For once, a blog about something else

We went out to a music festival yesterday. We left in the middle of the afternoon, and we didn't return until late at night. Or ten p.m., which is late depending upon who you ask. Here we are enjoying our time away, listening to good music, and having fun:



Don't we look like normal people? Too bad we don't feel normal half the time, but no matter. Here is the stage at the festival:



and my parents, who got us the great VIP passes:



The first band was the Wailers, the band that used to have Bob Marley, and now has this guy:



and this other guy:



See what a fan I am? I actually love this type of music, but I never listen to it on my own. After they left the stage, we had a bite to eat, wandered around the booths, bid on an auction item (a Lou Holtz signed "Play Like A Champion Today" poster, of course), and returned in time for Blues Traveler. Here they are:



I only knew two of their songs from the radio, but let me tell you, that guy can sure play the harmonica. It was great, and we were right up close to the stage. We both remembered how much we like live music, and what a shame it is we never go out like this anymore. Now that the boys are getting bigger and are easier to leave, maybe we'll have a chance get out again.

Next time I promise photos of the boys. I forgot to take the camera to the birthday party we attended yesterday, but maybe I can steal some pictures from the mom.

Back to Normal, whatever that is

We are finally over the stomach bug that hit us last week. It was incredibly contagious and every member of the family suffered, including my poor mom who offered to watch the boys for me while I was recovering. In an effort to entertain us, I took the boys to our favorite fast food joint, In and Out Burger. Here is Jack enjoying his lemonade:



and Nick, just enjoying the atmosphere:



On Sunday, when the man returned home and was hit with the flu, I gathered the boys and got them out of the house. Of course we went to Pallatte again, because it is my favorite place. Here is Jack emptying the rocks from his shoe:



And me sitting with the boys, waiting for my parents to meet us:



And Nick, looking cute:



Other than that, we've spent a lot of time on the swing set:









And I even took a few funny videos of them interacting:





As you can see, Nick can now climb to the top of the slide by himself. He rarely slides down by himself, but he loves to climb up.

I have a few more videos to share, but I'll save them for my next post.

yuck

Last night, almost immediately after I pressed "Post" on my last blog entry, Nick started to cry. It was 8:30 - he never cries at that time of night. I waited a bit and went in to check, only to find him screaming and covered in vomit. Great. I got him cleaned up and sat on the couch with him while he continued to get sick into various towels I brought over for him.

Then about 10:30, Jack came out. "Mom! I threw up!" Indeed he did. With him it was all at once, so I got him showered off, his bed changed, and sat out on the couch watching tv until I could settle him back down.

The funny thing? This is how they looked:



Hardly the photo of illness. I look worse than they do - although no need for photographic evidence.

Hey, Mom?

So Jack's newest favorite thing to do is say "Hey, mom?" about 655 million times a day. This proceeds everything from "Are we there yet?" to "Is it okay if I poke my eye with a knife?" to "Do lizards bite?" I am not making this up. I try to maintain some level of patience, but it can be challenging.

I also realized that it is not too far in the future that Nick will also be talking. I fear for my ears. And my sanity.

But I will say this, my adorable children are getting cuter and cuter by the day. Today we spent a lot of time together on the swingset, we went to swim lessons, and we all squashed into one chair and watch an episode of Calliou together.

So here are the latest and greatest photos of these great little boys, who will soon grow up and leave us for real life.



This is Nick at Pallatte, my new favorite place in the whole wide world. Seriously, if you have a minute and you're near downtown, I highly recommend stopping by. Nick likes it too.



The boys enjoyed spending time on the tire swing today:







and Jack likes the glider:





Speaking of Jack, he is in the process of trying to decide if he needs a nap or not. Yesterday he did not. So today I told him he just had to have some quiet time on the couch. He got super cozy to watch his new favorite movie, The Swan Princess, and look what happened:



I didn't let him sleep very long, because when he naps these days he winds up staying up until ten. Not a good time for the family. So I sent Nick in to wake him:



As you can see, he was happy to oblige.

The Man is gone for the rest of the week visiting our Nation's Capitol and wining and dining with other fun people like himself. We will manage, but it is certainly less fun at home without him here.

April is Here!

I can't believe it's already April - this year is zipping by like nobody's business. I took Nick to a playgroup this morning while Jack was in school, and it was mostly first time mothers with their just-crawling babies. I would have taken pictures, but Nick mostly clung to me and stared at the other kids as if they were aliens. I guess he isn't really socialized with younger kids, just his big brother and the boys on the street. Poor guy.

Last weekend I went to my cousin's wedding in Atlanta. I was gone for 3 nights and the boys missed me a lot. I will be gone for over a week in May, so it was a good test to see how they would handle it. Everyone did great, but when I got home they both needed a little lap time:



They seem to have recovered though, and now it's back to business as usual. Jack is still obsessed with Spiderman:



and Nick is still obsessed with Jack. The nice thing is they are starting to play together and have fun. Right before I took the next photos, Jack was sitting and the computer and he yelled to me "Mom! Come put Nick in my lap!" How can you argue with that? So here they are, my two boys:





Not a lot is going on here - we're taking swimming lessons to gear up for summer, and both boys are doing great. Jack even got a ribbon last week for floating on his back by himself. We're hoping to get to the zoo and the butterfly museum soon, and I'm sure we'll have great pictures of those outings!

Peter Cottontail

Jack learned a new song: