Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to all! 

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. The other day, Marino and I had the following exchange:
Marino:  "Mommy, I'm hungry." 
Me: "Marino, you just ate 3 snacks and dinner. And dessert."
Marino:  "Mommy, why don't you want me to grow healthy and strong?"

4.  On a recent hike, we came across a really adorable dog.  Marino said "Mommy, that dog was so cute it almost exploded my eyeballs!"

3.  Marino started group swim lessons this week. I told him he did a great job. He said "Mommy, when I was doing a good job, I said 'Marino, keep it up. Mommy is going to be so proud of you.'"

2.  The other day Marino said to Evan, "Daddy, can we take Mommy's upsetness and throw it in the trash?"

1.  We woke up one day this week and Marino asked me if I was still tired. I said yes. He said "Okay, listen. I'm going to go do more chores and after I'm done, we can relax on the couch for a little while."

Recent pics of my gorgeous boy

Fall Fun 2013, Part II

The Fall fun continues!

We went to the Eye Spy Train at Cabin John this year with our buddies Jace and Beth. The kids loved it! 

I did a Halloween-themed storytime at Fenton Street Market. Afterwards, the kids went trick or treating at the vendor booths. We did this last year, too, and I love it! 

We made Q-tip skeletons as our craft at storytime. The kids were surprisingly enthusiastic about making these. 

Marino enjoying his candy. 

I really love this picture of Marino and his buddies. 

This market day was also Volunteer Day in the County, so some volunteers coordinated decorating Halloween bags for Meals on Wheels deliveries. Marino was very serious about his. I thought this was such a great idea!

Marino and I got to ring the opening bell for the Market!  Apparently the bell was too loud for Marino. 

Hanging out with my buddy, Uli. 

After lunch in Silver Spring, we headed to the National Air and Space Museum for Air and Scare. 

The boys were very excited to meet a pilot. 

Hanging out with friends at the Air and Space Museum

Meeting "Dark Vader" (Darth Vader)

Marino and I went on a 3 mile hike at Seneca Creek State Park. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes. Marino complained a bit, but he did well. We even ran parts of the trail. His favorite part was seeing a dead crow that had been partially eaten so its bones were exposed. 

The colors were gorgeous! 

Skipping rocks

We've been enjoying the season!

Marino Explains It All

Marino explains where babies come from...

More Fall Fun - 2013

As we do every year, we've been making the most out of the Fall season.

Evan took Marino on his annual school field trip to Butler's Orchard. 

Gramma came to visit and she and Marino had a blast. 

We went apple picking at Homestead Farm. The apples we got were so delicious. We used every single one! It was a rainy day, so we were prepared for the mud. 

More Fall fun coming soon! 

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5.  At McDonald's playplace the other night, Marino asked an older girl, "Can you chase us and pretend to kiss us?" I shut that game down quick!

4. Conversation with Marino recently:
"Mommy, I want a baby sister and a baby brother"
Me:  "I can't have any more babies, honey."
"Well, just get someone to have a baby and give it to you."

3.  In the car the other day, Marino and his friend Jace kept telling each other, "Stop acting like that, you're giving me a headache." I wonder where they would have heard such a thing??

2.  We had to cut down a tree in our front lawn (the roots were growing into our house) and Marino was really concerned the Lorax was going to come. He kept looking out the window for him.

1. I ran a Ragnar relay a couple weeks ago and Marino was very into it. He and Evan came to visit us at one the exchanges and he asked to join our team and then posed us for some awesome pictures.

A few days later, he put on this headband and said "Say Ragnar!" 

Cox Farms 2013

Yay! It's Fall, my favorite time of the year! This weekend, Jen and I met up with the kids at Cox Farms in Virginia. We hadn't been in a couple years and it was even more fun this year, since the kids are more independent but equally enthusiastic. 

Gosh, I love these three kids! 

This place has THE BEST hayride. It ends with a dance party complete with strobe lights. Marino immediately wanted to go again. 

Monster feet

Here Marino is saying, "Mommy, I reached inside his costume and felt his neck. There's a human in there."

Poor bunny!

The three amigos

Fun, fun, fun! Love Fall and these kids! 

Summer's Over? Bucket List for Fall

Summer's over and I've barely posted about all the amazing things we did. I'll catch up one day. But instead of being bummed that summer's over, I wanted to make a list of fun things I want to do this Fall with my boys.

• Apple Picking
• Pumpkin Picking
• Hiking Here, Here, Here
• Haunted House/Haunted Trains
• B&O Railroad Museum

Meeting Cousins

..slowly catching up...One of the things we got to do last month was meet our newest cousins! My cousin Carter has two children (and a wife) I hadn't met because they live across the country. Noah is 3 1/2 and Zoey is 3 months old. Stephanie and I email each other but this was our first time meeting. She was as sweet and funny as I expected and the kids got along great. Marino and Noah have similar energy levels (crazy) and they had a blast together. Marino really likes being the "big" cousin. I was surprised, but Marino was very interested in Baby Zoey. When she was sad, he sang her lullabies and even made up a song about her where she was a "super girl" and one day she will be as cool as Marino. He's something else. We met at Port Discovery in Baltimore and had a blast!

Noah was less enthusiastic about picture taking than Marino. 

Two peas in a pod

Making giant bubbles

Me, Steph and Zoey

How cute is this?

Gassing up the car, checking the tire pressure. What a team!

Snuggling Zoey

Too much! I think Marino was wearing Noah out by this point!

Fawning over Zoey

Marino's lullaby for Zoey