The Butterfly Effect

Yesterday we had an awesome outting to downtown DC. On Tuesdays the butterfly encounter at the Natural History museum is free to the public. Since Sam didn't have school (his teachers apparently needed a "teacher day" I am sure it is to catch up on all the grading they have to do :)) I figured it would be a perfect outing. We were joined by our new neighbors Keslie and her little boy Rylie. Luckily we only had to wait a few minutes for our turn. When we went inside I was in complete amazement. When I have gone into butterfly exhibits before they have been less then stellar. In this one butterflies were everywhere. You literally had to watch where you stepped so you wouldn't step on them. The boys loved in.

Thankfully for the most part the butterflies are slow moving or else just rest on something because when they would zoom past Sam would freak right out (Rylie felt the same way so that made me feel better). I was proud of Liam who didn't try and squish a single one (that was my main apprehension was that he would be all cute and then WHAM! smack a butterfly, and I would then be sent a bill for killing a endangered species or somthing).

I of course left my memory card in the car but thankfully Keslie had her camera and snapped all these great pictures for me. It is so weird to see myself in pictures for once... depressing actually, as the realization that I still have a lot of baby weight to loose sets in.

There was the HUGEST butterfly I have ever seen resting in the bush's. It would give a flap everynow and then and sort of hop to the side. I wondered to myself if he was considered morbidly obese in the butterfly world and actually could no longer fly due to his ginormous weight. I guess we'll see when we go back if he is still hiding in the same bush.

The exhibit was sooooo hot and humid that poor Keslie's camera totally fogged up. Which is a bummer because this is a picture of a butterfly that landed on my head! The boys got a kick out of it.

After you were done you had to go through a room with mirrors making sure there were no hitchhiking butterflies on you. We then headed over to the History museum. They have this amazing kids area called the spark lab. They perform great experiements for the kids with dry ice etc. and there are tons of things for the kids to explore and play with. My boys loved the overszed magnifying glasses and I am so wishing I had a picture of how Sam would hold it right smashed up against his face. We then had to stop at the gift store to pick up two space shuttle replica toys. Rylie had one and Sam was in LOVE with it. Thank heavens they were only 8 bucks so I could afford to get both Sam and Liam one to avoid fighting.

Capes and Trunks

Saturday we had our wards trunk or treat. Abby went as a ladybug

We had a plethora of costumes for the boys to choose from, Superman, Batman, Robin, Buzz Lightyear etc. I had also made a sweet Max costume from Where the Wild Things Are. Sam decided he wanted to be Superman.

He LOVED his cape and wanted to run everywhere to make it fly. Liam decided he wanted to wear the Max costume. WE put him in his jammies and left the costume off until we got to the church. Once there he REFUSED to put the costume on. We thought this might be a problem so we brought his pirate hat and patch (he LOVES wearing these). Everytime we tried to put them on him he bolted. Don't worry he still went to all the cars and wrecked havock for Chris and I. I don't know what got into him but man was he crazy!
When we decided to take the boys to the Natural History museum the opposite happened and he and Sam and Liam refused to take off their capes. People loved seeing them run around making wind noise.

They had a fun time looking at the dinasaurs and bugs. You could tell Sam needed a nap though...

Have I mentioned it is gorgeous here right now. The colors are so vibrant I LOVE it.


We had a fun family night Monday night! We went to one of my new fav burger places Elevation burger. It was REALLY yummy and very afordable. Everything is fresh and organic, right down to the oil they cook the fries in. Plus the boys ate three tubs of mandarin oranges! I love it! But when you come to dinner with the Crawfords you get entertainment with it. Since Sam always brings a train Liam decided to bring his dolphin... who was apparently also hungry for oranges.

Then Liam yelled at him for eating his oranges:

Dinner was so good we had to get desert. The boys got choclate ice cream.


Don't worry the dolphin got some too.

Then we headed down the street to a gorgeous old church that was selling pumpkins to raise money for their choir. The boys had fun looking at all the different pumpkins (Liam won't look at me anymore to take pictures so I told him there was a monkey on my head in an attempt to get him to look at me, so he pointed to the pretend monkey on his head.)

Remember that cape... yeah it is still on

Abby was even having a blast and she didn't even get out of the car seat.

Sam and Daddy settled on this pumpkin:

Chris set Abby up for a photo opt and we tried to get the boys to join her. We kept saying where is Abby guys to try and get them to come over. Sam was kind enough to point at her for us.

Did I mention it is gorgeous here right now. This tree was in the corner of the parking lot.

The boys had fun riding the trolly up with the pumpkins and the sweet package that arrived from my parents with our new x-box-- whoo hoo!

