Actual Weekend - Part 2 of 5 PLUS $10,000 PRIZE!

So, remember when we went to the George Washington parade? It was also one block from our house (in the opposite direction). There were approximately 50 people there - total. We just mosied on over, congratulating ourselves on choosing a housing location so close to the action. When Molly got hungry, we just left the parade and everyone else met us at home. Easy peasy.

Just, as a review, here is that parade - please note the "crowd."

So, HERE is the crowd at the St. Patrick's Day parade:

Yeah - the Irish are not kidding around. People came from miles around. Not only did we struggle to find a viewing spot, but the one we found was only accessible by walking through a store and basically blocking ourselves in JUST to see OVER the heads of the 50 people directly in front of us.

Well, now we know.

Here's James at the parade:

here's Molly...

and here is a leprechaun.

OK, now for $10,000 in Coyne Cash (redeemable absolutely nowhere), can you correctly identify the theme of this parade float? In case you can't see the photo well enough: there is a pirate, a polar bear, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Snow White, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and several people just dressed in green.

Stay tuned for Part 3, Uncle Kevin Comes to Dinner.

Actual Weekend - Part 1 of 5

Here's what our weekend looked like in our minds on Friday evening:

Saturday: casually walk out of house and go to small St. Patricks Day parade happening one block from our house.

Sunday: Maybe go to the zoo.

Here's what our weekend actually looked like:

Saturday: Give Molly her first real bath, go to classic car show AND dog show AND playground before desperately searching for a place to stand to watch the biggest St. Patrick's Day parade we've ever seen. Have Uncle Kevin over for dinner. Stay up too late and forget about the time change.

Sunday: Ride trolley, bus and train to go to airport for lunch, (No, you read it right... the airport) take Magic Carpet Ride.

This may take several blog posts...

Saturday am: Molly's first real bath. She screams for about .02 seconds and then she really does love the bath.

 

.01 second

.02 seconds

see?

Friday Photo Show....

... on Saturday

He is being VERY sweet despite the fact that she is screaming in his face. Does any baby really like tummy time?

Don't Be Too Impressed

Yesterday, I was giving James his breakfast and a spoon and he said:

"This is silverware! A fork, a spoon, a knife, and a lion."

Zoinks. 

So close kiddo, so close.

Big Coyne Surprise

Now that we travel with a toddler (a demanding, hungry, wakeful, active toddler), I realize how easy it is to travel with a newborn. The diapers are smaller, the demands are fewer and far between, and the food is pretty portable.

So, what better way to celebrate that than to travel to North Carolina, FOR ONE NIGHT. Yup, one night. I just thought it would be "fun" to wake up Saturday morning, hit the road and head out to see some NC friends. What really got me excited was the idea of surprising BFF Emily by just showing up on her doorstep.  She has written a great blog post (three actually) about the visit so I won't repeat it here - I'll just send you to hers: www.veggiebruce.blogspot.com

Our first stop, however, was at friend Scotty's house. We invited ourselves over for lunch and then proceeded to eat it while our toddler ran amuck and Scotty held our infant for two hours. Aren't we great friends?

Here is Scotty - seriously multi-tasking.

Then it was off to "Operation Big Coyne Surprise." I thought it would be "so funny" if we put Molly in her car seat just inside Emily's front door. In my mind, she would see Molly there, scoop her up and we would hop out and say "surprise!" As you can see in the following movie, this actually caused Emily to panic when she saw a random (crying) baby inside her house, rendered her unable to open the door, it completely overtook her vocabulary causing her to say "oh my goodness!" over and over and then she body-checked James. So maybe I could have done that part differently...

Here are James and Virginia - taking a break from doing what they do best - running circles around the house, destroying everything in sight.

Surprise complete.

Hockey Playdate

Surely you did not think I meant "playing" hockey for my 2 1/2 year old who can barely make it from the kitchen to the living room without falling down or running into something....

No no, a new friend Lorena (fellow preschool mom) suggested taking our boys to the Washington Capitals practice session. The practice arena is only about 20 minutes from our house and it's free so how great is that?

If you've never been to a hockey practice session, please allow me to share this with you:

Pro: Since they are all on the same team, there is no fighting.

Con: Since it's a practice, instead of ONE puck hitting the wall/glass, it's about 8,000 (all at the same time) and it's the loudest arena on the planet.

Pro: This volume allowed us not to care at all about how loud our boys were being as they ran up and down the bleachers.

Pro: I discovered that my daughter can truly sleep through anything.

Unfortunately, James woke up at 3:45am that morning and I was forced to drive him into a traffic-induced power nap before we met up with Jackson & Lorena. If he ever asks, you say, "yes, the hockey practice is far far far away" since he thinks it takes about two hours to get there.

Here are James & Jackson enjoying the bleachers (not so much the hockey).

Totally Worth It

It's totally worth the monthly tuition payments JUST for this adorable (ADORABLE!) "school" picture. Could these kids BE any cuter??

And don't think that I didn't notice that my son, who will not even sit on the bathroom counter without clutching my neck for fear he will fall, is actually sitting on a ladder.....and smiling... at strangers!