Six Years and Counting

Tomorrow marks the sixth anniversary of Josh and I being hitched. Above is a photo of a rather funny moment in our ceremony where we were trying to light the unity candle. We tried about three times before the candle would finally light, which is why we were laughing when this picture was taken! Well, I would say that this photo pretty much represents what our marriage has been so far; sometimes we don't always get things right the first time, or we don't agree on how something should be done, but we keep on trying, and we eventually make it work. Happy anniversary, Josh! I still love you!

Cows and Culture

It's been a fun-filled weekend! Last evening, we went to the Guppy Gala at the National Zoo, an event that is jam-packed with activities for kids with lots of good food for everyone. We were a little concerned earlier in the day because it had been raining hard, but luckily the rain cleared out, and it was a pleasant, if cool, evening.

Here are Jonah and Josh posing in a giant birds' nest. With it being Mother's Day weekend, I am, of course, thinking that, on the one hand, I don't ever want Jonah to leave the "nest", but, on the other hand, I know he's going to eventually grow up, and it will be a good thing.

Here's Jonah spinning a plate - he's so talented, you know!

One of the highlights of the Guppy Gala for Jonah was seeing the farm animals at the zoo. He was particularly taken with the cows, and here's a picture of him peeking in at Tulip the cow.

Another fun thing we did this weekend was go to a concert this morning at the Kennedy Center. The National Symphony has this ongoing series called Teddy Bear Concerts, which are geared towards kids three to five years old and introduce music as a form of storytelling. I had asked Josh to get tickets for all of us as my Mother's Day gift, and he obliged. So we got Jonah in the car with his teddy bear (yes, he actually let Teddy leave his room! See an earlier post on how Teddy is usually confined to Jonah's room as a lovey slave!), and off we went! Before the performance, they give the kids an opportunity to "pet the instruments" at their Instrument Petting Zoo. Jonah got to bang on some percussion instruments, including a rain stick that he became particularly attached to, and he even got to play a violin (I wish I could have gotten a picture of that!). The performance itself was very good, and Jonah was enchanted; he paid attention the entire time, participated at the appropriate times, and applauded the musicians at appropriate times! I would definitely take him again!

Here are Jonah and Teddy in the Hall of States.

Here's Jonah running around in the main hall of the Kennedy Center - what a great space in which to run for a minute or two!

This one turned out a little dark, but it's of Josh and Jonah near the "big head" sculpture of JFK!

Poor Puss Gets the Boot

Occasionally Patches, my 12-year-old cat, sneaks into Jonah's room at bedtime unbeknownst to me or Jonah. However, seeing how vocal Patches is, it doesn't take long for us to figure out she's there, at which point Jonah will insist that I shoo her out. It's not that Jonah doesn't like Patches; in fact, she's his favorite cat, but he seems to like it best when it's just him and me during our few minutes of cuddle time at night.

Tonight, though, was a first. Jonah and I had finished our cuddle time, and I'd left the room to let him continue falling asleep. True to form, about ten minutes after I left him, he got up, came out of his room, and called down to me, "I'm still thristy, Mommy!" Not ever wanting to deprive him of water should he ever really be thristy, I obliged him with a small cup of water and sent him back to bed. Apparently, Patches slipped unseen into his room while he was drinking his water because about five minutes after I'd sent him back in, I heard him over the monitor open the door and say, "No, kitty. Get out." He then closed the door again and went back to bed without calling down to me. I just had to laugh, it was so hysterical!

But on the other hand....poor little Patches! :)

More Birthday Pictures

I think Jonah really enjoyed his party at JW Tumbles, a little kids' gym in the shopping center behind our house. We kept it relatively small, just his preschool pals, a couple of JW buddies, a couple of almost-like-family friends who have kids, Josh's mom (Jonah's Nana), and my parents.
Above are Jonah and his friend Morgan playing in the rocking boat. Jonah and Morgan are only six days apart and have known each other since day one. Debbie and Dan, Morgan's parents, are very good friends who we are going to the beach with in a few weeks, and I think the ids are going to have a blast (as willl their parents)!


Here's Jonah with one of his good friends from preschool, Kylie. Kylie had had a litttle tumble or something, and Jonah had gone over to make her feel better. We had the pleasure of taking Kylie in our car last fall to Cox Farms, the school's annual field trip to the pumpkin patch. She's a sweetheart!

Toddlers in the banana forest! What fun!

I always knew Jonah was part monkey!

Here's Jonah with Ashely, the daughter of Jonah's godfather and his wife. These two are about a month apart and have also known each other since day one.

This was a study in how many toddlers can fit inside one box. There were four in the tiny space when I took this picture!

Cake time!

An Olssen (Nana's maiden name) generational picture!