SUMMER'S (almost) OVER....

...AND I STILL HAVE SO MANY POST TO CATCH UP ON!!!

Yes...tomorrow is Andrew's first day of Kindergarten and I promised myself I'd be caught up on posts before writing about his first day...so, that means I've got a lot to share with you tonight!

In order to get it all in, and not take up too much time (mine or yours!), I will just do a recap of the rest of our summer...since our return from Texas. We completed MORE things on our summer to do list...

National Building Museum...we actually did this 2 weekends in a row. The first time we went, the LEGO exhibit we were hoping to catch was sold out...so we bought tickets to return the following Saturday. I don't have any pics of the exhibit, but can tell you that it was quite amazing! It was really neat to see it through both Derek's architectural eyes, as well as Andrew's, well...5 year old eyes! The exhibit included the St Louis Arch, Sears Tower, Empire State Building, and WTC Tower, to name a few. After the exhibit, there was an area to build your own creation, which was then added to the cityscape they are creating at the museum. Of course, the boys LOVED this! The LEGO exhibit is at the museum until Sept 2011...I definitely recommend it...especially if you have LEGO enthusiasts in your home!

Reston Zoo...Until this recent visit, I had not been to the Reston Zoo since I was a child...probably sometime when I attended RHOA day camp! What a GREAT place to take the kids! We will definitely make this an annual activity...if not more often than that! Highlights included feeding the animals, feeding a bottle of milk to a baby goat, riding a wagon around and seeing amazing animals (including a zebra!) up close and personal. The best part though, was being there with my sister and her girls too. The kids LOVE spending time together and it is so great to watch them all enjoy things together!

The Farm...The boys and I took a trip (quite a long one!) up to my aunt and uncle's farm house in NY. We were joined by my aunt and uncle, cousin Lisa and cousins Staci, Aleks and baby Asher and their dog Mason. Despite the lack of sleep I had there, due to both boys having difficulty sleeping, we still had a great time. Incredibly enough, the weather was not too hot, which is abnormal up there this time of year. We actually had to wait for it to warm up in the morning before we could head to the pond/stream. While there we also went to an apple orchard/petting zoo/playground...yes, all 3 in 1! We had a great trip, but I think next year we need Derek with us...one-on-one defense always works better than zone with these kids!

mixing up the compost

yes, that goat did climb up on the stumps...right next to us!

And now...we're going back, back, back to school.....

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can he build it???

YES HE CAN!!!

if you follow this blog, or know my family at all, you know that derek has passed his LOVE of legos on to andrew. i have been impressed with andrew's ability to follow the directions and build legos for quite some time now. however, today he took it to a whole new level! andrew built this without any instructions to follow or pictures to look at...and without ANY help! he carried his creation into the family room and said "mom and dad, look at my biplane!" he then showed us the wheels, wings, windows, and propeller...WOW!!!

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Derek takes a STAYcation

While we had a fun week with Derek home, I've never seen him so ready to head to work on a Monday morning! Our week was filled up with outings, errands, and numerous meltdowns and timeouts. Here are some highlights from Derek's STAYcation...for more photos check out this album.

Saturday, August 30...after an hour long battle with Andrew to brush his teeth and get dressed, we enjoyed a nice breakfast (brunch actually, it was 11:30 by then!) at Silver Diner and then all headed to the LEGO exhibit presented by AFOL (adult fans of LEGOs). I thought this might be as much fun as picking a hangnail, but it proved to be quite entertaining. Actually, I'd even say it was amazing! The things these people created...ALL with LEGOs...truly blew my mind! Mark your calendars for August 22-23...BrickFair 2009!



Tuesday, September 2...family trip to the National Zoo and then a lunch stop at Chipotle. C'mon...you didn't think Derek would go a week without it...did you???



Wednesday, September 3...Derek joined us for Playgroup at the Playground. Afterward, we went to Murphy's for a much needed and deserved beer (yes, it was only lunchtime!)




It was really nice having Derek home for a whole week. As Andrew says, "Daddy was home for a lots of DADurdays!"

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iBlog

it's a phone...it's an ipod...it's a gps...it's a camera...it's everything a woman could want...well, at least one who just had a baby 6 weeks ago...god knows i'm not wanting much else these days :)

yes, i'm talking about the coveted iphone!

as many of you know, i mocked my husband for months, as he checked the mac rumors website several times a day (yes, such a website does exist!) and teased him as he counted down the days until the new 3g iphone became available. well, call me a sellout, but as the day approached, i jumped right on the bandwagon. i even got a little giddy and i must admit, a little nervous thinking they might run out and we may not get one. so, you'll understand my astonishment, when on the eve of the iphone's arrival, derek told me he wasn't planning on waiting in line early in the morning. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!?! deep down in the core of my heart, i knew that his desire to own the iphone would get the best of him overnight, and he'd rethink his plan in the morning...of course, i was right! derek convinced andrew that they were going to dunkin donuts, which is next to the at&t store here, and they headed out around 7am (fyi - the store wouldn't open until 9am). well, they were back home with donuts and coffee in tow, about 20 minutes later. derek said the line at at&t was around the corner, probably 150-200 deep! keep in mind, this was a friday, and derek had to go to work...whatever?!?!? so, as derek set off to work, my panic began to set in again...would they run out of iphones? they couldn't...they must be prepared...they have to plan for this sort of madness, right? NOPE...the iphone sold out! at this point, i came to terms with the fact that we would not be one of the first owners of the iphone, but i remained determined to own one before the weekend ended. on saturday night, we checked the iphone in-store status online and decided we'd head to the apple store at tysons corner in the morning. the store would open at 11, so we wanted to get there by 9am. keep in mind, the mall itself opens at 6am, so realistically, people could start lining up at the apple store then. upon arrival, we were 45th in line...not bad.

"PEOPLE IN FRONT OF US"

"PEOPLE BEHIND US"

to pass the time, derek waited in line while i walked the mall with the boys. we hit the play area, starbucks and the family rest area (to nurse jacob). the funniest thing we saw, had to be the verizon salesman walking up and down the line, offering "apples...yours now...free!" along with a flyer for verizon's wanna-be iphone. checkc out his picture below...

after 4 hours, most of which jacob slept through, we became owners of apple iphones.

ANDREW DOING AN IPHONE DANCE

so, you may be wondering how we convinced our wild 3 1/2 year old boy to stand in this line for over 4 hours. well, bribery, of course! we told andrew that after mommy and daddy got their toys, we'd head to the lego store and get him some toys...

BUILDING HIS NEW LEGOS

it's been a couple weeks, and i have to say, i'm thoroughly enjoying my new gadget! guess that's a good thing, since we spent a pretty penny (or two!) on them. it has come in handy several times and now i think to myself, "what did i do before the iphone?"...just kidding, i haven't really thought that yet...but i'm sure the words will come out of my mouth sometime soon! ok, i gotta go...my iphone's ringing...

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