Hooray for Independence Day!

Since this is our last summer in Columbus I wanted to take advantage of a lot of the 4th of July festivities they have here (we've missed the fun for the past two years!).  I had heard good things about the Hilliard parade and it did not disappoint.  Just about every float, truck or group parading by throws out candy to the kids and so the boys thought they were in heaven.  I was in heaven when they came by with tons of Chik-Fil-A coupons!

Waiting patiently for the parade to start.

One of the groups passed out these American flags and I had previously told the boys if they waved their flags people would give them candy.  They never put the flags down after that, and never stopped waving for that matter.  The weather ended up being pretty nice for that morning also.  It never rained, but stayed cloudy enough that it wasn't too hot outside.

After the parade we met at a friend's house for a yummy BBQ and had fun chatting with friends.

We weren't sure if we would keep the boys up for fireworks (since they didn't start until 9:45), but hey, it's the 4th of July!! You got to see fireworks!!  We met friends again at a park for a late BBQ and let the kids play until the show was ready.  The fireworks were being shot from another park about a mile away, but the view was perfect from where we were.  The boys reaction to the first several fireworks was priceless.  It involved a lot of screaming for joy and giddy laughing.

Ryan and Tate sit back and take it all in.

 Tate was pretty diligent about keeping a hold of his flag for several days after the 4th.  In this picture, he was supposed to either be going to bed or taking a nap (in his crib by the way), but apparently had gotten out to do some reading before he crashed.  But even extreme fatigue cannot break his grip on his patriotic duties. 

This does not have to do with the 4th of July, except for the fact that this crime fighting league tries to preserve freedom, justice and the American way.  Our evenings usually include at least one game of superheros, robots or fighting pillows (we basically get to throw pillows at each other--it's surprisingly fun). 

 

All I can say is watch out Bad Guys, we're coming to get you!!

Fun in DC

 

Way back in June we added a trip to DC as part of our time in VA with my parents.  My parents were extra awesome and watched the kiddies for a couple of days so Ryan and I could head up there by ourselves for a little getaway.  I was fun and nice to be able to sleep in (although it's getting harder to sleep in the more pregnant I get).  We had gone to DC as part of our honeymoon but hadn't been able to go to the Holocaust museum, so that was our main goal this trip.  We ended up spending most of our day there and didn't see much else.  But it was a neat experience and nice not feeling like we had to rush to see everything.

 

On Saturday, my parent's continued their awesomeness by waking up early to drive 2 grumpy boys to meet us at DC.  The plan was to hang out there for a couple of hours and then finish the drive back to Ohio.

I think the boys favorite part of the trip was getting to ride the subway.  Papa did a good job following Tate around and keeping him out of trouble.

We did take the boys to the Natural History and American History museums.  Grant really liked seeing the dinosaurs and animal bones.

 Tate fell asleep on the metro ride back to where we parked.  We let him sleep in the stroller while we ate lunch, but woke him up since we still had a 7 hour car ride ahead of us.  Needless to say he was not too happy.  With two grouchy, tired boys and two grouchy, tired parents, the trip home was one to be remembered.  Overall it was really fun though, really!

Best Beach Trip, Ever!!

Last week we went to Virginia to visit Erin's parents so, of course, we took the kids to the beach a couple of times.  They loved it! 

Grant loved boogy boarding.  Very adventurous!  

Tate loved driving tent pegs into the sand.  Very industrious!

Tate also loved eating goldfish and laughing.  Very cute!

And they both loved being buried in the sand together.  Very classic!
Everyone agreed that it was one of our best beach trips, ever!!

Hooray for Birthdays!!

 For Grant's 4th birthday this year, he requested a Super Hero party.  This was nice for me because I saved all of the Batman party decorations from last year when I was feeling much more ambitious about putting together a cool party.  Again, I didn't get any pictures of our decorated house (but it wasn't as all out as last year anyway).

  

The Superhero's underwent many tests to discover their true superhero powers:

We tested their super-speed with a few round of red light, green light.

We tested their X-ray vision with pin the Batman symbol in the circle, (one of the left over decorations :) 

We also tested their ability to withstand destruction with a few games of "Pass the Kryptonite", (basically hot potato with a glow stick).  I'm sad we didn't get any pictures of that because it seemed to be the kids favorite game.

And the cake...  As I was trying to finish this up at 11:30pm the night before the party I came up with two new rules for myself in regards to birthday party cakes:

1. Never try to do a fancy two-tiered cake without the proper two-tiered cake making equipment. (i.e. you need a cake leveler and and smaller pan--never try to cut your own 6 inch cake circle out of a 9 inch pan, it's a crumbly mess).

2.  It's probably better to just stick with a good ol' 9x13 pan for little kids birthday's.

 Of course, 4 year-olds don't notice if the cake is falling apart, they're just ready to eat it.  The 2 minutes of silence while they ate the cake was quite enjoyable for me.

