MOOseum

This morning I took the kids to the park while David played softball with the guys at church. I strategically picked this local park that is right next to the Mooseum - a small kids museum about dairy farming. It was fun to explore and the actual demonstrations of milking a cow were pretty neat for them to do!

Drew ringing the cow bell on this cow's neck

Drew in front of a cow he is about to "milk"

Milking a cow - no worries, it's only water that comes out!

A cow milking contest between Drew and Dilan :)

Overall, it was a cute place to go but small and thankfully, free!

Family Pictures

We took family pictures a few weeks ago at Sugarloaf Mountain here in Germantown, MD. You can see more of the images on facebook.

Update on baby: I am measuring two full weeks ahead of schedule as far as how big I am, but there is no indication the baby will come early at all. I am dilated to a 1 but barely with a month to go so we are on track to have the baby around the due date of Oct. 25!

Homestead Farm

We went to Homestead Farm to pick some apples Saturday morning. It was just going to be me and Drew but David didn't want to miss out and thought it'd be okay to bring Dilan with us. Her fever broke on Friday (after a solid week of having one) and she had just started eating again. She was not 100% but we thought having her outside with apples would do her some good. We ended up picking 8 apples and spending a short time there, but it was a nice morning excursion right by our house.

The kids even got to see some goats and chickens which I think was their favorite part. Dilan LOVES animals. She waves to them and smiles really big. She just has an affection for them at this age and it is cute to see.

As far as Dilan's virus, she seems to be getting better and better each day. She's getting back to her old self, eating and dancing and laughing which is great to see. This week is really all about getting her sores to heal and once that is done, she'll be free to venture into the outside world again! :)

There were a lot of apples already on the ground and bees everywhere. So, we had to get way up high to get the good ones!

Drew was excited to pick the apples himself.

Dilan even got in on the action

The bees were a little much and we were done after we picked 8 good ones!

Buying our goods!

Drew and I in front of a scare crow

Herpangina

Have you ever heard of this??? Well, it has hit our poor little Dilan hard over the last week. She started with a fever that persisted over the weekend and no other symptoms except she broke out in fever blisters outside and then inside her mouth. I took her in on Monday and she was diagnosed with Herpangina which is terribly painful and uncomfortable. It can last well up to two weeks and affects her eating, sleeping, etc. All we can do is keep giving her Tylenol for the fever and they gave me Tylenol with codeine for her pain. I would post a picture but it's too sad to even see her like this. Just hoping Drew does not get it as it really contagious among children.

9/11 - Germantown Fire/Rescue Community Event

Dilan came down with a fever at the end of the week so we decided to forgo our planned adventure Saturday morning and instead take the opportunity for me and Drew to have some time alone together. I took him to the Germantown Fire Department for a community event on safety where they had free hot dogs and chips, bouncy slides, and lots of kid-friendly things to do. It was a great way to commemorate 9/11.

Waited in line for the fire truck slide

Our free hot dogs and chips

The big event, climbing into the driver's seat of the fire truck

Drew wanted to take a picture in front of the police motorcycle. Thank goodness trains are his real passion!

Soccer

Drew started soccer last night. It's different this year because here where we live, the leagues don't really have games for 5 yr olds to play. They do more soccer skills classes and let them play a little bit of a game at the end of the hour. Drew misses playing the games already but he sure did have fun with his coach and the other kids in the class last night. It's interesting because in Wisconsin the fee was half the price and that included a practice during the week and the weekend game. But here, it is twice as expensive and it's just a soccer skills class one hour a week. But I guess you get a professional soccer coach as opposed to dads doing it and I'm hoping Drew really learns more about the game itself. Most importantly, he will have fun playing and getting some exercise.

Drew warming up - my favorite moment is always seeing David get Drew ready to play - from helping him put on his socks and shin guards to lacing up his cleats. It's my favorite thing to watch. :)

The game was dribbling the ball and then stopping it with a body part - this was the nose and the kids were cracking up!

