This weekend we took the boys to the Fantasy Playground in Lake Ridge (a couple miles from my parent's house). When my brother and I were little, my dad helped build the all wood playground and being there with the boys brought back such fun memories. And of course, they had a blast!
October 25 - 29, 1989
1400 volunteers
Amazing
Now Paul and I are starting to look into resources for trying to do something like that in Haymarket/Gainesville.
My first attempt at a photo collage online below, from the playground. Pictures ended up a little blurry in the collage but you get the idea :-)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
NYC!
First time riding on the train, first time in NYC, first time seeing a play on Broadway -- Paul sure did know how to make celebrating my 30th birthday memorable and exciting!
For about two months, I knew there was a surprise trip planned for my birthday weekend but I had NO idea where we were going. He arranged all of the travel plans and for his parents to watch the boys for the weekend. On the Thursday evening before we were to leave, I came home from work to birthday roses and two cards -- one from him and one from the boys. I opened the one from him first and as soon as I opened the card, it started singing, "New York...". Wow! I started to tear up just from that amazing surprise. Then I opened the card from the boys and it had tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway. Really?!? Tears enter here... For those of you who know me, you know how much I LOVE the Lion King so the opportunity to see it on Broadway in NYC was beyond words. Love that man.
So our adventure began early on Friday morning with riding Amtrak up to Penn Station in NYC. We hopped a taxi to our hotel -- the Marriott Marquis Times Square -- right in the heart of all the action! Just the sight of Times Square was breathtaking. The view from our hotel room (on the 33rd floor) had a direct shot of the ball that drops on New Year's Eve. The bright lights and constant hustle and bustle were crazy. Even at 10pm at night, it looks like 4pm outside because the lights are so bright.
After settling in and grabbing a late lunch, we headed to Ground Zero. We both very much wanted to visit this historic sight and pay our respects. Since it has been almost 10 years since 9/11, the area was mainly a huge construction site but we saw the plaques and tributes to 9/11 and to the FDNY firefighters who perished that day. It doesn't matter how long it has been since that day, the emotions never fade. We saw the plans for the 9/11 memorial that they are building. It is going to be beautiful, with cascading waterfalls falling down into the "holes" that were once the site for the two towers.
We then talked around the financial district, Wall St. etc before venturing to Shula's Steakhouse back in Times Square for my birthday dinner. Delish. The next morning I slept in while Paul brought my coffee and breakfast in bed and then we walked over to Rockefeller Center. We saw where they film the Today show and decided to take the NBC Studio Tour. It was about 90 minutes and we saw where they film MSNBC, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dr. Oz, and the set for SNL! (Daney Carvey was the host for that night and things were in full-swing getting set up for the evening.)
We started to walk around 5th Ave/ Madison Ave to do a little window shopping but it was a cold and rainy NY day so we hopped a taxi to Madame Tussauds wax museum (note slideshow of photos below from just our trip there) -- so fun! It was touristy and a little cheesy but we shared some good laughs and were amazed at how some of the wax statues looked so real!
We decided to have dinner at one of Gordom Ramsay's restaurants (Hell's Kitchen) called Maze. It was spectacular. It was probably the best dinner I have ever had. Seriously. Worth every penny. Then it was time for The Lion King! I wish we could have taken pictures during the show but they probably wouldn't have done the beauty any justice. The costumes, set, music, everything was magical. I probably was sitting with my mouth wide open in awe when I wasn't signing along to the songs.
Truly a magical weekend. We were only there for two days but I felt like we were able to see and experience so much. It was so relaxing and just time for the two of us to be together, laugh, smile, and hold hands. I can't think of a better way to have spent my 30th birthday!
(Slideshows below from the weekend!)
For about two months, I knew there was a surprise trip planned for my birthday weekend but I had NO idea where we were going. He arranged all of the travel plans and for his parents to watch the boys for the weekend. On the Thursday evening before we were to leave, I came home from work to birthday roses and two cards -- one from him and one from the boys. I opened the one from him first and as soon as I opened the card, it started singing, "New York...". Wow! I started to tear up just from that amazing surprise. Then I opened the card from the boys and it had tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway. Really?!? Tears enter here... For those of you who know me, you know how much I LOVE the Lion King so the opportunity to see it on Broadway in NYC was beyond words. Love that man.
