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30 June 2013

Happy Second Birthday Charlie!

Charlie is two years old!  He is such a great kid and we are so lucky to have him in our family.  He sure keeps us laughing.  Pounding me with pillows while I try to sleep.
 Is always taking off his clothes, but still enjoying wearing his sandals.  Acting just plain silly.  Running around screaming just for the heck of it.  Tickling random kids at the hotel.
 Hopping into Henry's crib with him.  Sharing his book with Henry.
 Teaching Henry what trucks and tractors are.  He is such a good big brother to Henry.  We love Charlie so much and are so thankful to have him in our family.

24 June 2013

First Fun Filled Week in PA

Charlie and Henry are great friends together.  Every day I am always surprised at how much they love each other and want to be together.
 The boys and I go out for a few walks a day around the hotel.  Pets are allowed so it is fun to see the animals in the windows.  Charlie always asks, "Dog?  Kitty?" when we are on our walks because he wants to walk past those windows.  Unfortunately I think both of those families have checked out.  we will have to wait for some other people with pets.
 We found a park in the area with a playground rightfully called the "Fun Fort."  It is pretty much any child's dream come true.  A child's imagination could run wild.




 On the way home from the park Henry threw up all of his food.  Still in happy spirits though.  We did laundry the next day to say the least.  And yes, Henry and the car seat got put in the tub.
 On Saturday we went to Lake Tobias which is a pretty neat zoo.  Standing in line waiting to buy tickets.
 An Amish family at the zoo.
 We were spend thrifts and spent an extra $12 to go on the bus tour of the animals (you couldn't see these animals without the tour).
The animals would come right up and eat food from you (if you spent the $3.25 for the special animal crackers which we didn't do).  If you look closely you can see the Amish people on the bus.  They aren't allowed to drive vehicles but it is okay if someone drives them. 
North American Bison
Watusi
 Look at the size of those horns!  And those are the medium sized horns.
Texas Longhorns


 We walked around looking at the other animals.
North American Alligator
Bears (I don't know what kind, but they look Black)
 Charlie liked feeding weeds to the capybara.  It is the largest rodent.
 I didn't think that cats liked water, but this Bengal tiger sure liked it.
 Charlie loved looking at all of the animals.  He got to practice his roars a lot.  If he didn't know what they said, that was his default.
Henry enjoyed himself quite well, too.  Charles' Peanut Gallery Comment:  This particular animal is known for its particularly cute facial expressions and particularly foul diaper messes.  It doesn't grow to maturity for at least 2 years (or so his daddy hopes) and it eats about 27 times per day.  It is native to the Martin household and it hibernates several times a day for hours at a time (or so his mommy hopes).
Grant's Zebra
Ostrich
Gemsbok
They had a little petting zoo area that was super fun for the kids. 
Henry loved it almost more than Charlie.  He just kept laughing and giggling at all of the animals. 

Charles' Comment:  I'm surprised that they came out of it with all ten digits still attached.
 Here is a glimpse of Henry laughing at the goats.  Don't worry about him getting hurt.  He was back to laughing within seconds.
Charles' comment:  Henry takes after his daddy: completely reckless.


Charles' Comments:  I thought the baby Guinea pigs were cute.  Annette thought they looked like mice and were completely repugnant.
Dromedary Camel
 It was a long, fun filled day.  Both kids fell asleep a few times throughout the day.
A little fact about PA (or at least the area we are in) that is just really weird.  Don't trust speed limit signs or stop signs.  On the freeway the speed limit is only 55mph.  The speed limit on super windy hilly roads is 40-50mph.  I go at least 10 over on the freeway and 10 under on the windy roads.  As far as the stop sign thing goes, you aren't always supposed to stop at them.  Weird I know.  There are little signs below the stop sign that give more info on what to do.  At the end of the video you can see a great example of this.  A guy made a right hand turn in front of us and was not required to stop.  Kind of a crazy world out here. 

22 June 2013

Life at a Hotel

Everyday we take a few walks around the hotel and will then play in the swells where there is lush grass growing.
 It is great fun to have so much grass.
 Charlie likes pushing the stroller whether with his truck in it or ...
... with Henry.
 Henry is starting to enjoy being outside and doesn't seem to mind the grass when he rolls onto it.
 What a great sunny day.
 Inside our hotel room Henry and Charlie love to play on the bed with the pillows and blocks.
In the hotel lobby the kiddos like to play around, but it isn't too conducive to kids.