Excited for Christmas!

I think this might be the longest I've gone without a blog entry. I blame Facebook, except that I haven't been posting there either. Tonight was such a great night. We didn't do anything special-- well we did go out for pizza at Flippin Pizza because Sadie asked so nicely. But otherwise it was just a nice fun family night. The kids are so excited about Christmas. Jake is literally counting down the days. Sadie is singing Frosty the Snowman. And with the snow coming (12" expected), they're even more excited. We let them stay up late tonight to see when the snow started falling. Around 9:00, we looked out the window and saw the first flakes start to collect on the ground. It was like a budget Norman Rockwell painting up in here. Jake and Sadie have been having so much fun together lately. They really seem like brother and sister these days-- looking out for one another, sharing, pretending together, and fighting too. And I love hearing them crack each other up. I love it more than food and Bo Diddley.

In a few days we're driving to upstate New York where Ali's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kate have a log cabin. Ali's whole family will be there, and my parents too. We're so lucky that our families not only get along, but have fun together. I'm looking forward to a week of playing in the snow, catching up with everyone, cooking, and maybe playing some ukulele.

Quick trip to Philly

Yesterday we drove up to Philadelphia to visit cousins Lyssa and Kevin and assorted other family and friends.  We swam in the pool a little, even though the temp was about 55 degrees.  Here are the kids on boogie boards:

Here's Jake enjoying his root beer:

And here's the whole gang:

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!! Especially to our dads, the famous Poppy and Grandpa and to our favorite Daddy here, Ryan!!

Love, Ali, Jake, & Sadie :)

Update from Ryan: Thanks family, for a great Father's Day! We went for a nice long hike at Riverbend park, then had breakfast over at the Vienna Inn. My big surprises were a wheelbarrow and a ukulele!

Almost Christmas!

Only two more days to go and somebody is getting a little excited! I'm mainly talking about Ali, but all I had was this picture of Jake - who's also a little excited. :)

Ali's parents arrived yesterday and most of the rest of the crew arrives tonight. We're getting ready for fun and crazy toddler times when Jake's 2-year-old cousin, Arjuna, arrives tonight to add to the excitement.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! We finished off the last of the leftover turkey today, so it's probably pizza for dinner tonight. Jake had fun helping stuff the turkey, and loved all the company and fun times. He loved it so much he didn't nap for three days.

On Friday we saw the Reston Town Center parade, and got our first glimpse of Santa Claus. Here's Jake with his favorite Aunt and Uncle as Santa approaches. That night we went to Alexandria to see the tree lighting ceremony. On our way there we stopped at the Majestic to grab a bite and so Deni and Patrick could see how their Irish-run Majestic compared to this one. The food was great, the kids were well-behaved and we had a great time. Deni and Patrick met the owners and compared notes and swapped secret Irish handshakes.

At the tree-lighting, we saw that Santa was making an appearance and taking requests, so we waited in line. And waited. And about an hour later we finally got to the front of the line and Jake got his first glimpse of Santa. "It's a fireman!" he exclaimed. He tentatively walked up the stairs and stood a safe three-foot distance from Santa.

"What would you like for Christmas?"
"Two presents."
"Well, what kind of presents?"
"Trucks."

After a few more pleasantries, Santa said goodnight and gave Jake a candy cane. All he talked about that night was that candy cane. Santa who?

Click here for more photos of the Thanskgiving weekend.

Another nice weekend for a hike

We hiked the Difficult Run trail again this weekend, and brought along the Jackson boys this time. Jake was so excited, he kept running back and forth between them and showing them his 'tricks' like pulling his hat over his face and saying "I'm a pirate!" Here are some more pics from that day. By the way, if you're local and you haven't checked out Difficult Run over in Great Falls, you really should. It's much closer than Shenandoah and the views are comparable to a lot of hikes we've done there. It's short, so a good hike for kids.

Happy Father's Day!

Jake was SO excited for Father's Day that he woke up bright and early at 5:30 this morning! He knew I wouldn't want to sleep in and waste a minute of this day. Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there - especially Mike and Jack.

Family Picnic

Today was the annual family picnic at Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland. The traditional Kickball game was played, and I'm happy to say I was picked first by my team captain, Hannah. Offensively, I think I only had one run, but on the defensive side, I did complete a nice double-play. In the end, our team lost.........but there's always next season. We did institute a new rule this year -- hitting a moving car with the ball counts as a home run. That added some excitement to the game, and to the people driving into the parking lot nearby.

Here's a shot of Jake and his Grandpa:

And here's one of Sadie and her Mimi:

And here's one of Jake acting goofy with Grandpa and Mimi:

A Week Apart

A lot of people have to travel frequently for work so I guess I shouldn't complain too much about one trip. I leave early tomorrow morning for Orlando for the week, and Ali's headed down to the Lake. On the upside, I should be able to catch up on some sleep. On the downside, I like being with Jake and the girls. I know when I see Jake later this week he'll have picked up some new words and have some new experiences to talk about. And Sadie will continue to develop her self defense techniques with Jake. A week is a long time when they're this young. Oh, and I'll miss Ali too. :)

Here's a picture from today at Gravelly Point. It's not the picture you'd frame and hang as your family photo -- you can barely see one out of three faces -- but I think it captures today pretty well. We didn't go to Target, or run any errands, or do anything chore-related. We ate outside twice, relaxed at home some, and had fun playing soccer and football. It was a really nice day.