So our adventure began early on Friday morning with riding Amtrak up to Penn Station in NYC. We hopped a taxi to our hotel -- the Marriott Marquis Times Square -- right in the heart of all the action! Just the sight of Times Square was breathtaking. The view from our hotel room (on the 33rd floor) had a direct shot of the ball that drops on New Year's Eve. The bright lights and constant hustle and bustle were crazy. Even at 10pm at night, it looks like 4pm outside because the lights are so bright.
After settling in and grabbing a late lunch, we headed to Ground Zero. We both very much wanted to visit this historic sight and pay our respects. Since it has been almost 10 years since 9/11, the area was mainly a huge construction site but we saw the plaques and tributes to 9/11 and to the FDNY firefighters who perished that day. It doesn't matter how long it has been since that day, the emotions never fade. We saw the plans for the 9/11 memorial that they are building. It is going to be beautiful, with cascading waterfalls falling down into the "holes" that were once the site for the two towers.
We then talked around the financial district, Wall St. etc before venturing to Shula's Steakhouse back in Times Square for my birthday dinner. Delish. The next morning I slept in while Paul brought my coffee and breakfast in bed and then we walked over to Rockefeller Center. We saw where they film the Today show and decided to take the NBC Studio Tour. It was about 90 minutes and we saw where they film MSNBC, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dr. Oz, and the set for SNL! (Daney Carvey was the host for that night and things were in full-swing getting set up for the evening.)
We started to walk around 5th Ave/ Madison Ave to do a little window shopping but it was a cold and rainy NY day so we hopped a taxi to Madame Tussauds wax museum (note slideshow of photos below from just our trip there) -- so fun! It was touristy and a little cheesy but we shared some good laughs and were amazed at how some of the wax statues looked so real!
We decided to have dinner at one of Gordom Ramsay's restaurants (Hell's Kitchen) called Maze. It was spectacular. It was probably the best dinner I have ever had. Seriously. Worth every penny. Then it was time for The Lion King! I wish we could have taken pictures during the show but they probably wouldn't have done the beauty any justice. The costumes, set, music, everything was magical. I probably was sitting with my mouth wide open in awe when I wasn't signing along to the songs.
Truly a magical weekend. We were only there for two days but I felt like we were able to see and experience so much. It was so relaxing and just time for the two of us to be together, laugh, smile, and hold hands. I can't think of a better way to have spent my 30th birthday!
(Slideshows below from the weekend!)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
More Ski Liberty!
A more inclusive slideshow of pictures from the boys' first ski trip to Ski Liberty in PA. Jake keeps asking to go back!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What's Good with the Gunnings?
Stealing a phrase from Paul for the Title of this post ("What's good, y'all?"). Ahhh. If you haven't done so already, take a moment for a quick pause, deep sigh, ahhhhh. The holidays are over! Don't get me wrong, I lovelovelove Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it naturally brings stress over lack of time and of course, the money factor! (Lucky for me, I love my family and in-laws and we all get along so I don't have to worry about the family stress.)
I feel like I have reached a pivotal milestone. I find myself with "down time". Gosh I almost feel like I am jinxing myself to actually put that out there, but it's been a trend. At least for January (so far!). Now that I am working from home 2-3 days a week, I have plenty of time between answering emails and taking conference calls to do laundry, pick up the rec room, make the beds, do more laundry, pay bills, and take care of other miscellaneous household chores. That leaves a lot more free time in the evenings and on the weekends.
Paul has started a new job with ProTech, a pest control company, as a sales rep. He actually has a normal Monday-Friday 9-5 job. (For the first time in the 7 years I have known him.) He just started last week but he's been coming home anywhere inbetween 5:30 and 7:30pm so him being home to help with the boys in the evening has been such a treat as well. Using tonight as an example, we had eaten dinner, done the dishes, and had Josh in his PJ's by 6:30pm. Whoah. When I am coming home from work at Booz Allen in Tysons Corner, I don't even get in the door with the boys until 6:30!
