D.C./Maryland trip...part 2

 They had a "Roads and Rails" museum in Fredrick that I took Nathan to. In the front they had a Lego train display that one of the men there made, Nathan was in awe.

 Then we went into the "museum". It was a gigantic train set-up. It took 5 men 4 years to make it all. It was very impressive. Nate loved it.

 Anderson loved pushing the buttons, and there were lots of buttons to push!

 After we finished pushing all the buttons, I asked the guy where the "road" part of the museum was, and he told me that it was coming in 2013 or 2014.

 Smithsonian Natural History Museum

We had a great time at the NHM. Nathan and David loved it. There was so much for both of them to see and enjoy.

 I think this part was Nathan's favorite. There was a big earth in the middle of this room and Nathan thought it was awesome. They played a movie on it and during it Nate asked "are we in space"?

It isn't a good picture but it captures all three of them watching the earth video

Being a caveman statue

 They were having a huge book fair the next day, and Nathan got to take his picture with this Daniel Tiger cut out. (Daniel Tiger is a modern Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, it takes place in the land of make believe. It is a cute show).

Nathan with the tigers he got from the museum.

Samantha and Steven with little Steven at his baptism (from a few months ago)

After we got out of the museum we were going to go pick up our friend Steven from work and go to the Washington Nationals game. When we got to where we parked the car, it wasn't there. Crap.  Wait, what's that over there, our car. Hmmm, we didn't park over there.

They towed our car...to the other side of the street. We got two tickets, one for being parked after 4pm and the other for the towing...$100.00 each.

We got lost with our phone GPS because we kept losing signal. We went to the wrong place. We drove past the Pentagon 5 times. 

We ended up meeting Steven, Samantha and little Steven at the stadium.

Nationals stadium is HUGE, and it was packed. We had a fun time at the game. After, we headed back to the Hampl's to stay the night before another long day in the morning.

Thanks Hampl family, it was so great to see you!

D.C./Maryland trip...part 3

 After waking up and having yummy breakfast with the Hampl's, we took the train into D.C. (to avoid getting more tickets). Nathan was VERY excited to ride the train.

 At the Air and Space museum.

 There was so much to see. Planes hanging from the ceiling, some you could go in, some on battleships and some rockets. They had the Wright brothers plane, and stuff from the Apollo missions.

Nathans favorite part was watching The launch and landing of the Mars rover. It was really awesome.

Anderson enjoying m&m's at the Air and Space museum.

 We went to a park that overlooked Fredrick. It was beautiful.

 All my cute boys.

Balancing

Nathan started a stick collection.

Mommy got to be the one to carry the collection.

He was very disappointed when we only let him bring one back with us.

 Nate decided that they could launch rocks off the see-saw, like a catapult.

 We drove up to Baltimore to go to an Orioles game. They had a double header, so we got to watch the end of one game and most of the second game (we had to leave early because it was getting to cold and we didn't bring jackets).

We had pretty good seats, we paid $6 for each ticket.  Good thing, because we had to buy a $35 blanket to try to keep us (mostly AJ) warm.

 David and I got to go to the D.C. temple. A girl from the local ward watched the boys for us, for free. It was a great date night.

Why so serious?

After his Ninja Turtle ice cream.

We had such a great trip. It was so fun to see our friends the Hampl's and the Sherman's (and their cute little baby August). Hopefully we will get a chance to go back and see all of the things we missed!
Sept. 12-26, 2012

Nathan vs. Anderson

Here is a look at Nathan and AJ on their first birthdays. In some ways they are a lot alike, but in some they are way different. Regardless, they are both adorable!

Nathan at one year

Anderson at one year

Happy happy birthday Anderson!

 Happy first birthday Anderson James!

 We celebrated AJ's first birthday while on our trip to Maryland. First thing in the morning Nathan wanted to open up Anderson's presents (good thing too, I don't think he could have waited until David got back from class). Together AJ and Nathan opened the presents we got for Anderson. 

 This look on Nathans face sums up how he felt about not getting to open the presents.

Look what I did!

 The yummy birthday cake.

 First bite...

 This stuff is AMAZING!

 Nathan with a full mouth of frosting (Nate is like his mom, we don't like the cake but we like the frosting).

 A happy, messy birthday boy!

Happy birthday AJ, we love you so much and are so glad you are a part of our family!

Andersons one year stats:

Height-29 3/4 inches (32%)

Weight-22lbs 11oz (66%)

Head-18 1/4in (52%)

To Anderson

Anderson,

 Happy birthday little man! This last year has gone by so fast. One day you were my brand new red haired baby, and then next, you were my blue-eyed blonde little guy running around chasing after your big brother. You have a contagious smile that you flash all the time. You are a rough and tumble little boy, you fall down but you get yourself back up and keep right on going. I hope that that can be a trait that you keep with you throughout your life. Your first word was ma-ma, but you seem to be a daddy's boy. You love your daddy so much, I hope that you can always look up to him and come to him when you need help. Your brother loves you so much, even though he sometimes asks me to distract you so you wont play with his toys. He loves you and wants to protect you. Anderson you have brought so much joy and laughter into our home this last year, and we hope that you continue to do that throughout your life. I love being your ma-ma. I feel so blessed that you chose our family. I am so grateful that we have you for eternity. Happy birthday AJ, mommy loves you!