Weekends

OK, so most of you are posting your Easter pictures right about now. I am just not that on top of things so these are a little bit older. We had a couple of great weekends recently that we can catch up on.

That is Ryan, taking my picture with his camera shirt :)

First, we hit the Mall a couple weeks ago for the kite festival and a visit with some family.

You live around DC for a long time and all of these monuments start to become routine. When you take a step back and think, though, it really is amazing.



We met up with my brother and parents and counsin. Ryan and Anna went for a ride on the carousel and then played a great game of hide and seek.



Hard to find places to hide on the mall, but Ryan did his best...



Next it was off to fly a kite. Lots of running, laughing and wrestling ensued....



Ryan's kite is the tie-dyed one in the foreground...







I probably should have stopped this game a little bit sooner...



but it turns out that Evan really enjoyed it...

16 Months

The little dude is 16 months old now. He had a bit of help celebrating with AJ who was in town visit for the weekend. (oh, ueah, his parents - keith and nathalie - we here to :)



AJ is only 6 weeks older than E but the two of them are really different kids. AJ is ginormous compared to Evan, and much more of a talker while Evan is a bit more of a daredevil.







We had a great weekend with the Brogans - topped of with a trip to Gravelly Point to get buzzed by the planes coming in and out of DCA.

I would also be remiss - if i didn't mention that seven years ago today, Lisa agreed to put up with me for life :) I love you, sweetheart.

Boys Day Out

Sunday afternoon I gathered up the boys (after Lisa provided me with a well stocked diaper bag with snacks) and off we went to the Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport. As with all good Smithsonian museums, admission is free, but this has the added suburban bonus of a $15 parking fee. Well worth it though because we all had a great time.





First stop was the tower overlooking the runway. Definitely the biggest hit of the day. We timed it right so that all the big planes coming in from Europe were landing. Each time, Ryan asked if that was the plane I took to Africa, or if it was the plane I am taking to Belgium. If the answer was, No, the inevitable reply was "Why not?" Such is the mind of a 3 year old.



As for Evan, he kept running laps around the circular tower, stopping just long enough to see what Ryan was up to and check out a plane or two himself.





Once inside, the biggest hit was the space shuttle. I was happy for that because i was having a hard time explaining why fighter jets have missiles under the wings.

Ryan had a mouth full of cheese here and explained that he was giving me his "chewing-smile" face.



After that he was back off and running -



can't wait for the next little adventure with just the 3 of us.

15 months, plus or minus

So my trip to Africa derailed my monthly photos of the little guy. But after taking pictures of a bunch of wild animals over there, its nice to get back to my two crazy apes here.

These are in the aftermath of dinner which means sloppy faces, over tired and generally unpredictable.

I think Evan truly loves the roll of little brother. He is a pro at pestering Ryan, wanting every piece of food or toy that Ryan has and maintaining an aura of invincibility. He has also redeveloped a very strong attachment to Lisa to the point where even hanging at Grandma's for a couple hours can start off traumatic.

He always knows what he wants, and is trying his best to communicate that to us in a meaningful way. Still mostly grunts and babbles, but we are learning to understand each other.



As for Ryan, I think these faces give you a pretty good glimpse into his personality these days....

Go Fly a Kite

We had a little bit of wind here in VA over the weekend. So Lisa got the great idea to grab Ryan's kite and take it out in the yard. It didn't take much at all to get it up in the air. And Ryan found a create use of the clip-on ribbons.





Poor Evan was confined to the wagon for most of the time - once the weather settles down we'll put up the fence. He did make the most of his "free" time, though.







Fresh air, and funny faces....

14 months and counting

My littlest buddy just keeps on growing. He is turning into such a sweet funny kid. A total mimic - singing, dancing, trying to talk - he cracks me up. He is even taking after both me and now Ryan trying to take pictures.



If his brother has something, he wants it whether that's food, a toy, or drinking from a real cup. He has no fear. He's taken more tumbles down stairs already than Ryan has his entire life. He has probably gotten beat up but the cat more too.



It may sound a bit odd, but him and I have a different sort of bond being the second kids. It is really great having two boys there so special to me in such unique ways.



Another month down, inching closer to the terrible twos 2.0.

Snow Day

We got our first real snow fall of the year last week. With work closed for half the day, i opted to take a snow day and do some sledding, playing and snowman building.

Ryan - ready for take off down the hill in the front yard...



and he's off...



Sledding is serious business...



but there's always time for a smile...



Evan, came into the world a year ago and brought about 60 inches of snow with him in his first month. Now that he can walk around, he isn't so sure what to make of it....

13 Months old

Better late than never. With the move and the unpacking i didn't get to pull out the camera yesterday. But with the day off i was able to take a little breather. We met my brother and his girls at Jump-N-Jimmy's for some bounce time and I got to grab some shots of the kids.



Evan is turning into a crazy little kid. As the younger brother, he is tough as nails, vocal and persistent. He craves attention and isn't afraid to show off to get it. He has truly taken to his godzilla nickname and will pretty much roar on command. Hi, bye, mamma and dada are staples of his vocabulary and every time Iggy barks Evan responds calling him "Ee"



This type of wrestling - sorry, "hugging" is the norm at our house.



Man, he is growing up fast.

One last one - Ryan and Anna. I commented to my brother today that the 5 month age difference between the two is completely unnoticeable anymore...