Ryan's Gymnastics

Ryan is a very active little man and he LOVED his gymnastics.  On the last day of class Adam agreed to take some pictures- it was really hard though since he wouldn't stay still.  Ryan's favorite was the high balance beam that he would walk very fast across then jump off at the end (so I would have to go very fast and try to catch him at the end, whew!).  He even started trying to jump off in the middle so we had to go do something else and give mom's heart a chance to start beating again.  He also loved being a monkey, doing rocket jumps, and playing with the parachute.

Trip to DC

We had a great time visiting Grandma Laurel in DC.  Our flight left from Waterloo pretty early in the morning so we ended up camping right next to the airport.  The boys loved wrestling in our new tent and Neal enjoyed some s'mores.  The only problem was we couldn't sleep and camping gear + suitcases are hard to fit in a mid-sized car.  And I forgot plates/napkins/spoons for dinner.  Oh well, what's camping without roughing it a bit?

On our way to the Baltimore Airport we had a layover in Minneapolis.  We ended up meeting the co-piot who invited us to the cockpit for pictures.  Too bad Adam and Ryan were too scared to sit in the seat and wear his hat. A very rare opportunity since 9/11!

We went to several museums on the National Mall and also visited the Luray Caverns.  Very fun!

The bottom of the picture is actually a mirror image of the top in about 8 inches of water.  It is really convincing though!

Adam's favorite- the pirate swords!  One of them is actually a gun also.  Double your fun!

For 4th of July we went to Laurel's ward's pancake breakfast.  The food was great but Adam was VERY disappointed he didn't win the prize for the potato sack race (a 5 yr old against 14 yr olds = not a chance!) so Grandma made some games up for the boys to play.

The ring toss and ring balance games -

She also had marshmallow balancing, swimming, find the letters of the alphabet, license plate hunt and made fried chicken and potato salad for our dinner on the mall. Whew!

Then we went on the metro to hang out at the mall until the fireworks.  Nothing is more patriotic than watching fireworks displayed behind the Washington Monument!  (and then waiting 2 hours to start home because of all the people)

After visiting some more museums and celebrating Laurel's birthday we were sad to go.  Of course Ryan was just warming up to Grandma and calling her Grandma instead of Grandpa.