Parker Turns Three Part 2 - The Party

 Parker asked for a Thomas party for his birthday - big surprise! So we invited his friends Ella and Liam and even Cole came down from New Jersey! At first the most exciting thing was playing with all of the balloons!

We played "Pin the funnel on Thomas". The kids are too little to make them spin around, but the blindfold made it interesting!

Ella was definitely the champion!

Trying to get 4 three-year-olds to stand still and take a picture isn't easy. But, we got 3 out of 4 looking!

The kids got to make a Thomas train craft using boxes and gluing on his pieces. The wheels ended up all over Thomas, but it was lots of fun.

Playing with Baby Eve. She didn't get a morning nap so she was hanging with Mommy to ward off the cranky baby blues. She looks pretty happy to me!

Yummy party food. The mini corn muffins with hotdogs inside were a hit - Kid-friendly food is always the most fun!

Riley spent a lot of the party hanging with Pa Lar. She had on a pretty party dress from Ma Pat, but unfortunately it was already a little small for our big girl. She only wore it once, but it was sent off to Mommy's friend Morgan for her little girl.

Parker's Railroad sign welcomed his guests to the party. Daddy also made a track out of duct tape on the walkway. The track stayed there for over a week before Mommy just had to take it down - the neighbors were probably starting to wonder about us.

Opening presents is always an adventure with lots of kids. Everyone wants to help out.

Don't worry Riley, your time is coming. Notice Daddy slyly checking out how much new stuff Parker is going to have? Lots of pieces Daddy!

A birthday cake with a talking James train! Parker managed to blow out his candles before anyone else did it for him - quick kid (see Mommy casually shielding Cole in the background? His birthday was just 6 weeks earlier so he knew all about birthday candles). Unfortunately James did not talk for long, Ma Pat gave him a wash to try to get the frosting off and it didn't agree with him. But no worries, he chugs just the same.

 Kids, cake, and homemade ice cream. All the makings of an awesome Third Birthday!

Relaxing after the party with Pa Lar. He made Ma Pat take off the dress because he was worried it was too small. She is just happy to have her taggie and her Pa Lar.

After the other guests left Cole and Parker went up for some big boy naps - and it was great! When they woke up they got to dig into their goodie bags (buckets) and check out all the loot. Then of course they spent the rest of the evening playing with Parker's new toys!

Parker Turns Three Part 1

Yes, this is over a month late, but things have gotten a bit away from me, so here we go!

Waiting for Ma Pat and Pa Lar at the airport. Unfortunately Mommy trips to the airport do not involve Cinnabon, but Parker was just happy to see his people arrive! We could even see their gate and jetway from the window so we watched their plane pull into the airport.

The next day was Valentine's Day. Parker had lots of valentines that day. Ma Pat gave him a special suitcase valentine present - a new Spencer Train! And what did Pa Lar have stashed in his suitcase? A 2lb box of See's candy of course! Oh wow.

It must be a special day to get a See's candy treat right after breakfast. You see Pa Lar sneaking away in the background?

After we got all the chocolate off our faces we got washed up and headed out to the Commissary. Ma Pat came along to help us shop. It was such a beautiful day that when we drove by the fire station the engine was out. Because Ma Pat was along and it was almost Parker's birthday we decided to stop and see if Parker could learn about the fire truck.

The firemen were so awesome! They were happy to show Parker around the fire truck and show him all the knobs and levers.

Then he got to sit up in the driver's seat and "steer" the fire truck! And no trip to a fire station is complete unless you hear the siren - so the fireman let Parker push the button to make the siren go off. It was so cool!

Photo op with the door closed. He did not want to leave. Of course the firemen told him to come back any time. Now every time we drive by the station he asks to go visit. Someday we may just bring those men some treats.

Mommy's great friend Celeste and her hubby Josh sent Parker a book for his birthday called the Little Super - it is all about Parker the super hero! It was so exciting and we opened it a few days early so Ma Pat could read it to him.

"Umm, Pa Lar, what is this stuff on your face? My daddy doesn't have any of that. It is prickly."

Ella came by for a playdate on Valentines. Ma Pat had helped Parker make a great card for her and we had picked out a heart Pez dispenser for her at the Commissary. Parker got one too. It took the kids a few tries to figure out how to dispense the Pez, but as soon as they did those candies were gone in seconds!

Riley is a little young for Pez, but she didn't mind.

Riley and Pa Lar were buds for the whole visit. He would even come and steal her sometimes when he thought she needed a break from the chaos! She loves to visit with him.

Another Big Boy Haircut

Parker really hates haircuts. He always cries when they use the clippers, especially around his ears. So when I told him he needed a haircut for his birthday we negotiated. If he could sit still and not cry we would go and find a new train at the toystore....

 Starting out I was really skeptical that we would make it through...

 Trying really hard...Mommy put earbuds in his ears and he got to listen to music (great idea Ma Pat). He kept saying "I am doing so good sit stilling"...

 Sweet victory! The crazy lady put a bunch of gel in his hair and spiked it up, but it was cut and there were NO tears!

