A Day at the Museum

Today we spent the morning with friends at the Tennessee State Museum and learned about important events in the state's history. Truth be told, I'm not sure how much we learned; we zipped through it all rather quickly. At one point I was looking at the Civil War exhibit, and I found two of the boys seated on couches on their phones. A short time after we caused a scene when one of them tried to climb into a display and set off an alarm. I never saw a museum curator move so slowly, so maybe they are used to kids trying to have an up-close-and-personal meeting with a mannequin. After that incident, we were followed the rest of the visit by a very helpful docent. 

The most impressive display included a dug-out canoe thought to have been carved more than two hundred years ago.

After eating lunch at a downtown favorite, we stopped for icecream and headed home. And just like that another summer day comes to an end. 

Exploring And Discovering on Columbus Day

We discovered a new walking trail and spent the morning exploring the other side of town today. It is Columbus Day, after all. This side of town is very diverse, and Evan couldn't help but comment that he felt like he was in an international airport instead of a walking trail in Tennessee. 

The weather was near perfect; it has felt more like summer than fall all week. The leaves are not changing colors yet, and our spring flowers are all reblooming. 

Even after a mile run everyone was all smiles until I broke up the fun and said it was time to get haircuts. I guess there is an unwritten rule that boys cannot have haircuts on fall break. 

That's okay. They were all smiles again when I promised frozen yogurt!

Story Time with Pirates

Another Fort Stewart event...Library Story Time. This week we were to dress as pirates and come ready to hear stories related to pirates and treasure. Although he was picture perfect in his pirate themed costume, Evan refused to participate because he is "too big" for picture books. Keagan spent more time pretending to stab himself with his sword than actually listening to the stories. And I spent half an hour wondering if mothers with babies know that crying babies should be removed from a library - especially during story hour.

I think we were all wishing we were at home watching the end of the Germany/Spain semi-final game.

But alas it was craft time, and we escaped to the back corner so that Keagan could create a treasure map. He pondered long and hard.

Instead of creating a treasure map, Evan popped his Civil War gun at anyone who walked by. He received lots of "ooohs" and "aaahs" from other boys, and he pretended to not know any of us who actually participated in the craft. I caught this shot with the camera on my hip. He has mischief written all over his face, and my backside, no doubt, is his intended target.

Eventually, Keagan created a treasure map of the house where he planned to hide thing of extreme value (ie: Airheads). Never mind that the location of each Airhead is clearly identified in the map, and therefore, the act of hiding the candy is not really necessary.

With the map completed and the gun popped more than I count, we rushed home to see if the soccer game had run late. We were quick to hear that Germany had lost. Maybe going to the library wasn't that bad; none of us wanted to see our favorite team lose.

Nature Walk

Keagan's "Creepy Crawlies Camp" was canceled for the week. It has been rescheduled for the week in August, the half week we are in Texas. Although I might go ahead and register him for the three days that we will be in town, I felt like I needed to make it up to him. So this morning the four of us hiked the trails through the forest of Locust Shade Park. Wes pointed out important manly facts of the forest, the boys had foot races, jumped over creek beds, and looked at various creepy crawlies on the floor of the forest. 

On our way out of the park, we stopped at the batting cages.

Spring Break

Today the boys and I spent the day in DC. This is what I experienced today.

Without Wes, we do not have the advantage of prime parking spots so I drove to Springfield, and the boys and I took the metro into the city. It was so easy that I wondered on the way home why we don't do this more often. And then I remembered. It is called Wes; he hates public transportation. However, I am convinced that I will do this more often this summer with the boys.

Knowing my boys would be hungry and in need of a snack, I packed several options for each to enjoy. We hadn't pulled onto 95 yet when Keagan asked for his first snack. Evan was on snack two when the metro arrived to the Smithsonian station (yes, that is a crackers sack in the pic!), and within the next hour both boys were begging for food. Really, already??? Why did I think that a package of Spongebob crackers and a banana would be enough to sustain my boys? And so we left the exhibit in the American History museum to find the closest cafe. I dropped about $30 on two sandwiches and two drinks because, as my brother-in-law says, "they are proud of those sandwiches."

We spent most of our time in the invention exhibit of the American History museum. Evan created a pinball maze with kitchen utensils, and Keagan created the masterpiece entitled "Mommy!" I love to watch their minds work..Evan is so precise, just so and Keagan is much more open minded and free thinking.

We ended the trip with a new favorite pastime of ours...IMAX movies. Today we saw "Under the Sea 3-D" at the Natural History Museum. Both boys belly laughed when the tide rushed over their heads, Keagan continually tried to catch a fish with his little fingers outstretched, and Evan begged to stay and watch the next movie. I promised that we would return to see "Dinosaurs 3-D", and he said, "How about tonight?"

Children's Theatre

It is day one of our spring break and today we took the boys to Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo Park, MD to see the stage performance "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie." 

Although I thought it would be a great idea to see a production at a children's theatre, the boys were not as enthused. Evan cried the walk to the car, complained the drive to the park, and pouted when we arrived. He was convinced it would be no fun, that it would be for babies, and that he should be at home instead. However, once we arrived, he was all smiles. It was a great performance and a lot of fun for all of us. We had so much fun, in fact, that we plan to return this summer to see "Charlie Brown", ride the bumper cars, and grab a ride on the carousel.

Monster Truck Jam

The boys are bathing with monster truck jam toys. I take that as a sign that today's outing was a hit with them. I must admit that it wasn't as torturous as I first envisioned. First of all, most of the people in attendance were just like us, suburbanites looking for something to do with their young boys. Second of all, those selling Grave Digger t-shirts did not wear mullets or tacky graphic t-shirts. Last, the event did not include any bikini clad women walking around the arena with paper signs. However, I would have preferred a few more crashes, fires, and/or stunts. I could have done without the staged performance involving the four wheelers and the segment of trash talk. 

 As it turns out two families that we are good friends with had tickets for our show time. We caravaned to DC together, attended the pitt party together, and enjoyed an afternoon of family fun. Next time the show comes to town Wes is welcome to take the boys without me. I am certain that I can find something to occupy my time. 

Batting Cages

We followed the lead of some friends and spent a few hours at the batting cages at the local park. Even though it was a scorcher today, it was great fun! We quickly ran through our stack of coins, and when the money ran out, Wes pitched the balls to the boys. They were hitting the balls left and right; it was amazing how quickly Evan learned the rhythm of the machine.

 I hit three rounds in the softball cage and I did better than I did many moons ago when I was in high school. At one point, Keagan said, "Gosh, Mom. You're good!" When the weather cools down, I would love to go back, and I will remember to bring my own helmet because I can still smell the sweaty stench of the one that I had to borrow from the Park Authority. Do they ever wash those things???? I probably don't want to know the answer to that.....