Thank you Granny and Grandad!

If you give a Liam a Pancake

He is going to want some syrup. But not a fork, they are sooo unneccesary, it is much more fun to dip your pancake-- who doesn't love to dip anyway?

Nor is there need to wash the plate when he is done. He will totally lick it clean FOR you :)

Abby's Noggin

I try to have something decorative on Abby's head everyday. I really want her to wear hats as a toddler since we are going to be in a VERY sunny place and I don't want her perfect skin to get damaged and well lets face it I really want her to keep her dark hair and am thinking maybe limited exposure to the sun might help? Every one suggests putting something on them everyday if you don't want them pulling it off as a toddler. So she usually has a bow or flower or now that it is cold enough, one of her awesome crocheted hats. This particular one is from an Etsy store called The Irish Hook, although I also love the ones I have from The Portland Beanie company and from my sister in law Robyn. I am beginning to be a big 'ole fan of Sassy Muffins and am pretty sure I am going to break down and buy something from there soon. For right now she will wear them but I think this is a sign of things to come:

The girl has got some LUNGS!
Sammy LOVES Abby and really wanted to be in the picture with her. I think he is going to be a stellar big brother... to Abby. He could really work on his relationship with Liam haaa!

We Have Snugglers

Chris and I are big snugglers and thankfully our kids got the gene. It has been VERY cold and yucky here lately and today the boys decided to cuddle up together under our new huge costco blanket. We love that they snuggle... and still eat popsicles when it is freezing out.

I was messing around with the White Balance on my camera to see what setting is best in our apartment and I caught Abby smiling. Although the white balance is not the one I would usually use in our apt. she sure is cute! I love her dimples and her piggy shirt

Flag Day

The day we found out where we were heading for the next two years is referred to as Flag Day. Essentially all 100 FS100 students gather in the "oldest women's gym" in Virginia to hear their fate. You are allowed (encouraged) to have your family and any friends there you like. Thankfully my good friend Kerstin doesn't have work on Fridays so she joined us to help out with the boys.

(thank you soooo much... sorry about Liam wetting himself on you... that was not fun!) They say a few words (letting you know which posts will not be filled this time around) then they parade out the flags.

They then hold up a flag, announce its location and say the name of the person going there and everyone cheers. Apparently Christopher's class was one of the loudest in history. They were pounding their feet and hooting, it was great. They also had bingo cards with countries on it and you could mark off a spot when they called out that country. Since Chris and I couldn't sit by each other we could just trade looks every now and then. Luckily we did not have to wait long. Christopher was the 3rd or 4th person announced. When they said Dili apparently both of us looked VERY shocked because afterwards everyone was asking us if we were okay haa! Chris came up and accepted his flag

I couldn't stop Sam from running up to his Daddy and giving him a hug, which of course everyone cheered for:

Then Sam of course had to have the flag of our future home

We got to spend the rest of the hour or so trying to talk to each other through looks :) When It was all over we headed outside to get some air and try and wrap our heads around the fact that we are going to be living on a very tiny. very remote, very beautiful island.
Kerstin )who gracefully took both boys out half way through for me) snapped a pic for us

then we headed home for some pizza and a party! It was a very crazy day. Ultimately Chris and I are extremely excited to be going to Dili. Christopher's boss was in town this weekend and kindly met with us and answered a lot of questions. There are two other 3 year olds and a 2 year old in the expat community. Our house is brand new and ON the beach and in a 3 house guarded compound. We will have Internet at home (PHEW) and there is a great preschool for Sam to attend. So now we get to begin the process of packing and getting shots!

When Aunt Felicity comes to town

My sister Felicity came to visit us for her fall break from Law school! We have been having fun relaxing and visiting a few sites. We took the boys down to Jack's boat house in Georgetown to see the kayaks and canoes. It was THE cutest little place. I loved the bright colors of the boats and lights and furniture!




Felicity and the cuties:

Chris and I are seriously contemplating purchasing a kayak to take with us to Dili so it was fun showing the boys all the great bright colors.

Liam like pretending he had rocks for ears... and then throwing the rocks

We also headed up to the Cathedral or as Sam calls it "the castle". We found the Darth Vader gargoyle.

Then headed down to the Bishops Garden. Sam was thoroughly confused and kept asking where Busch Gardens was. They loved playing in the turret.

Liam got progressively grumpier with me taking pics of him :)

We also visited Mount Vernon while Sammy was at school. Liam had fun rolling around in the dirt and I got more than one "when are you going to stop him" look, but I figured I would already have to wash all his clothes anyways. I also have been doing lots of photo sessions. If you are bored and want to check them out they are on my photo blog kellycrawfordphotography.blogspot.com