Making out train selection - it is so tough because there are so many great options! He tried to talk me into Cranky the Crane, but Mommy explained that Cranky is a big present, like for birthdays or Christmas, not a haircut present. He decided he would like Thomas's coaches Annie and Clarabel.

We followed up with a quick lunch date and of course we opened up the new train during lunch. Now he keeps asking when it is time to get a new haircut!

Naval Academy Museum

One Sunday we decided to head up to Annapolis to check out the Naval Academy. They have a museum there which turned out to be really cool.

Lots of Navy people have apparently also been in NASA. There were space shuttles and rocketships at the museum which made Parker very happy.

At a few of the exhibits you could listen through a phone to the presentation on the screen. And sometimes it was just cool ship noises.

 Showing off the cannons and cannon balls.

 Daddy helped him to steer the big ship wheel. It was some important ship - of course now I don't remember which one.

 Pointing out all the parts of the ship. Of course most of that he has learned from his good friend Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

 A light-up display of the attach on Pearl Harbor. Parker liked to track the lights around Hawaii.

Because when you gotta go...you gotta go the Navy way...

 Daddy, what's in here?

Everyone likes a celebration with beer. The adjacent sign said that each man was rationed a gallon of beer a day - Ben thought that was a pretty good deal.

The Wadehra's Are Back!

One random Tuesday morning Cole and Eve's mommy asked if we would like to have some playmates for a couple of days. We had missed Cole's birthday because of various bouts of sickness and so we were long overdue a visit with our favorite 3 and almost 1 year old sibling pair!

 It is so amazing how big Eve is getting. And I think she is starting to remember all the cool toys at Parker's house. She tends to make a beeline for the fridge magnets and stacking bugs. And Parker is always happy to play with her.

She is also big enough to sit at the table with the boys to have her breakfast. This was the second morning they were visiting and we were getting a nice healthy breakfast in all the kids so we could head out to the Air and Space Museum. Parker couldn't wait to show his best buddy his favorite museum!

Two mommies, four bundled kids, and a Double BOB stroller headed out to the train station. We had to park a few blocks away from the metro station and it was pretty windy. Anyone watching us was probably provided some pretty good comic relief! 

As soon as we got to the museum the boys made quick work of finding the kid zone with lots of hands-on learning. Here is the scale where you can see what you would weigh on the other planets. Two 3 year old boys = one regular sized person right?

Pushing buttons. Who know what they do, but the boys always seek out any button to push or knob to turn!

Both boys took a turn flying in the airplane in the kid zone. When you turn the wheel the rutters move and the tail fin moves. Cole is very focused on his flight plan.

Parker takes a much more lighthearted approach. If it was up to me I think I would prefer Cole's focused attention to Parker's loop-de-loops.

 One of Parker's all-time favorite things to go see - the video of the space shuttle blasting off. He could probably watch it over and over.

Cole seems impressed as well...Eve is much more interested in what baby Riley is doing in the BOB.

The museum was the emptiest we have ever seen it, and that turned out to be especially lucky for two little boys. The kid zone had a paper airplane making contest and demonstration and Parker and Cole were the only ones who were there and so they had some very individualized attention from the airplane making expert.
First they got to construct their paper airplanes. And with some help from Aunt Heather this did not actually take all afternoon.

Then they got to fly their airplanes and see which one went the farthest. Luckily or unluckily little boys don't quite have the knack of flying paper airplanes, so it was much more like "throwing" than "flying". So, the airplanes both went about the same distance. It was truly hilarious to watch the guy from the museum try to explain the theory of lift to three year olds.

Checking out the inside of the jet engines...

 Luckily she doesn't know yet what she is missing out on so she is perfectly happy to hang out in the buggy and play.

Found some more stuff to play with up by the old fashioned airplanes.

 Touching the big propellers on the "air craft carrier". Little boys do love to touch everything!

The day concluded with a rather humorous walk home in which two very tired boys got to ride in the BOB while the moms carried the babies - Eve in her sling and Riley in the carseat slung over my arm. It took both moms to steer the BOB effectively and manage the metro. Further hilarity ensued when we walked up a pretty steep hill to the parking garage and had a minor moment of panic when we weren't sure if we were actually in the right parking garage. We proceeded to begin at the top of the parking garage and walk down 1 1/2 levels until we found the cars - yes, we earned our wine that night!
The boys both took quick stroller/car seat naps and then were ready to roll again. The night concluded with bathtime fizzies and fun. The Wadehra's woke up very early the next morning so Heather could make it back in time for a work meeting. It was a great visit with some hilarious memories!

Snow Day with Ella

In late January we had a couple of days when we actually had enough snow for the kids to get out and play. We all headed over to Ella's house so the kids could get some snow fun in.

Making snowballs - the snow was a little dry, but we did our best.

Ella was helping teach Parker how to make snow angels...

Eventually they got the hang of it.

And wanted to do it over and over again - there were angels all over the yard - what a heavenly place!

 Then Parker decided to Army Crawl through the snow...

And teach Ella.

Riley thought they were both fools and took a nap instead.

In true 3 year old fashion the snow play lasted about 15 minutes before the kids were cold and wanted to go inside to play. But it was still fun!