Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (& boats)

Automobiles: The day before my mom and Amber & kids arrived, we rented a 10 passenger van from ABS vans just 10 minutes from our house. We were thrilled to find a company that had a van left as every major and minor rental car company were completely sold out due to the inauguration.


Planes: On January 20th we loaded the boys in the aforementioned van, popped in a Baby Einstein DVD and prepared ourselves for hours on the road not expecting to actually be at the airport by 10:30 when my mom's plane landed. To every one's amazement we were there right on time! The traffic was the lightest we have ever seen in this area. After picking up my mom, we headed to the Pentagon City Mall and did a little shopping and a lot of walking. We then ate lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen (only a few other customers in there) and then it was back to the mall to kill another 4 hours. We spent almost 90 minutes in the ladies lounge of Nordstroms letting the boys somersault on the floor and throw stuffed Victoria Secret dogs onto the couch to make a "basket" or under dressers to make a "goal." (This mall did not have a children's playland...so we had to make our own...and since Super Boagie was with us....she saved the day and our aching feet). Finally it was time to go back to the airport to pick up Amber, Tate, and Ayden.


Everyone was strapped in and we headed north towards Pennsylvania. A 15minute detour to the Rainforest Cafe actually turned out to be a 30 minute detour to The Cheesecake Factory because the RC went out of business a few weeks before unbeknown to our GPS system. Around 11:00 we finally made it to our hotel for the evening.


Boats: The initial plan was to stay that the Red Caboose Motel in a train car, but since they were closed for 2 months we thought the boys would enjoy staying on a boat. The Fulton Steamboat Inn in Lancaster, PA was a perfect place for the boys (and girl) but I wished we would have been able to go outside and explore the grounds with the pond and playset (maybe we will this spring or summer).

Here are the kids playing on the top bunk around midnight.

January 21, 2009: Mikie turns 4 years old!

7:00 sharp my boys were awake and ready celebrate Mikie's fourth birthday. We ate at the restaurant in the steamboat where they had the most delicious sausages. Mikie is attempting to blow out his birthday candle (again, Super Boagie to the rescue...great idea, Mom!)

Trains: The reason we drove all the way to PA? To visit the train museum, of course! Mikie was so excited to share this with his friend. He even got to go inside one of the trains because it was his birthday, although he wouldn't sit in the engineer's seat.

A video of the difference in the way the boys "take in" the trains:

Tate is as still as a statue while Mikie's feet are never planted for long:

Super Boagie: Stronger than a locomotive

Super Boagie: Able to lift 4 year olds while still sporting fashionable purses.

Super Boagie: Best Grandma in the whole wide world!

Mikie Jones (4 years old), Zachary Jones (18 months),

Mommy Jones (old) & Daddy Jones (older)

Amber, Tate, & Ayden in front of a Doodlebug train.

The boys check out the train from beneath the tracks.

All Aboard!!!

Our 1 year old: Zachary

2 year old: Ayden

3 year old: Tate

Our 4 year old: Mikie

Inside the hands on children's area the boys were working hard delivering cargo.

Lunch Time at Long John Silvers

I think these two corn lovers need to visit my parent's farm in August when the sweet corn is ready to be harvested.

Our intent was to eat a quick bite and then go to The Hands On House children's museum; however, when you have 2 kids with jet lag and the other 2 with sleep deprivation (not to mention the adults battling exhaustion) the best thing to do is just head home.

Only a few short minutes on the road and we achieve tranquility!

Chuckecheese

Once we were back in Fredericksburg, we took the kids to Chuckecheese for a memorable birthday evening. Mikie and Zachary spent most of the evening playing skiball.

He's so little even 12 month pants fall right off of him.

The watergun race.

And now he's officially FOUR!

Abilities Update:

Mikie amazes me everyday with his God given talents. He can count way past 100 (probably to 1000 if I had a long enough attention span to hear him out). He loves adding and subtracting numbers in his head, with his fingers, and especially on his calculator. If he isn't talking about numbers then he is usually writing them. Every paper we have has numbers or addition problems either on the front or on the back of it. We are working on telling time with an analog clock; and I definitely need to start working on identifying money with him. The only thing he does better than manipulate numbers is read. He is currently reading the second chapter book in the Magic Tree House series. I don't know how he does it, but words like "eagerly" and "through" just roll off his tongue with ease. I've never taught him those words, how does he know them? He's been blessed with many gifts, but is very hypersensitive and overly emotional. We've started cutting the red dye out of his diet and are seeing some improvements. I did have an opportunity to watch him during a large group Cubbies song/show and was so very proud of him for sitting and listening to the teachers while there were many kids causing distractions around him. I love watching him grow into a little boy and pray that he will continue seeking The Lord all the days of his life. I love you, Mikie!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!