A Peek into our Saturday

Today, we went on an adventure to the Lincoln Memorial!

Here's a sneak peek.

My walking buddy.

Eastern Market to Smithsonian.

  

Oh you know, just doing cartwheels by the Washington Monument.

Battlecat visited the Big Pencil.

Then we headed down to the Lincoln; the kids hadn't seen it yet.

Just throwing a soda can around by the Lincoln...

Then Battlecat made an appearance at the Lincoln too.

On the way back, we stopped to climb a tree.

Oh this time, it was just in front of the White House.  

No big deal.

More to come!

Sleeping Beauties

One adjustment to DC life: we nap less.

It's not intentional, it's just a faster pace here.

There are more play dates, more things to do and see.

I snapped this as I checked on Emmaline after a long nap.

And Hudson fell asleep in Nick's lap during Movie Night after a no-nap day.

The Bronco

Elijah has needed a bigger bike for a while, and we finally got him a small adult BMX bike; a Bronco.

He is in love with it.

Hudson got Elijah's old bike and we put the training wheels back on it; he is getting the hang of it!

I wonder if this means the end of an era for the Big Wheel?

Kind of makes me sad.

I miss the blanket cape and big wheel days on Finland Drive.

(Shirley, don't you!?)

The bike came in last week, but it has parts that are to be put together by a professional bike dealer,

so we hollered at Tim, one of the interns who happens to build bikes as a hobby.

When the boys came back from the retreat, we were able to get Tim to finish up the assembly with his tools.  Elijah rode it today for the first time and LOVES it.

It's a bit tall for him, so getting on the seat is a little hard.

Sometimes he needs help and sometimes he can do it by himself.

But once he's on, he's flying.

Hudson hasn't grasped the concept that the more you pedal, the faster you go.

He pedals and then stops and looks around like he should keep cruising.  Ha.

He'll have it down in no time, I'm sure.

First Crash.

Elijah was SO excited to help Hudson learn.

He was his biggest cheerleader.

Already doing tricks!

Hudson's Hiking Party

We celebrated Hudson's birthday with a hiking party yesterday.

He's not particulalry "into" one thing right now, 

so I thought we'd take advantage of the trees all around us before we move to DC.

I thought about how much they love the "forest" behind our house, 

and that's what they will most likely miss the most.

So my original idea was to have a party in the "forest" 

but with a house on the market, I realized that might not be a great idea.

So we had it at Umstead Park, which is just down the street from our house.

It was such a gorgeous fall day, which made it perfect.

Nick and Hudson picked out walking sticks for the boys from our backyard,

and I made a little "hobo" bag with a magnifying glass,

a scavenger hunt list, a sticker sheet and a nametag.

The theme was so fun and easy to do for a party.

I made a fake fire out of logs and tissue paper for the center, 

and campfire cupcakes out of fondant and tootsie rolls

and nature-themed cookies

and granola bars and trail mix in clear painters cans from Michaels

s'more pops (marshmallows dipped in chocolate with graham cracker crumbs),

and acorns (mini nilla wafers, kisses and peanut butter morsels),

and good ol' fashioned s'mores.

I used pine cones for the card holders and tied tags on the cans with hemp string.

The boys had such a sweet time together.

And it was such an easy party because they entertained themselves the whole time.

They went on a hike with the dads and found the things on their scavenger hunt list.

(red leaf, green leaf, yellow leaf, 2 rocks, 3 acorns, etc.)

Then they used their magnifying glasses to "find things" 

and took turns following a leader (usually the bossy older brothers).

I love this picture of the boys (minus Jonah).

Nolan, Will, Elijah, Hudson, William and Nate

They went on a little hike with the dads.

He had a real campfire on his cupcake with that candle!

The boys roasted s'mores in a little grill.

I was hoping to get a spot with a large fire pit, but they were all taken.

(Have you noticed that my son has a habit of taking really obnoxious eating photos?)

They were having so much fun that we totally forgot to open presents!
So we just waited until we got home.
Thank you, dear friends, for the fun gifts!
I can't believe it was our last party in Raleigh...I've so loved ALL of our parties with y'all.
(And with those of you who have moved away -- I always miss you most on party days.)

And here are the rest of the pics!

Happy 4th Birthday, Hudson!

We celebrated Hudson's 4th birthday yesterday...and of course, the festivities are continuing!

He asked for donut holes for breakfast. 

Love that sleepy smile.

Opening a card/gift from Nana C and Papa.

They sent him money, so we will have to go shopping!

Grandad, Me and Leighton called to sing to him.

Before you roll your eyes at Emmaline's bow with her pjs, she asked for it first thing when she woke up. 

Does Elijah not look like he's 13 in this picture?!

Then he opened presents...

He got a Razor scooter from us and a bean bag from Grandad and Me!

For his preschool class party (Friday) I made pirate cupcakes...

but I wanted him to have one on his birthday to blow out the candle.

We had a fun and relaxing day around the house, and he asked for pizza for dinner.

So after dinner, we sang to him (again).

He and Elijah went out to ride their scooters together when Elijah got home from school.

Today at preschool, he had a little pirate party.

We love you, sweet Hudson!

Can't wait to keep celebrating tomorrow with his little friends.

I'll do an "4 year old update" post on him after the party craziness is over; it's been a busy week!