Fun-Filled Days

We've been having some busy days and totally enjoying the awesome weather.

Thursday night we went to dinner with Natalie (the boys' babysitter) and her two boys. We went out for pizza at a place Don and I used to frequent pretty regularly (The Brickoven Pizzeria which is not far from our house). After that we walked to a playground and the boys had a blast. Benjamin and his best buddy, Jack enjoyed every second of exerting all their energy and Samuel loves the slides and climbing on anything he can.

I'm including a photo of Benjamin and Jack from Thursday. They both just went through some growth spurts but Benjamin is still almost a head taller than Jack.

Saturday finally came and the boys slept until almost 8 a.m. I couldn't believe it. (Of course, the dogs had me up at 6:45 a.m. So much for sleeping in). Nelly called Saturday morning to see what we were up to and we decided to go to a place called Leesburg Animal Park. The kids are all so into animals and it was a huge hit and an absolutely perfect morning for the occasion. We arrived around 9:30 a.m. Benjamin and Brooke had a blast running around looking at all the animals (ducks, rabbits, monkeys, small leopards, etc). And Samuel was right behind them pointing at everything and pulling himself up on all the fences to get a closer look. Then they opened up the petting zoo. We had food to feed them and I was actually pretty proud of myself for being as brave as I was with Benjamin. (I'm not too keen on sticking my hand up to these animals for them to choose if they want to munch on the food or my fingers but I did alright this time).

Brooke and Benjamin were also really fond of this turtle shell they could crawl into. As well as the playgrounds they had and a craft table.

The kids all ended up being covered in dirt and sand and baths were in order. But not before we stopped for some lunch at Arby's.

I thought for sure Benjamin would just collapse after his bath and all the outdoor time but although he spent some quiet time playing he never did fall asleep. So, we spent some more time outside in the afternoon playing in the backyard and then taking the wagon and a ride on toy around the block. It was just too beautiful out not to. I think I heard it hit 82 degrees on Saturday.

After dinner we headed out to the new Cold Stone Creamery nearby and indulged in some ice cream with our neighbor Katie. There is a great new playground right outside Cold Stone and it was a huge hit with both Benjamin and Samuel. Samuel was beaming from ear to ear. It had a lot to offer for kids his size and he was able to climb all over the place (just his thing).

Much to my delight, the kids slept in again this morning! Benjamin actually slept til 8 a.m. (I think this makes the idea of giving up naptime more and more appealing!) I didn't think we'd make it to the Sunday School hour at 9:15 a.m. but somehow we did.

Today was MUCH cooler and we didn't go anywhere besides church which was a welcome thing since we've been out and about so much. Samuel slept from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. today which is not like him. So, he must have needed the downtime as well.

Don called this afternoon and got to speak to both Benjamin and I. It was great to hear from him and according to his count we are down to less than 6 months. He reported that it's now about 5 3/4 months. (But who's counting? ha. More like, who isn't?)