Merry Christmas (& we don't need no stinkin bows)

Ewwwww - Pumpkin Guts!

AJ was very excited to carve our pumpkin today and there was much talk of whether he should be goofy or scary. In the end scary won. The best part was AJ's reaction when I cut the top off and he reached inside. In fact, he seemed pretty unimpressed by my carving skills and quite entertained by the slimy, squishy stuff. Note to self for next year - try to carve early enough to do it outside. It was cold and blustery today and we carved on newspaper in the kitchen. Somehow the mess still got everywhere :-)

Halloween Parade in Pre-K 2

Friday was the fall costume parade at AJ's school. He was a great cowboy and a trooper as they all lined up, grabbed on to the rope and hiked around the shopping center - despite blustery wind and chilly temps. It actually felt like Fall!

His teachers also got a kick out of hearing how his costume (the vest and chaps) were worn by his Daddy many many many years ago!

Temple Hall Farm

After meeting up for lunch with Auntie Megs and Gramma Lynn at Windy City Red Hots (the best dogs and italian beef this side of Lake Michigan!) we headed North to Temple Hall Farm.

Of course there was the usual pumpkin picking. Once again this year they had a HUGE and tricky corn maze we wandered through - cheated a few times to find our way out too :-) At one point we climbed up a bridge and there was corn as far as you could see in all directions.

The afternoon also included a stop to see the pig race and a chance to shoot the corn cobs at the big pile of pumpkins and hay. One guess what the boys enjoyed the most!

Fire Truck Rides

On a recent Sunday afternoon we stopped at the Ashburn Fire Station's open house. AJ gets a kick out of spraying the house and seeing the sprinkler demo. The year we caught the jaws of life demonstration and watched them cut the doors and roof off an SUV in a matter of minutes. Of course the don't miss of this event is a ride on top of the fire truck.

Fall Fest @ Orbital

AJ is old enough now to really get into the festival and carnival scene. Good thing Pete joined us at the Orbital fall fest this year - it took us both to keep track of him and he ran from moon bounce to the surf board to the craft tents to the carnival games and occasionaly stopping for food.

The weather was great and he really did enjoy it. That is until we stopped at the ice cream truck just after they closed and he collapsed on the ground in disappointment. Of course being the softie that I am, we stopped for ice cream on the way home!

September in South Carolina

I am really going to miss being able to take vacations during the off season in S.C. when the weather is still great for the bech but the heat and crowds are more tolerable. We returned to Isle of Palms again this year for a week in the sun and sand. We hit our favorite dining spot in town S.N.O.B. and even toured the old prison where they kept the pirates!

4th Birthday Party #1

The celebrating started early when the Sarikas and Ledger families joined us at the house for a Rock Band themed party. Auntie Megs made a fun guitar cake and outfitted it with trick candles. AJ stayed determined to blow them out attempt after attempt :-)

Pirate Day at Pre-K (Summer Camp Fun!)

Perfect Weekend for Gettysburg

What do you do when it's 74 and sunny? Whatever it is, make sure to do it in the convertible! We dropped the top and drove North through Maryland to Gettysburg, PA. We wandered, in awe, through the new visitor center at the battlefield before heading out to hike the land, drive around the tour trail and pretend to be dead soldiers :-)

Fast Planes and Fun Copters

We went to our first Air Show last weekend - first for AJ and Mommy. AJ toured and strapped into a C-17, took controls of a Huey Helicopter and watched the F-22 Raptor roar over our heads.

Spring Has Sprung in Preschool

Just before this week's migration to the Pre-K classroom, AJ and his buddies had their spring performance in the Preschool classroom. They recited a great poem - Spring Is In The Air. Unlike last Fall, AJ participated so it was super fun. Here he is acting out the wind tickling his arms, blowing the trees. And of course rocking out on the air guitar waiting for the show to start :-)

#88 Stops in Ashburn

We went to visit Dale Jr's #88 race car today at the new Sunoco station opening (gotta love the Sunoco partnership with NASCAR). AJ had a good time running around and checking out the car.

Putt Putt with the Cousins

This past weekend we had lots of fun visiting with Uncle Matt, Aunt Laura, Charlie and Nora who were up from NC. Later in the weekend the Amstutz clan came in from VA, MN, and IN as well and it was a full house. The kids went out on Saturday to play mini-golf and while AJ and Nora did lots of poking and shoving at the ball, the older boys breezed through and almost, but not quite, beat the grown ups. Even the weather was near perfect.

