A Walk in the Woods

Two weeks ago we were getting a little cagey.  I was starting to pull my hair, Phin was starting to spin in circles, and Mom was getting sleepy.  So Dad decided we needed to go hiking in the woods at one of our favorite spots (Huntley Meadows).  While it was a little bit chilly, the leaves were in full coloration and the geese well in full quacking (or whatever noise they make). 

You can see our pics here and see some of my favorites below.

Walking with mom's hand down the boardwalk

Dad and Phin walking with their hands in their pockets.  Silly guys.

Lots of Love,
Amelia

Camping - For Real This Time

A few weeks back we tried to go camping... and failed.  This time Dad prepared and made a reservation.  So down we went to Pohick Bay Regional Park - a little park along the river ~20-30 minutes from our house.  I love camping.  I think this is my 5th time camping (and Amelia's 3rd in under15 months).  It was our first time camping in our new tent - an easy pop-up tent that sets itself up in 30 seconds.

While I helped Dad set up the tent, Amelia played with some cars we brought.  She likes cars.  But I love cars. After the tent was set up, we went to the playground in the campground (not as cool as the one at the park we tried to camp at) and then came back and ate dinner. 

 After dinner we made s'mores... well really we just ate marshmallows.  Amelia had her first 'smallow; she loved it.  In fact, she also had her second 'smallow that night too.  I was a good guy, so Dad gave me a third one.  Maybe that is why it took me so long to fall asleep that night ... I was waiting for my fourth marshmallow.

The next morning, we woke up (although I was still sleepy) and went down to the waterfront where we found some dig trucks.  There was an excavator, a front loader, and a crane truck.  They also had a couple of fire boats in the water.  So much fun and a great end to our camping trip!

You can check out all of the photos from our camping trip via this link.

Peace Out,
Phin

Happy 3 to Me

Way back in September, I turned three!  Can you believe I'm three?  To celebrate my big day, my Nana, Papa, Grandma, and Grandpa all came in town.  We had a great weekend of non-stop fun (well, it stopped while I slept - because you cannot have fun without me).  

We had a birthday party for me at Jones Point Park (under a giant bridge) - it was so much fun.  My friends brought all of their ride-on cars, bikes and other toys. We had sidewalk chalk, toy cars (because I love cars), a PB-J sandwich bar (although I love honey instead of jelly on my PB sandwiches), cupcakes, vanilla milk, juice, and other fun items!

Here I am all excited at my party by the birthday wish Grandpa made for me out of chalk. Haha.  This was pretty much the only time I got off of Sophie's BMW ride-on car.  Loved it. 

At the party, we had cupcakes and I got to blow out candles.  When I turned two, I only liked to eat the cupcake (not the icing); now that I'm three, I like the icing and not the cupcakes.

The party was a ton of fun.  But to cap off the weekend, I took Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Mommy on their first Old Town free trolley ride (Dad, Papa and I have ridden before).  We took the trolley from the metro down to the ice cream and toy stores (these are a few of my favorite things...).

Thanks everyone for celebrating my birthday with me.  You can check out all my birthday weekend pics here.

Peace Out,
Phin

Apple Picking and Not Camping

In early September, Mom and Dad decided we should squeeze in a camping trip while it was still nice (plus, we needed to use our new big tent).  So last weekend, we were all set.  We bought groceries.  We packed the bags.  We loaded the car.  And we hit the road for the campground.  One problem, due to a last minute change in direction (we wanted to go apple picking, so we found a campground near an orchard), we did not have a reservation.

"No worries" said Dad, "they have like 200 campsites."  Oops... after an hour and a half drive, we got there only to find out the campground was full!  So, Mom and Dad called all the surrounding state parks.  Oops, they were all full.  What now?  Luckily, the campground had a super cool park that we could use. All the climbing equipment and the ground cover was made of shredded tires!  Craziness.  They even had a car with real truck tires.  So the 3 hour round trip was not a total loss.  After the playground we ate at my first country-style family restaurant.  I ate grilled cheese, corn, green beans, a few bites of country ham, French fries, applesauce, and ice cream - whew, no wonder everyone there XXL pants, they had so much yummy food. 

Just Horsing Around

Playing in the car made from real tires

The next day (after we woke up in our own beds, not in our tent), we went apple picking with Max.  There is just something special about fruit picking with Max.  Now its a tradition.  I guess it is nice to have someone my height there to eat and pick with.  We even got to feed some animals, play in a pile of hay, go on a hayride, and drive a fake tractor (below).  So fun.

You can check out all of my Apple Picking and Not Camping photos here.  Additionally, here are the apple picking photos from the same spot from last year.

Peace Out,
Phin

Let's Ride the Rails (and the bus and the Metro) - My First Train Ride!

There are so many things that I love (I feel like every blog starts this way).  But the top two are always Trains and Cars/Trucks.  The next two are Mom, Dad, and Amelia (I'm only two still, I don't have the patience to count properly).

So Saturday, while Mom and Amelia had their Matilda Jane Party, Dad and I decided we needed to do something father-son special.  Dad decided (and I agreed) that I should go on my first train ride.  My friend Max mentioned that he had been on a long train ride, but got bored once on board (hehe).  Of course that would never happen with me, since I love trains so much.  In fact, Dad said that I was all business because I was so excited from the time we left the house until I returned and took my nap.  He said it was precious. But, I'm pretty sure it was just awesome!

First stop was the Alexandria Train Station.  We walked there from our house down the metro path.  While at the station, a train headed southbound pulled into the station (an added bonus), as seen in the photo above.  It was super cool - the train was so tall!  The wheels were nearly as big as me and I'm a big guy!  While we waited for our train, Dad taught me all about train tracks, railroad ties, spikes, and other railroad gear.  But, I kept having to warn Dad to back up from the tracks, the train was coming (eventually). 

Finally, the train came and the conductor even asked for us by name (we were the only passengers getting on).  ALL ABOARD!  hehe.  So we boarded the train and were never bored.  We sat in the dining car at a table.  I got to eat a snack and look out our window.  I saw our house, the airport, the river, the bridge where we see the trains crossing the river, boats, Dad's office, a long long tunnel, and lots of other fun things!  

Finally, we arrived at Union Station downtown.  When we pulled into the station, they announced that they were going to change the engine - so of course we watched.  It was so cool to stand 3 feet from the track while they de-coupled the old engine, pulled it away, backed up the new engine, and re-coupled (photo above).  We also got to see another engine shunt around passenger cars.  And we saw a super fast train called an Acela at the station.  Oh, and we saw a forklift, golf carts, and a lot of other cool action.  Whew, it was overwhelming to see it all. 

I was hungry, so we left Union Station and had a picnic in the park across the street near where Dad used to work (the Capitol).  Dad showed me where he used to park his Mazda 929 at night.  We had a great lunch and then decided to go find the bell tower near the Capitol.  We did not make it to the tower because I was so distracted by a fountain.

After a splash fest and fun with a beach ball, Dad and I headed to the metro station to see if it would take us to the beach.  Only, the nearest metro station was closed (how silly).  So we got to take a bus to the next station - what a great bonus.  On the bus, I got to sit next to a nine year old - she was tall.  I told her that I took the train here; she did not care because she was headed to something called laser tag (it sounded like something out of Star Wars). 

Eventually, we made it home and you can see the pictures from our awesome trip here.  Everyday, I ask Dad something about our train trip, hopefully I can go again another day.

Peace Out,
Phin