Our trip tp DC- Friday- June.

This weekend we visited Miss Leah and Mister Josh in DC. Papa had a conference in DC, so we tagged along and the Vincents are still reeling from what they called "Turner Invasion 2009." (We call it "Turner Invasion 2009- Part 1." We'll be back.)

Friday was gorgeous, so we headed downtown to the National Zoo- along with the rest of the city. When we finally made it to the zoo, I did not want to pose with the otters, but they made me anyway. At least we got a good look of my latest preppy outfit from Miss Leah.

Mama and Henry weren't as scared of the otters.

The animals were neat, but the real attraction for Henry was the bridge over the enormous construction site.

Someday this will be a new elephant habitat, but Henry hopes they leave the huge crane.

We eventually pried Henry off the bridge to go in search of other animals. Henry showed us how flamingos stand.

And Miss Leah and Henry posed on a giant eagle- just like from the Lord of the Rings.

This weekend, I started getting bold by standing on my own for up to 10 seconds. I'm also experimenting more with climbing.

We also saw some bears, primates, and cheetahs, but as the afternoon wore on, us kids started to wilt in the hot sun. Plus add in the fact that both of us were up until 11pm in the cars and then up again at 1am when we got to DC (extra late thanks to night time contruction. Thanks Virginia).

We were going to go see the Lions, but some of our group turned up the whine and we all decided to head for home.

We both fell asleep on the way back to the car, which meant we both were awake for the whole car ride back to Miss Leah's! After a long day of no napping, mama was just about ready to pitch us out the window and put us down to bed early- which we fought against for a good 90 minutes. After Henry declared a deep fear of the nightlight, mama put her foot down and we decided to take it easy on her for the rest of the night.

Stinker baby- Juner.

Tonight was Taco Tuesday, but I couldn't wait for supper to start, so mama set me up with some Cheerios in my snacker. And she gave me a "fountain" hairdo to keep my hair out of my eyes.

Mama wants everyone to know that she will stuff me in these overalls as long as she can. Even if everyone thinks I'm a boy. They are too cute.

And I make them look pretty good, if I must say so myself.

Meanwhile, Henry was busy parking cars in the new safe place- I can't reach up to these bookshelves. He told mama that this was the car parking lot.

Henry helped mama shred cheese for the tacos and I couldn't resist climbing up for a bite, then a fistful.

Oh that stuff is so good!

Henry has master the art of stalling for bed. He goes to bed easily, but without fail, comes downstairs exactly one hour after he goes to bed (no matter what time he goes to bed) and announces he has to pee. He's pretty good at stalling with Papa before he goes back to sleep, but tonight mama was watching Biggest Loser and sent him back upstairs in record time. Thirty seconds later, Henry was back downstairs with a hug and a kiss, and said "I forgot to give this to you. Love you. Night." Who can resist that?

A productive Monday morning- Juner.

It's a wonder North Carolina doesn't have school year round. Because one week after Spring Break, they also call off school for Good Friday and "Holy" Monday. TJ's mom didn't get work off, so TJ came to spend the morning with us.

Mama loves it when TJ comes over because she sees the boys approximately twice all morning. They spent today building and rebuilding the train track and playing with the marble run. Mama never even had to resort to getting out the play-dough.

And mama had a double treat while the boys were playing because I slept in until 10 am! She was able to get some cleaning done and even dumped out all the toy bins in the middle of the floor and sorted everything out to where it belongs. How refreshing to know all the puzzle pieces are with their respective puzzles!

The boys even let me play with them for a little while, before retreating to the "train room," which had been blocked off by multiple baby gates.

Playing outside- Juner.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, especially considering that rain is predicted for the rest of the week.

After supper (the kids ate hot dogs and the adults ate beef tips in a red wine sauce- everyone deemed it a success), we all went out to play for a while. I rode on out army bike.

Henry tried to show me how to make it go.

Bu tI just wanted to sit and point at things, demanding that they be given to me.

Mama is considering throwing away all my other clothes because this is the cutest outfit ever. And look closely, Aunt Jenni, there are ruffles on the legs and sleeves.

Papa took this picture of mama. We call it "Just try and jump on the couch one more time and see what happens." or "How long has it been since I washed my hair?"

Easter eggs- Henry.

After my non-existent nap, papa ook me over to his school to watch some baseball. When we got back, Juner was still asleep (4.5 hours strong!) and mama had an activity for me.

This guy is excited to dye easter eggs!

