Trip to the Zoo

Since I found out we were having a little boy,

I dreamed of our first trip to the Zoo.

I knew I wanted to go in May before schools were out for the summer and before the summer started and the weather was hot.  

So on a Sunday morning, 

after breakfast we hoped in the car at 8:30am

and were downtown, parked by 9 am. 

The Zoo was empty and it was awesome!

Joe and I have been to the Zoo multiple times and we have never seen so many animals out!  

The main indoor exhibits do not open till 10am 

but we wanted to mostly do the outside exhibits so it was perfect.

We started out with the Cheetas and Zebras

Then headed over to the panda exhibit as we knew it would be crowded.

Plus of going early- Collin could run everywhere because it was empty.

We did bring his stroller which we did use towards the end. 

We then headed over to the monkeys where we got to see the Orangutan climb on the high rope over to the different habitat.  

 Collin loved the monkeys, and I even got a little teary when he was trying to talk to them thru the glass.  

 Then we went over to see the Tigers and Lions

where the Lion was actually "Roaring" which was awesome to see Collin's reaction. 

We spent about 2 hours at the Zoo which was perfect time frame.  

We did end up joining the FONZ club which was $80.

(Tax Deduction!!!)

Which basically gives us free parking.

Since parking is $22 dollars each time- if we go three times, this pays for itself, as we get tickets to Boo at the Zoo and other events also with drink coupons,  food coupons.  

I know we are having a couple friends with kids visiting us so this will come in handy.

Especially since May is their anniversary month, you get 14 months for the price of 12 months, so we have the membership till the end of August 2015.  

Collin had a blast!!!

And within 5 minutes of being in the car he was sounds asleep.  

We had lunch we got home and then he went down for a 3 hour nap!!!

We had a blast and I will see us going back at least 2 more times this year- possibly three.

The best time to go is to be there at 9- the animals are out and it is still cool.

It also worked well for us because we were home for nap time.
Take snacks and drinks with you because the prices at the park are ridiculous
and the lines get long!!!

You Win Some... You Lose Some

Over the last couple of weeks, I have spent my days off occupying Collin any way I can.

Mostly because he is constantly on the move now but also because it has been amazing beautiful outside and after the crazy winter I have needed some outside time.

Some have been wins...

Some not so much!

But here are my experiences:

Music with Ms. Susan at Fairfax Library.

Now that Collin is over 1 year there are a lot more classes that he can participate in thru the library.

We have participated in Bouncing Babies and Small Wonders at the Chantilly Library so far 

but when I saw this class I placed it on my calendar to sign up for.

This class was amazing!

I would have paid money for Collin to do this.

Better than his Park Takes Music Class.

This is offered occasionally at Fairfax and under the name Tiny Tots at Burke.

Unfortantely, she said she is off for the summer but will be back for the fall.

This class had about 20 kids and it was all about movement and signing and dancing- perfect for a boy with lots of energy and who loves music.  

Making Music thru Fairfax County Parktakes

So when I signed Collin up it was either a "Making Music Class" on Sundays or a Spanish Class during the week.  They did not offer much for his age and the classes they did offer seemed to be on days I work- FAIL PARKTAKES.

So I signed him up for the music class on Sunday at Providence because it was really the only option.

There are two teachers that alternate- 1 that is awesome and 1 that is horrible!

So we have just stopped going on the Sundays that we expect that not so good teacher.

The other problem that we have run into is I hate giving up our Sundays as we normally schedule stuff and this time Joe and I went away for a weekend, had Mother's Day another weekend, and are in a Wedding next weekend. 

I will probably never sign up for a weekend class again just because we normally have other stuff.

This summer I signed him up for a class call FunFit Tots on Wednesdays and I think it will be a welcomed change to our schedule. 

Rocknocerous at Jammin Java

This was a FAIL.

I picked to do this on a Saturday when I needed to get Collin out of the house so Joe could work on his grant for school.  I had heard from friends that this was a good activity.  

I would say this is something that I would not do again.

First you had to pay, and there were not 1 but 2 birthday party groups there making there no room to even move.  We actually left after 30 minutes because Collin wanted to get down and run and he had no where to do this.

FAIL!!!!

Clemyjontri Park

I headed out here one day with Collin to meet up with some friends.  

She had recommended this park and I am always looking for free stuff to do.

So far Collin loves parks so I thought we would give it a try.

WIN!

This park is amazing.  

It is about a 20 minutes drive so we left around 9:30 am on Monday morning after rush hour.  The park is huge and is really friendly for all ages.  

Collin basically ran around like a crazy man after he took in it hugeness which at first was a little over whelming to him.  

Of note you can bring your own food and water and I do recommend it.

We went in the morning but it was still hot and I was eventually able to get Collin to wear his hat thru peer pressure of my friend's daughter.  Make sure you place sunscreen on as there is not a lot of shaded places to stand.  This place I can imagine would be a zoo on the weekends and once schools are out so best to go early on a weekday and before school is out.  

Our Park

We have a new park in our neighborhood which for the most part I have been pretty happy with. 

It "newness" means that kids that should not be playing on it- i.e older children are which makes it a little unsafe as they jump off things that they are not suppose to, etc.  This to be honest has just made me more open with communicating with other people children.  For the most part, I do not care about other people's children, but when it is placing my son in danger- well I am going to say something. 

It is free and close to our house so I can see it being a common place for us to play.

WIN

Up next....

Trip to the Zoo

Happy Mother's Day #2

You may recall that last Mother's Day was a crazy one for us with family visiting for Collin's 

Baptism.  It was fun, but so tiring and such a whirl wind.

This year, I requested something much more low key!

The only thing I requested is time with my boys!

The weekend started out with Collin bring me home a gift of a rose and his hand prints from school.

