Today's Toby

Watch out! The wildlife can be dangerous.  

Spinning the new composter is very thrilling.  

Sometimes you need some quiet time to read with your bear... ... and sometimes it's nice to read quietly next to your little brother too.  

Toby was excited about how big this dandelion was, so he wanted me to take a picture.  

Spencer, do you feel like mom would like this Guinea Pig as a Mother's Day present?      

When your dance teacher assigns you tap Homework, who better to work with than Mom! Happy Mother's Day to the best time-steppin', shim-shammin' Mom around.   

We've been blowing a lot of dandelions over here. Here's to making your wishes come true.  

Getting in a little golf before school.   

Checking the calendar to see when all the good holidays are (National Cookie Day, National Donut Day, etc.). Special thanks to Grandma Wright for keeping us informed.  

Not sure if you can really see it here, but this was basically a bouncy house that started about two stories above the ground. Toby and Spencer loved it! Such a great trip to Sesame Place.   

When you're so excited for the parade that you have to bounce.  

Spencer was a little nervous about meeting Telly and Baby Bear. But Toby was not going to let the opportunity pass him by. He did think it was strange that none of the friends ever talked... But by the time we saw Bert and Ernie, everybody wanted to join in.  

We were worried that Toby wasn't going ride any of the rides. But he ended up riding everything except the roller coaster. This was waiting in line at the very first ride, an Elmo Caterpillar. All strapped in. This was the whole ride. I think Dad made it extra fun. They had such a great time they got right back in line to ride it again. This time, with Mom. Suffice to say, they enjoyed the new experience. Shots from a few other rides.   Ending the day with the same ride that started it all. Finally, everybody strapped in together. Whee!

For the last stop on our spring break extravaganza we took the kids to Sesame Place (which is a Sesame Street theme park).  

Taken by Daddy: Taken by Toby: Taken by a kind stranger:  

Toby didn't feel like there was much risk in the ruby slipper slide sending him home prematurely.  

Not sure where Cotton, Toby, and Spencer were when I took this photo of the friends from Oz.  

We're off to see what magic awaits at the Oz playground.  

More of the museum. In the section about the US Presidents there's a spot for kids to get behind a podium and read part of famous presidential speeches.  Toby chose JFK's inaugural.  

We also saw the MLK Memorial, which was a first for all of us.  

Toby was disappointed that he couldn't take a picture of the flag thar inspired Thr Star Spangled Banner. But he did think it was fun to see his face in some money.

Way in the back, you might be able to spot the White House. Which was exciting to see, even though it was far away.  

Someday, we'll have to do a tour of the Capital. But for this trip, this was as close as we got.  

Visiting the Lincoln Memorial.  

Toby had a great time finding all the states and territories at the WWII Memorial. Naturally, he wanted a picture with Kansas. And then we managed to get a full family picture in front of New Jersey.  

Last week was Toby's spring break. So we did a quick trip to DC and Philly. Toby was very excited about seeing the sites. He took a bunch of pictures which he can't wait to have printed. These were some shots of him at the Washington Monument.   

In case you haven't read 'The Marvelous Land of Oz' the H.M stands for 'Highly-Magnified'.