Parker, Got Milk?

You bet he does ... and a brownie, too! (following pork chop, green beans and noodles, of course!)

Still smiling after 13 miles

Bill recently found this photo online, taken at the 13th mile line of the ING Half-Marathon race. I love it... What a HUNK!!

Boys in Space

While in Florida during spring break we spent a day playing outerspace make-believe at Kennedy Space Center! While the skies were windy and threatening much of the day, we managed to remain dry ... and we had a fabulous time learning a ton about space, astronauts and rockets.

One of the most visually impressive areas of the center is the Rocket Garden, a large outdoor area where actual-sized rocket replicas "grow" from the ground. They were awe-inspiring.

We also saw - and participated in! - a funny, wacky children's show. When the actors asked for audience help, Brady's arm shot up with gusto and he bounded onto the stage. As the children were handed various planets to hold for the audience, I scanned the stage and counted. Sure enough, Brady was 5th in line ... Jupiter! This of course is his favorite planet and he was thrilled (though the foam ball was so large he had to share the duty with the little girl next to him.)

The boys had a BLAST spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa: learning about the missions to the Moon, future expeditions to Mars, the history of rocket science and the space shuttle! It was OUT of this WORLD!

Look what I can make!

Thanks in part to a HUGE pail of 1970s Legos in Nana's basement and in part to Bill's artistic and detail-oriented genes, Brady has become a Lego maniac. He received his first true set of "little legos" for Christmas, and he has been saving his nickels and dimes for more ever since.

He mastered his first set of rescue vehicles within a matter of weeks and has since become an expert on a Star Wars set, a jet ski and Jeep set, a race car set and a construction vehicle set (procured at a visit to the Lego Store at Downtown Disney over spring break.)

I love this obsession! It keeps his mind engaged, his fingers and small-motor skills working and creates a sense of accomplishment ... oh, and generally, his mouth quiet. Best yet, it does all this for extended periods of time!

As far as I'm concerned, bring on the Legos!!

For the love of Avary

Brady and Parker are two of the luckiest little souls. Their world revolves around a network of loving family members: grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-aunts and uncles, second cousins and more. The boys' understanding of family is one of inclusivity and openness.

It is a patchwork of people - both young and old - who care for and love one another despite geographical separations. The boys believe whole-heartedly that they are valued pieces to a large and loving family, and they clearly have a given place within that kindred unit.

A few weeks ago we received a wonderful visit from Bill's cousin Avary. While Avary's eldest brother Taylor is a 2nd year at Emory (yeah for us ATL locals!), Avary lives in Lincoln NE, and we see her mainly during the summers in Minnesota. She is smart, friendly, talented, and lovely ... and most of all, the boys ADORE her!!

Thanks for a great visit, Aves... we can't wait to see you on the lake!

Three, Two, One... We're Back!

With close to 200 pictures recently downloaded and ready for organization, I have much fodder for many blog posts to come. We'll start with the most recent, picture compliments of Jennifer.

The PreK and Kindergartners from VCLC took a much anticipated field trip yesterday to the Fernbank Science Center Planetarium. The kids have been studying space and the solar system for a month and have prepared research projects on planets (Brady presented on Jupiter.)

Brady is an astronomy junkie - we're sure he inherited that from Grandy! He loves space, planets, astronauts, shuttles and rockets.... as you'll see from the Kennedy Space Center pictures in an upcoming post!

With a small but interesting science museum and a fun outside area, the kids had a wonderful time. Best yet, to celebrate Grandy's recent birthday we will be visiting the planetarium again this upcoming weekend to see two new shows and to learn more hand-in-hand with Grandy!

Stealing from Liz...

Today's post is going to be a total rip off of Liz, but I don't care! And she's right, "you just don't get this with girls!"

Liz and I are peeking out of her window into her backyard...