Museums!

Well, if you read my last post, we did get to go back to the city...to see museums!  I won't say WHO exactly, but one of us was SO excited to visit the National Museum of Natural History because he heard there was a HUGE dinosaur exhibit. 

Wyatt's first train ride!!  Now that I think about it, it was Henry's, too.

Besides the terrible picture quality, can you sense his excitement???  And I quote, "Mooooommy!  It's. A. TYRANNOSAURUS REX!!!!"

Yeah.  I'm glad dinos are extinct.  This was just and upper thigh bone.  What the what?

A view from above:

Future paleontologist, just hanging with his pal T-Rex:

Okay, we saw much, much more at this museum but we forgot about our camera.  Let me just tell you - this place was awesome!  All kids would have a blast here!  Animals, bugs, fossils, jewels...oh my!  And.  AND!  I held a ginormous millipede!!!!  Eeeeeeew!  I was trying to show Henry that we could all be brave, even when we didn't want to do something.  I may or may not have practically flung the thing back at the bug handler afterwards.

Then we skipped over to the American History Museum.  We spent most of our time amongst the planes, trains and automobiles section.  It was cool:

Henry thought it would be fun to pose with the exhibits:

I'm not sure where he got this idea: 

They had a little room full of fun stuff for kids to explore so we of course had to spend a few moments there.  Here is Aunt Kathy helping Wyatt with a pinwheel:

Here's the fam on our way back to the train.  Can you tell we've had a full day?

 

Can you?

Jim snapped a shot of the capital building on our way out.  Not too shabby!

Our Nation's Capital

Jim and I were lucky to have his parents on our trip East because we got to visit the Capital one evening with Kathy and Eric while Gma and Gpa watched our little guys.  I visited D.C. once when I was in 7th grade but A) much of the significance was lost on me and B) I only remembered very large things, like say, the Washington Monument.

Here's me with that large pointy thing:



What was really, really amazing was getting the chance to do this without our lovely children so we could take in the meaning of so much history and tragedy without being disrupted.  Being able to experience these monuments and memorials, especially in the calm of evening, was breathtaking.  I have a renewed sense of pride in our country and a tremendous sadness and grief (not to mention gratefulness) for so many lost in battles through the years. 

This is the only picture we took at the Vietnam Memorial.  If you make it past here to see the wall, you will understand why.  There are so many names.  SO many names.  It was more than overwhelming.  The emotion that comes forth when you witness such loss is overpowering, to say the least.

The World War II Memorial is a newer one (I think it was made during George W.'s presidency).  It is stunning.

A favorite, The Lincoln Memorial:

It's amazing how you can already know so much about a man and his great deeds and accomplishments, but still be so overcome with the enormity of what he did.  I did one of my largest and most important papers for my major on one of his speeches in college, so I feel a connection to him and his agenda.  What a great man.  Here is Jim and I with Pres. Lincoln.  Jim thought we must be very serious, but I was happy. :)

Korean War Memorial:

This is about as close as you can get to the White House:

A fantastic evening spent in fantastic company (and some road detours...have you ever tried to get OUT of D.C.??).  I would go back there in a heartbeat!  There is so much more to see in the daylight!

Airplanes and Shuttles and Missiles, Oh My!

The next adventure on our  Very American Vacation was the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum.  In case you were wondering, it was very cool.  There was approximately 2 million airplanes, 600 helicopters, 300,000 missiles and a huge space shuttle.  Okay, there wasn't that much stuff, but it was close.  There was SO much to see.  Henry loved it! 

Oh, he's SO casual.

An airplane.  Jet?  Whichever.

Wyatt. 

This was also a fun day for him.  He played "I will take my shoe off and toss it over yonder and mommy will go get it and put it back on.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat."

A huge engine or something rather.

In case you didn't know, Transformers was filmed in this particular Air & Space Museum, and Henry watched that scene about 24 times. 

Woosh!

Neeeeeeeeeeoooooo!

ROAR!

I have nothing clever for this one.

Candycane, anyone?

The Space Shuttle.

While this was definitely cool for H-dawg to see, I was able to "Meh" at it because I grew up where the space shuttles actually launch from and have seen about a zillion take off.

(I have been told I am prone to exaggeration)

Teeny tiny Henry and BIG, MIGHTY SPACE SHUTTLE.

Weeeee! 

Yeah right.  Can you even imagine going into outer space, let alone LEAVING THE SHUTTLE ON A LITTLE BOX THING WITH SOME BUTTONS ON IT TO GO FLOATING AROUND?  I am sorry to my relatives reading this, but I believe that is a for sure poop-your-pants moment.

Lots of interactive stuff, which is a 4 year old's best friend.

But wait!  There's more, there's more!  We'll see when I have another free 15 minutes to continue sharing our journey...

