Visit with Grandpa and Gramma Davis

Everyone who enters our home becomes a victim of the never ending story reading and Grandpa is no exception..
Rocco created a "dog house" under our dining room table and this is what I found when I came downstairs...Grandparents are such suckers...ha ha
More story time with grandpa..Roman really took to Grandpa Davis..and even started calling him Baba (which in swahili means father) everyone else is "mommy" even Rocco...
Then the next time I came down the stairs I see this....Gramma is now in the "dog house"
I think Gramma enjoying hanging out under the table...it was very snuggly in there with all the blankets and pillows that were brought in....

Staycation in Washington DC

Daddy and Roman checking out the wild cats...
who actually were acting VERY wild today...shocking...normally they just lay around and sleep
just check out the air that one lion is doing..all four paws at least 2 feet in the air..impressive! Take notes Lebron!
The elephants were also pretty lively..although I hardly consider Indian elephants wild....but they were still fun to watch.

Boy pose on a funny looking froggy...
Rocco braving the misters...although he kept calling them mysteries...and couldnt quite figure out why they had "mysteries" at the zoo.
Roman was mesmerized by the tortoises who were also surprisingly ambulatory...again..usually bumps on a log....maybe sticking their head out on occasion to nibble some lettuce...

The orangutans put on a pretty good show as well..honestly I have never seen so much activity at the zoo and I have seen action before but it was usually in the fall when the temps were cooler. OK, so these pandas were not quite so active...they have consistantly been in deep slumber with their faces (and thats their best feature) so far hidden from view that you often wonder which end is which....so I ask...why are they spending SO MUCH MONEY on trying to preserve these guys when it is obvious they WANT to be extinct...lazy slobs! and no, I am not bitter.
as I was saying...
This BIG DADDY silverback never fails to impress...just on his shear size alone...I would hate to meet up with him in the Jungles of Africa..and people do spend big bucks to do that.

Took a little trip downtown DC...posing in a tree here in West Potomac park
and yet another monument that we had never seen before that we just happened to stumble upon...George Mason...who apparently was pretty important (Father of the Bill of Rights)...but not so important that his monument is anywhere anyone would find it.
Here we are after out long haul from the park to the museum of Natural History...
Rocco kept saying.."Oh my GOSH there big"! when referring to the dinosaurs...

Ahhhh..at last enjoying a wonderful meal at our favorite restaurant...Meskerem...Ethiopian cuisine..so YUMMY!! Rocco kept saying..."wow, this is a special treat" and any time anyone walked through the door (we were sitting pretty close to the entrance) he would shout "WELCOME TO Eupeopia!!"

August 3rd

A Hodge podge of the past 3 weeks....

Visit with cousins Megan and Morgan, Rocco and Roman were obviously not cooperating..Roman wouldnt stop screaming ...such drama out of such a little guy.
Rocco was enjoying the ocean, he has overcome his fear of the waves (to a point) and was playing in them which made his Mommy oh so proud!
Roman, in contrast, has no fear whatsoever and would try to climb out of my arms out in the ocean which of course was way over his head...not sure what he thought he would accomplish by disappearing beneath the murky Atlantic ocean waves...perhaps testing his mommys adrenaline rush as I shuddered at the thought and quickly headed back to shore.
The class of 93 reunion minus a few people..the weirdest thing was seeing your kids play with your former classmates kids..Rocco enjoyed aggravating the girls by calling their sand castles junk and then running through them with his boogie board..(I did make him stop and apologize for all you horrified parents out there) I wonder who he takes after...hmm? and in his defense (not that he deserves it) they did build them right in the middle of "his train track" so he was just trying to defend his space...which of course I know does not make it right but made me feel a little better about his motivation...
Back home, checking on our pet slugs...
Playing in the pool...
Roman loves the slide...
Grannie got a long visit with the boys and read more stories than I could count, in fact you would think we never read to our children because while she was here even Roman (who normally would prefer to throw books) was actually sitting through stories--shocking!!

Ahhh..my lovely drain ..cant believe I am posting this but Rocco loved this little hand grenade shaped drain and wanted to look at it every day...yuck!! I am so glad that it is gone.

July 14 is a special day....

Why you ask?...because it is GRANNIE's Birthday!!!!

Kamikazi....and what drives me to my knees (in prayer)

Water, cupcakes, and sand: Recipe for a really big mess...or a really fun birthday.

Meagan the whirlwind fish was amusing to watch as she fully immersed herself into less than 1 foot of water..continually...many innocent bystanders were victims of the wake she left behind.
Spencer was the male whirlwind fish who also claimed many victims in his splashing frenzy... Rocco was not so enthusiastic about the splashing...must have been to tired out from testing the pool out earlier in the day when the hot sun was beating down mercilessly...he just needed to eat some cake and then the sugar high would cheer him up...
Just had to post of the little shirtless darlings...so cute....
The birthday boy making one of his silly faces.....perhaps he sees the cupcakes coming!
and here enter..........the cupcakes. What a great idea this was (that I stole from someone else of course) ...perhaps all the moms of these children didnt think so but it was really so fun to watch...
Roman practicing his santa clause impression...
Girls are so neat and do things so pretty....

Boys just chow down...Rocco getting his cake fix....he has been waiting six months for this (since Christmas)
Lightning McQueen makes his entrance...

The giant crab sand box which impressively fit all these children and they still had room to play. What a fun gift!