A Day at the Zoo

Since I had Columbus Day off school, we decided to take Benson to the zoo for the first time. I think he loved it!


The D.C. "Zoological Gardens" are run by the Smithsonian, and like most Smithsonian attractions here in the District, is free to the public.


Benson thought this dinosaur skull was great, although he was slightly afraid of it at first.

Of course, once he got comfortable, just looking at it wasn't enough--he had to get inside...

We lured Benson to the zoo by telling him he was going to see Melman (from the movie Madagascar) and Simba, but when "Simba" started roaring, I think Benson got a little nervous about his buddy. He kept saying "Hold Simba" before that, which I think just means he wanted to touch him, but after he saw Simba's ferocious side, the only real thing I think he had to say was "Bye Simba!" when we were leaving.

Benson loves to pick up sticks anywhere he sees them, and he's been known to carry a big pile in his arms while refusing to drop any of them. He was glad to see that the beaver shared his passion for wood. After it pulled this branch down, I walked along with Benson so he could follow it in the water while he said, "Drag the stick!"

This was in the Amazon part of the zoo. Benson thought the fish were cool, but this fish was hands down the freakiest thing I saw all day.

All in all, it was a fun day!

Having a girl can be fun

Many of you know that I was hoping for another boy with this pregnancy. I think simply because the thought of a teenage girl doesn't sound fun at all. I have a lot of sisters and I work with all women so the more boys, the better......so I thought.

It is much more fun to shop for girl clothes though! Although I have found some cute outfits at the stores my friend Elizabeth Moon has made the most darling dresses for her little girl. So I got her pattern and when I was home in West Virginia with my sewing expert mother, I started sewing.

My mom gave me a sewing machine almost 3 years ago and it is still in the unopened box. Obviously, I am not much of a seemstress but the pattern said even beginners can finish these in 1 hour.

With my mom's patience and many hours later, I had 4 dresses. Don't look too closely at the crooked seems and uneven hemlines. I am still too nervous to try anything without supervision but I am a MASTER of the SEAM REAPER!

Now these darling shoes, also had a pattern that said it was easy for beginners, but I was way too ambitious in my unskilled abilities. So my mom made some really cute ballet slipper style shoes that tie with ribbons for her second granddaughter.

Blog a thon

So I haven't added anything to our blog in quite a while. I really do plan to do better in the future, but here is a blog overload to try to catch us up on the last 6 weeks or so. We are truly loving being back near D.C. and Benson is loving all the new fun things we do here. This is easily my favorite and least favorite age of parenting....so far. (I know he is not even 3 and I am sure there are many fun and rough roads ahead.) He has such a fun personality and keeps me smiling and laughing most of the day. There are other moments of tantrums and destruction that I am not really smiling or laughing. Benson loves music, dancing, being outside, coloring, and throwing any ball of any kind. Tristan is busy with law school and his summer job search, but he is really enjoying Georgetown. Brittany is working hard with Mary Kay and trying to prepare herself for having a girl around New Years. Hopefully the Leavitt Family updates will be more regular in the future. Enjoy the next 5 or 6 posts in a row!

Our Ladies Man

So Benson was "helping me" sweep the floor with his rake when the music got to him and his "broom" became a guitar.

This little flirt of ours, winks and snaps to say, "Hey Ladies."

D.C. Sites with John-Mark and Natalie for Labor Day

John-Mark and Natalie came to visit us for Labor Day weekend. So we took them to Eastern Market to look at the cool vendors and eat some GREAT pancakes and french toast. We waited almost an hour in line but it was worth it.


Then we headed over to one of our favorite places in all of D.C. - the Library of Congress.

Benson loves to walk all the stairs. We enjoy all of the ornate paintings and decorations inside. They also had Thomas Jefferson's personal library on display, which was fun to see and maybe a little inspiring for Tristan. (:

The first BYU game of the season was that night, so we were all dressed and ready to cheer.

Then we walked over to the Capitol grounds.

The Harbor

We love walking around the Harbor in Old Town Alexandria just a few miles from our house.


Benson's favorite part is certainly throwing rocks in the Potomac River.

Benson loved to look at the boats.

It was fun but we were consistently trying to stop Benson from jumping in the water.

You could see a few fish in the water and lots of ducks.

Benson wanted to touch everything!

It was such a beautiful day!

Benson loved this huge anchor he could climb all over.

Gettysburg

We had a great time at Gettysburg. Our great friends the Hatchs let us borrow their driving tour of Gettysburg. It was great to drive around the sites while listening to the tour and then get out and look around on our own.

Benson so proud that he walked up all of the steps by himself to get to the top of this tower.

He loved climbing on all the rocks.

John-Mark and Benson found their way up the "castle" first.

Benson and Mom found their way back down the "castle." Benson loved the echo in here. Although I doubt too many of the other visitors appreciated his yelling.

The Smithsonian

Benson loved the Air and Space Museum. He was constantly pointing out each new plane to us. He loved to "hold the plane." Which meant touch it.


The big city life does have a few disadvantages with high cost and traffic, but we love all the great things to do for free around here.

After the airplanes and space shuttles we headed over to the Natural History Museum and looked at all the animals.

Benson lovingly called all the animals by their character names from Madagascar.

After this we headed into the IMAX theater and watched "Night at the Museum 2." This was Benson first time in a theater and he was thrilled!