Museum of Flight

 We had a great time this weekend in Seattle celebrating YaYa's birthday and Dutchy's undying love for AIRPLANES! Naturally, we hit up the Museum of Flight!

 Before you even go in,  you can get up close and personal with all kinds of planes.

 And Dutch did, right away. This should have been an early indicator that areas partitioned off to avoid touching mean nothing to this boy. I think it actually made the exhibits MORE tantalizing!

 Dutch has been our kiddos most in love with airplanes. He loves to listen and point them out in the sky. Dutch has an absolute blast, of course, but it's been Clem who really surprised us with her enthusiasm at the Museum. Her curiosity was definitely piqued and she's been talking about it a lot since we got back! 

 At home, Dutch has a Disney Planes coloring book. He has colored the big round nose of every airplane a bold red. Imagine his excitement when walking up the stairs only to come face to face with a big, bright red nose of an airplane. It was very very exciting.

 After Dutch stepped over the barrier and bee-lined it straight toward a Wright Brother's replica (ahem), the docent on the floor came over and suggested Dutchy might be better suited for the Kid's Area. I didn't even know that existed so I was very glad he pointed it out!

 And so were these kids! Clem tested out a hang-gliding interactive experience.

 While Dutch proclaimed this plane HIS.

 And this helicopter HIS.

 Clem's pretty used to all that. She let him join her in a simulator.

 And then was very curious about the hot air balloon (pulling the lever fills the balloon with actual hot air and it went up to the ceiling and back down).

 She also liked listening in on the air control tower conversations happening all across the U.S.

 But she says her favorite part was the glass elevator (seriously). She isn't used to such fancy get-ups.

There was SO much to see and do at the Flight Museum. Clem could have easily stayed here all day long. After nearly 2 hours, Dutch had his fill of AIRPLANES! But I have a feeling we'll be back for more once he's a little older.

Hovander

A (Summer) Day in the Life: Dutch Edition

8:00 AM Breakfast (banana and milk) and some Curious George

 

 

9:30 AM Pants off. Time to play in the toy room (yes it always looks like that, I give up).

 10:45 time for Elevensies. More milk and a strawberry waffle.

 11:15 Helping mom (and sister) make playdoh. We've been making a lot of playdoh around here as someone seems to just eat most of it. I don't know this for a fact but am hopeful that homemade Jello flavored playdoh is a little less harsh than the canned??

 12:00 Of course.

 12:15 Mom puts the play doh away and a tantrum ensues.

 There's only one cure for tantrums in this house: Cookie Monster videos on YouTube.

 1:00 Lunch (left over chicken enchilada quinoa casserole and blueberries with watermelon).

1:30 Cleaned up and out back.

 Where we play on the deck

 and in the water.

 And search the skies for airplanes.

2:30 Clothes get wet so our boy takes them off (and this of course gives him a good reason to pee off the deck).

 3:00 Snack (Frozen gogurt--still no clothes)

 6:00 Dinner time!

 

That's all folks!
(You will have noticed of course, that no where in this series did you see that this 2  year old closed his eyes or drifted off to sleep for any amount of time. And that's for good reason. He never naps for us!!! Something happens to my children at 2 that turns off the napping button for good. It's really distressing.)

Sundays are for adventurin'

(Pics from two recent Sunday adventures)

 

 Dutch at Rasar State Park. One of our favorite places. Dutch and I fell waaaay behind Cam, Clem and Taco due to his love of identifying every rock, stick and leaf.

 But finally we caught sight of our beloveds!

 On the way home from Rasar I noticed that all the cars were pulling over to the side of the road. We originally thought there was an accident but then folks pulled out their cameras. This is what was happening: a herd of Elk had run across the highway and was prancing and enjoying their freedom in this open field. There were HUGE bucks in the herd of about 30 elk. We watched for awhile before heading home.

 On a particularly hot Sunday we hit up a new to us park where Clem discovered her love of rolling down hills and Dutch discovered his love of swings!

Fox Hollow Farm

 A few weeks ago, I drove down with my kidlets to our old stomping grounds in Issaquah (I miss you Issaquah!). My homey Emma had enticed me down there with pictures of this amazing farmyard, knowing it was my dream come true! And it didn't disappoint in any way. The kids and I had a fabulous day.

 In the farmyard, there are tons of animals to pat, they are just super used to human contact!

 In my all time favorite Dutch story of the summer, he walked up to this mama sow--yelling as they sauntered toward one another "HEY PIG!" She was not fazed by his noise one bit. When they got face to face, Dutch threw both of his arms up and said "Hey PIG! Why are you so messy??!!??" It was classic Dutch.

 In all honesty, I thought about taking one of these polka dot piglets home with me. They are not only adorable, but incredibly friendly!

 Then we explored other parts of the farm as well! There was a HUGE bin of dried corn kernels. Clementine and baby Penny LOVED the action in there. Dutchy, not so much. There was a mini-fit, actually.

All around the farm, there is a new nook to explore, more animals to gawk at and TONS we didn't even get to see! There was a little playground with beautifully landscaping all around. I love this rock bed (get on it Cam would ya?) and not until I posted the pic did I notice the peacock. Do you see it?