Virginia Beach!

We decided to take a day trip down to Virginia Beach.  It was a gamble with how the trip was going to go but we knew that the big kids would like to play in the sand (even if they didn't go in the water) so we figured it was worth a shot.

We got there and set up our spot.  The kids started playing in the sand and watching all of the action in the water.  As you can see, Ryland never really had the same feelings about "not touching the sand" as Kylee did.  He thought it was hysterical for me to bury his legs and then for him to break free. : )

We then made our way down to the water.  The kids got closer and closer and started to let the waves come up and touch them.  They were pleasantly surprised with how warm the water was compared to the beaches we go to in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

After carrying the kids out to really get in the ocean (Ryland was of course willing to go first) they started to really enjoy the idea of playing in the water.  Kylee, Ryland, and Pete were having a BLAST running around and playing in the ocean.  Turns out that after the first 30 minutes or so the kids didn't really play much with the sand toys at all because they were spending so much time in the water.

Kenzie sat and played in her tent (mostly to keep her from eating the sand!?) while she would look up to check out some of the people or check to see what Kylee and Ryland were doing.

It turned out to be a GREAT trip and one that we will definitely be doing a lot more.  The kids still talk about  the "beach in Virginia." : )

Water Fountains in Richmond

On our last trip to the Children's Museum in Richmond we were able to have some fun in the water fountains that were outside.  Luckily, I happen to see online that the fountains were up and running so I packed extra clothes for all the kids.  Needless to say, they needed them!  Kylee and Ryland (and Pete!) had a blast running around in the water and getting soaked.  We let Kenzie sit and play for a bit too.  She was surprised when the water would spray her way but she never shied away from trying to grab it.  It turned out to be a great way to end our museum trip.

Clemynjontri

We took the kids to Clemynjontri (or the "balance beam park" as Kylee calls it) and they all had a blast.  It wasn't too crowded which was nice and even though a summer camp group came through we were spread out enough that you didn't even notice the large group.

Kylee has been trying to do the monkey bars for a while now but usually with Pete or I holding onto her legs.  We don't have to hold her too tight but just a little bit to keep her up there the whole time.  Well there is a set of monkey bars at the park that are low enough to the ground that if Kylee stands on her tip toes she is able to reach the bars herself.  This also means that if she falls off she is just going to land on her feet and try again.  After a few attempts she was able to get all the way across the monkey bars by herself!!!  She was very very excited and proud of herself and kept going back and forth on them.  I was able to get a video of her one of the times.  Unfortunately this is when the summer camp group came through and ran in front of her (and the girl ended up sitting in time out for not watching where she was going!?) so she was a little distracted.  You can still see how great she did and how proud she was when she finished! : )

Soccer

Kylee and Ryland have been taking soccer through Soccer Tots over the summer.

It was pretty neat to see how well Ryland was able to follow directions without much guidance from Pete or I.  He really did a great job and enjoyed going every week.

Kylee had fun but as we all know it takes her a little while longer to warm up to new things (and people!?)  So the first few minutes of every class were a little hard for her and we usually had to do a "parent fade out" in order to get her to participate.  Once she was into it and ready to go though she did a great job.  She was also great at following the directions and listening to the coaches.

Kenzie was just there to watch 2 hours worth of soccer.  For the most part she was content just sitting and watching but she was really excited when she was able to sit and move around on her own.

Kenzie is 7 Months!

Kenzie turned 7 months in July!  She is still a bubbly and happy little girl but she is also becoming quite the explorer.  At 7 months she was fully crawling ... belly off the ground and everything!?  She loves to watch Kylee and Ryland run around and I'm sure she will be joining them soon enough. : )

Binghampton Children's Museum

While the kids and I were in Pennsylvania (Pete was in California) we decided to check out the children's museum in Binghampton.  Jack, Aunt Amy, Nana, and Grandad came along for the fun.  (Grandad was of course excited to have a new area to grab a cache or two in .. ha!)  The museum had a lot of good exhibits in it but it was all in a very small space so it took a bit of maneuvering to get around and to keep everyone together.

There were a few things that the kids could "drive" including a fighter jet!

The news room was a big hit too.  The set up was really neat because there was the news desk and also a weather room with a map and computer.  The news camera could be switched back and forth to show either the desk or the news room.

The camping room was sponsored by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and had a nice camping area along with a canoe to sit in.  The only problem I had with this room was that they also had boxes of Girl Scout cookies out ... EMPTY girl scout cookies?! Talk about a tease!

The kids were big fans of the grocery store.  The set up of it was really nice and they had a lot of products that you don't usually see with the grocery store exhibits like bread, doughnuts, and other baked goods.

Outside the museum there was a Storybook Garden.  I thought the idea and set up of this place was really nice.  There were a ton of different displays, based on different books, throughout the garden.  There were tons of places that you could sit and mailboxes located all around.  Inside the mailboxes were large weather-proofed books to sit and read.  If it wasn't so hot and so far past lunch time we probably would have stayed there a lot longer ... the kids really enjoyed walking around and seeing everything.

One of the first stops was Peter Rabbit's Garden.  It was a real garden and there was a water fountain with watering cans so the kids could go in and water the different plants.  They had a great time going back and forth and watering all the plants.

There were also a lot of neat statues throughout the garden.  Grandad tried everything to get Kenzie to look at the frogs reading but she was more interested in the random bush at her feet. : )

We even got to go inside the Three Bears house!

One last picture before heading back to Pennsylvania!

Airplane Park

The "Airplane Park" or as most people know it, Gravelly Point Park is one of the places that we enjoy going to just hang out and have some fun.  We decided to pack a picnic dinner and some toys and head out for a good visit to the park.  It turned out to be such a great time!