This picture has nothing to do with eggs, but is the perfect example of Turner boy relaxation mode- tongue out and finger in belly button.

Mama had to help me a little, but we got all the eggs "painted."

The final product. They turned out pretty well, considering I didn't want to leave any of the eggs in the dye longer than 15 seconds.

The whole undertaking took less than 10 minutes. Too bad none of the Turner kids like hardboiled eggs.

After the eggs dried, we even had stickers to make some pretty funny eggs.

Easter Sunday- Henry.

We woke up bright and early on Easter to a wonderful sight- Easter Baskets. They were filled with the same easter eggs that mama has been recycling (with the same candy) for 4 eggs hunts now. But that didn't make them any less exciting.

Also in our baskets were chocolate bunnies! In a very out-of-character move, mama let us eat our bunnies for breakfast. But she did make us take off our church clothes first.

Mine was delicious!

Juner got a bright pink bunny in her basket. Mama did take pictures of the baskets, but forgot to turn on the auto-focus, so none of the pictures turned out.

June only made it half way through her bunny before giving up and demanding something not sugar-based.

But I, after remarking that this bunny has no head, made it through my whole easter bunny without taking a break.

Then I demanded that mama take a picture of the chocolate in my mouth so everyone would know I ate it.

After breakfast, Juner made a few calls wearing only her fancy underpants.

After the morning sugar fest, we headed to church for Easter Mass. We made the poor decision of arriving only 5 minutes early for the 10:30 Mass and were stuck standing int he back of church. I was very well behaved through the whole 90 minute service, but I did not want to be held and had to be taken out of church twice. Mama said it was more like penance than a celebration and declared that next year she would resume her tradition of attending the 3 hour Easter Vigil alone. But at least we got to sing all four verses of "Jesus Christ is risen today." I even tried to sing along with the "Alleluias."

After church we tried to get a nice easter picture, but Juner was not in the mood. She'd been sitting still too long. (Don't worry, this beautifully landscaped garden does not belong to us, but instead to our neighbor, Miss Pam. Ours is still pitiful with 3 blooming pansies and two dead bushes.)

We thought maybe a different pose would work.

And finally resorted to the steps. June refused to sit down, but did give us this adorable tush shot.

This is the best shot we got of Juner's Easter dress. It has little sheep embroidered on the front and those cute little black shoes were almost too much.

A visit to Charlotte- June.

Mama's cousin Andy and his new wife Christina invited us down to their new house in Charlotte. We were excited to go see them and Charlotte (which is a great town!).

Henry and I stopped at a greenhouse and picked out some flowers for their new house. Not only did I like them, but you can also see my new front tooth (I've got two of them now).

Not only did they open their home to us, they also had some presents waiting for us! Miss Christina picked out this pretty dress for me.

Now I just need to start walking, because crawling in it is pretty hard.

And Henry really hit the jackpot with his new monster truck and trailer. And it even came with a motorcycle to park on the trailer.

We went out to eat at the best seafood restaurant ever. Mama and papa really enjoyed the food (mama ate sushi, mussels, and clams- sorry Aunt Jenni) and everyone got the gift of good behavior from two kids.

We had a late night at their house because a thunderstorm rolled in right around bedtime. I fell asleep right away, but henry stayed up until 10:30 asking to use the potty and feigning (in mama's opinion) a fear of thunder.

This morning, we visiting the neighborhood playground and I decided that Henry shouldn't be the only one having fun on the equipment.

Henry scaled the climbing wall...

...and papa hit the slides...

...and I decided to get daring. I climbed up the ramp to the playground, over the bridge and launched myself down the slide face first about 20 times in a row.

Luckily, Miss Christina was there to catch me at the bottom every time!

The Eggstravaganza- Henry.

Mister Andy and Miss Christina took us to a huge Easter festival. Although we underestimated the parking and had to walk over a mile to get to the "big easter party," we had a great time.

Many area businesses had booths set up and had games to play and candy to hand out! I made a beaded necklace at the YMCA booth. I had so much fun making it, I asked to go back after a bathroom break, and mama is thinking about getting me some beads for a quiet activity.

We played in a cool green fitness bus that can be rented out for parties (hint, hint mama).

Juner was happy to carry around two eggs all day and held up pretty well considering she didn't get a nap all day.

Andy and Christina also held up well, especially with one three year old boy who drank approximately 1000 oz. of juice today (and had about the same number of potty related close calls or accidents).

Before we left, we took some time to sit in the throne of the big guy- the Easter Bunny, that is.