I told Beckett the next day was a very special day for him, and he said, "Is it my birthday?" On the morning of his "birthday" Beckett came downstairs and said first thing, "It's my birthday. I need to wear underwear." So we opened a present with underwear bright and early and never looked back.

Beckett's only request for his birthday was that he have a yellow cake. Yellow is his favorite color, and I'm pretty sure he meant the frosting should be yellow because he knows about decorating cakes but not about different flavors of cakes. Beckett helped me make the cake. I made yummy chocolate frosting and then we decorated it with the yellow frosting.

Turning four is awesome. Everything was so exciting; the presents (even the present of pajamas and underwear), the cake, the candles. I kind of wish it could be Beckett's birthday more often. He was so happy and cheerful all day long. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about four. I can already see Beckett changing back into the cute kid we knew before he morphed into a demon 3-year-old.

We had our good friends and neighbors over for cake and ice cream. A couple days later I took a picture of the 4-year-old friends (and little sister) under the 4 banner.

After the party Nate and Felix took naps, and I took Beckett out for a photo shoot. Most of the pictures turned out pretty ridiculous:

 But we got a couple of kind of good ones.

 Happy birthday Beckett. I'm so glad you are 4 (almost).

Boys

JoLee is in NYC this weekend at Book Expo America with her friend Jessica. I'm alone with the two boys doing boy stuff.

The first night, Friday, did not go so well. I needed to get Beckett some underwear, so we went to Target. The car radio was tuned into Delilah's, "Girls night out". Then I found out that all the 4-year-old underwear was sold out. Meanwhile Felix took an interest in a My Little Pony doll. Then I noticed all the glazed looks on the faces of the other dudes in the store. That's when I realized that buying underwear at the Target was no way to spend a Friday night. We promptly headed to the monster playground where Felix fell down and skinned his knee. At that point, things were starting to look up for us boys.

On Saturday we went to the skills park at Rockburn and ran through the BMX track. Beckett was quite skilled at the curves and the jumps (while on foot). We also hiked some of the trails. Then we went to my office and drank soda, played pool, and made photo copies of our hands. We rounded off the night with a trip to Costco where we ate hot dogs, pizza, and cookies. On our way home we listened to "The Boys" from the Big River soundtrack and "Moves Like Jagger" from Maroon 5 (a.k.a the move-it song); that's when Beckett said, "I no miss Mommy". Of course he also said, "Daddy is nicer than Mommy" and "Daddy sings better than Mommy", which can't possibly be true. That guy is going to be a great salesman if he keeps that up. Felix doesn't talk, so I can't say for sure if he misses mom or not, but he did look content with all that chocolate covering his face.


On Sunday morning we had a breakthrough. Beckett pee'd at the toilet standing up. I told him the previous night that I would buy him a new train app on the iPad if he would pee standing up. The next morning I awoke to cheers of ,"I did it!" Beckett's week spot is obviously the iPad. I explained to him that now he can pee anywhere -- school, the park, church, even dad's office. He liked that idea a lot.

In summary, I'd say our boys weekend was really successful. We had a lot of fun without actually breaking anything. Here is a partial summary by the numbers:

• Head wounds: 3
• Scraped knees: 1
• Pizza meals eaten: 4
• Hours playing the iPad: not quantified
• Late nights playing video games: 1
• Phone calls to Mom: 2
• Bathroom breakthroughs: 1

He Keeps Growing

Felix just turned 15 months. However, it feels like he's been 15 months for months already, probably because he is so crazy busy and has been walking for 5 months!

 See how Felix is sitting on this park bench? He climbed up there himself.

Those curls. You guys. I am crazy about those curls.

This torpedo? He can climb on and off it himself. 

An aside: While we are on the subject of the torpedo, can I just say how weird I think it is that the cute chipmunk at our local park is paired with a deadly torpedo? I can't help but think of Dr. Strangelove whenever I see it, and that's a disturbing image to have every, single time I go to the park.

