Kiss the Giraffe

We started the weekend with some tennis. My parents whacked the ball around while my buddy Jordan and I played in the adjoining park. Not to worry, I jumped in on the tennis-action before the night was through.

I scored big this weekend. I got a fancy plastic pool (my mom says those words don't go together, fancy and plastic) that has a slide and a giraffe. The hose gets hooked up to the giraffe and water trickles out of it's mouth like a waterfall....unless your parents hook the hose up at full force like mine did. Then the giraffe's neck is completely vertical and it fires water out of it's mouth in 15 directions - all at my face's height - like an angry, venomous snake. The water's force is so strong that it stings. Nice job mom and dad. Every time I slid down the slide my dad would yell, "Kiss the giraffe!" I can only imagine what the neighbors on the other side of the fence thought we were doing.

The Nelsons joined us for dinner on Sunday. The Nelson girls make me feel so cool. They chase me around, play cars with me, and I don't even realize I'm 6 to 14 years younger than them!

We hiked out at Great Falls National Park with the Brittains on Monday. They are a so much fun. I chased Noah the entire time, he's fast. We stopped for lunch at this hidden little beach-like area and got to put our feet in the cool water (it was ridiculously hot on Monday). If you are in the Virginia/Maryland area, this park is pretty impressive and the falls look like they're part of a movie set. It's hard to believe downtown Washington, DC is less than 30 minutes away from this spectacular spot. By far, the funniest part of the day was when a total stranger called my mom Pocahontas (Pocahontas, really!?!)

We ended the long weekend with a friendly tennis match with the Stransky/Brown family. While our parents played, Francesca, Fletcher, Mitchell, and me brought our racquets and smashed a lot of tennis balls (as well as the ground, the fence, the bench...). Can every week have a 3-day weekend?

Like, Totally Awesome!

I have no clue who these people are, but my mom said I had to post the picture. She said something about an 80's party and that she's glad my dad doesn't really have a mullet (what's a mullet and why does the guy in this picture look like he's wearing an awkwardly cut mop on his head?!?)

I made my mom this awesome card for mother's day. I traced all of my cars and colored them, I knew she would love it - who doesn't like cars on mother's day!? 

We also got to hang with our fun friends, the Markey's, this week.

We watched Thomas play his soccer game and then headed back to our house for a BBQ. Even though Thomas, Brendan, and Daniella are bigger than me, they made me feel included in the wiffle ball and soccer games in our yard - they're awesome.

Yep, it was an awesome week.

Vermont!

We spent a few days last week in Vermont and got to see cousins, my aunt and uncle, and grandparents.

My cousin Bridget introduced us to cake balls - have you heard of them? Basically they are golf ball sized decadence. You make a cake, then once it's baked and cooled, you break it up and put it in a mixer with frosting and mix it together. You take the "batter" and roll it in to golf ball sized balls, put it on a tray, and stick them in the freezer. Wait a few hours then dip them into melted chocolate and roll in your favorite toppings (chocolate chips, sprinkles, peanut butter, cookie crumbs - the options are endless). Healthy, no. Delicious, yes. We took them as a class treat for lunch and I hung out with the class - here's me sharing my philosophy of Kierkegaard....

My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jimmy went to a neighborhood Kentucky Derby party while we were there. Everyone dressed up and wore funny hats. My mom and Nana "constructed" this garden hat for my Aunt. I'm not sure, but I think it weighed like 5lbs! A horse named Bodemeister was in the race and favored to win. This is a nickname of mine so my folks got into the action and placed a bet on Bodemeister - thanks to our cousins in Vegas. The bet made the race MUCH more exciting as everyone screamed at the TV, "Go Bodemeister!!!" It also made his 2nd place showing that much more disappointing. Oh well, there's always Preakness next week!

I have the best relatives in the world - thanks for a fun weekend!

Monkeys, Iguanas, and Sloths - OH MY!

"Rich coast," that sure is an accurate description of the country of Costa Rica. We spent the week exploring rainforests, hiking volcanoes, and seeing lots of creatures. It's definitely a beautiful place and we had a great trip. Here are some highlights....

We hiked down to a huge waterfall. The sign at the entrance said, "DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS HIKE if you have any health issues, especially heart problems." I ran right by it and hiked down 486 steps - yep, me an my mini legs just chugged right to the bottom. My hand turned white a few times because my mom was holding it so tightly - maybe she thought I'd fall off of the cliff. On the way up, I hitched a ride with my dad in the backpack. My dad - carrying me - passed every other hiker on the trail. He's a stud.

We hiked the rainforest in the nighttime. The sounds were really cool but not knowing if creepy things were crawling right by you was a little unnerving. We saw several two-toed sloths, agutis (raccoon-sized rat-looking mammals), a huge yellow tarantula, and white faced monkeys.

We hiked a cloud forest in the day and saw holler monkeys, toucans, bell birds, a million millipedes, and quatis (another type of mammal).

We took a sky tram to the very top of the rainforest and walked over suspension bridges. As I ran at full speed across the swaying bridges, 300-500 feet in length, suspended several hundred feet in the air, I heard my dad say something about me aging him that day. (Note - not many pictures from the bridges b/c they were chasing me). My dad did not find this fun.

We road horses through the rainforest (do you see a rainforest theme here). We saw more cool creatures Okay, so one of us might have fallen asleep on the horse - but sheesh, wouldn't you after all of the adventuring. My mom said this activity aged her - apparently holding dead weight while riding a horse on steep terrain isn't as easy as it looks. (Aren't vacations suppose to be relaxing!??! Relax mom and dad, we all made it home alive!)

Our lodging near the volcano had an outdoor bathtub on our patio so me and my duck got to bath in the jungle with a view of the volcano - not bad, huh!

And no trip would be complete with out a few jumpers...

 

 Our favorite family picture from the trip....

I Love Happy Birthdays

With so many family members, it seems like it's always someone's birthday. I sing "Happy Birthday" more than any other song, and April is no exception. It's a relatives birthday every day from April 15-April 20th. So we spent the evening celebrating my Aunt Karen's birthday and hanging out with my cousins while my Nana and PopPop were in town. Check it out...