Party

My good friend Rachel had a super cute 1st birthday party for her little boy, Cole.  I was so excited because we have been away for so long that I had NEVER MET HIM!!

 And here's the big guy with his piece of cake.  I'm sure the blue icing didn't stain at all! ha

 Mason helps him play in the sprinkler.

They got these fun little sailor hats with their favor bags.  Too cute.  His outfit was perfect for the hat.

Silly girl.  We had a fun visit and look forward to getting together again soon. :)  Happy Birthday Cole!

Archives

 A couple of weekends ago Ike decided he wanted to take Julianna to see the Declaration of Independence.  Since we are now in an area full of history lessons he is in his glory.  It helps that Julianna is a sponge and really gets into it all.  She really is interested and was very excited to go and see it.  Most kids (including me as a kid) would probably have been bored to tears.  I am so glad that she takes after her Daddy and not me.  I admit that finally, at the ripe old age of 30, I am finally interested.  The history here is overwhelming.

 Right across the street was the Navy Memorial so we checked that out too.

 This photo is so neat because she is unintentionally standing on Virginia on the map in the ground.  I love happy accidents like that.

 It was barely drizzling but Mason is a big wimp about the rain.  He needed his umbrella.  :)

And the most exciting part of the trip for Mason was the metro ride.  I have a feeling he's going to be more like his Mama.  

How to Train your Dragon

 Julianna and her friends were really excited about their metro ride into the city to see How to Train your Dragon, LIVE!

 WOOHOO!

 The show was so cool.  It was just people, dragons and a projector screen on the floor and wall.  Really neat.

We all really loved it.  Here is a little clip just to give you an idea how they did it all.

Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum

 Before Ike started with his new job, we decided to take a little trip to the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum.  It is separate from the one on the mall in DC.  This is the building where they keep all of the aircraft that they couldn't fit in there.  They had some BIG stuff.  It was great.  The kids loved it.

 WOW!

 Of course all of the helicopters were a big hit.

 And we had to get a picture of an F-14 for Aunt Sara.

 This was our favorite.  Mason has really gotten in to space shuttles and rockets after our visit to the Space and Rocket center in Huntsville.  

 It truly is amazing to see this stuff close up.  This is the Discovery Space Shuttle.  

 They also have the Enola Gay which was the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb in WWII.

Cool stuff!! Looking forward to taking the kids to lots of museums while we are here.

It happens every year

I had another birthday.  I don't know why that keeps happening?!  I'm plenty old enough now, right?  But every year it rolls around again.  At least there's cake... and little candle blower helpers.

Space and Rocket Center

 We headed off to Huntsville again to take the kids to the Space and Rocket Center.  They had a blast.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

 Whoa, that's a lot of buttons.

 Which one should I push now?

 Cutie Patooties.

 They had an area outside with rides and they rode this one about 10 times.  They LOVED it!

 Up, up, up!!

 Woooohooooo!!

I think he might like this space stuff!

Cheer Camp

While we were in Decatur, Julianna got to join Cousin at Decatur High School's Cheer Camp.  She loved it.  We've been doing the cheers over and over again at home.  I have a video that I'll try to get posted.  These are cell phone pics so not the best but still too cute not to share.