Friend-filled weekend!

BC LOVES babies!

Taking a popsicle break...aren't they cute?!!?

Water table fun for a bathing beauty!

Lil Peanut...just relaxing!

Easter egg hunt!

We had a fantastic weekend with some of our best friends that live about 2+ hours away. We met them 7 years ago when they lived only 2 doors down from us in our old neighborhood. They moved away first, and then we left about 2 years later. We have kept in touch with them though, despite the extra miles and we always have SO much fun with them...and their kids! I'm sure you'll remember Lil Miss when you see her and she is now a big sister to Lil Bro. They are gorgeous kids and as sweet as can be.

They got to our house around noon on Saturday, so us Mamas hung around the house and enjoyed the beautiful day outside with the kids while the Daddys went off to lunch together. Bear Cub and Lil Miss did really well together -- they are busy little bees! Lil Bro was just content to be held and he got some EXTRA love from Bear Cub with some kisses and some "I love yous!" during play time. They spent the night and it was just so nice to have them here. We were all in bed by 10:30...it had been a full day of playing and chasing! We're looking forward to getting to Lil Miss's 3rd birthday party in May and hopefully making a weekend trip to their house sometime this summer.

I LOVE it when you can just fall right back into place with friends...it was like we had just seen them a few days before. I so wish they were 2 doors down like the old days...wow, we would have such fun getting the kids together on a regular basis. I'm just thankful for our friendship and we'll drive however many miles it would take! :) Enjoy the pictures! (Notice no pictures of the adults...oops!)

The mysterious, "It's ALIVE" package was...

ANTS!!!!

Checking out the tube of VERY active Harvester ants. Cool!

Preparing the gel in his AntWorks kit. He had to poke 4 holes in the gel to help the ants get started on their tunneling. The gel contains the food and medicine that helps the ants survive as they busily dig their tunnels.

The ants are in! He was so happy to check them out!

The ants started tunneling within the first hour and this is what it looks now. The dark spots you see are the ants. It is amazing to watch! They work continually, placing the dug up pieces of gel at the top of the "farm."

Aunt J gave this awesome, light-up ant farm to BC for Christmas. Since we did the butterfly project first, I decided to wait until Spring to get going on this one. I ordered the ants online and within a few days, the package arrived with some busy, busy ants! They should live for about 3 months. It has been a lot of fun for my interested little scientist!! :)

Our week...in pictures

Bear Cub is napping right now...I can't wait for him to wake up so we can get into this...our latest science project!! I won't tell ya what it is until we get it all set up. Any guesses??

This chef's hat came in the mail yesterday from our grocery store's preschool club. Pretty funny!

Mimi bought BC a t-ball set for at home. We've been playing family t-ball after dinner and we're ALL having fun! Here BC is, running the bases. He's great at hitting the ball!

The big swing!

This is pretty much what Zoe looks like - EVERY night. She is so worn out from all of her Bear Cub chasing and barking that she just crashes. Having a brother really wears this girl out! :)

"I feel the need. The need for SPEED!"

We had an AWESOME weekend!! After Bear Cub's t-ball game on Saturday (which was great, too!), we headed over to the Air Force base with Mimi Bear to the 2010 Air Fest...featuring the BLUE ANGELS!! WOO-HOO!! :) It has been about 10 years since I last saw them fly, and I have to admit I was much more impressed than ever before. I don't know what it was this time...but I was WOWed the entire time. Just amazed. They are beautiful, powerful...just hot stuff, if you ask me. And the coolest thing about this crew is that they have 2 female pilots! Truly, I could have cried when that loud rock music started up and the Blue Angels came roaring overhead. Again, WOW. Ok, so you get that I enjoyed the show...how about everyone else, you may ask?? :) We had prepared Bear Cub ahead of time, telling him how fast the jets fly and how NOISY they are when the come zooming past. We also told him how they disappear from sight and you have to wonder, "Where did they go?" before they come out and surprise you again! I had even told him that he MAY want to wear ear plugs if the noise bothered him, or he could use his trusted pointer fingers to plug his ears up. The base was packed...it was an absolutely beautiful day out...not a cloud in the sky. We waited a long time to get through security (something we didn't use to have to do...pre-9/11 days) but Bear Cub was SO patient and good! I was really proud. We had some entertainment with another fighter jet flying and a carrier plane of some sort, too. Once into the main area, we checked out the other aircrafts that they had...touring a plane that gets taken to Antarctica and then finding our spot to watch the BIG show. Well, as you'll see in the photos, Bear Cub wanted Daddy to hold him the entire time. He was nervous, yet at the same time, curious enough to peek out, point, and then get back into Daddy's neck. No tears, no fussing, and with one ear plug in. :) He did great, considering how intense the show really is. Daddy had his arms full with him and Mimi and I were in awe the entire time. It was great!! You'll see that Bear Cub got a Blue Angels souvenir plane and was SO proud of that. Last night and today, we've seen many at home "air shows" with the new jet and his other planes. He zooms, makes the Blue Angels noise, twists, and flips his planes...exactly like the real show! So, despite having his head down, I know it impressed him and he took it all in...it's very obvious in his play now! What a fun time...can't wait to see them again in the future. Enjoy the photos and have a great week ahead! :)

Little boy, watching big dreams fly

Preparing for take-off...