So what am I thinking about doing with this newfound "spare time"? I must admit that I have been spoiling myself by doing nothing. Yes, nothing. Just sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of hot tea, and watching whatever mindless TV show is on (or waiting for me to watch on the DVR). Eventually I know I must do something more productive. Another baby? Perhaps. Still working on trying for #3 (a girl) with Paul. I promised we'd wait another year. Until then, I have decided to do a little "going back to school". I'm not ready to commit to an entire graduate program but I have enrolled in a graduate certificate program at Georgetown University. At the end of the courses, I will have my Change Management Advanced Practitioners (CMAP) certification. (Four more letters to add to the end of my name, after the PMP). I'm excited to do something different, get back into the school routine, and the topic is very much of interest to me as well. I deal with change management in my role at Booz Allen every single day so I will have a lot of real life application of the course work and case studies. (Oh and maybe one of the best parts? Booz Allen pays for the entire thing, to include travel expenses and books. The classes take place during the day, during the week, and I get paid for attending, so it's a win-win situation.)
The boys? Oh the boys are terrific. Whenever anyone asks, my typical response is, "oh they're great, so sweet, and growing up so fast". That doesn't really even begin to cover it. Bursting with pride, love, and devotion is probably more like it. As they get older and their little personalities start to shine through, I love both of them, and enjoy time with both of them, for different reasons. I know 99% of all parents love their kids more than words describe (obviously I am one of them), because there is something so special and magical about that first smile when they wake up in the morning, their hugs when you pick them up from school, and glimpses of their unconditional love and dependence on you.
Jake fully carries on entire conversations and immerses himself in "pretend play". The things that come out of his mouth are hyterical. "Mama, don't wash your face, you take too long!". "Just five more minutes." "Daddy, I need to take my bear to school today and put it in my cubby." "C'mon, Josh, let's use this chair to jump on the couch. We can climb this wall!" Whoah, wait, what?!? Have I mentioned how he insits on dressing himself now? Yes, sir. Every day. Shirt, underwear, pants, socks, boots, jacket, the whole nine yards. It takes a little extra time but he's pretty darn good at it. One day he went to school with his pants on backwards, but hey, that's okay for a 3 1/2 year old. He attends speech therapy twice a week at the local elementary school. He gets to take the big yellow school bus from preschool to speech and back to preschool. He thinks that is just about the coolest thing that has ever happened to him (well maybe since Handy Manny came into his life).
Josh is my chubby cheeked little bruiser. He is going through a bit of a "hitting phase". I think its his only mechanism for defending himself against his brother. He's not a "mean hitter" so to speak, but he has a little defiance in him. Right now he's battling a bout of bronchitis and an ear infection. Comes with the territory of being 1 1/2 and in daycare. At least he's building his immunity now; Jake went through the same cycles. He's even sweet and laid back when he is sick. Josh absolutely adores his big brother. He wants to do, eat, and play with anything that Jake is doing/ has. This means that there are frequent battles over tools but they are both learning the fine art of sharing, and usually we help to negotiate a compromise between them. Josh talks. A LOT. I don't know exactly how many words he says but I'd say he is upwards of 50-75 or so. Mama, Daddy, Jake, Joshy, BoBo, Bailey, yes, no, wawa, cup, juice, cheese, bread, straw, bye bye, thank you, please, cow, cat, dog, book, night night, help, up, down, light, etc, etc. His attempt at communicating in full sentences is comical. He's trying so hard but it sounds like he is speaking a foreign language.
So that's all that is good for us for now. I must include a big congratulations to our good friends, Trevin and Rachael, who welcomed their second child (daughter Kendall) to the world yesterday -- on 1/11/11 at 11pm! Amazing timing by Rachael! (And reminds me about getting back on my quest to have a little girl!)
I feel like I have reached a pivotal milestone. I find myself with "down time". Gosh I almost feel like I am jinxing myself to actually put that out there, but it's been a trend. At least for January (so far!). Now that I am working from home 2-3 days a week, I have plenty of time between answering emails and taking conference calls to do laundry, pick up the rec room, make the beds, do more laundry, pay bills, and take care of other miscellaneous household chores. That leaves a lot more free time in the evenings and on the weekends.
