Weekend Activities

The last two weekends, we have been able to do some fun family activities.

Last weekend, there was a model train show that we took the boys to.  Ryan loves trains, so this was a big hit for him.  My dad, and Joe’s dad went with us, and it was really neat to have both grandpa’s there.  As expected, Ryan was thrilled with the countless model train exhibits, and there were even a few that had Thomas!  Double bonus!

The big surprise was Cole- he absolutely loved the trains, whistles, and the noises.  I wasn’t sure what he was going to do- he usually doesn’t like loud noises or a lot of people, but this was the exception.  Every time he would hear a train whistle, he would clap his hands, start to laugh, and kick his legs.  I thought one train engineer in the family was enough, but if this was any indication, I think we will have two on our hands.

Here are a couple of pictures- Ryan really was having a good time- he just gets so serious sometimes when he sees the camera out.  And no, that isn’t Darth Vader with us- I have my dad’s face blacked out in one of the pictures, because I am not sure how he would feel about having his picture on the Internet.

                                         

Then last Friday, I got to meet one of my really good friends, that I don’t get to see very much, for lunch at a local mall.  It was really nice to visit and catch up, and the boys did really well.  Ryan was pretty shy around her, and Cole let her hold him, and at one point he fell asleep, and I handed him over to her, and he slept for a good 15 minutes in her arms.  It kind of felt like I was in a time-warp, because she came to visit Ryan in the hospital after he was born,  and now she was holding Cole who is 9 months old, and the “little” baby she came to visit back then, is 3 now!  It just made me wonder where the time has gone. 

Then on Saturday, we went to butterfly / bug museum.  We had always heard really good things about it, but we have never been there.  Ryan instantly loved the “Nemo” fish tank- there is a tank there with all the fish from “Finding Nemo.”  He was so excited to see Nemo and Dory.  Cole had a blast too, seeing the fish swim by.  He is in a major phase where he wants to pound on anything and everything as hard as he can, so it was a challenge to keep him from beating the fish tank, but we managed.  🙂

We saw the butterflies, and it was really neat.  They are in a seperate climate controlled room with lots of tropical plants and flowers, and they get to just fly around free.  Here are two shots I got of some butterflys before they flew off.

                                           

 Here is a picture of a hibiscus that I loved:

                     

 Ryan started to get bored in the butterfly exhibit, and Cole did great, just sitting in his little stroller, looking around at the fluttering butterflies, and grabbing his toes.  His hair started to curl up, due to the humidity in the room and it was really cute.  Here is a picture of him:

                        

Ryan was set on pushing Cole the entire time in the stroller- I guess it was just his size.  Neither one liked the bug display, and I didn’t either; especially the cockroaches- yuck! 

Ryan informed us he was bored, so we went back to look at the Nemo tank one more time, and Ryan asked us, “where is the shark?’  When we told him there wasn’t a shark, he kept saying, “I need to see the shark.”  Maybe we will have to upgrade to an aquarium next time. 

On Sunday we had some errands, and household stuff to do, but we had time to go fly a kite.  There was a light wind, so we went to Joe’s parent’s house, who have some acreage, and tried to fly the kite.  It was one that was just around, and it was terrible.  We would get it up in the air, and it would nose dive.  Ryan was bored again, but decided to push Cole in the stroller all around the field again.  Finally, we managed to get the kite airborne for about 2 minutes  (okay, confession time…Joe managed to get it airborne, but I tossed it up for him.), and the boys loved seeing it fly.  As soon as it started to nose dive, Ryan would let out the loudest scream he could, just to be goofy.  After about half an hour, of trying to get that silly kite to fly- we gave up, and Joe and I both raced Ryan a few times, until he decided every few feet, he would stop, drop, and roll around in the mud!  Fun for him- not so fun for Mom, who has to clean his shoes and clothes.

We had a nice time being together as a family, and I hope as Ryan and Cole get bigger, they won’t remember so much what we did or didn’t do, but remember that we were together and always managed to have fun- even if that means I have to spend the next two days cleaning the mud off Ryan’s clothes!