"When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out."
-Erma Bombeck
Ashlyn and James are both discovering new things. Ashlyn has learned that she can do puzzles without Mom and Dad and she’s getting better at making her imagination come to life with Playdoh and other art materials. As for James, well, he’s learned that wearing glasses is funny.
The weekend started off with a visit to Nina and Papa’s house for a family get together. James got to say hi to his cousin Lilly and had fun flying off the back of the treadmill. Nina and Ashlyn played dress up (twice) and Ashlyn enjoyed looking at pictures of Dad as a kid. It’s always fun when the family gets together.
At the end of the evening we tried to take some family pictures. The first attempt was of the grandparents and grandkids. This did not go well. All the kids were crying, with one key exception. While the world cried around him, James held strong and laughed. Good job buddy! The big family picture went slightly better. Nobody cried this time anyway, and Loki sneaked a kiss from Fonda as the flash went off. Good times!
We had a birthday party to go to on Saturday, and we went to Pump It Up in Arlington. Ashlyn went once before for a different kid’s birthday party, but this time she really took advantage of the place and had a blast. James, despite his age, had a great time and didn’t want to leave (see the top right picture of James running off when it was time to gather up for the next room). Both of the kids really enjoyed going up and down the slides and climbing over everything. Mom and Dad had fun as well, and we both were sore the next morning from chasing the kids around.
While there, Mom was a good role model for the kids by strictly following safety rules.
Later in the evening the Wofle clan came over to the house. Ashlyn and James had a great time pestering Uncle Brian with some of the party birthday party favors, and of course James got some "hold me” time with Grandma.
Sunday we took few pictures. We were worn out from all the activities over the past few days. It’s worth noting that Ashlyn had her first play date on Sunday. We’ve hung out with friends and other kids before, but this was the first time that Ashlyn and a friend from school put their heads together and decided that it would be fun to meet at one of their houses. So we went to Mia’s house and the two girls had an incredible time together. Their parents were nice too, and we’ll definitely do it again. We may take pictures when it’s at our house, but we felt awkward asking if we could take pictures of the two girls together at the first visit.