Finding Cotton Candy in Richmond, and other Shenanigans

 My aunt and uncle live in Richmond, and this past weekend we payed them a little visit.

The boys were especially looking forward to spending time with Uncle Pierre, because, well, his nickname is Uncle Party, so you know he likes a good time. He and Brian took them golfing on their first ever real golf course. They wore their "golf clothes," which Clark made sure were carefully folded in their suitcase for the trip down. We enjoyed delicious food and drink with them, as always, including peach cobbler and potato salad made the way that only my mom and Aunt Anne can make it.

Uncle Party bought them all kinds of glow things for the first night we were there: hats, bracelets, necklaces, sticks. They went on a glow stick parade down the street. Anne and Pierre also got them silly putty and sidewalk chalk, which got a lot of mileage over the weekend, and Anne wore her celebration pants for our arrival. There are glow stick hats in my freezer right now.

For Teddy there were the dogs and the stairs. He thinks dogs are hilarious and always wants to be in their faces. Blackberry and Izzy showed great patience this weekend and let him do a lot of stepping on tails and feet. Teddy is also obsessed with stairs and Anne and Pierre were creative with gate-making on their deck, which involved bungee cords and various household items and freakishly tall tomato plants.

Once when the boys were two years old and we were down in Richmond, during the pinnacle of their ceiling fan obsession, and Pierre made a "ceiling fan" out of painters' tape on their deck. Well, it is still there. It is nearly all peeled away and very faded, but you can still see it. Well, this time they went over the tape lines with sidewalk chalk and then proceeded to draw ceiling fans all over the rest of the deck as well. They've actually digressed in their ceiling fan art. They used to draw better ones.

2011- Uncle Pierre makes the fans with tape when the boys were two.

It is very exciting!

We love Uncle Pierre!

Fast forward three years and sidewalk chalk is on the tape.

And fans that look like turtles are everywhere.

And Teddy is kissing the dogs.

We went to a Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball game-- I know! The Flying Squirrels are a real baseball team! Pretty great. They are a minor league team in the San Francisco Giants organization. Teddy is a fan (not the ceiling kind). Not necessarily of baseball, but of being around a crowd. When people cheer he either claps his hands with them or throws both arms straight in the air. He enjoyed his first cotton candy, courtesy of Uncle Party. He's quite fond of it. During a rain delay we found  out, thanks to an official Flying Squirrels radar gun, that both Cal and Clark can throw 31 miles per hour. The Squirrels won and then we had peach cobbler.

We also went to an awesome park in their neighborhood that the kids loved. Good weekend.

And now on to the weekend before the boys begin kindergarten... breathe, breathe...

Teddy on the road-- happy traveler! 

Sleeping travelers

Clark discusses the intricacies of glow-hats over a glass of Merlot.

Glowing ceiling fan!

Golfers getting warmed up on the porch

All ready to go

Look out, golf course

Poundin' some milk before the Squirrels game

Somebody (else in the family) loves baseball!

Squirrels score!!

Uncle Party does cotton candy

Here Teddy, try some cotton candy.
Oh, that feels weird.

It's so...fluffy and...sticky.

Look, it sticks on my finger!

Let's see...do I like it?

YES I DO!

Brushing with Theodore John

Brushing your teeth is complicated, but I've come up with a step-by-step tutorial to help you first timers out there.

First, grip your toothbrush at the top like this so you can eat the toothpaste off.
Wait, that's not right.

Here we go. Hold the bottom grippy part and stick the top part in your mouth.

Move it up and down and let the spit run down your chin.

Don't be afraid to GO A LITTLE CRAZY with it.

Then swallow the yummy baby toothpaste...hold  up, I found a shower curtain!

This has been Brushing with Theodore John. Tune
in next time for How to Play in the Toilet, Undetected.

T-ball

I've written a bunch of times on the blog about how much I love baseball and how much a part of my life it has always been. It's so fun to see the way that baseball has continued to be a part of my life with my own kids.

The boys have now completed three seasons (two spring, one fall) of t-ball (and Blastball-- which is pre-t-ball, and I wrote about it here and here.) and are gearing up for the coming fall season. We've had such a fun time with t-ball. We've gotten to know some great families and have already made some wonderful memories. Brian is a great coach and he loves coaching. The kids adore him and have all learned so much about baseball. Both the Red Wings and Blue Wahoos improved a bunch each season. In fact, the other coaches voted Brian the t-ball coach of the year for Reston Little League this spring! I'm pretty proud.

I've met some great parents through it all-- and many are parents I'll most likely know for years because they live close and some of them have kids who go to the same elementary school the boys will start going to in (23 days) the fall.

We found a summer baseball camp that took place just down the street from our house, and we signed them up for one week-- Monday through Thursday, five hours a day. It seemed like a LOT of time for them to be away, but the first week went well and they loved it. We signed them up again a few weeks later, and though they were the youngest two kids, they did great, loved it, and the older kids were supportive and encouraging of them. I have a hunch that the snow cone truck that visited daily might have been their favorite part, but the home run derbies into the tennis courts were a close second.

On the professional baseball front, we of course still follow our beloved Nationals, who are in first place as I write this. We all went to a Nats game recently. Teddy wasn't even afraid of the wild, screaming fans, especially when the Nats put up 5 runs in the first inning. He looked around at everyone and started clapping his hands too!

Bottom line: baseball is the greatest sport ever. And here are some pictures.

First game ever! Blastball 2013

During fall ball last year the boy had
 ALL 4 GRANDPARENTS at a game!

First game this spring- The Blue Wahoos!

Cal and Clark's littlest fan- boldly sporting
his poopy onesie.

Cal the catcher

Teddy at the t-ball exhibition game when Brian won coach of the year.

Cal fields a ground ball at baseball camp,
while Clark holds back the competition.

Clark fields at camp.

Five hours of baseball makes them tired...for about an hour
and then they're ready to rock and roll again.

Walking home from camp

Teddy goes CLAP CLAP CLAP!

Little fan gets to go into the dugout and meet a player!

Teddy meets the infamous Teddy Roosevelt
of the Nationals' Racing Presidents