Kelly and I have decided we are going to try our best to follow a summer of fun, and May was the start of it.

I have pictures to prove it.

Leah likes fountainses.

Fountain: 1. Laurence: 0.

Outside is fun for babies!

Playing Peek-a-boo!

This is how Thor relaxes.

Walking with dad in the sculpture garden.

The fountain in the sculpture garden.

There are more in the photo album .

It helps that it was a long weekend, but it also had quality content.

Saturday we went to Sweet Life Cafe and had an (almost) private show, met up with Beej to help on the kitchen (although we mostly just played at the park).

We wrapped up the day with Sean and Nina. We let them kids stay up a little later than normal so they could hang out. Discussion seemed to be centered around child development strategy and zombie board games.

Sunday we met one of Kelly’s friends and her family for Lunch at P.F. Chang’s over at Fairfax Square. Being a very hot and sunny day we decided to head over to the fountains. Luckily Kelly had preplanned and packed swimsuits for the kids. The boys were not so sure about this, but Leah was. She ran around with kids twice her size and had a blast. The impressive thing was the black eye she got. It was not impressive that she got a black eye, but rather she took the elbow to the face and didn’t miss a beat. That is a girl serious about her fun. Laurence on the other hand decided he had quite enough once he caught a fountain to the face.

For dinner we headed out to National Harbor and met with the Tres Tulli for a tasty dinner at Rosa Mexacana. Which we followed up with Neal and Leah climbing on “The Awakening” and Gelato. The highlight of the evening had to be when Neal’s dinner fought back and won. Now that’s spicy!

Today was a lazy day at home. I got up with Lars around 7:30, played for a bit and then he and I went down for morning naps around 9. Slept until noon. It was legendary.

The rest of the day was just spent wrangling kids, making an experimental dinner, watching a movie with the wife during a simulnap.

Since last time I posted we have passed a few milestones here in the Sexton household. Laurence has gone from scooting to crawling and standing. Recently he has been starting to cruse around furniture while holding on. Started to get the controlled fall thing down. Baby break falling is pretty simple, if you are starting to topple — sit! His diaper helps pad the landing. Works out pretty well most of the time.

The other huge milestone was Leah’s. We officially have a potty trained toddler. We followed the book Potty Training Boot Camp which I think was a solid success. But it was not easy. There was plenty of crying, throwing tantrums, running naked and protesting — and that was just me. Leah had similar behavior. Now that the battle is over, we are better for it. Leah still stresses about it, but is getting better. We have been able to venture on longer car rides and walks with nary an accident.

We have persisted the bribe for peeing or pooping in the potty — and I am willing to continue it until her twenties if I have to — candy. that goes for anyone at Ft. Truxion: if you pee in the potty, all you have to do is 1) put your underwear back on and 2) do that “I did it dance” and you will receive candy.

Sweet deal.

HALP, he’s learned tools!

Lars loves the outside as long as he doesn’t have to touch it.

Tackle!

Taking care of our pretty flowers.

Leah and panda going on a short walk.

Playing with her little buddy.

Too tired for food.

See more in the album.

Look Max, I can scoot too!

I lost my keys. I really couldn’t find them. I looked everywhere they could be, everywhere that is within reach of a two and a half year old. The really crappy part is they have my hard token on them. I did not want to call IT and have to get a new one, with “director level” approval. Ugh.

Retraced my steps. Last time I saw them was when I had Kelly read me the secret numbers so I could send an email. On a side note: sending email takes way too much effort. I remember that she did this very clearly because she read the numbers upside down to start with. She claims that she then physically handed me the keys. But I firmly but disagreed. Oh, another side note: don’t disagree with your wife when it just doesn’t matter.

After going through the desk and my bag, we both agreed that little miss must have taken them. I seem to remember the ‘fixing’ of my tower with keys. And I think that occurred after the upside down number incident.

We pulled up the couch. Went through the fridge and cabinets. Litter box. Trash cans. Toy boxes.

Nothing.

I was in the kitchen going through the shoe pile when kelly announce that she ‘though she just heard them.’ Understanding that left to their own devices my keys do not make any sound I could only figure she was mocking me in some way. But nope, she had ninja like hearing and heard a little jingle when standing up from our desk chair.

Well that desk chair is a fancy feux Areon from Office Max, and happens to have an elabrate truss system for the lumbar support, that, from the point of view of a two year old, makes a hand place to store some fixin’ keys.

Had Kelly not heard them I don’t think I would have found them until the next time I disasemmebled my office chair. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t disassemble my office chair very often at all. Maybe I should start, who knows what I might find.

“I wanna be nakin”

“Nakin with the boys”

“I’m dancing nakin!”

“We are looking for the panda bear”

Some of those things make me, as the father of a daughter, very sad on the inside.