Our Very American Vacation

In November, we were incredibly blessed to be able to visit Jim's sister and brother-in-law in their brand new home in Maryland.  Jim's parents were also there so they got to share our kids for one entire week.  Ha!  Anyhow, they live in an incredible area.  So much history is just right there!  We only saw a teeny, tiny percentage and we got to see a lot.  Such fun!  Now we can't wait to go back and explore more and more.  And more.  And again.

The next week, I got to take the kids (BY MYSELF!!!) to Orlando to visit with my family.  Also, much fun was had.  Do you see what I mean about American?  How can you get more American than the DC area and Disney World?  I'm just sayin'.

So.  I will try to get a lot of what we did on here in pics.  They might not seem too exciting to you, but we had a blast, the kids (namely Henry) had a blast and being with family is always a treat.

Our first adventure:

The Naval Academy at Annapolis

The Naval Academy Chapel

There were lots of really cool statues.  Here is one:

Henry enjoyed the space stuff.  Jim enjoyed rear-end shots.  Thanks, babe!

I had no idea there were so many different types of naval uniforms.

Gorgeous, cold, gorgeous day!

Did I mention it was chilly?

The Naval Academy Ram

So many incredible things to read

So many cannons to sit on...

Lots and lots of miniature ships to see!  Many of the ships were made out of bone by prisoners of war and were amazing.

To be continued...

I'm sensing a trend here...

Once again, the dream of that "Perfect Christmas Picture" was foiled.  You know - the one son who smiles on command and yells "CHEEEEESE" anytime he sees anything slightly resembling a camera - WILL. NOT. SMILE.

So, because I am incredibly easy-going and have a super sense of humor about such things, this was the picture on our Christmas cards this year:

Because what says Merry Christmas more than brothers strangling each other??

Did I mention that I printed these the week of Christmas and somehow managed to get most of them out a few days before the big day?  If I forgot you, please forgive me.  My brain can only handle so much these days.  Especially when it has been exhausted by the efforts put forth for these next charming photographs.

  Please enjoy the Marr Christmas Cards that Weren't 2010!

This is about when we let Wyatt have a blankie break:

 

Trying something else...

So that's a no, then.

I have approximately 10 blog posts to catch up on, so here's to a great first blogging month of 2011! 
Happy New Year!

Oh, Wyatt

I felt like it was time for a Wyatt update! You know, as the second child, he doesn't get as much face time as Henry did for 3 years on his own. So where to begin...

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times (hahaha! I'm my mother!)...Wyatt is the exact opposite of Henry. Wyatt is not compliant. Wyatt is not shy. Wyatt has never met a stranger. Wyatt does not eat everything you serve him. If Wyatt doesn't care for what you serve him, he does not keep it on his plate. Wyatt does not sit still. Wyatt does not, after being reminded 20 times, keep crayons, markers or pens out of his mouth. Wyatt does not keep shoes or socks on for more than 2 minutes.

Wyatt does what he wants. Or at least, he tries to. And when he's told "no" or has something taken away, he screeches, stomps around in a circle two times and throws himself on the floor face-down. He throws the best temper tantrums. Two or three times a day.

He is an individual, for sure. His personality is developing loud and strong (emphasis on loud). He is opinionated and downright sassy - at 18 months! Fortunately, there are also quite a few things about him that balance out the stubborn parts of his personality. I just do not know where he gets all that stubbornness from...

Wyatt loves to cuddle. Wyatt loves to talk. He has a very funny sense of humor. He loves to laugh. Wyatt loves to play hide-and-seek. He loves his big brother. He loves being chased. He loves being outside. Wyatt loves giving kisses. He jumps up and down and squeals for joy when we come to get him in the morning. He loves his blankie and drags it everywhere. When he can't find his blankie, he walks around saying, "Uh oh. Uh oh" until it is found. Wyatt is a mama's boy, and while that can be trying at times, it makes me reeeally happy. Did I mention he loves to cuddle?

Wyatt talks all day long, and while you can't understand much of what he is saying, he has quite a few words that most people can figure out. Here's a little sample:

Mama
Dada
Henny (Henry)
Brubba (Brother)
Kee-ee (Kitty)
Nana (Banana)
Tate Too (Thank You)
Eyes
Noose (Nose)
Teeeese (Please)
Teeeese (Cheese)
Mi Ma (Mickey Mouse)
Da Duck (Donald Duck)
Meenee (Minnie)
Dewce (Juice)
Ba (Ball)
Piper (Diaper)
Burrrr! (Bird)
Nenna (Jenna)
Yep
Nononononono!

At 18 months, he is:
30 lbs. 13 oz (95%)
34 1/4 inches tall (90-95%)

Not quite as big or long as his brother but still a big boy and we love it! He spices up our life and we are thankful for the privilege of being his parents. I don't think Henry could even imagine life without his baby brother. We sure love this crazy little guy!  Here's to a lifetime of saying, "Oh, Wyatt."