Hug a Snake for Me

Yes, this day will go down as "Hug a Snake Day" for us, because we apparently owe snakes a big thank you.  While heading towards the dino trail at the Museum of Life & Science, Grant says the following:

"Mom, there's a snake......I stepped on it."  

What?!  I turn around to see that sure enough, there is a snake right behind us on the path, and not just any old snake, but a foot long baby copperhead...and not just any old foot long baby copperhead, but one that looks like it can't move because it's tail has been squashed.  Maybe I ran over it with the stroller, I'm not really sure, but I asked Grant if he stepped on it on purpose and he said no.  So then I asked him again if he stepped on it and this was his reply:

"No [cue sigh of relief from mommy]...I only stepped on it one time [back to mommy's heart racing]."  

So that's his story, and he's sticking to it, and I'm pretty sure I owe that baby copperhead a huge thank you for

not biting my baby.  I was too shaken up to take a picture of it (though tons of other people did because it stayed put for a long time), but I did get this shot of the handler who came out and used her snake stick to relocate it into the woods since it wasn't moving well on its own.  

 

After our snake adventure, we went down to check out the lemurs (and yes, we saw another snake on the way!  But this time no one stepped on it, and it was just a tiny garter snake.)
 

This one made me wish I had a camera better than the one on my phone, but check out that fat lemur tanning its belly!  Does that not totally look like a Django pose?

Sewing for Button

Hayes isn't the only one getting crafty around here.  With a new little niece (aka "Button") on the way, I forged into the world of making baby clothes!  It starts with a bandana dress (and coordinating burp cloth, of course), but now that the door has been opened, who knows what'll I'll be attempting to make next!
 

Meet Pepe the Pinata

Is it wrong to let your kids bond with an animal pinata you will soon be encouraging them to wallop with stick?!
 

Hayes Gets Crafty

Coloring doesn't happen too often with two wild boys running around, but we had a quiet morning, so Hayes got to give coloring a go, and he was a natural.
 

 

 

Another Successful Family Portrait

 

Actually, all of the ones with Dan turned out much better!

Burlington City Park

On a cold, wet, winter-y day in...April, we headed out on our first adventure to Burlington City Park for a birthday party.  Seriously, the furry hood that was too warm for this winter wasn't overkill for this day, it was that cold, but we had an awesome time, and the park was empty because of the weather, so it was pretty much a private party.  No waiting, no lines, just a bunch of happy kids on adorable rides.
 

 

 

 

 

Reunion Weekend BBQ

We gave our camera a break on reunion weekend since we were too busy hosting, but our shutterbug friends shared their pictures with us, and here are a few of our faves:
 

 

Can you tell Arman was such a good sport with our kids!?!
 

 

We forgot to take our usual group pictures this weekend, so late on Saturday night, after we got everyone to wear all of the extra mustaches I had from Grant's party, we managed to get one group picture of those of us who were still awake and around! 
 

 

American Tobacco Campus Adventure

This weekend was our 10 year college reunion.  We had lots of old friends in town, including my college roommate and her family.  We took them downtown to show off how Durham has improved, and had the extra bonuses of the boys getting to see the Parade of Playhomes (including the incredibly cute UFO shown below) and a field of photogenic pinwheels.
 

 

Hayes, temporarily AKA Spoon Man, prefers to have a spoon in hand at all times right now.
 

 

 

 

 

Touch a Helicopter

After our great experience at Touch a Truck last year, even though we were crazy busy this weekend, we made sure we made the time to go back for this year's truck touching glory.  Our highlight was watching the helicopter land (while sand blasting us).  Grant is sitting on Kyle's shoulders waiting for a chance to get into the helicopter...

 

Happy helicopter visit:
 

Swinging from a crane was another highlight:

Hayes was less impressed by Touch a Truck, but we're sure he'll love it next year.  (Grant and I are in the background checking out the crane operator's seat.)

Playing in the Gutter

Grant loves ramps, but getting G and Hayes out to the museums to play with them has been tricky lately.  So today we picked up a $6 gutter at Lowe's, and the boys had a blast racing balls and cars down it for hours...or at least for several minutes, which with their attention spans, is like hours...