Roaring past!

"There they are!!!!"

AWESOME. 'Nuff said.

Bear Cub doing the, "Where did they go??" pose.

Wow!!!

Hanging on...yet somehow enjoying the show by the end, too!

Posing by the "skis" of the Antarctic plane that we toured

Buckling in...

2 excited ladies! Look at me...so happy that I'm snarling! ;)

All smiles while we checked out the planes!

Look up there!

Spotting the Blue Angels on the field

Daddy got an arm workout from all the carrying of BC...but I think they both had a pretty good time, regardless! ;)

Happy St. Pattie's Day

My cutie-pie leprechaun.

"Come look at my dragon creature, Mama!" is what he said. :)

Ewwww! Slimy train!

Putting in the food coloring (which he used WAY too much of, by the way).

Adding the Borax to the mixture.

He got one in!

The bowlers...and Biscuit, too.

There it goes!

Ooooooh....lining his shot up.

Funny guy in a little hat!

Anybody get pinched out there because you're not wearing GREEN?? Hmmmm?? Bear Cub wore his green today -- I did conveniently leave out the whole "pinching" part when telling him about the holiday...no need to start something new -- and we headed out for a morning of BOWLING with some friends! :)

Once at the alley, we found that the boys much preferred the flashing, mini-Vegas style lights and arcade area, so we were happy to just follow them around. The boys did bowl (and it was probably more age-appropriate anyway) in the arcade area...smaller balls, smaller lanes - perfect for preschoolers! BC had a fun time and we played for a good hour between the bowling and some easy arcade games.

Once home, we had some lunch and it was time to make SLIME! Yup, slime...you read it right. Last week at the library, we checked out a science kids DVD and there was a part about slime. As with most scientific things, Bear Cub has to try it too! Back in my teaching days, a co-worker and her class made the slime and I KNOW it turned out better than ours. Hmmm...can't figure out what went wrong. Ours reminded me of the consistency of an omelette, not slime. Oh well. Bear Cub still had a great time smooshing it around, driving his trains through it, and making "creatures" with it. Good fun on a beautiful Spring day!

Tomorrow is a school day for the man and then I believe we'll just take it easy on Friday. Our days are full around here...it always amazes me. We're looking forward to this weekend when we'll attend our area Air Force base's Air Fest with Mimi. We'll see the Blue Angels fly! Woo-hoo! I'll be sure to post pics of that first-time event for Bear Cub!

Hope you find your pot of gold at the end of a rainbow today!

My pot of gold has a name...Bear Cub!

T-Ball, swim trunks, and a moth...what a combo!

Bear Cub had to try out his new swim trunks with our semi-Spring weather this weekend! Despite the cool breeze, he AND Zoe had lots of fun in the frog pool...always a fan fave! Doesn't he look big (and muscular!) in this picture?!?! No fat on this boy...despite all my attempts. ;)

BC laughing as Zoe easily gets back into her old game of picking things up and tossing them out of the pool. Just like last year!

Sportin' his new shark trunks! He told me today, "Mama, in the BIG pool, I'm going to swim 30 feet under water!" WOW! Wouldn't that be something!?!?

Mr. Google Eyes with his magnifying glass...checking out the moth!

Whoa! Daddy discovered this awesome Luna Moth outside our back door. BC was so excited because we have read about these moths in lots of different books, but have never seen one in person!

Adjusting the helmet...or trying to get it off?? Hmmmm....it's still up for debate.

Running to second...DEFINITELY trying to throw the helmet off!

Playing outfield with his Spongebob mitt. Yup, so official. ;)

Interesting creation he came up with...a fire truck on top of a stroller.

We have had a great weekend here! Saturday was Bear Cub's first t-ball game. He seemed to like it! Well, not too crazy about playing the outfield, but still got out there with his mitt and tried to run after the ball. These 3 & 4 year-olds are just too cute out there! Soccer is officially over...so the "big socks" got put away. Now he's got 4 weeks of t-ball. This has been a great way to introduce the sports to BC! I was worried as he waited to bat, because all kids had to wear the helmet to bat and run the bases. BC is not very fond of wearing ANY thing on his head. Any hat pictures you may have seen on the blog were taken QUICKLY, with the hat being thrown off right away. So...you can see why I worried about him up at bat. But to my surprise, he plopped that helmet on, swung once...the ball just dropped off the tee. Swung a second time...and BOOYAH!!! The ball headed towards third base and the boy ran fast to first. He really liked it and even ran on to second when he was supposed. The "game" was called early because of timing, but it was still a good way to ease into the new sport. Yay for Bear Cub!