Birthday, parts 1 through 4

We celebrated Miles' 4th birthday so many times he should be at least 8 by now! Birthday no.1 was with my family at the cabin. Aunt Erika made him an awesome race track cake with a real Lightning McQueen on top! We took a day off after that weekend so George could attend a meeting in Arlington. Oma and Opa came along and we visited the Air and Space Museum near Dulles on Monday afternoon. Miles loved the space wing, which has a space shuttle and he readily recognized the Mars rover. The following Wednesday was his actual birthday, which he celebrated at school, then with friends at home, and finally with a special dessert after dinner and lots of great presents. 

Four of our closest friends came for his cooking party. The decorated chef hats and aprons and made loaf-pan lasagnas to take home. Then we decorated cupcakes and opened presents. There was also a spontaneous drawing craft and lots of playing with his new stuff. We're still working on the thank-you notes. I can tell you that Miles is so thankful for all his great friends and family and really couldn't have wished for a better birthday, times four!

PJ Weekend

We had an uneventful weekend, mostly at home. On non-school days when we don't have morning plans, Miles has gotten into the habit of keeping his PJs on as long as possible--until I can coax him into getting dressed to go somewhere. And since he's been getting up so early, we've gotten into the habit of letting him start his day with  TV. He's been waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 (I think--I try not to notice the time--I just give him a snack and get him set with a video or PBS and get back to bed until Ruby wakes up.) Ruby looks for him as soon as she's up. And she's learned that lately she needs to climb up to the 3rd floor to find him. I got these pics this morning of her on the way, and sitting with him (for a few seconds) to watch the screen. She's not into TV yet....but will try to sit near him when he's still.  

I don't know that he's learned much from his hours of "educational programming" but he has started using phrases like "educational programming" (or some approximation of it) and "WQED Pittsburgh" and he knows all about "PBSkids dot org."

It's not ideal, but it's working for us at the moment. Hopefully he'll get back to waking at a more reasonable time. I'm pretty sure he won't tire of his new TV routine though! 

Spidey and Friends

Miles, as a somewhat timid Spiderman, took to the street last night in search of candy. We played with silly string "webbing" at home, but didn't shoot it at any neighbors. Ruby and I handed out candy from the front porch, greeting neighbors as they passed by, and then went to a few houses ourselves. Then we all met up, and met friends, including another Spiderman, for a short visit to a party in the next block. The weather was perfect and we all had a fun night.

Scary Morning

I had quite the fright this morning--Miles was up at 6:30! Ruby quickly caught on and wanted to get up too, around 7. Miles was surprised when it started to get light outside. He was expecting it to

 be Halloween (meaning nighttime) all day. He wore his costume to school this morning, but wasn't as excited as I thought he'd be. He seemed a little worried about people thinking he was really Spiderman.

Last Sunday we took a family outing to the trolley museum and Trax Farm. Miles loved sitting on the old tractor at the farm, riding a John Deere trike, and climbing over the pumpkin pile. 

Changing Hues

You may notice, if you look closely, that our house has some new color! The painters finished up while we were away so we came home to a new look. You'll have to come see it in person when you get the chance.

The kids and I took a walk around the block this afternoon and Ruby walked a pretty good part of it herself. It was a beautiful day. 

We also went to the grocery store and they rode side-by-side in the car cart, at Miles' request. He assured me that he would beep the horn for her. She was thrilled to be so close to him for our tour through the aisles. It's been a busy, fun week. Ruby is making lots of different sounds now, including motor sounds for her cars, a word that sounds kind of like "ball" and occasionally "mama" and "dada."

I just noticed the sibling resemblance in these photos. Other people keep telling me that Ruby is starting to look more and more like her brother. Do you see it?

Home, Sweet Home

Camping on Saturday--Ruby was a scruffy ragamuffin in her multiple layers, with a layer of dust on top of everything else.

Miles shows off his hot chocolate mustache, and 

 the kids gather around the table for their morning meeting.

Here are some pictures from Wednesday, when we 

visited Tybee Island lighthouse. 

Our whirlwind tour came to a close yesterday, with a long last drive from Point Lookout State Park. 

We had a great time in Savannah and camping over the weekend. George spent Thursday morning at Georgia Tech's Savannah campus. He delivered his talk at noon and had lunch with his colleague from Maryland. The kids and I visited the Jepson Center, an art museum with interactive exhibits. They had a short program Thursday morning for 3-5 year olds. They talked about the black-and-white photos on exhibit and made a craft with black-and-white paper, glue, and decorations. Miles really liked the hands-on area, including a clear plexiglass wall we could draw on with markers. Ruby got hold of the markers too and soon gave herself a cute black beard and black fingers. Luckily it all washed off pretty easily. They also dressed up in the artistic costumes. (That's Ruby, sporting the Native American cloak.) These were the only pictures I took in Savannah--which is a shame because the city is so lovely. Besides our walk to a pizza place for dinner and to a candy store on Wednesday night, I was on my own with the kids and too occupied with them to get out the camera. 

After the art museum we took a trolley tour of the city and had some gelato. Since I didn't get to enjoy any chai lattes during the trip (we didn't visit a single coffee shop!), the chai latte gelato hit the spot. Miles really enjoyed riding the trolley and hardly asked any questions. The driver was doing the narration thing the whole time and he mostly just sat and listened. Ruby was wiggly though, and hard to contain. After the ride we headed back to the hotel for her nap. Miles and I ate the leftover pizza and I packed up our stuff for another road trip. 

We drove to Wilson, NC and stayed there Thursday night (after a late dinner at Cracker Barrel). And guess where we had breakfast on Friday? Another Cracker Barrel, a few hours down the road. 

We made it to Richmond by noon on Friday, to visit Darin and Jen and meet their new baby.  We stocked up on wine at Costco and groceries for the weekend. It was rainy, and although we were all set to camp that night...all our friends called and said they wouldn't be at the campground until Saturday. Luckily we were still in Richmond and our  friends immediately offered up their guest room. Miles had a great time playing with Evan and Jacob and we added one more destination to our road trip.

Saturday morning was cold but clear and we drove to Point Lookout for a fun day of hanging out with friends. Miles had quite a crew of kids around now and kept busy keeping up with them. Ruby had her first camping trip and handled it like a pro. She even napped in the tent in the afternoon, which was a rarity on Miles' early camping excursions. 

We weren't quite prepared for how cold it got on Saturday night. That sure made us appreciate those soft warm hotel beds! 

Savannah

Here are some pictures from yesterday, on the beach at Tybee. Miles and Ruby had a great time playing in the sand and chasing the seagulls.

We're at our hotel in Savannah now. So far we haven't seen anything except the hotel. Miles and George are at the pool and Ruby's napping. Miles is excited to ride a trolley later. He's been trying new foods on this trip. Monday he tried steamed shrimp and last night he had shrimp, crab, and mussels. He was easily convinced to try these "small creatures" after we assured him that they would be dead. George did the dirty work of peeling the shrimp and cracking the crab claws for him. He's excited to have a shellfish dinner with Opa and Grandpa sometime.
On our way off the island today we stopped at the lighthouse and walked up all 273 steps, 154 feet, to the top. It was a nice hike and Miles did very well. The view was spectacular. We've had great weather so far on this trip. No rain and just one windy day. We're hoping it holds up for our camping trip this weekend!
I don't think we've lost any more possessions....and Miles doesn't seem to miss his blanket. He's been so tired at bedtime though (and dinnertime for that matter) that he hasn't had a chance to miss it.