Circus

Today, Uncle Tim took us all to the circus!  We went to the Patriot Center at George Mason University.

Robert got a piggy-back ride from Uncle Tim

 We went in an hour before the show started. We got to go down to the main floor and watch the clowns and acrobats up close.

Here are the boys watching an acrobat performing up high in the air. Robert was in awe.  

 Jack didn't know what to make of it.

Robert and I with our clown noses on.

Jack is so small that he had a hard time keeping the bottom part of the chair down.

Robert eating his $12 box of popcorn.  The price of food and drinks were crazy!

Elephants

Jack and his Uncle Tim

Jack, wearing his circus hat

Robert with his circus hat

Mmmmm, cotton candy!

Uncle Tim and his adorable nephews

Pictures from the Easter Egg Hunt

Last year, every time I organized a neighborhood potluck, the weather was horrible.  It looks like 2011 will be different.  We had perfect springtime weather for our Easter Egg Hunt.  Every year, I put a piece of paper that says "winner" in an egg and whoever finds it wins a huge Easter basket.  This year, Jack won it.  And he also found an egg with $5.  The bigger kids were jealous and I'm surprised none of them suggested the hunt was rigged.  :)

Here are some pictures from the egg hunt:

The neighborhood kids

Hayden

Jack

Max.  He picked up two eggs and decided he had enough of this egg hunt.

Robert

Ava, looking fashionable as usual

Tuesday

After the egg hunt, the kids gathered on the sidewalk to check out their loot

Jack won the winning Easter basket filled with bubble supplies

Afterwards, we had a potluck

The family

5k Race

Today, Robert and I ran a 5k race in Crystal City.  Here he is stretching before the race:

And posing in the jogging stroller.  I'm trying to get him to stop making that forced "cheese" smile in pictures and now I'm getting this goofy smile instead...

Robert ran maybe 1/2 mile of the race, and then I pushed him in the jogging stroller for the rest of the 5k.  When he did run, he had a lot of fans cheering for him.

And, finally, a picture of the two of us right after we crossed the finish line:

Thankfully, this time Robert did not point to everyone who finished after us and say very loudly "I beat him and I beat him and I beat her....".  He did that at a 5k race we ran last year.  I'm sure the last thing a runner wants to hear after crossing the finish line is a smartypants 4 yr old bragging that he beat them.

Potomac Nationals game

Thanks to a great groupon deal, we went to a Potomac Nationals baseball game in Woodbridge today.  They are affiliated with the Washington Nationals baseball team.  The groupon deal was $6 for a ticket and a free hotdog.  Normally, the cheap seats are $8.

You'll notice in all these photos that Jack has a great smile, but Robert has the forced "CHEESE!" smile.

Robert and the mascot for the baseball team.  Jack refused to go within 15 feet of the mascot.  I don't blame him.  The mascot does have really big, freaky eyes. 

The stadium is very kid friendly.  Kids 5 and under are free.  It was nice to see a game in such a small stadium so that Robert could actually focus on the game instead of food.  Now that he is taking T-ball classes, he is much more interested in learning about baseball.

There is also a huge kids area that contains 3 moon bounces, one huge moon bounce slide, and a baseball throwing area.

Jack did not want to leave the moon bounce.

Neither did Robert.

Robert and Jack had much more fun than if they went to a Washington Nationals game in DC.  I enjoyed this game more because it was much cheaper, no traffic, parking was a breeze, and it was very kid friendly!  We can't wait to go back to another weekend game.

Baking cookies with my little helpers

Early this morning, I baked chocolate chip cookies.  My boys were more than eager to help.  They have no interest in learning how to bake; they just want to lick the bowl.  They are vultures.

(I look terrible in this photo; it was early in the morning and I was still in my pj's.  But the boys look cute!)

It's actually not as fun as you would think to bake with these boys.

"Can I lick the bowl now?"
"No, there's only butter in the bowl.  That would be disgusting."
"Can I lick it now?"
"No, now it is just butter and eggs.  Gross."

And so I am asked the same question every 10 seconds until I'm finally finished.

By the way, I found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is so much better than the recipes found on the back of the chocolate chip bags.          
Click here for the recipe

Flashback Friday

I'm feeling lazy so instead of taking new pictures of the boys, I'm going to post a picture from a few years ago.  Here is Robert at age 6 months.  He's always been an "enthusiastic eater", as I used to say when he was a baby.  Here he is trying to take a bite out of his new Robeez shoes.

Rocket cake

Super easy to make, and Robert was able to help by putting the m&m candy on the cake.

"Hair Cuttery: it's not our fault if your haircut doesn't look good"

A couple of days ago, I took the boys to the Hair Cuttery near our house for haircuts.  We were going to go to Cartoon Cuts at the mall, but traffic was really bad so I had to turn around and head home. I've had some bad experiences with Hair Cuttery in the past, but the boys really needed a haircut.  Plus, Robert said he wanted a buzz cut like his best friends Luke and Ethan, and it's pretty hard to screw that up.  I'm not that picky about the boys' hair.  I let Robert choose his style and as long as it isn't a mohawk or mullet, I'm fine with it. 

First up was Robert.  When he got in the chair, he changed his mind and asked for just a trim.  When the stylist was done, she turned Robert's chair towards me and asked what I thought.

"Ummm, his bangs are really crooked.  Can you fix them?" I said nicely.  I have low expectations for Hair Cuttery so I wasn't that upset that she just butchered his bangs.

"He has cowlick in hair."

"That may be true, but his bangs are really crooked.  Can't you fix them?"

She puts Robert back in the chair, snips a few times with the scissors, then presents him to me again for inspection.  His bangs are still crooked, though not as bad as the first time.  Here is a picture of Robert today (now keep in mind that this is the AFTER picture.  As in after she tried to correct her mistake.  I really wish I had a BEFORE picture to show you and to use as blackmail when Robert is old enough to date):

Sadly, this posting is not an April Fool's Day joke.  His hair really looks like that.

"I cannot fix.  He has cowlick.  You should just brush hair to the side" said the stylist.

I didn't argue with her or point out that in his four years of getting haircuts, not once did he have bangs cut crooked like this.  Whatever, I thought.  Robert is going to get a buzz cut after all to fix this mess, but not by this woman.

I know a lot of people joke that the slogan for Hair Cuttery is "Hair Cuttery.  Good Enough."  Perhaps they should change it to "Hair Cuttery.  It's not our fault if your haircut doesn't look good."

April Fools!

Robert's preschool class has been teaching them about spring and how plants grow. So, when I found this April Fool's day joke ( Click here! ), I thought it would be perfect for Robert to play on his teachers.  Robert was so excited this morning and when he got to school, his teachers played along.  They were awesome....when Robert yelled "April Fool's!", they threw their hands in the air and laughed.  Here is a picture:

 Robert didn't get the joke at first.  I had to explain to him that no, doughnuts do not grow on trees.  If they did, our entire backyard would be filled with them.  Especially with the jelly-filled ones.


For dessert tonight, I will be serving this sponge cake:

To make it, just stack some kitchen sponges (preferably unused!) and frost/decorate the cake.

And that's all I've got for April Fool's jokes.  Happy April Fool's Day!