Meadowlark Gardens

Today is Columbus Day, and while it is a federal holiday, Greg's company does not have the day off. James's school is also closed. Oh, what to do, what to do? Oh, of course! Call Grandma and Grandpa! :) My parents are extremely helpful to me during the week, either watching James or helping me entertain the boys. Today they were both off work so they came over around 11. The boys and I were ready to get out, as James and Nate, while both fine, are both still a little congested. Nate and I, in fact, got up pretty early (after being up two other times during the night), so by 11 we were ready to have an adventure.

We headed out to Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna. My parents are both over 55 so they took advantage of the senior discount. The two boys were free, so I was the heavy who cost full price ($5!). It was a nice day (is a nice day, I am typing this at 3:55), so we walked around and found the children's garden, with a sand pit and some animal topiaries (I don't know if that is the right word to use but it just sounds right). James got bored pretty quickly so we walked around, saw the geese, pointed out plants and trees, and kicked around a ball. Nate decided to have a blow out so while I changed him my mom and James picked pine cones (if I could post photos I'd post a photo of them) and counted and lined them up. It was really cute. We then decided to go on another walking loop which ended up being almost uphill. My dad took on the mega double stroller, which was, for the most part, empty of children. My diaper backpack and my mom's purse were in there (Nate was in the Bjorn and much happier) though, so Dad had a nice push. :)

We then headed back to Subway and my dad ran in for sandwiches. We circled the parking lot a few times - James kept saying "Where'd Tata go? I miss Tata.". It was very sweet. I had to keep driving because Nate will apparently ONLY sleep if the car is moving. James enjoyed cuddling with his new "monster" - he has lately been obsessed with Monsters, Inc. On Saturday when Greg went out to get the paper, he stopped by a yard sale and found a stuffed Sulley for James - he adores it. It is currently sitting in the swing. :) It usually sits in James's car seat waiting for him. Or, it sits in the living room wearing the Redskins helmet Greg bought for James at same said yard sale. James likes to put the helmet on Sulley or wear it himself. Funny enough, the helmet actually fits on Greg's head. I knew my children had small heads but it's confirmed where they get them from. :)

Anyway, we got home and had Subway and my mom and dad helped get James down for nap. They took off for a few errands around 2:15. We all thought James was sleeping. Alas, about 1/2 hour later I heard him jumping on his bed. What?! I went in with Nate and James had done a # 2 (Nate had just done another #2 as well - I'm so sick of poops). The funny thing is, I went to get James some diapers from his closet last night and .... poof! There were none! The Diaper Thief had taken them all! Or, in fact, we just didn't check to see if we had enough to last us until a Costco run. Oops. Thankfully I had three in the diaper backpack. But I was done with with this # 2, so I took a #3 diaper from Nate's stash - it says 16-28 pounds. Phew. James is under the limit. Thankfully Greg went to Costco at lunch and got us diapers.

I hear Nate waking up from another too short nap. Thank God I just enjoyed some ice cream.