Lake Artemesia and Lunch with Daddy-o

I’ve decided that the boys and I are going to do more exploration of our area. We are in the process of switching Conan to only one nap and being out and about is the perfect way to avoid everyone requesting that he take a morning nap. Last week we found a “hike” that was supposed to be friendly for toddlers and children on this blog and decided to give it a try. While I wouldn’t really classify walking around a small lake on a paved path a hike, the three of us had a lot of fun.

While we were hiking three freight trains went by on the nearby tracks (Lincoln is in the middle of a train relapse)!

 

I, oftentimes, feel bad that there are so many more pictures of Lincoln then there are of Conan when we go on these little outings, but I am constantly having to chase him and that is just not easy to photograph.

The lake was covered in lily pads. I told Lincoln to keep his eyes peeled for frogs, but we never spotted one, although we did see a turtle or two.

Because we’re having this train relapse, Lincoln was absolutely convinced that this gazebo was a water tower. Getting to the water tower was one thing that kept him walking for the whole mile or so we went.

When we were on our way out, we had to cross under the train/metro tracks. We could hear a train in the distance as we approached so we stopped to watch it go by. Lincoln was so excited and I am kicking myself for not making his reaction my first ever Instagram video.

We examined a (possibly wounded) butterfly on our way back to the car.

When we got back to the car we were so hot and sweaty. We had water with us, but it just wasn’t cutting it, so we had to stop for a Slurpee before heading home. It was the perfect summertime drink and cooled us right down.

When we were on our way home Jonathan called and asked if we’d like to come into the city to have lunch with him, so we changed course and headed downtown. Jonathan decided to pick up lunch so we could park the car before meeting him in Lafayette Park. While we were waiting we spotted several policemen on horses and decided to go have a look. A nice policewoman approached us and asked if we would like the pet one of the horses, so we jumped at the chance. Conan is still learning his animal sounds and kept saying “Baa!!” to the horse. We’re working on it.

 

Lavender, it’s not just for girls… well it sort of is

We were invited to go out to the country with some friends last week and had a really lovely day. I was worried I couldn’t get my boys and I ready and out the door by 8:30 am, and I was right, but we did make it out the door by about 8:40, so I’m calling it a win. We stopped first at the Red Truck Bakery in Warrenton for some treats. Everything we tried was delightful and we can’t wait to go back.

Then we headed to a lavender farm. This wasn’t, perhaps, the most manly activity, but I love lavender and  we got to pet bunnies, play in a cool playhouse, and hang out with friends so the boys didn’t seem to mind.

We didn’t have too much patience for the actual lavender collecting though. Lincoln didn’t mind clipping the stems and putting them in our basket, but Conan was running around like a crazy person. He does that a lot lately. We left with a bouquet of only 10 lavender stems. Wah wah. Maybe Conan will be more interested next year.

Charles’ Great Adventure

The day after we returned from our trip to Arizona, the unthinkable happened. Charles went missing. Even though I assured Lincoln that Charles must have just gone on an adventure, he was heartbroken and it was terrible. We tried to imagine what Charles might be doing on his adventure. Maybe he was riding in a semi-truck! Maybe he’d gone back to Arizona! Thankfully, after a few days, Charles started checking in.

First, we got an email with this picture:

Lincoln had a lot of questions like: What is Charles doing? Why is he wearing sunglasses? Who is that other guy?

After a few more days we got some postcards from that adventurous elephant. He got to ride in a hot air balloon, and on a lion!

He had a few more adventures before he made his way home. (He particularly enjoyed India).

But in the end Charles belongs with Lincoln, so once he was rested and revitalized he showed up on our doorstep ready for all the love Lincoln can dole out. And that’s a lot.

Arizona

We went to Arizona for a mini family reunion for Jonathan’s family a few weeks ago. It was only Conan’s second time on an airplane and he was so excited about it. He loved watching the planes out the window at the airport and yelling, “Airba! Airba!” every time he spotted one.

We got to spend some quality time with Jonathan’s grandparents while in Arizona. It’s wonderful to be able to see so much family on one trip.  I completely air balled getting a picture of my kids with their great-grandparents, though, so we’ll have to make up for that the next time we visit.

Here Lincoln is holding the brand his great-granddad used to use on his cows. And Conan was just running around like crazy, trying to eat lemons .

 

Someone noticed a bat sleeping in this tree, so we all gathered around for a look.

This is the only picture I got of one of my kids with one of their great-grandparents.

Jonathan’s parents had a little kiddie pool set up in their backyard, and most of the kids thought that was awesome.

Conan, however, preferred to hang out outside of the pool.

Lincoln has been waiting and waiting for a squirt gun. He’s even been working to earn one at home, so he was in seventh heaven when he got to play with this blue one (that’s his favorite color, and he won’t let you forget it).

Here are a few more random pictures from my camera. I kept trying to get candid cousin shots… and kept failing.

These are some pictures Kariah took on Saturday when a lot of us participated in the “Run to Death”. A 5K mud race with obstacles and zombies. I was pretty worried about the zombies going into it, but luckily there were only about five and I didn’t have any nightmares that night, although I was finding mud for days afterward.