We've Come a Long Way...

Happy 11th Anniversary to my Sweetheart!

Last Day

These happy boys just finished the last day of school today.  Behold, the new Kindergartner and 1st Grader!  They're two years apart, but because of their birth dates, they will only be one grade apart.  Zachary is the oldest kid in his class, and Evan is the youngest.  Are these two going to be trouble together or what?!!?  Happy summer, boys!

Working on our Retirement Plan...

 

It's the Simple Things...

I know it's still only May, but it was a great day to try out the new PVC "car/boy" wash that Marcus constructed.  It was very simple, and it's not difficult to talk Marcus into construction projects these days (stay tuned for his newest creation soon!).  Instructions for this simple water toy are everywhere.  HERE is just one example. You can go super-cheap and just use PVC pipe with holes, which creates drizzles of water.  Marcus saw the misters, and (of course) decided to upgrade the project.  The misters were the most expensive part of the project, but still pretty dang cheap and according to the boys, well worth the six bucks!

Date with the Boys

 



Easter 2013

Pictures from Easter 2013 in Elkhart, Indiana!

 

How My Sons Became Knights

The absolute highlight of the Maryland weekend for the boys HAD to be the trip to Medieval Times for dinner.  Danny treated all of us to an absolutely wonderful night.  I'm not sure who enjoyed it more... the adults or the kids.

If you've never been, Medieval Times is a dinner/medieval tournament that immerses you in the theme from the moment you step through the castle doors.  From the street vendors (selling LED toys of all varieties...) to the meal eaten sans utensils, to the king roaming the court... just all-around fun!

Danny treated the boys to another special surprise while they were there.  Four weeks later, and they are STILL talking about it!!!  He arranged for them to be "knighted" by the castle's king prior to the dinner and tournament.  All hail, Sir Evan and Sir Zachary!



Uncle Danny is the awesomest!!

 If you get there early enough, like we did, you have time to roam around the "courtyard," tour the castle "dungeon" (Iron Maidens... NOT kid-friendly), and get a stein from a beer wench...

Once you are assigned a knight to cheer for, and seated in the arena, the tournament begins!  As you eat your food (not too shabby, by the way) with your fingers, you watch horses perform, and the knights compete.  There was even a falconer demonstration.  It took ALL the will I had not to cover my food as the falcon soared above us!

Turns out, our knight, Lord del Font (the red & yellow knight) was the champion for the evening, and at one point, he even threw me a flower.  I must've looked lonely in my sea of boys!  The boys were ecstatic that THEIR knight won, and were super-excited to meet him after the show.  He even signed their shields for them.

I WANNA GO BACK!  And next time, I think I'm going to buy myself one of those LED-lit, princess cone hats and veils... just sayin'...

D.C. with Danny

I'm a little behind once again - the wireless card in my laptop is going out, so I have very spotty internet access until I replace it.  Who knows how long it will take me to finish just this one update, since it did take several tries over a couple of days to upload just the pictures!

As you can tell from the title and pictures, we visited my brother, who is stationed in Maryland, at the last weekend in March.  Marcus was in D.C. visiting donors all week, so it was a great opportunity for me to hop on a plane with the boys and spend some time with Uncle Danny for just a couple of days.  Unfortunately, the boys' Aunt Jennifer (who is in the Navy), was on the boat those days, so we only got to spend a little time with her before we left.

This trip marked the first-ever plane trip for Evan, and the first that Zachary would remember (the last time he flew, he was six months old).  They did so well!!!  I was a little worried about it... but apparently, I shouldn't have been.

The first day, we took the metro to D.C., where we did just a little sight-seeing and met up with Marcus. 



Uncle Danny & Evan walking to the Natural History Museum



Jefferson Memorial as seen from the WWII Memorial
with my super-awesome lens (thanks, Julie & Dan!!!)



Natural History Museum



Another shot at the Natural History Museum



It was at this point that I asked Z if he could hear the ocean in the seashell..
I think I freaked him out a bit.



Roof of the Natural History Museum



See?  There WAS some color when we went!



Smithsonian Castle



Smithsonian Castle



Spaceship One



Spirit of St. Louis



The Washington Monument as seen from the Mall



Washington Monument under repair



Quote from the WWII Memorial



World War II Memorial



My Grandpa Hall's page at the WWII kiosk



My Grandpa DeArmond's page at the WWII kiosk



Here are the Indiana boys!!
Danny, Zach, Evan & Marcus