A Tale of Two Brothers

Memorial Day brought gorgeous weather to our area and we took advantage of it by spending the day at the zoo. As soon as we got there something surprising happened; Ryan and Evan reversed roles. Ryan, our boy who is careful, quiet, reserved, and a little shy took off walking ahead of us and made his way to the first exhibit. He got up-close and personal with the animals. He spoke up for himself and told a little boy that it was his turn to look through the view finder. He threw caution to the wind and took the lead.

I was shocked. And pleased. Very, very pleased.

Meanwhile, Evan our fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants boy was cautious. He who acts first and then thinks  switched it up. He was protective of Ryan when he got too close to the goats. He admonished him, "Ryan, that thing is gonna bite you! Get back!" He reasoned with Ryan that it was time to eat lunch and they could look at the animals later. He rationalized and negotiated.

I was shocked. And pleased. Very, very pleased.

This is what I wanted for these two. I want Ryan to be more self-assured and assertive. I want Evan to be more careful and thoughtful about his actions. I smiled to myself to see that all along they have been coming into their own.

And I am proud of my boys. Very, very proud.

And when your mom is an English teacher, you learn early to love Shakespeare!

It's About That Time...

I go MIA from time to time, but it's a given that the last few weeks before the boys' birthday that I'll  busy party planning. To make up for my lack of posts, here are some shots from a "Mommy and Me" Mother's Day photo shoot from a few weeks ago. We had a fun day and got some great shots. Thank you so much, Larianne. We love the pictures and can't wait for our family photo shoot.

New Favorite Book

All kinds of fun happens when I pull this book out! Try it :)

These Boys...

love their mama!

Happy Mother's Day

Day at the Zoo

The Parker four spent the day (more like 30 minutes) at the zoo recently. We got there right before closing (why does a zoo close at 4pm?) and we went through a speed walk through it to see as many animals as we could. It was fun and we got in for free! The boys had a blast so we'll definitely be back when we can spend more time. Yes, Evan's shirt is on backwards! No, Daddy P didn't dress him; I did! Whoops!

Proud Mommy

Way to go, Ryan! He's getting good at this coloring thing:)

Spring Breakin' It!

I'm on Spring Break this week and today the Peas stayed home with me for a day of fun. We had a great day at Maritime Aquarium!

It was interesting going on an outing like this by myself with the boys. Usually my husband is with us for a trip like this and believe me we need all hands on deck! We were just one of many families (and schools) at the aquarium today, and though it was crazy busy we still had a ball. We saw the exhibits, touched the stingrays, played outside, ate lunch, and of course visited the gift shop! I thoroughly enjoyed having Ryan and Evan all to myself today. Their verdict? "Mom, we had a great day!"