Yes he did come home with paint all over his shirt- but it came out in the wash!!!

On Sunday we woke up and went for a nice family walk.

Then headed to Paradise Springs Winery with my parents.

We picked this place because 1) It has Wine

2) and it had a large area for Collin to run around.  

Which he did.....

We had a nice picnic and winery and enjoyed the wonderful weather!

Collin fell asleep with in minutes of being placed in the car.

We transferred him to his crib once we were home where he took a 2 1/2 nap,

which meant I took a 2 hour nap!

We then spent the rest of the day playing and relaxing outside!!

Pretty much the perfect day with my mini-me!!!

Weekend Get Away

 Our 5 year Anniversary is coming up.

To celebrate Joe and I decided to head out for a long weekend trip.

At first we considered an all-inclusive in the Bahamas,

but after having difficult finding all inclusive flights that worked with the times we needed and difficulty staying in our budget we decided to look for other options.  

My parents had agreed to watch Collin from Friday morning till Sunday whenever.  

We had friends who did a Bed and Breakfast in Charlottesville, VA which was unique because part of the B& B was a wine tour on Saturday.  

It was call Arcady Bed and Breakfast.

After looking at reviews and doing some research,

we decided this would be the perfect long weekend.  

Friday morning after dropping Collin off at my parents we headed to Charlottesville.

It was about a 2 hour drive.

We stopped at Trump Winery.

I have been wanting to go to this winery because it is one of the few wineries that lets you taste sparking wines.  

The inn keepers had told me that this was not a winery they took us to on Saturday so it was on my to do list. 

It was an amazing day- nice and sunny and cool.

We did a tasting out on the patio- $7 a person to taste 7.

We then decided to get a bottle of bubbly and celebrate because we had nothing else to do on a beautiful day.  

We stayed until about 4 pm when we headed over to the B& B to check in.

Our room was cute and just what we needed.

We check in and then check out and took a serious nap.

Around 6 pm after having a glass of wine and cheese on the Patio,

we headed downtown where on Friday's they have concerts.  

We got a small bite to eat at the SkyBar and then headed down to the concert.  

Very relaxing and enjoying evening!

Saturday, we woke up ready for a fun and relaxing day.  

We started off with an amazing breakfast!!!!

Then spent some time relaxing. 

We then headed out on our winery adventure.

Our first stop was King Winery.  

The tasting fee here was $7 per person.

They had an excellent Rose and Dessert Wine!

Then Pollak Winery

Our tasting here was free.

The wines here was ok- they had a nice patio which was great for relaxing.  

The Inn Keepers packed a nice cheese/meat spread for us.

With Chocolates!!!

Followed by Grace Estate Winery.

This winery was a huge mansion at the top of the hill.

Wonderful views.

This place had the best reds.

Free tasting here if you purchased a bottle. 

Last was Stinson Winery.

This place was nice and relaxing and had an amazing white!

Tasting her was also free if you purchased a bottle of wine.  

We left for the wineries around 11:30 am and were back at the B&B by 5pm.

The inn keepers drove us around in a van which was comfortable. 

We took a little nap and then decided to head out for dinner.

The B& B owners has a lot of recommendations for dinner, they sent us a whole list in fact.  

I forward this list to a friend who actually went to school at UVA for his input.  

After the B&B recommendations, and our friends, we decided on Mas Tapas.

If you know me- I love two things 1) Mojitios and 2) Tapas. 

We headed out about 6:30- Mas Tapas does not take reservations so we had to wait about 45 minutes to sit outside.  

It was worth the wait!

The Mojitios were wonderful and the food was amazing.

We ordered 6 different tapas which consisted of Papas Bravas, Bacon Covered Dates,

a Pork dish, flatbread mini pizza, and dessert.

It was an amazing dinner for $60!!!!

We headed back for a relaxing evening.

Sunday we awoke to another amazing breakfast and then headed back home to pick up bug.  

It was amazing to get away and have some adult time with wine and good food!

I hit the TARGET....

First off it is NURSES Appreciation week!

It is also Teachers Appreciation week.

Do not get me started on the fact that we have to share the same week and lots of places are doing stuff for teachers but not for nurses.... urrrrrr.

Anyways, I was looking for something cute and easy to do for Collin's teachers.

He currently has three and I love them.

I know he is totally ready to move on to the next class- hopefully will be moving any day, 

but I will miss his teachers.

They are awesome and just totally great with him.  

So I asked my friend, who's mom is a teacher for some recommendations and she sent me this Pinterest Link.  

I fell in love with the idea and went to work making it my own-

i.e using stuff I already have and a template that I found on the computer.

I put three of them together for his teachers.

It is a Target gift card with a little note from Collin that says,

"I really hit the TARGET with getting YOU as my TEACHER!

Happy Teachers Week!

Thank you for taking such good care of me,

Love, Collin David Hecker"

And then printed out another two pictures to put with a bag of chocolates for his old classroom (he still visits his teachers there) and the front desk staff.  

I changed the wording a little.

 They turned out great and it was super easy- less than 30 minutes and 5-10 of those minutes was trying to get our wireless printer to connect.

Happy Teacher week....

AND NURSES TOO!!!

Agua.... please

Collin is constantly babbling now days- most of it does not make sense.

But in the last two weeks more words have started to flow.  

Bird

Apple

Which I am accrediting to the play fruit he received

Blue Berry

Blue

Owl

......

and....

Agua

Seriously!!! 

Collin's teachers at school speak Spanish, which I personally think is great and encourage them to speak to him in spanish as the earlier he is exposed to it the better.

So Thursday he came home saying- Agua when ever he wanted water.

We have been trying to say agua and water so that he learns it has two names but it is "agua" to Collin.