Marine Corps Museum

Our first visit to the Marine Corps Museum. The museum wasn't completed when we left the area three years ago.
What a great place for both adults and kids. Those Marines knows how to make sure the kids are entertained too. Lots of buttons to push throughout the museum. And outside the park they have set up is a mini version of an obstacle course.





The kids trying to look cool in front of a helicopter;)





Annika looking around.



Gabe on the footsteps in front of the bus at the museum's boot camp set up. Too cute.



Pretty big packs the Marines have to carry.



Some instructions from dad before shooting at a target.



Big weapon for a little kid. Gabe kept shooting the ground in front of the target. Good thing Chris shot at the target before they printed out the results. Gabe was impressed with his shooting skills;)



Goofy kids...

Washington D.C Zoo

Chris happened to have a conference in the D.C area at the end of March, so we went along to do some shopping and visit the sites.
The first day we were there, we went to the Zoo.
Gabe was not feeling well and the pictures show it. We had spent several hours at the ER the night before when Gabe started complaining his ear hurt. Sure enough, he had an ear infection.
But staying in the hotel room all day just wasn't an option.



Yup, that's a Panda. Annika managed to talk me into getting her a stuffed Panda at the gift shop. Gabe opted for a truck.









Totally staged photo and the kids were not having fun at this point. It was a really hot day and they were tired after walking around at the Zoo all morning.

Happy Easter

Chris did a really good job hiding the eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt this year. The kids had so much fun trying to find every egg. And Chris had to double check after they finished to be sure they had found them all.







The kids running to check the mail box. And sure enough there were eggs in there too. Glad they got those out. I would hate to think what melted goo the mailman would find if they had missed those.



Honcho was pretty upset he didn't get included. So he kept barking and jumping by the fence the whole time.

SNOW!!!!

After patiently waiting for the white stuff and pretty much giving up seeing it, it finally snowed. The kids were so excited and spent the entire day outside. (Yes, day - the snow never last very long here.)
Gabe had outgrown his snow pants, so he was wearing regular pants outside. By the end of the day he didn't have a pair that wasn't soaked.



Annika building a snowman. She was carting snow over to one spot in the yard out of the way of where the dog was running.
We didn't get a picture of the snowman when it was finally finished and all decorated with a carrot for a nose and rocks for eyes and mouth. The dog ate the nose not once but twice. And then we decided not to put another carrot on it since the snow was melting so fast.





Honcho being Honcho, looking for a ball. Not easy when it disappears.







Gabe taking a break in the snow. Hm, that stuff is wet... I don't know how many times we told him not to lay down in the snow for a long time...





Gabe directing the dog so he could find his ball.

Annika's birthday/Valentine's Party at Preschool

Annika's birthday celebration at preschool was a combination of her birthday and the school's Valentine's Day Party.
Pretty busy day. And I have to say I admire the patience of all the teachers.
The kids had fun and were very excited... I'm sure all the sugar they consumed had something to do with all the excitement too.



Getting their hands cleaned after eating cupcakes.



Annika did pretty good in sitting still during their circle time.

Christmas morning continued

Annika got a bike from Grandma and Granddad, and that must have been the best gift this Christmas. Annika rode the bike up and down the driveway like a pro right away.



Honcho learned quickly to stay out of the way. She's fast but can't stop fast.

Christmas morning

The kids were up very early and ready to start unwrapping immediately.
Gosh, I don't know how many "can we eat after unwrapping the presents", "have you finished your coffee yet" we endured. Absolute torture for the kids obviously.

The kids got tons of stuff, and happily played in their rooms as soon as every toy had their required batteries installed.