Texas Trip

Some pictures from Zack's and Braden's recent trip to Texas.

TV Appearance

The news was at a consignment sale I went to today. They put a clip of Braden in their report.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0909/662991_video.html

I'm not sure why the link isn't working for some of you. It still works for me. Try cutting and pasting and see if that helps. If not, I don't have any great ideas. Sorry.

Running & Jumping

We had another day with beautiful weather today, so we took advantage of being outside. We got one of those bicycle trailers for Braden (and Chloe) to ride in, and we went on a ride around the neighborhood. Then we just played in the backyard. Braden loves being chased, so the alligator toy made a good excuse for him to run from Dad. He's also been practicing jumping...I think it's the cutest thing!

The Zoo

We went to the local zoo on Labor Day and I think Braden enjoyed it. It was not the National Zoo by any means, but they had some zebras and kangaroos. And they even had monkeys...this was my favorite monkey...isn't he cute?

We all know how much Braden loves rubber ducks. It seems that he is also interested in the real thing. We stood by the pond for a good while as he intently watched them swim and listened to them quack.

The zoo also had chickens and a big, ugly turkey. We were a little worried that he would lose a finger, as he kept putting his fingers through the chicken wire. When we went around the corner to see the turkey, he immediately said "Turkey" clear as day. We have no idea where he learned that!

They also had some other farm animals that visitors are allowed to feed and pet. Braden thought it was hilarious when he touched the sheep the first time.

Here he is with the goat!

Maybe next time we'll venture into DC to the National Zoo. We are having so much fun now that Braden is getting old enough to do some of these things with.

Winter Coat & Jelly Legs

For those of you who heard Zack's story about Braden trying on ski coats, you'll enjoy this. We went back to the ski store to catch it on video. He did a little better this time, but for some reason, he really has a hard time walking in a coat. We better work on this before winter!

Labor Day Picnic

We had a little picnic at a nearby park on Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The weather was so beautiful we had to take advantage of being outside.

Hugs

Okay, I'm almost caught up...

Braden is apparently going through a hugging phase. He won't hug Zack and me for anything, but he hugs other kids.

The other day we were out front with a group from the neighborhood and he hugged all the kids.

Then, I dropped him off at daycare and he immediately hugged Juan Pablo.

And finally, we were babysitting Haley the other day and I thought he was going to smother her because he was hugging her so long. Here are some pictures of the lovefest! Could this be his first girlfriend?

Apple

I've tried to upload this several times, so we'll see if it works this time. I had to trim it down and length...

Braden is learning new words everyday it seems. Yesterday in the car he kept pointing to all the buses and saying "bu." He's almost got it!

He also says "hot" and "agua" and "shoe" and "eye" (that means bye). And he also says "eye" (that also means eye). And as you see in this video, he says "apple."

We walked into pottery barn yesterday and he say the decorative fruit and yelled "apple" loud enough for the whole store to hear!

Dinosaur Park

A few weeks ago we went to the Ashburn Dinosaur Park with our friends the Lampriches. It is a 16 acre park with particular areas assigned for each age group. Braden and Ryan had a ball playing in the 2-5 year old area. This will be a great place for a birthday party someday! There were lots of slides and tunnels and swings and bridges and see-saws and...Take a look!