Paul has started a new job with ProTech, a pest control company, as a sales rep. He actually has a normal Monday-Friday 9-5 job. (For the first time in the 7 years I have known him.) He just started last week but he's been coming home anywhere inbetween 5:30 and 7:30pm so him being home to help with the boys in the evening has been such a treat as well. Using tonight as an example, we had eaten dinner, done the dishes, and had Josh in his PJ's by 6:30pm. Whoah. When I am coming home from work at Booz Allen in Tysons Corner, I don't even get in the door with the boys until 6:30!
So what am I thinking about doing with this newfound "spare time"? I must admit that I have been spoiling myself by doing nothing. Yes, nothing. Just sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of hot tea, and watching whatever mindless TV show is on (or waiting for me to watch on the DVR). Eventually I know I must do something more productive. Another baby? Perhaps. Still working on trying for #3 (a girl) with Paul. I promised we'd wait another year. Until then, I have decided to do a little "going back to school". I'm not ready to commit to an entire graduate program but I have enrolled in a graduate certificate program at Georgetown University. At the end of the courses, I will have my Change Management Advanced Practitioners (CMAP) certification. (Four more letters to add to the end of my name, after the PMP). I'm excited to do something different, get back into the school routine, and the topic is very much of interest to me as well. I deal with change management in my role at Booz Allen every single day so I will have a lot of real life application of the course work and case studies. (Oh and maybe one of the best parts? Booz Allen pays for the entire thing, to include travel expenses and books. The classes take place during the day, during the week, and I get paid for attending, so it's a win-win situation.)
The boys? Oh the boys are terrific. Whenever anyone asks, my typical response is, "oh they're great, so sweet, and growing up so fast". That doesn't really even begin to cover it. Bursting with pride, love, and devotion is probably more like it. As they get older and their little personalities start to shine through, I love both of them, and enjoy time with both of them, for different reasons. I know 99% of all parents love their kids more than words describe (obviously I am one of them), because there is something so special and magical about that first smile when they wake up in the morning, their hugs when you pick them up from school, and glimpses of their unconditional love and dependence on you.
Jake fully carries on entire conversations and immerses himself in "pretend play". The things that come out of his mouth are hyterical. "Mama, don't wash your face, you take too long!". "Just five more minutes." "Daddy, I need to take my bear to school today and put it in my cubby." "C'mon, Josh, let's use this chair to jump on the couch. We can climb this wall!" Whoah, wait, what?!? Have I mentioned how he insits on dressing himself now? Yes, sir. Every day. Shirt, underwear, pants, socks, boots, jacket, the whole nine yards. It takes a little extra time but he's pretty darn good at it. One day he went to school with his pants on backwards, but hey, that's okay for a 3 1/2 year old. He attends speech therapy twice a week at the local elementary school. He gets to take the big yellow school bus from preschool to speech and back to preschool. He thinks that is just about the coolest thing that has ever happened to him (well maybe since Handy Manny came into his life).
Josh is my chubby cheeked little bruiser. He is going through a bit of a "hitting phase". I think its his only mechanism for defending himself against his brother. He's not a "mean hitter" so to speak, but he has a little defiance in him. Right now he's battling a bout of bronchitis and an ear infection. Comes with the territory of being 1 1/2 and in daycare. At least he's building his immunity now; Jake went through the same cycles. He's even sweet and laid back when he is sick. Josh absolutely adores his big brother. He wants to do, eat, and play with anything that Jake is doing/ has. This means that there are frequent battles over tools but they are both learning the fine art of sharing, and usually we help to negotiate a compromise between them. Josh talks. A LOT. I don't know exactly how many words he says but I'd say he is upwards of 50-75 or so. Mama, Daddy, Jake, Joshy, BoBo, Bailey, yes, no, wawa, cup, juice, cheese, bread, straw, bye bye, thank you, please, cow, cat, dog, book, night night, help, up, down, light, etc, etc. His attempt at communicating in full sentences is comical. He's trying so hard but it sounds like he is speaking a foreign language.
So that's all that is good for us for now. I must include a big congratulations to our good friends, Trevin and Rachael, who welcomed their second child (daughter Kendall) to the world yesterday -- on 1/11/11 at 11pm! Amazing timing by Rachael! (And reminds me about getting back on my quest to have a little girl!)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)