 Tate lasted the longest and I believe was the most helpful in making sure every plate of cake had been cleaned.

 I was in charge of preschool the next day so we had a Superhero Preschool day and basically repeated the birthday party, with a few book readings and a craft thrown in.

 Grant had a great time with his two birthday parties and I'm glad the party part is done.  I think we will be switching to an every-other year party policy.

Grant is a fun, energetic, yet sensitive little guy and we are so grateful to have him in our family.  The other day Tate was extra grumpy after his nap, and when that is the case, he likes to be held in the rocking chair for a bit.  I had to get dinner started so Grant filled in for me and let Tate lie on him for awhile until he got over being grumpy.  It was so sweet!

And just in case you were wondering what it would be like to go for a joy ride in a cereal box:

No lack of self-confidence.

Grant after coming home from a Superhero Birthday Party.  He has on a floaty swimsuit, Batman symbols painted on his cheeks, and the new-found conviction to defend truth and justice at all costs.  Evil-doers beware!!

Fact 1:  Grant is very social and makes friends easily.

Fact 2:  Grant is surprisingly intelligent for his age.

Fact 3:  Grant has become aware of Fact 1 and Fact 2.

Two stories to illustrate:

• A few days ago, Grant spent an afternoon playing outside with friends.  After coming in he said, "I have a lot of friends because I'm such a fun guy to be with."  I agreed with him.
• Today we were listening to a CD of Primary songs after church.  I went upstairs to check my email and when Grant came up I told him he could watch one of his church movies (the Living Scripture videos on VHS) and that I would be down in a minute to put it on for him.  He trotted downstairs and I followed about two minutes later to put on his video.  When I got downstairs I saw him sitting on the couch with a blanket over him, watching one of the church videos.  This was surprising because we had never shown him how to use the DVD/VHS player and it is high on the entertainment center, out of his reach.  When I asked him how he put the movie on by himself, his reply was "Because I'm so smart!"  I could only agree with him again.   

I should note here that Grant doesn't say these things with an air of cockiness, but as a simple matter of fact, much like one would say, "It certainly is sunny today," or, "Dairy Queen Blizzards are the most delicious ice cream treat of them all!"  I also can't help but think that Ryan has played some role in Grant's gaining this undeniable self confidence, in order to continue the long line of self-assured Wood men. What's a girl to do with such boys?  ;)

Numero Tres

That's right, baby #3 will be arriving at the end of September.  We find out the gender in May, so we'll see if Ryan's made another male heir or if it's time for a girl to join the family.  Either way, we are excited!

Indoor waterpark, anyone?

 

On Sunday night we decided to take a very last minute trip up to Kalahari, supposedly the largest indoor water park in the US.  Ryan had Monday and Tuesday off of school because we were originally going to go visit a practice for sale, but that had to be rescheduled.  So on Sunday, when I found a great deal online (1/2 price!) we decided we were ready for a fun getaway.

We arrived Mon. afternoon, played in the park all day, finally convinced the boys to fall asleep around 8:30 (which is late for them), played all Tues and finally headed home around 5pm.  Tate was so exhausted, he literally fell asleep in less than a minute after we strapped him into the car!  We had a blast though and would definitely go back.

 

 Grant said his favorite part was the wave pool.  Tate also really loved it.  We would take them out on inner tubes to float over the waves and then Grant would ride the waves in, spinning, almost crashing several times, and laughing like a crazy person.  The kids also loved to float around and play in the shallow end and I enjoyed just being able to sit and relax in the warm water.

On Tues morning we were some of the first people at the park so Ryan and I took turns riding all the big slides, without having to wait in any lines.  Unfortunately, their famous "roller coaster" waterslide wasn't working, so we never got to try it out.

We even let the kiddies try out some slides that seemed a little too big for them.  Grant did fine and loved it, but here is the picture Ryan got of Tate after he finished.  He ended up head first on his back and couldn't get up.  He was screaming by the time I picked him up and stayed close to me for a while after that.

I felt like we were always eating on this trip, but I guess what are vacations for?

Besides the wave pool we spent the most time at the kiddie play area which had tons of slides and places for the kids to climb on.  They were in heaven!

Another one of the play areas.

 

 After we got all dried up and ready to head home, we stopped by the indoor dry play area and ended up staying there for another couple of hours.  Ryan and I both agreed it was the coolest play/gym area we had ever seen (and they have a really great one at the zoo here, but this beat that).  It was so fun, Ryan and I took turns "helping" Tate get around so we could have an excuse to get up there and play.  I'm pretty sure the attendant figured out what we were doing, but he was cool and didn't make us leave :)

 

Traveling with kids can be exhausting but overall this was a lot of fun and it was so nice to feel like we got away from the blah Ohio weather for a couple days!