February Fun

And,  just like that February is over.    We definitely crammed a lot of excitement into the shortest month of the year; between finishing our amazing master bathroom to a spontaneous trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the B-hive kept very busy this month...

To start things off, we had an unusual photo op with Mater...

This was super cool in and of itself, but Max and Sam weren't quite impressed enough.  Sure, after a little prompting they got out of the minivan and checked out Mater.  However, they weren't nearly excited enough about such an unordinary sighting.  Instead, they asked, "But, where's Lightning McQueen"?  ...Seriously?...  Kids these days:  they see the world with such an assuming perspective with all the immediate entertainment at their fingertips.  This is such an anomaly considering that in my day (in high school), just plain knowing how to use a computer with a keyboard and a word-processing program was an impressive feat (you know, back in the day when I had to climb up hill both ways in the snow to get to school). Anyway, the boys posed for pictures near Mater, but their world didn't move.  It didn't even sway.    Mine did, though--I thought the whole thing was pretty cool, not to mention it was a very impressive reproduction of what I would think the real Mater would look like parked in the empty lot of a local farm...

  

This month Jack really started to develop a sweet tooth. Before, he would always sort of turn his head away when presented with sugary junk.  But now, his feelings on the subject are taking an entirely different turn.  Watch out big brothers, because now Jack is licking the frosting and munching the chocolate, and enjoying the ice cream, and demanding that after dinner dessert.  Unfortunately, Jack, being the pickiest of my three little birds, rarely finishes his vegetables and therefore is not eligible for an after dinner dessert.  However, for the occasional "un-fun" errand (where we drag the boys along with us and burden them with the apparently difficult task of trying to not run, yell, or talk about poop for the duration of said errand), we will make an exception and allow the kids a "special treat" if they are really really good listeners.   This "exception" might be perceived by some--maybe even me--as a bribe, but it works wonders 85% of the time. Here is a picture of Jack enjoying his "special treat" after an unsuccessful and extra arduous trip to Ikea...

He is loving on that ice cream cone!  I suspect that part of the reason he loves it so much, though, is because it makes him feel so big--just like his beloved big brothers.  He wants to do everything Max and Sam do including eating ice cream.  

And, dressing up in costumes...  

The pictures are a little blurry because it is next to impossible to get him (or any of them for that matter) to hold still for a photo, but I just think it is so awesome that he loves to dress up right along with them...

Aren't my  little superheroes super cute?

I am really going to be sad when my kids no longer wear their costumes around the yard, and on walks and to play groups...

..or while playing with a handheld piece of advanced technology...

Getting ready for a late afternoon walk on this pleasant February day...

Splashing in the driveway on this rainy February day...

Here is a picture of Jack with Liz, our beloved sitter.  She watches the boys every other Tuesday afternoon so I can run errands kid-free.  She is super amazing and we will all be really sad when she moves in the fall...sniff, sniff...

My boys love to pull the pillows and cushions off my couch.  Sometimes it is really annoying, but once in a while they get really creative.  Here they are hanging out on top of a "mountain"...

Max being silly...

It seems like only yesterday when I brought him home from the hospital and he seemed so teeny tiny in this very seat...

Pizza night!  Max and Jack absolutely LOVE pizza.  Sam could take it or leave it.  Whenever we have a babysitter we always order the boys a pizza.  Jack looks so big sitting up at the counter with his big brothers...

We took a very fun and spontaneous trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  First of all, it was such an easy trip--it took us a little over an hour and a half to get there--so I have no idea why it took us almost 4 years to head to this pretty city.  And secondly, because it was so easy, it was nice to make a day-trip out of it with no overnight bags and beds and all that complicated stuff.  Unfortunately, I forgot my nice camera for his fun outing and had to rely on my phone for all the pics so there aren't very many really great ones.  This first photo is of the batman brothers and their little sidekick watching a presentation of a Blue-Tongued Lizard.  

There were so many different types of animals--nearly 16,000 according to their brochure, and several different exhibits.  We only maybe saw a third of them which was quite a bit, especially considering we didn't arrive until around lunch time and forced our little guys to ignore their rumbling tummies for a couple of hours with the promise of a fun lunch later.  Here are a few pictures of some of the cool marine life we experienced...  

 They had a huge tank of sharks which was super cool, and we even got to watch them train and feed some dolphins.  We will totally go back to this place.  The only down side is that they don't allow strollers which is kind of a pain.  Poor Jack.  It was nap time for him and he was forced to just suck it up.  He did spend a lot of time on daddy's shoulders, though...

The Aquarium is located right on Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  It was beautiful!  I totally wanted to walk around, but it was quite cold that day.  I definitely want to go back when the weather is warmer and explore!