May was a Busy Busy Month...

We started the month out with a birthday party for one of Kyle's preschool friends at the train museum in Baltimore.

Playing on the train playground:


Silly teeth on the "urban" train ride:




More silliness....

Fake teeth were still a real big hit:


And some shades:


And a sweet little tune on a harmonica:


We spent Mother's Day at the Zoo. It has become our annual tradition to go to the zoo and luckily we have had really great weather and a really great time each year.

Polar bears are always cool:


Some fun in the tunnel:


A spin on the scrambler:


The "merry-go-around" is always a must:


Looking at some great stuff with Daddy:


We got a great look at the leopard this year:


The giraffes were up close too:


And we did the camel ride for the first time:


A quick family pic:


Then came the mulch...all 11 yards of it...in the driveway...to be put down...apparently by us.

The after always looks so good though:



Always having fun:




Oh yeah, and I ran my first 5K ever (34:43)...and my wonderful husband and son surprised me with these flowers (and the 11 yards of mulch) when I got home:


Kyle went to see the Blue Angels in Annapolis with my brother and his family...sadly I was at work...

Waiting for the Blue Angels:


Oh there they are...


Riding his bike with no training wheels...the training wheels are back on because it is really hard to run next to your kid and hold him while he is trying to learn how to ride a bike. We need a new plan.


And the end of the month brings our surge of birthdays. First is Natalie's. I can't believe she is five...where does the time go.

A quick smile for the camera:


Cute cousins playing together:


My bro and his baby:


Oh yeah, Kyle chewed his first piece of gum...and there has been no stopping him ever since...


May is always really busy for us and it is always one of my favorite months. I feel like we get a lot done around here with the new spring awakening and we get to do some really fun stuff too.

Mr. Kyle Goes to Washington

It was Space Day at the Air and Space Museum. Kyle was really excited, it was his first Metro ride and the astronauts from the latest space shuttle flight were going to be there. We had a really great time going through the museum.

He got to see real space suits...

some real rockets...

Do some flight simulators (which by the way...do not fly with my son, he is not very good at it)...

He also manned a small Cessna....

We toured a replica of the first space station...


Learned about some planets....


Apparently not impressed by the U. S. Capitol....


Got to ride the Carousel...which for the record has been broken every time I have been in D.C. except today...


We took a little break waiting for our bike taxi to take us to Mr. Obama's house...


Most people will never get to see this except in images on the news. We are lucky enough to live close by (and I suppose take it for granted most of the time). My (almost) four year old got to see some of our most important landmarks today, and even though he might not totally get it yet...he summed it up tonight by saying his final favorite thing we did today was go to Mr. Obama's house...even though we didn't get to go inside...

A Friday in Annapolis

We tried to feed the ducks, but apparently everyone else down there had fed them too. I have never known ducks to turn down bread...but they did

So, we moved on to the park and we played...

We walked for a while...



And then we took a shortcut back to the car...

The Circus is in Town

And it is way more expensive than I remember. Aside from the tickets, there was the popcorn, the cotton candy (which was highly anticipated and not really liked), and the princess wand. Yes that is right, I said princess wand. While we were waiting in line to get in the little girl behind us had a Princess wand that lit up with a star on top and spinning stars all around. Kyle wanted one...he didn't want the boy equivalent, he wanted the one with the star on it. I really can't blame him, the one with the star was way better than the boy one with the elephant on top.

Even though it was more than we probably should have spent, you can't beat the look on his face when he saw all the elephants, tigers, clowns and acrobats. He really liked it and was into it. I think we did it at the right age, and fortunately we won't need to do it again for a while...we still have the wand and can just play circus here (minus the chance of being stampeded by wild animals).

The princess wand is fun:


Tigers are pretty cool:


Kyle said the elephants looked cuddly:


More elephants:


Princess wand still cool after being home too:

Play Dates

Since the weather has been getting nicer (at least for a couple of days), we have had some play dates with some of our friends. Kyle loves to get out to the park and it is great to see the kids running around, talking to each other, and playing together. It is so funny to hear them interact now and it is really cool that my friends kids are becoming friends with mine...

Enjoying the park:


Sweet Katie on the slide:


Gavin loved the slide:


Another fun day at a totally different park with Joseph:


Joseph liked feeding the ducks:


The boys having fun:


An actual picture with my son, apparently when you are 3 going on 4 you no longer like to take pictures with your mother - Nikki was very sneaky with this one!