Felix can feed himself with a fork and a spoon. 

I think I find this much more remarkable than it is because Beckett (although he could feed himself with a fork and a spoon) was still asking me to spoon feed him until well after 2 and a half.

These two are getting along.

Kind of.

 

Beckett loves to show Felix how to do things. Big brothers are good teachers. Some times too good. Beckett is teaching Felix to be a tough guy, thanks to all the knocks he takes around the house. Felix didn't even cry when he got his shots today.

There's something about this age that is incredibly charming. Felix is so engaged in his world. He is a super pointer. The problem is, of course, that half the things he points to he can't have, like electric razors and houseplants. He's started looking at books on his own and letting me read to him, instead of snatching the book and putting it in his mouth. Felix listens to us and usually does what we ask him to do. Everyday when we get dressed I will show Felix his pants and socks and tell him that it's time to put them on. He then walks toward me, turns around and backs up to sit in my lap. The cuteness gets me every time. This curiosity also means that he's into everything. Everything. He'll pull every single wipe out of the case. He'll slowly tear tissues into tiny pieces. He threw a book into the toilet tonight. He likes to rummage through the trash. Every morning he makes his rounds and unplugs all of our electronics. We had to replace the outlet plates with baby proof versions so he'd stop trying to then plug everything back in. We are constantly saying, "Felix. You are such a mess."

Felix has always been a happy boy. He continues to love people. He will look and look at someone until they finally smile at him and then he'll flash a big grin back.

He's pretty much the best and cutest baby in the world.

Best Library Finds (5)

What Time Is It, Mr. Crocodile? Mr. Crocodile plans his day, but those pesky monkeys just won't leave him alone. This is a fun little tale, written in catchy verse. It has a clock on every page.

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? Beckett loved this book. It has a lot of things going for it. The question and answer style was a big hit. It also has colorful illustrations, flaps on every page, and a review half through and at the end. It's pretty clever too, for example, "If a kid grows and becomes a goat, can a sweater grow and become ... a coat?"

Tupelo Rides the Rails Every time we go to the library we have to come home with at least two train books. Sometimes this seems like a pretty tall order, and I settle for ANY book that has a train. Needless to say, some of the train books we've brought home have been real duds. I was sure that this would be one of those duds, but it's not. Tupelo is an abandoned dog. She joins a bunch of other dogs who ride trains looking for homes. Not only is it way cuter and cleverer than I thought it would be, but I would recommend it to both dog-loving and train-loving children.

{Mother's} Day Camping

On Mother's Day we went day camping. What is day camping, you say? It's camping that doesn't involve spending the night. Fortunately for us, we have fantastic campgrounds in the state park just 15 minutes from our home.

We had a few reasons for day camping: 1. It was Mother's Day and camping gave me a bit of a break. 2. The kids have never been camping before, and Nate wants to take Beckett camping this summer, so it was a dry run. 3. It was cold. 4. We've had church at 9am since January and having everyone inside the house for the rest of the day is driving us all insane. 5. Beckett insisted on going home to use the potty.

The boys got the campground an hour or so before I did (that was part of my Mother's Day break). They played on the tire park. 

Felix slid down and climbed up the slide. Little Monkey. 

I think Beckett must have been running around like a crazy kid playing bullet train or something because I don't have any tire park pictures of him to post.

Once I arrived we went to set up our campsite. Nate cooked on the grill, and Beckett fed his brother.

The boys helped set up the tent.

Here's our car's audition for a car commercial.

We climbed into the tent, and Beckett showed off his sleeping bag. It has a pocket, and he thinks that's super cool.

Felix is starting to actually enjoy reading books, instead of just eating them.

The fire made Beckett crazy silly.

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Not Ready for This

I found Felix on the table for the first time today. He was eating crackers from the box and very pleased with himself. Nate nicknamed him "Felix, Little Monkey" when he was a wee baby. He seems to be growing into the name. He's not even 15 months yet!