Brett texts of the week

I was pretty nervous about leaving the boys home alone when I found out Dave would need to be out of town during girls camp.  I knew that cell phone coverage might be sketchy and they might not be able to get ahold of me all of the time. So, Brett learned how to text on an ipod. The following are some of the messages he sent me. 

MoMA

We didn't have a lot of time for museums so Dave and I chose one of our favorites and what we thought would be the most fun for the kids, The Museum of Modern Art. There they could see famous artwork, crazy stuff and some downright weird "art".

NYC

Ever since Dave and I went to New York the kids, well Paige, have been obsessed with going. Paige wanted to go everywhere we went. With only a day and a half to fit in all we could, we went to Times Square, where we explored places like the M&M's store.

 We ate Pizza, pastami and pretzels.

 We played around at FAO Schwarz.

 We went to the Top of the Rock, and wandered around Rockefeller Plaza.

 We even talked Dave into a Broadway play, (although not an big musical like they would have liked) we saw "Peter and the Starcatcher" which was like a Peter Pan prequel. We all enjoyed it. We also saw some fun dancers in Central Park and bought candy at Dylan's Candy Bar and cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. It was just a small taste of the city but still a fun time.

Brett quote of the day

While cleaning his room. Brett brought me something he did not want any more. He said, "Maybe you can save it for when the boys or Paige have kids, because I am not planning on it." Oh, okay, I asked him why he didn't want to have kids.  He said, " I don't want to spend the money." What a funny kid, I hope he has a kids just like him!

Pottery Garage

 Grandma and Grandpa have had their own pottery studio in their garage for many years, but it took the upcoming sale of all their supplies to finally get us out there making our own pots.

 It is not easy, but it is fun and messy. Everyone made their own piece (with some help from Grandma!)

 Grandpa and the kids had fun pounding the clay to get it ready for us. We can't wait to see how they all turned out.

Appalachian Highlands Trail

One of the things Dave's dad always tells us about when we visit is the Appalachian Highlands Trail.  This trail goes all the way from Pittsburg to Washington, D.C.  It took a little work to round up bikes for all of us (the rental place is closed on Mondays???). Grandpa drove us to Frostburg where we headed down the trail toward LaVale. 
Mostly the trail follows railroad tracks, but we didn't see any trains.  The weather was a  little cool, which made it perfect.  The trail was easy, fun and beautiful. We stopped for lunch at a spot over looking this pretty town.

We saw a waterfall, pretty streams, new spring blossoms...

The kids loved riding through the tunnel so much that they went back and did it again.

Spy School

I tried really hard to convince Brett that he did not need to invite friends over for a party. We could go do something really fun as a family, but he would not be swayed. So, we had a Spy School party.
There were bombs to find and diffuse, lasers to crawl through and avoid, fingerprinting, and code names were chosen.
There was soooo much red yarn in our backyard. The boys loved it and had a great time. They went back and forth through the lasers and found the bombs over and over. Code names were chosen by picking an adjective and a noun from a bowl, we came up with such titles as "Stinky Ninja", "Slippery Eagle", and "Hidden Ghost".
And Brett was so happy to have his friends over. What more can you ask for when you turn nine!