Kylee made up a new "game" (which was basically her telling Ryland and Pete what to do!?).  She had everyone stretch and then they came up with different vehicles to act out.

We also discovered that Ryland is able to completely tackle Kylee ... and luckily she thought it was pretty funny too. : )

Again Kenzie sat very content on the blanket and watched the planes, played with her toys, and ate her snacks.  I feel like I always say the same thing about her but she is usually very happy watching everything around her.  You can see in her eyes though that she wants to join in on the fun ... and I'm thinking it won't be too long until that happens!  Ha! : )

PA in July

After leaving Massachusetts, we headed to Pennsylvania for some more family fun.  We spent a lot of time in the pool and the kids had a blast.  They have become very comfortable in the water and both kids love playing in it.  Kenzie enjoys floating around too (and trying to drink the water the ends up on her raft!)

As everyone probably knows, Ryland is OBSESSED with cars.  Not just the movie cars but any kind of car, truck, motorcycle, etc., that he can roll around and play with.  One of the things he loves to do is ask Grandad to set up his "car ramp."  Grandad puts a buffet table on the small grass hill in the backyard and Ryland will sit there and roll the cars down one by one.  He literally sits there for the longest time (usually going through the penguin bucket of cars at least 3 times!?) and just watches the cars go down the ramp.

I love how intently Kenzie is listening to Jack here.  She lights up every time she sees him. : )

MA in July

Our summer family visits started off in Massachusetts in the beginning of July.  We got to spend some time just hanging out with everyone and playing with Sam Go Diego. : )

Later that night we headed down to one of the local high schools on July 3rd to watch a firework show.  Kylee was nervous about the sound but found out that if she covered her ears she liked watching them and she even started testing it out by only covering one ear.  Ryland liked watching the fireworks and Kenzie wasn't bothered by the sound at all.  (Just a disclaimer ... Kylee had just eaten some Oreos which is why her teeth look black!?)

Then on the 4th of July we went to downtown Andover to watch the local parade.  It turned out that a lot of the kids that live in the area decorate their bikes / scooters / wagons and themselves and walk in the parade.  Lucky for us, some of them even threw candy! : )

Later that night we headed up to one of the local beaches.  We took some toys and crossed our fingers that it would be a worthwhile trip.  Kylee's progression with the beach seems to go up a notch each year -- Step 1: Kylee didn't want anything to do with touching the sand.  Step 2: Kylee played in the sand but only if she was sitting on a towel so her feet wouldn't touch!?  This year:  Kylee stood in the sand barefoot and played!!!!  Whoo Hoo ... success! : )  Both kids had a great time playing in the sand.  They were still unsure about the water and didn't really get close enough to get their feet wet but we still considered it a successful trip (and progression in beach comfort level.)  Kenzie was very content sitting on the blanket and watching everything around her.  She did put up a great effort to try and get the sand but once we distracted her with other things she was fine.

Our last stop before leaving town was to go to the Boston Children's Museum.  We hadn't tried this museum yet so everyone was excited to see what was there.  There was a lot of construction and building stuff to do in the area where we started.  Kylee had fun using all the pulleys and levers and Ryland had fun just running around to all the different things.



I know this isn't a great picture ... Kylee is half missing and Ryland is doing who knows what but I actually took it because of the sign that was hanging.  "Recommended for ages 5 and older" ... yup ... Kylee had ZERO problem in this climbing structure and once we showed Ryland how to get up the stairs he too needed NO help.  Ha! : )

Kenzie spent the whole time in the backpack and did a great job.  She was completely content just sitting and watching everything that was going on.  Towards the end we ended up near some huge water tubes with bubbles.  Kenzie loved watching these and trying to catch the bubbles that were inside.  She was very interested in trying to touch the water and bubbles. : )

There was also a neat room that had ramps for the kids to roll golf balls down.

The water room is always a big hit with our kids too.  This one had a lot of different utensils for the kids to use and they made sure they tested out all of them.

There was a whole area that talked about health and nutrition.  It included a lot of sports things and some really neat ways to test your strength.  Yes, that is Pete trying to maneuver his way through the climbing structure. : )



The museum was definitely a hit and I'm sure a place we will go again when we are visiting everyone in Massachusetts. 

Virginia Discovery Musuem

We decided to try and find a new children's museum for the kids and came across one in Charlottesville.  They had some new things there that we had not seen yet and some of the kids' favorites from other museums.  There was a nice under 3 room that was perfect for Kenzie to be able to play around in which worked out nice.  It was small but the kids had fun. : )

Sesame Place

We took our first trip of the season up to Sesame Place.  The kids wore their personalized Sesame Street shirts and we were ready to go!

First up was the merry go round.  You probably can't tell from the picture but Kenzie is sitting on the horse behind Kylee (all the benches were taken.)  Pete took the big kids on the bug and in the climbing nets too.



Ryland and Kenzie ended up falling asleep so it gave me and Kylee a chance to to hit some more rides.  She loves the teacups and was very excited that it was just the two of us because it meant we could spin really fast (Ryland isn't a fan of the spinning rides right now.)  We also did the swings and balloon ride while the other 2 napped.

Ryland tried Elmo's Blast Off ride this year (basically a frog hopper ride).  We weren't sure how he would like it but it turned out that he was a big fan of it and we went on it a couple of times during the day.

Kenzie was great during the trip.  She sat happily in her stroller but was a big fan of the times when she was able to get out and stretch a bit. : )

Another successful trip to Sesame ... I'm sure we will be back there again soon!