Down In The Snakes

This past month I've been working like crazy to get the basement cleared out and cleaned up so that we could use it as another large play area in the house.  With all the cold weather we've had, I thought it would be nice to put the trampoline down there (and finally out of the living room) with some of their other large toys.  After getting the carpet cleaned last Wednesday, I went out on the deck and brought the big Thomas the Train inside and washed the dusty tracks off.  While there are a few other little projects and decorative things I'd like to do down there, it was ready enough that we could do a "big reveal" for the boys after their party last Saturday. 

I call it a reveal because up until that point, they had never really been down in the basement.  Previously, it was home to a lot of storage, computer desks, and other miscellaneous items that weren't safe for them to explore.  Did I mention it was pretty much impossible to even walk?  A long time ago, Ryan and I told the boys there were snakes down there and that only Wesley and Geoffrey go "down in the snakes".  And that concept of what was behind the mysterious door stuck.  When the carpet cleaners came, the boys were really curious about the loud noise and long hoses...so I told them all the snakes were being taken out of the basement and returned to the jungle.  On Saturday when we invited them down, there were brief looks of question followed by eager bounds down the steps where they were in awe of finding some of their favorite toys at the bottom.  They did ask where the trampoline went for the 1 day it was missing upstairs.  I wonder what was going on in their heads when strange men came to suck snakes out of the house, a giant trampoline went missing, and then they suddenly find a bright and shiny new play space they've never seen before!?  The funny thing is that everyday since then, they've been asking non-stop if they can go "down in the snakes" and play when they wake up and after meals.  It's especially funny to hear Spencie saying it clear as day.  Owen keeps telling me he thinks it's a really nice place to play!  They've been pretty good about leaving the drum set alone, but since we've put the drum sticks up during the day, they found alternatives to play with when I'm not looking!  Oliver snuck down while I was making lunch today to sing on his new karaoke machine, which I thought was cute and let him finish the song before coming back up to eat.  After lunch we went back down and did a new dinosaur puzzle before naps.  I'm definitely happy with the result of all the work it took to get the snakes out!!

Little Princes

The boys have felt like little princes over the last week or so with all of their birthday festivities.  We traveled to Luray Caverns the weekend prior to their actual birthday and got to do one of their all time favorite activities for two nights - sleep in a hotel!  I need to do another catch up post on that trip alone!  We checked out on Monday (their birthday) and came home to make cupcakes for a mini celebration that night.  I sent the cupcakes into preschool the next day for the class to enjoy during snack time.  Poor Owen wasn't feeling well that morning and stayed home with me and Spencer, so Oliver got the lime light (and another cupcake) all to himself and was wearing a special crown decorated with stickers when I picked him up.  His teachers sent a crown and stickers back for Owen to work on at home, and he did such a great job decorating it all by himself!  The sticker pack was a "birthday dogs" theme and he sat at the table for quite a long time meticulously putting one dog sticker next to one paw sticker in each section of the crown.

Love at First Siren

After all the excitement of celebrating their 3rd birthday at the fire station, the excitement continued at home as Owen and Oliver found a police car with a big bow on it from Pap Pap and Nana waiting for them in the driveway!  This thing moves pretty fast (there's even a 2nd faster gear locked off for now) and has lots of buttons, a siren, and gadgets to play with on the dash board - you'll even notice Pap Pap and Ryan with their hands in there quite in bit in a few of the pictures :)  The boys drove up and down the driveway, taking turns as driver and passenger.  Although Spencie really wanted a first crack at the new toy too, he understood that it was a present for Owen and Oliver's birthday and was happy to have an uncontested pick of the big tractors for once.  But he could only hold out so long before he needed to ride in the new car too, at which point the boys kindly let him squeeze in with them.  Soon their buddy Leo joined everyone outside and the two-seater car became a four-seater.  By the next day, Spencie was as happy and proud as can be to be driving solo! 

3rd Birthday Party at the Fire Station!

Between our long weekend trip over Owen and Oliver's real birthday weekend, and their party at the fire station last weekend with friends and family in town, it's been too busy to keep up with posting pictures...but we sure have taken a lot of them!  Here's the recap from their fire truck themed party last weekend...

After a huge snow storm the week before, the weekend turned out to be beautiful and warm and was just perfect for the party.  Especially since their biggest gift was a riding toy for out in the driveway (more on that later).  With temperatures in the 60's, we were able to spend a good amount of time outside the fire station bay exploring the fire truck and watching the ladder extend way up into the sky as one of the firemen climbed to the top!  But first we started out in their indoor party room with a stop, drop, and roll game and practicing how to keep low to the ground and crawling when there's smoke by going through a long tunnel.  Next all the kids took turns trying to break open a fire truck piñata and were filled with excitement when lollipops started falling out of it!  After everyone collected a lollipop or two or four, we walked out to the bay to see the firemen do a demonstration of how they get fully geared up in under 2 minutes when an urgent call comes in and they need to respond.  Most of the kids were a little unsure of the fully dressed and masked fireman, but wanted to touch his hat and get a picture taken with him once he took the mask off again.  The birthday boys got to "drive" the truck first and really enjoyed trying out all the different spots on the truck, both inside and out.  Soon after, pizza arrived and we headed back to the party room for lunch and cake.  The boys jointly blew out their big number "3" candle with no assistance and for the first time enjoyed eating birthday cake together.  It only took Owen 3 years to wise-up :)  Spencie, of course, enjoyed all of it - games, trucks, pizza and cake!  It was an awesome party and I wasn't expecting so many gifts, which was a fun bonus!  We took home a big table full of presents from their classmates, friends, and family...there are still some on our dining room table that we haven't gotten around to opening yet.  Next up, a post on gifts and the after-party activities...for now here's a few pictures :)