Tristan's 5th Birthday

Can you believe Tristan is five?!  WOW!  Five is a big deal for me.  It's the end of toddlerhood.  I wasn't sad about it though (most likely due to still having another toddler in the house).  

We had a bit of a surprise this year when Uncle Ben and Uncle Nate came down for a visit during Tristan's birthday.  Quick note.  Check out the Megabus.  It's ridiculously cheap and I don't know how much longer they can stay in business.  I mean... $1 for a 6hr drive can't be making them money, can it?

Tristan was a little sad this year because Noah had school and Daddy had work.  However, that was quickly remedied with basically a three-day celebration for him.  He woke up early and opened presents with Noah there, cheering him on.  He did not get any live animals ;)  Three wii games, new clothes (he's not your typical little boy, he looooves clothes) & a remote control car.  

Later on myself, Ben, Nate, Brennan & the birthday boy went to Gilbert Run Park for a little nature hike and some playground time.  Somehow we were able to pry them off the equipment after a mere 20 minutes or so for the big hike around the lake.  

 

Every little creature was out that day!  I've never had such a fruitful nature hike in all my 31 years.  Frogs, toads, crickets, grasshoppers, birds, snakes, snake skins, crab pinchers, cicadas, turtles, ducks, geese, butterflies, wildflowers.  We caught minnows with our bare hands!  That was Tristan's favorite part of the entire day I think.  We even saw a bald eagle.  Unfortunately, I only brought my 50mm lens along so I couldn't capture him from afar.  We tried though.  

We let them play on the playground again before heading home to get Noah from the bus stop.  They were taking turns knocking each other down on the slide.  Then they played "I'll save you!  Grab my hand!!" on the climbing wall for awhile.

 

The next day Ben and Nate had to catch the bus back so we thought it'd be fun to spend some time in downtown DC before saying farewell.  We arrived in time for lunch off the lines of food trucks along the metro stop.  After that we were able to see about half of the Natural History museum before it was time to go.  Just as well.  My last toddler was getting cranky.

Josh was finally off work by Sunday so we promised to have cake and go to a movie as a family for Tristan's birthday.  We saw "Paranorman"... Tristan and Noah liked it.  Probably wasn't a good idea for Brennan, but he hasn't mentioned it since and hasn't had any nightmares or anything so I think we snuck past that parenting fail unscathed.  The final scene is pretty intense.  I liked the anti-bullying message.  After that it was back home for some much awaited chocolate cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles.  I actually baked it this time!  It was from a box, but I substituted applesauce and butter for the oil and it turned out super moist and delicious.  I can take credit for the awesomeness since I made my own substitutions, right? ;)

Every day Tristan asks me how many more days until his next birthday so it must have been a good one.  I say "a very very long time, please stop asking".  I was giving him the actual number of days, but I think that's why he kept on asking and asking so... I figure a boring answer might encourage him to knock it off.

As far as everything else goes we're still setting up house and getting to know our area.  We've got more family coming out in October so don't be surprised if I take a blog break until then.