Drew learning to stop the ball with his feet

Dilan tried to run onto the field a few times during Drew's practice. Mostly, she would go to him and wave "hi." At one point, Drew said, "Dilan, this is not for you!" One day Dilan will get her turn but for now, she's on the sidelines and better yet, probably at home with mom since it's just practicing soccer skills and not really any games. I most likely will take her at the end of the 6 weeks to see how Drew has improved.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

For labor day weekend, we decided to take a short trip to Gettysburg on Saturday morning. We planned it so we'd be back in time for the Texas game that afternoon and catch our first real college football Saturday of the season. After our trip last weekend in Baltimore and all that we did, we kind of needed a weekend with some down time. Of course, there isn't a chance that we wouldn't do anything so we picked Gettysburg because it was actually only an hour away. It was also a gorgeous weekend and we knew we had to take advantage of it.

We toured the Gettysburg National Military Park which included the visitors' center. We purchased tickets to the movie/cyclorama and the museum. Dilan lasted about 10 minutes in the 20 minute movie so I left with her and then we made a run through the museum really because with two small kids, you can't possibly look at everything. What we did see was neat and the history of the civil war is just so fascinating.

Gettysburg was considered a major turning point in the war - neither side officially won but Robert E. Lee was making such progress that when he chose to fight his first fight on union soil and didn't win it, it was basically considered a win for the union and the momentum shifted to the Union and never ended until the war was over.

Drew in front of a Union uniform

Obviously, being from Texas, we liked the Secession part of the museum - look at Dilan's face here. There is something to be said about seceding from the union and having the courage to fight for what you believe in (even if that reason - slavery- is not a good cause obviously).

Flag of the Union on the left, Flag of the Confederacy on the right

Drew and me in front of a replica of the Union calvary

Replica of a big canon

Dilan has started to walk everywhere with her hands behind her back. It's so funny! Here she is looking at her reflection in the glass.

This is Dilan's favorite part of the museum, laying on the floor and just being all over the place. I believe it was right after this where David said, "this is miserable," but he was still glad we went. :)

Drew and me with Abe

Dilan and me in front of Gettysburg Address

After the museum, you can drive on an auto tour and see the grounds of the battle of Gettysburg. It is huge. Each state of the union dedicated multiple monuments to their various infantries, etc. who fought and died here.

Pennsylvania has the biggest monument dedicated to their men lost in this battle. I actually have an ancestor who fought on the Union side and was from Pennsylvania, but I have no idea if he fought in Gettysburg or not.

Fort McHenry - Baltimore, MD

On Sunday morning we visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore. It was the sight of the battle for Baltimore during the Revolutionary War. The British came in off the shore to fight and the Americans were ready for them. After a battle of constant bombs shot from canons all during the day and night, the British retreated. On the morning after when the dust settled and the sun rose, the American flag was still waving. Here is where Francis Scott Key penned the poem, Star Spangled Banner which later turned into our national anthem. It was so neat to visit this place - they had a 15 minute video explaining the battle that took place and then at the end, a curtain opened to show the fort and the flag waving in the air. They asked you to stand and the national anthem was played loudly and it was very touching. It must have been a military choir singing it because it was so beautiful. Then, you were able to tour the actual fort.

Fort McHenry - all American and State flags that are flown for governmental purposes must be flown here first before they are flown in their respective state. You can bring your own U.S. flag and fly it here and they give you a certificate afterwards.

Entrance to fort

Barracks of the soldiers and men dressed like the Revolutionary War soldiers with their guns

Storage for the gun powder

Bomb bunker

The actual letter sent to Francis Scott Key from the President's secretary saying this was the pen the President used to declare his poem as the national anthem.

Drew in front of the tribute to Francis Scott Key

Drew and me in front of a picture of the original first U.S. flag

United States Naval Academy

We met David in Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy and its surroundings. It was getting pretty hot by this point so we toured the visitors center and walked to the chapel and then went to eat lunch. We saw plenty of people in uniform, we saw the Navy Football Stadium driving in, and even saw a wedding at the chapel (and another bride walking to the chapel to get married).

Annapolis Harbor

Naval Academy entrance for pedestrians

Visitors center area dedicated to the space program

John Paul Jones was the man who fought in the Revolutionary War and was asked if he would surrender to the British and said, "I have not yet begun to fight!"

This is often what Dilan was more interested in doing

Drew liked looking at the ship replicas

Chapel on campus where we saw a wedding exit after I took this picture