Feeding His Obsession

Yes, I know. He's never going to get over his obsession with trains if we keep doing cool stuff like taking him to Travel Town! but you know what? That is perfectly fine by me: trains are cool! And it's just one of the many perks about being Jack Jack's mommy- I get to play trains with him every day, listen to the fun train-related things he comes up with (this kid's imagination is seriously amazing!) and watch the excitement and pure awe on his face when he gets to experience things like this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

Travel Town itself was pretty fun... we thought that they were going to let us climb on more trains then just the one engine and the one car, but we still had a great time. How could we not when Jack was so thrilled to finally be able to go to Travel Town! We had driven by it about a month ago but weren't able to stop... he's been looking forward to this ever since then!

He absolutely loved every inch of that place. Even the sidewalk that had a track painted on it... he followed the track, chugging along, and when he got to where the paint had faded away he yelled "Oh no, mom! I better stop or I'm going to de-rail!"

He was so thrilled to be able to see how a coupler worked up close, and he even got to work it himself (with grandpa's help).

He and grandma spied a railroad crossing...

...and he taught her all about how the arms worked to keep the cars safe!

Grandpa tried to turn my sweet boy into an outlaw, too!

Jack's favorite part of the day, though, was that he got to ride the little train that circled Travel Town! He takes train riding very seriously, and I sat right in front of him so that I didn't miss a second of watching (and taking pictures of) him enjoying the train!

Jack had so much fun looking at all the trains and playing on the tracks that I was very surprised that he was able to focus enough to eat his lunch! Of course, he talked about trains the whole time!

Trains, and Sammy-Wammy... another of his obsessions!

After lunch it was right back to walking on the train tracks and checking out the trains!

Of course, the train obsession was put on pause very briefly, when Jack Jack spied a helicopter flying overhead

But then the little Travel Town train chugged by and Jack forgot all about it, making a beeline for the fence (and cracking up the passengers on the train!) so that he could watch the wheels go around up close! It was so funny! He ran so fast to the fence and when he got there he completely froze, not registering anything but the clickety-clack of the wheels going over the track!

And of course, he wanted to go ride it again! He knew that grandpa had promised to take him on the little train one more time, so he ran back to where grandpa was taking a nap on the grass and practically jumped on him to wake him up! "Wake up, grandpa! Let's go ride the train!"

Austin, Luke, Sam and McKenna (and company) also had fun at Travel Town! Here are some more photos of all of us enjoying our day:

And finally, all of our little Travel Town Travelers, cooperating very nicely!

Samuel, Luke, Jackson, McKenna, and Austin

Memorial Weekend, Part Two: Monday

On Monday I loaded the boys up and took them over to my sister's house for a swim day! We had so much fun- I even put Sam's swim outfit on him, even though we didn't put him in the water. He looked pretty adorable sitting poolside watching his big brother and cousin play! He wasn't sure about that hat, though.

I brought our baby floatie for Baby Luke to borrow (best floatie EVER!), and he loved it! He had a lot of fun splashing himself and his momma!

Jack was so excited that grandpa was able to come, too! He had so much fun swimming with him!

Jack is still really brave about putting his head under the water. In fact, by the end of the day he was doing it all by himself! He is so proud of himself and I love to see that huge smile on his face!

Sam was such a good boy to share mommy with Jack Jack- he let grandma hold him while mommy swam.

And he even let her lay him down for his nap... and he slept for twice as long as usual!

Luke also had such a great time swimming...

... that he was pooped, too!

And grandma was in heaven being on grand-sleeping-baby duty! This is why we keep her!

Memorial Weekend, Part One: Saturday

On Memorial Day weekend my sister decided that she wanted to go to the zoo, so my mom and I busted out our passes and we took the boys and my dad with us!

It was Sam's first trip to the zoo (you know, outside my uterus), so I wanted to make sure that I got some pictures of him enjoying himself!

Jack's favorite exhibit was the elephant exhibit, which has been closed for the past two years! How can that be his favorite if it's closed? Why, because they are constructing a new facility, of course! He loved see the bulldozers and skip loaders and other cool machinery at work!

He also loved the mist sprayers... this was the first time they had been turned on since getting our passes and I knew he'd enjoy that. He's such a water kid!

He did have fun looking at the traditional zoo exhibits (read: animals), too, even if they weren't as exciting as the bulldozers and misters.

This was really the first time that Luke really noticed and appreciated all of the animals, and I was really glad that my sister got to be there for that since usually my mom and I take him while Amy is working. It was really fun to watch his reaction to the animals!

Luke really enjoyed having his mommy there, too!

Now, I usually don't take pictures of animals, but I just had to take a picture of this Orangutan! She had stuck her arm through her rope-net cage and had a stick in hand. It took us a second, but we realized that she was trying to get a leaf that was in the water! I thought it was pretty smart of her :)

After lunch all the boys were tired, so we put all of them in the stroller, and two of them fell asleep!

And then, before heading home, we visited Jack's other favorite part of the zoo. The hand-washing station just outside of the petting zoo.

Have I mentioned how much that kid loves water?