Wrap Up of MD Trip

building a "wall" on the hotel room a/c

playing Ring Around the Rosie at George Washington's birthplace in VA

a partial family photo at GW birthplace

Ben posing with is "cool dude" sunglasses in his carseat; it was almost naptime!

Seth's ready for naptime -- paci, lion, blanket, sunglasses. what more could you need?

When we found out 3+ years ago we were having twins, everyone asked us "when are you getting a minivan". We didn't, and so far we've survived on a paid-for Toyota Camry that currently has 186k miles! Then when they got a little older everyone asked us when we were getting a portable DVD player for our car. We didn't.

And somehow we survived a 7 hour car trip (that was really closer to 9 with stops!) with two three-year old boys. All without a minivan and a DVD player!

The Chick-Fil-A Playground

Yesterday it rained, so we couldn't go to the park, and we were getting cabin fever, so when hubby was dropped off from his DC meeting, we went back to the Navy rec center to allow the boys to play. It had stopped raining, and I had a towel in the car to dry the slides off. They had lots of fun, but it was time to leave and find supper.

We found something else to entertain the boys: the playground at Chick-Fil-A.

I love that restaurant, and Morehead just got one, so we never go because it's always really crowded. But we were riding around last night looking for somewhere to eat, and decided to eat there. The boys played for almost an hour! And they went right to sleep last night too!

There was another child in the playground last night, and her mother told me of The Jump Yard here where we are, so we are heading there once it opens today.

This is our last day in MD. We'll be heading home tomorrow. It's been nice not to have to do housework! But it can be a little confining in this small hotel room with two ACTIVE three year old boys. So I think we are all ready to get back to our own house, and yard!!

Hooray for Parks!

Wednesday was a good day! Husband brought the car to us around 10:30am, as he was riding with a colleague to Arlington for a meeting. So we loaded up and headed to a nearby park. When we first arrived there were other children there (it looked like a playgroup) but they left soon after we arrived. So then the boys had the entire park to themselves! We didn't stay long because it was very hot.






Seth on the slide (above) and Ben (below).



After husband's meeting, he was dropped off in Solomon's Island, just a few miles away. So once the boys woke up from naptime, I got them dressed and we headed out to find hubby! He had heard of a Navy recreation area (but he had to get us in because he's the one with the Navy badge, I have nothing), so we headed that way. It was really nice! They have small cabins to rent, places for tents & campers, a beach area, a pool, walking trails, and a park area for little ones. The boys had fun in the park area! Then we headed for supper overlooking the water.

And today husband has more meetings in DC, so he brought us the car, but it's raining! There is a maritime museum that I've heard of, so we may investigate that.



Ben riding his ladybug.


Seth riding his bumblebee. He said it was his truck and he was going to work.


Ben enjoying the green thing, whatever that is!


Ben sliding!
Seth told Ben "I have a space for you!"

Life on the Road

We've made it to the middle of the week. Of course it's not even lunch time yet.

Yesterday we played with bubbles on the little piece of grass we could find, and after husband returned, we swam in the hotel's pool! The boys had a great great time!!! We brought their life jackets, and they did quite well. Seth "walked" around the pool; instead of putting his feet behind him, he kept them under him and kicked that way. Ben did quite well kicking around in the water.

I think we tired them out swimming, because at supper (which was rather late), Ben told me he was too tired to color, and that I needed to color his pictures while we waited for our food. And then when the food came, Ben ate his share and more. Husband had salmon, and couldn't finish it, so after Ben had eaten his grilled cheese sandwich, some of Seth's macaroni and cheese, and his applesauce, he proceeded to eat some of husband's left-over salmon! Eventually we had to cut him off because it was very late and we needed to get back to the hotel and go to sleep!

We are making the best of our small surroundings.

We saw an Amish man at the local WalMart Monday night, and Sunday night Ben asked me if Jesus and God had a telephone!




playing with puzzles on the big bed.

Busy is our Middle Name

Greetings from Maryland!

We've been bringing new meaning to the word "busy" in the last week. It all began last Sunday. Right after church husband left to fly to Philadelphia for the week. He had a class to attend. The next day, Monday, I reported to the courthouse at 1pm for Jury Duty. I was in the first group chosen (during jury selection) and remained Juror #7 until the trial ended on Tuesday at 5:30pm. It wasn't a long trial, but it was a personal injury case, so it was not really fun. Did I mention we had VBS on Monday and Tuesday nights, so right after court I would meet my mother and the boys at VBS.

Wednesday was a recovery day, Thursday I had a meeting, so my mother took the boys back to her house, because I was leaving Friday for Deeper Still in Greensboro. That was an amazing conference, and I can't wait to attend another one! So husband came back to NC on Saturday, drove to my parents' house, picked up the boys, and came home. He arrived at our house at 9:20pm, and I returned at 9:40pm.

We then had to wash clothes from the week, because the next day, Sunday (yesterday) we were leaving right after church to head to Maryland for the week. We pulled out of our driveway around 2pm, and got to the hotel around 10:30pm. It's only about a 7 hour drive, but it took us a really long time to eat supper -- everything takes a long time when you're traveling with 2 three-year old boys!

The boys did GREAT during our drive. We really couldn't have asked for any better. So now it's Monday, and husband is at work. He's doing a "shadowing" of a person who works here at Pax River NAS this week. I think it will be very interesting to him. And we're here during the day. The hotel is really nice. It's very new, only open a few months. But it's a small room for all of us! They do have a swimming pool, which we are planning to visit at some point.

So that's what we've been up to! Ben has started speech therapy for his stuttering. The lady (Cheryl) is very nice, and said his biggest problem is learning to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n so his mouth can keep up with his brain! That's hard for all of us to do! This was also their first time in a "class" at VBS, and they did great! Their teachers said they had lots of fun!

Here are some pictures from our first night/morning in the hotel. When we arrived, both were asleep, but Ben woke up before we got him out of the car. Seth only woke up when we moved him to his bed (we had to open the pull-out couch for the two of them, so we put him on our bed until we did that). They started out sleeping in the normal way on the bed, and ended up sleeping sideways!

Seth sleeping soundly in mommy & daddy's bed.

Ben standing beside his "funny" bed. I think we were the first to use it.

This morning, playing trains in our room. Sorry for poor quality; the window is in the way!!