A T-Ball closeup

T-ball season is in full swing and I'm happy to report that our Giant Evan is getting better every week.  He's hitting better and his throwing has come a long way.  We're still working on catching - but Evan can see the improvement and is a bit less opposed to backyard practice.  Here he is prior to a game.

Not to be left out of all the baseball action, Alexis has her own pink and purple mit an ball (and she's wearing Backpack as well!).  There's no real throwing or catching going on yet but she's got the right attitude.

Going for a stroll

Alexis loves her babies.  Here she is taking them on a walk.  In the stroller is Stella and Pink the dolphin.

But that's not all!  She has Emily hanging out of her backpack.

Have a great walk Alexis!

Take your peacock to work day

Today was take your child to work day at AOL and for the first time Evan was old enough to come with me.  Here we are on our way out the door.  Notice that Evan is holding his "mousie laptop" under his arm.  He was so excited.

Once we got to work there were tons of activities.  Evan participated in a video conference, a scavenger hunt, made his own trail mix, and did a bunch of coloring.

After our long morning at work we went out to lunch together and I took him home.  He was so well behaved and excited.  He wants to start a company called "Evan and Daddy Co" for us both to work at when he grows up.  As of this moment the main product we're going to be making is a gigantic gummy peep on a popsicle stick.  Sounds yummy.

Evan at the plate

Today was Evan's first T-Ball game.  He has been practicing with his team now for a few weeks, and with Jill and me in the back yard most nights.  He's gotten a lot better at throwing but we've got a way to go on all his skills.  Evan told me the night before the game he was real nervous and a little scared.  Well the big game came and went and he's got a smile on his face.

Once Evan learned that everyone bats and there is no score in T-Ball he was a lot less nervous and I think he had a good time.  He was real proud of himself afterword - and he should be.  Now it's up to us to keep practicing and getting a little better every day.

The Trains

There's a caboose in the middle of Vienna and Evan loves climbing on it.  It's open to go inside once a month and today was the day.  There's also an old switch station a block away that, unbeknownst to us, houses the Vienna model railroad club.  It was open too so Evan, Alexis and I went for a look.

Evan loved seeing all the little trains go around and around.  It was a pretty detailed model so we stayed quite a long time and he was entranced.

A quick trip to the zoo

Back in Seattle we went to the zoo all the time but here in DC it's way further away from us and it's always super crowded.  We decided we'd go for a little visit and left early to get there right when it opened.  We literally got the last parking spot in the lot.  We got to see the pandas, the elephants and we went to the bird house but the most interesting animal behavior I observed this trip was this.

It's pretty rare but cute when it happens in the wild.

April Showers

Alexis is all ready for any April showers we may have this year.  Jill and I took her to get fitted for her special shoes and the wait was 2 1/2 hours.  She was so good that we got her a little umbrella she wanted. She hasn't put it down since.

Easter

It's Easter time.  The kids put their baskets out in the back yard (along with a carrot) for the E. B. to find, fill with goodies and hide.

The next morning the baskets were gone, and little carrot scraps remained.  Alexis and Evan searched high and low in the back yard and found them filled with goodies.

Then it was off to Church.

When we got home it was time for egg hunt #3.  Alexis was more interested in wearing her basket as a hat.

Then it was on to dinner where we had two special guests -- Uncle Dave and his friend Jessica.

We were all beat by the end of the day but this year's Easter was fantastic.

Evan's new structure

Watch out Uncle Dave, there's another budding architect in the family.

Here's Evan with his towers connected by bridges over water.  Very nice!

Church egg hunt

There was an Easter egg hunt at Church today so I took Evan and Alexis to join in the fun.  They each found their allotted 8 eggs rather quickly, had a some candy and were ready to go home.  For some reason I think these events are going to last all morning but only wind up being 15 minutes.  Strange how the perception of time is so warped!

Super Eggs

Evan went a step beyond coloring eggs this year.  As you can see he was full on decorating them with eyes, stickers and anything else he could think of.

Great work Evan!

It's finally long enough!

Yep.  It took almost 2 1/2 years but Alexis's hair is finally long enough to put in pig tails.

Oh ya.  She doesn't like it too much.

Alexis ♥ Dora

It's happened.  Alexis has gone head over heals for Dora the Explorer.  She's borderline obsessed.  She's not watching the shows mind you just reading the books.  See how happy she is?