Russellsphere

Today we went to Short Pump to visit the annual farm animal petting zoo. Nicholas and Emily went straight for it, although Lauren was more hesitant. We also over this hectic weekend, repaired and updated the front mulch area. I was fascinated to find spring onions all over the place and felt sad eliminating them. You’d think they would make a nice stew or something? 20 bags of mulch later, and various back aches, it looks considerably better. Embedded is the video of our short pump trip and you can also look at photos -> here <-

Current Top Nicknames for the kids:

Lauren – LoLA (Lovely Lauren)
Emily – Emy Lou
Nicholas – Not a current one at present but likes the word PICKLES a great deal.

At last the weather is really starting to pick up and we had a glorious weekend. On Saturday, the twins were under the care of Jennys mother and we 3 went to the city to get a special race car for Nick and some strange flower apparel for Jennifer. I got an iPod Shuffle for my work-outs. Sunday Nick and I went to AmFam to get a work-out, while Nick played soccer for a full hour, the trainers were seriously impressed. I nearly died on a stair machine! For lunch Nick and I went to Target to grocery shop and have a delicious Hot Dog and Popcorn. (see pic) – This is where Nicholas invented Pop-Sauce – dipping Popcorn into ketchup, he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. We finalized the day by romping around in the back yard – Emily loved to sit in the grass and hold a soccer ball while Lauren had to be held in my lap. Our trees are starting to bloom, and I want to take some pictures :-)

Nicholas is an expert surf boarder now, and here is the evidence. This weekend we are reorganizing our house, and making it a bit more functional. Oh, and Emily is now climbing onto things…. We’re in for trouble now, she really enjoys it! Lauren is asleep at present, but her favorite activity is having you help her walk her constantly around the house, she doesn’t like it when you stop..

Jenny got a combined Birthday/Anniversary Present, an Apple MacBook. We needed a replacement for our aging DELL Pentium III Laptop. When I went to Notebook reviews, they all went for the MacBooks first, highly praising them. I have to admit, and I am a heavy Windows user – its pretty neat, and I am typing this entry on its excellent keyboard. It has a built in webcam, and I took the following picture. Everything about this entry was done on it. Its a lot of fun, and the included applications are great. Maybe I will convert :)

Yesterday we all went to Maymont, Richmond. On the grounds of Maymont is a lovely Childrens Farm, and the kids had a great time. Its been beautiful weather, which will change next week, so we are doing as much as we can before it gets cooler again. Nicholas especially liked th chickens and the goats. The twins were bewildered by everything. You can see the pictures here.

We went to Fredericksburg today and had som Baja Mexican, and I didn’t really like it, Jenny’s Mom likes it though. We then went to Toys R US, and then the Mall. I took some quick pictures with my cell phone :) Picture descriptions: Top Left: Lauren keeping a handy spare Apple Juice, just in case. Top Right: Emily got a Ball from Toys R US that she had to keep the entire time we were at the Mall. Bottom Left: Nicholas with his toy on our way back home sleeping, the toy slumped over him. Bottom Right: A closer look at the legend, that is Sir Nicholas.