18 March 2023

This weekend the kids and I did some minor hiking (~2 miles) in Gunpowder Falls State Park.  It was along a creek, and it was beautiful.  There was an old stone wall at one point, and a ruined stone farmhouse.  

22 March 2023

We played hooky yesterday and went down to DC to see the cherry blossoms.  It was beautiful! We walked over to the Jefferson Memorial, which was also lovely.  We also spent some time in the Museum of Natural History again, mostly looking at gems, rocks and minerals.  So many amazing things to see.

14 March 2023

 Happy Pi Day!  We had pita pizzas for dinner followed by key lime pie.

8 March 2023

Mr. Brown's older sister invited us down for a visit.  They live in Silver Spring, just outside of DC.  We drove down and rode the subway into DC and visited the Postal Service Museum, which was really fun!  History of mail carrying through the years, an opportunity to sort packages, drive a semi, ride in a mail carriage on a train, learn to type in zip codes, and of course lots of stamps.

The subway was very popular.  The cousins were blase but my kids thought it was pretty cool.  Cousins were very much fun - a girl the same age as Bobo and a boy the same age as Rosebud.
 

Here are Bobo and his cousin with the stamp design they made themselves.  Fun visit - I'm so glad that she invited us.  Hoping to get together again sometime.

6 March 2023

Not everything here has been smooth sailing regarding kid relationships.  At one point Bobo told me that he and E (their 7yo daughter) were bonding over troubles with Rosebud.  However, Bobo has become really good friends with EJ (their 3yo son).  EJ thinks he's wonderful and fun, and Bobo has discovered how much fun it can be to big brother a much younger child.  He chases EJ around and threatens to tickle him and plays games with him.  He came in the other night and very proudly told me that he had helped get EJ ready for bed.  My friend is already planning to hire him as a baby sitter when he turns 13.

News from Texas: Nut Brown was dropped on his head during jiujitsu class and sustained a bad concussion.  He's been banned from screens for almost two weeks now and out of school.  It is getting better, but slowly, and he's very bored but also worried about making up all the school work.  We have been praying for him.

3 March 2023

Bobo has been learning how to sew from a woman at church.  The first project was a pillowcase - he chose black and gray.  Although he complains about going, he was extremely proud of his pillowcase when completed.  Here he is showing it off by wearing it on his head.  The next project is pajama pants!