Monster Mash Festival

 Tom and I took "Peter Parker" and "Tony Stark" to a kids' festival in Leesburg because Spider Man and Iron Man didn't want to wear their masks. There wasn't a whole lot to do at this festival but it was fun for the boys to wear their costumes and to go trick-or-treating from store to store. This was Dylan's first experience with trick-or-treating and he got excited each time he was handed a piece of candy, even though he didn't have a clue what this stuff was. He kept calling the candy "my toys" and wouldn't let me take those toys out of his hands to put in his treat bag. He did attempt to eat his first Twix bar, with the wrapper still on.  They enjoyed a wagon ride with their dad and Evan really liked the karate demonstration and went back a second time to kick the board in half again.

 

   

A Picnic & A Playground

Saturday October 20th was a beautiful, crisp day so I decided to take the boys to Ida Lee Park in Leesburg for a picnic and then let them check out a playground that I'd heard about. They had both apparently woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day and argued all morning. They fought in the car on the way to McDonald's, too. Then Evan got mad when he realized that we were going through the drive-thru instead of going inside "the pancake store," as he calls it. I kept telling him that we were going to eat outside in the beautiful weather but he wasn't happy about it. When we finally got to the park, I didn't know where the playground was and the parking spot I chose ended up being far away it. In the midst of the grand production of trying to get both of them and the food out of the car, I completely forgot to grab the blanket I'd brought to sit on. I found a nearby park bench, though, and decided to go with that. However, the Fall beauty of the park and the novelty of eating outside was completely lost on these two grumps. When Evan looked around and didn't see a playground, he wailed "Why did you bring us here? This isn't fun! This is TERRIBLE!"

 

In the drive-thru, Dylan said he wanted chicken and Evan ordered a cheeseburger, but once we got to the park, they each wanted what the other was having, and they argued some more. I ended up switching their meals halfway through so they each got some cheeseburger and some chicken nuggets. When Evan realized that the Halloween bucket that his Happy Meal came in was 'the toy' and there was no other little trinket inside, he got mad again. He started kicking angrily and knocked over my Diet Coke and stomped on the cup so that the whole thing was ruined. When he realized what he'd done, he started to cry and said "I'm so sorry I spilled your drink, Mama! Now you don't have any drink! Wahhhhhhhh!"  I was a little annoyed (and thirsty) but the fact that he realized the consequences of his actions and took full responsibility (instead of trying to blame Dylan like he usually does) made it okay.  

 After the non-relaxing picnic, I loaded them back in the car so I could drive closer to the playground, as I'd spotted it in the distance from the park bench. They both started bawling, assuming we were going home. But they got happy again once they realized where we were going. They absolutely LOVED this playground, so we will definitely have to go back. We may have to skip the picnic next time, though!

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

  

               

 

 

 

 

 

Me & My Boys

 Here's a collection of partial family portraits that I took myself by holding the camera out in front of us with one hand. The angles usually come out a little bit funky (somebody often ends up with the dreaded fishbowl face) and Dylan is rarely cooperative with the process. Still, it's become a little hobby of mine and every once in awhile I get a really good shot this way.