Little Superheros

A picture from earlier this summer!

Let's Go See Fish

We took the day off of work today since the sitter was off and decided to take the kids to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. When we left the house we called Uncle Matt to see what he was up to and he decided to meet us there. The drive didn't take too long and we had everything we needed packed for the day. We got there and met up with Uncle Matt and wandered around the exhibits for a few hours. We saw the 4D Dora show as well. The kids seemed like they were getting a bit tired and hungry so we left and got lunch. We decided on Chipotle since we all like it and it's easy to get food for Bug there. The kids enjoyed their lunch and playing around with Uncle Matt. On our way home we stopped for ice cream and dinner. Shocking how much food those kids can pack in on a given day. We had a great day and it was so much fun to just do something different with the kids for the day! Roo's favorite fish were the sharks and Bug's favorite were the little Nemo's.

Aunt Carol...Let's Go Fishing!

For Roo's birthday, Aunt Carol and the Bloob's got Roo a great fishing vest that holds all sorts of goodies, a new fishing rod and a tackle box. Roo was super excited when he got to open his presents and figured out as soon as we told him what the vest was what the other two portions of the gift were. He loved having a multi-part gift!

He opened his gifts late enough in the evening that it was past fishing time, but we promised to take him over the weekend.

When the weekend came along, we took the boys in the late afternoon once it got a bit cooler out. We picked up worms at the gas station and then headed over to the lake in the neighborhood.

Bug was also really excited to fish so we brought one of Daddy's big fishing poles with us as well.

Roo was so excited that he asked us if we had caught him a fish yet. His attention span for fishing consisted of running in and out of the gazebo we were fishing from and onto the beach and into the water and back and forth and so on. Bug had a bit more patience but we still weren't catching anything. He did have a lot of fun feeding the ducks though!

As it was nearning time to go home and have dinner, we really didn't want to leave without catching a fish. So we decided to cheat and fish off the part of the gazebo that is close to the beach, there are always a ton of fish swimming around in there.

It only took a few minutes and Bug caught a tiny little Bluegill. A few minutes later Roo caught a larger Bluegill.

The boys had a ton of fun fishing and I'm sure we'll return many evenings for some nice relaxing fun!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Roo, we love you!

Roo's 5th Birthday Party

Roo's 5th birthday party was just what he wanted. I was hoping to not have it at the house this year but he really wanted it at the house. After checking out Paragon Gymnastics to see if we could have it there, which I think he would have loved, they told me they weren't doing Sunday parties. Alas, Uncle Matt planned his entire summer around being at the party on Sunday the 7th. So we had the party at home!

I talked with Roo a bit about what kind of cake he wanted this year. After telling him I wasn't planning on making a Wall-E cake again like last year, we agreed that a caterpillar cake would be great. He wanted it with lots of worms. I looked up some pictures on the internet to get some ideas and decided against The Very Hungry Caterpillar as I thought it was a little young for him. I showed Daddy and one of his friends at work what I planned on making and they were unimpressed, asking me if I aspired to do it nicely at all.

With that vote of confidence, I made this caterpillar cake. Dairy and egg free and delicious too! I tried a new icing recipe that someone at work gave me and it worked really well. Hooray!

When Roo first saw the cake he thought it was amazing. Roo then asked where the worms were and I told him that the caterpillar ate them and that's why it's so big. He seemed satisfied with that answer.

As for the actual party, we filled up the baby pool and put out a double slip n slide. We also gave each of the kids a water gun. The kids all had a blast playing outside and getting really wet. It was super humid out so it was good that the storms held off and they were able to play outside.

I made a bunch of food and everyone had a good time with each other. We had a "smaller" party this year though it still seemed like a lot of people for the size of our kitchen. Roo was excited to have a few of his friends over and we enjoyed catching up with friends and family.

Before Roo opened his presents I asked him if he could nicely thank each person who gave him a gift after he opened it. Roo loved everything he received and was good about thanking everyone. It was hard to pull him away from his presents last night, this morning and as soon as he got home this afternoon!

We're really glad he enjoyed his party and had so much fun with his friends!

Impossible Birthday Wishes?

When we asked Roo who he wanted at his birthday party this year he named just a couple of friend and his cousins who live in Georgia. We were wondering how in the world we were going to get his cousins from Georgia at his birthday party. Luckily, they were going on vacation to Maine and were going to stop at our house on the way back, the weekend before his party!

We didn't tell Roo and boy was he surprised when we asked him to open the door. He was so happy to see Maddie and Annabell. They came with a few of their friends that they went to Maine with and we all had a good time. We had a nice BBQ lunch and then spent the rest of the day at the pool.

Roo thinks he can swim even though he can't but was able to successfully navigate the big pool with several (lots) of pool noodles. We liked calling him noodle boy for the day.

Roo loved when we all sang happy birthday to him and said he loved the froggie cupcakes I made. Bug was my cupcake making helper!

Surprise birthday party #1 was a success. Looks like we'll be celebrating Roo's birthday all month long!

More from Roo

Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner tonight and Grandpa was swinging Roo and Bug on the swings. Roo came in the house and said "Dad, you have to come out here, Grandpa's not listening." Roo wanted Grandpa to swing him higher on the swing. But really, Roo is the king of not listening these days, especially today, so it made it that much funnier.

Also, while they were outside, Grandpa told Roo that he loves him. Roo said, "you don't have to tell me that Grandpa, I know that." Pretty sweet!

Food Allergy and Fever

If I haven't mentioned it on here before, we've been trying to figure out Bug's random fevers for a while now. He had some last summer and then they seemed to go away after Baxter moved out. He started getting them again this summer, especially when we were in Maine and many evenings after playing outside. After lots of blood work and our pediatrician consulting with our food allergist at Hopkins, the answer is as we suspected and hoped for....yes, some food allergy kids get random fevers, especially in the evening and no, they're not sick. This was great news and we're excited to have an answer.

Nuts and Bolts

We got home yesterday and Roo greeted us while holding onto his wrench. We noticed that he also had 3 bolts. Daddy asked Roo where he got the bolts from and he replied that he got them from the their play place. Daddy looked over the play place with Roo and asked him how he got them. Roo proceeded to show daddy that he simply used the wrench to unbolt the bolts. Daddy reported to me that he needs to put the bolts back in and we instructed Roo that he's not to take anymore out or the structure may come apart. Looks like we've got a little structural engineer on our hands!