Baby You Can Drive My Car

For Pete's birthday, me and AJ decided to get Daddy the Beatles Rock Band game for Xbox. Really we all wanted it and Pete's birthday was the first excuse after Christmas to make the purchase so I guess I should not have been surprised when it got opened three weeks before Pete's birthday! I'm in the kitchen washing dishes after dinner one night and I hear AJ talking about Rock Band, I turn around to see Pete unpacking the big box full of microphone, guitar and drums.


It has been a lot of fun to play and watch them play together. Even better is being serenaded by AJ - he sings "Michelle", "Drive My Car", "Here comes the Sun", "Yellow Submarine". Too funny!


Here are a couple of pics of the very first family jam session. Note the intent look on his face.

Easter Sunday

Like Christmas, this was the first year AJ really got into the pomp the goes with the Easter holiday and it was a lot of fun to watch. He squealed with glee as each egg was discovered, got excited to bust them open to see what was inside and marveled at all the goodies in his Easter basket. He is especially excited about the big boy golf club he got and can't wait to play with Daddy and Jampa Larry.

I did get some video of his fun reactions to it all - I promise I'll conquer that technology in the next couple of days and share that too :-)

Easter Fun

This year we started the Easter Fun a week before Easter with the Egg Hunt at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg. It was a bit chilly but the sun was out for the first time all week and we enjoyed it. AJ got to give the Easter Bunny high five, listened to egg hunting strategic tips from Daddy and tried out every one of the giant moon bounces in the field.

Sing It Brother!

This morning before everyone jumped in cars to head to work/school AJ wanted to lead a family jam session. With AJ on the drum and vocals, Pete on the guitar (after he insisted he would not be the guy on the keyboard) and Mommy on the keyboard we let it rip.

Making it up as we went, AJ was singing "Chicken hip, chicken hip". I stopped and asked if he was singing "Shake your hips" and he replied, "No, chicken hips". And the jamming resumed. I could hardly "play" the keyboard I was laughing so much.

Pump It Up

AJ went to a birthday party yesterday at a place called Pump It Up in Leesburg. They have two "arenas" filled with inflatable slides, inflatable obstacle courses, inflatable basketball courts and inflatable hills to climb.

The kids were all plenty sweaty and thirsty not even half way through their hour of playing! As easliy as AJ passed out in bed last night, I wouldn't mind going back again soon.

Thank You for Visiting

AJ playing with pirates and ship this morning.....
"Bye Bye, thank you for visiting my ship. Now I am going to shoot you with my canon"
All delivered in a sing-sing voice like a cruise director.

Man - that kid is scary smart

So last week AJ managed to reason himself out of a pickle and completely stupify both his teacher and his parents. In his preschool class the children are asked not to use toys as weapons- pretend "bang bang you are dead" and really whacking a kid with a toy so it is a weapon. I did notice that while we don't watch particularly violent shows at home he has been playing a lots of "guns" and "you're dead" these days. Figuring it was inevitable, I decided not to sweat it. I mean, he also thought he could fly like superman so we had to address that one before it resulted in serious injuries.

So, I couldn't help but laugh as the teacher recounted this tale last week and began with "AJ is so smart". AJ was nicely building with legos at the table one day and his teacher heard him saying "pow pow" and waving his long stack of legos at another student. She asked him if he built a gun and he said " oh no, I built a telescope". So she let it slide. The next day the same thing happens and AJ insists that he built a telescope. Funny how the telescope was long and had a part you grip with your hand - about what a lego gun would look like if it were built with the skill of a 3.5 year old. But AJ just insisted it was a telescope. While his teacher saw the humor and glimpses of great, though manipulative, intellegence in his approach, she did remind him that a telescope is used to look at the stars in the sky and most likely does not make a "pow pow" sound.

Once I got done laughing at this, I realized just how clever the little stinker is that he found a way to work the system already.

Back on the Blog!!!

So, my blog access has been restored and you will once again see regular updates! (hold for applause). It's been a busy and fun couple of months around here - aside from too much snow - so watch here for lots fo updates while I catch up.