Another Hot Day

It was another hot day, so after playing for a bit outside we came in to watch Aladdin.

Bowling!

On our second trip to the bowling alley, we discovered that the kids have their own way of watching their balls (slowly) advance upon the pins.

And of course, when music plays, we all have to dance.

The Science Museum

In Richmond, we stopped at the Science Center, where we picked up a year-long membership. The kids loved exploring levers, pulleys, and blocks.

We all worked together to build a giant arch!

And then at the touch tank we got to feel all sorts of sea creatures.

The Super Birthday Party

The main reason we were at our cousins' house was to celebrate their cousin's fourth birthday party, which was superhero-themed.

They had lots of fun playing in the water, and even though it was an extremely hot day, Coraline and Arthur (above) both managed to get quite cold.

And then everyone had lots of fun running around in their super hero masks.

Washington DC Trip

It was still horribly hot outside, so we decided to spend the day at the air conditioned Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

After staring at the "Neanderthal Burial" exhibit for quite a while, Arthur turned to me and asked, "So....why did she kill him?"

We then had fun in the science lab, coloring butterfly pictures and exploring with microscopes.

We loved the human origins exhibit, but were a bit concerned when one of the videos showed a leopard savagely killing a hominid.

And everyone was so tired that they fell asleep on the train ride back.

Swim Time

We couldn't believe how long it had been since we took the kids swimming, so when we were visiting their cousins in Maryland and it was almost 100 degrees outside, we immediately hit the pool. Everyone was as comfortable in the water as when we had last gone swimming.

Arthur even learned how to swim 5 feet without his floaters on! (though this was the last attempt that we took a video of...it was not his best try)

And then afterwards, we were all tired and watched a movie before dinner time.

Working in the Garden

Working in our garden again, picking blackberries, tomatoes, green beans, and zucchini, Coraline decided to take a break on the picket fence.

Match Match!

When the triplets were young, they used to always point at matching items and declare, "Match Match!" Today we heard it again when we noticed Pop Pop and Arthur accidentally coordinated their attire.

Tree Climbers

Our kids love climbing trees!

The Go Anywhere Bus

Since our minivan is in the shop, and since no other car we have fits 3 carseats, we had to take the bus today in order to see "How to Train Your Dragon" at the movie theatre. The kids thought the bus was almost as fun as the movie.

Picking Wine Berries

On the road by Nana and Pop Pop's house there are a bunch of wine berry bushes. We love picking the sticky berries in the summer, and every few days trot down to the bushes with our buckets in hand.

But the berry bushes had prickers, and more than one sun hat became trapped.

Chick-Fil-A

Today was cow appreciation day at Chick-fil-a, so the kids dressed up as cows in order to get a free meal.

New Carseat!

We've decided to start upgrading the kids' carseats to booster seats. Betty's the first to get one, and she loves being able to sit like a big kid!

Happy Fourth of July

We got up early and drove out to a blueberry farm.
Even though Pop Pop got stung by a bee, we had a lot of fun.

Afterwards, we went to Smithfield Plantation to see their historic Fourth of July celebration. Arthur and I learned about guns.
We then took a hike and explored an old cemetery.

And since it was such a hot day, we made sure everyone wore their hats.
And this was only the start of our Fourth of July. We then went to see Cars 2 at the movie theatre, had a barbecue, and shot off some fireworks, before heading to bed, exhausted.