Busy March

Happy Birthday Sadie! and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Sadie turned three the day before St. Patrick's Day and we were so happy to have both sets of Grandparents and Sadie's Aunt Deni and Uncle Patrick to celebrate with us!

Sadie had so much fun with all the partying, and kept asking us if it was still her birthday. Jake was probably more excited than Sadie was, but that'll probably always be the case.




Note:  This post was in stuck draft for six years and six months.  Editors...

Snowstorm of a century

As of 2pm today we've had 55 inches of snow this winter. This breaks the previous record from 1898-1899 when DC received 54 inches. I think we can all agree, once and for all, that global warming is a hoax. In fact, I think this also debunks the "world is round" argument, because clearly a round earth wouldn't be able to sustain the 5 foot snowdrifts that are on my lawn right now. Only a FLAT earth could balance that load. We'll cover evolution in the next post, but suffice it to say that if evolution were real, I'd have a fur coat and a live 120V outlet on my elbow.

Luckily we only lost power for a couple of hours on Saturday morning. Heat would have been a problem, as would hot water. But the real crisis could have been having two toddlers at home for six (going on seven) days without television and dvds. They don't care about hot food, or heat, or hot water. They laugh at baths, have no need for food, and somehow generate their own heat through their unlimitless energy reserves. And to parents, these things are all secondary.....to sanity.

On Friday, Ali and I were really excited about the prospect of a day at home with the kids. Quality time, and all that. We baked, and arts and crafted, and played, and danced and such. And Saturday we had fun in the snow. And Saturday afternoon we.......started to get a bit of cabin fever. And then Sunday came and went. And Monday started to clear up a bit, but then Tuesday came with grey skies and dire forecasts. And then for crying out loud we had an actual BLIZZARD today.

Here are my top 10 Blizzard 2010 memories:

10. Jake wandering upstairs this afternoon and telling us he'd fallen asleep in the basement watching cartoons.
9. Sadie demanding to call her mittens "cakes". You don't argue with Sadie.
8. Jake and I starting a snow tunnel at opposite ends and finally meeting in the middle.
7. Getting our power back just as I had three bread doughs rising.
6. Seeing the neighborhood dogs having to poop in their own yards because of the snow.
5. Justifying purchase of four-wheel-drive minivan.
4. Having Jake come back again and again for slices of my homemade bread.
3. Getting $100 use out of a $10 Marshalls pool raft I bought Friday night on the way home from work.
2. Finally cooking a dinner (brined roasted chicken) that Sadie loved.
1. Having Ali here. Sappy? Maybe. But we make a good team and I couldn't have survived the past week without her!

Jake and Sadie on our driveway. Seriously, I've never seen snowbanks like these except at shopping mall parking lots.

Ali shoveling the stairs. Again.

Jake on our $10 Marhsall's pool raft with Tally and Piper.


Here's our 80's party (Violent Femmes in the background):


And here's us outside as the Blizzard was finally dying down:

Merry Christmas!

Funny story. It's Christmas Eve and we're all up in the Adirondacks getting ready for the big day. Everybody's going skiing at Gore Mtn and I decide to take Jake out for his first lesson. I haven't been skiing in 15 years, and only in the powdery and forgiving snow of Colorado, but after I get skis on, it seems to come back to me. Jake wasn't really in the mood to learn that day, but I was having a blast on the bunny hill, and feeling like it was just yesterday that I was skiing black diamonds in Aspen. We took a break for lunch and then Uncle Bob (here's where I would post a link to a blog entry about our near tragedy in the Pacific Ocean, but that was back before blogs) suggested I head up the mountain and ski with the big boys. At the time, I couldn't think of any better way to spend a sunny December afternoon.

We head down the slopes and I'm feeling great. But Bob points out that I'm snowplowing and need to keep the skis parallel. That sounds familiar so I put them together and start to remember how to turn. But something's different. Where is the powder up to my knees? What's all this icy snow doing here? Before long, I'm face down and feeling pain everywhere, but mostly in my right hand. I go to stand up and my thumb does not agree with the plan.

I made it down the mountain and for some reason decided to take the gondola up for another run. This time, I'm realizing my thumb is toast. I get down to the bottom again and head for the bar. An ice water for my thumb, and a nut brown ale for me.

Ali's Dad Mike takes me to the hospital, about 40 minutes away and they do X-Rays and confirm the break. It's still lined up, but I'll need to keep it in a splint so it heals properly. It's about 7:30pm by now and we're headed back to the lodge. I get the cellphone to call and let them know we're headed back and to see what we've been missing on Christmas Eve.

The phone rings and rings. It took a while for someone to answer, because Ali, expecting our call, had run to the phone and badly stubbed her toe on a table. And had broken it. The toe, not the table. No, I'm not kidding.

Of course, they didn't know at the time whether it was broken. When we finally got back to the lodge, Ali was being fed shots of whiskey and the Uncles were convincing her that they could manually correct the errant toe. We headed right back to the hospital.

The ER docs and nurses are probably still chuckling about us. They didn't even try to keep straight faces when we showed up with the second broken bone. And when the doctor found out we had two toddlers he really lost it. "So, how are you going to take care of them?? You can't walk and you can't carry anything! HAHAHHAHA!!!" It was a Christmas miracle that we were able to give these poor ER workers such amusement with our wounds. Isn't that the true spirit of Christmas?

Today we had our follow-up visit with the orthopaedist (why do they insist on the funny Greek spelling? It's not like we take the kids to Paediatricians) and we brought laughter and happiness to a whole new office of medical professionals. "Oh we couldn't wait when we saw that you were both coming in. What happened? Who beat up who? Did a thumb wrestling match go horribly wrong?"

Ali's Dad likes to call the whole episode a "Love Story," which I think is the best spin anyone could possibly put on this comedy of errors.

Here's to a healthy 2010!

Oh, Christmas was a blast, besides the injuries. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Warrensburg NY, including the crazy 80's party we had on 12/26. And here's a video of Jake playing his new drumset!!

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.

Annapolis Pirate Adventure

All last week we kept thinking we'd take a day trip somewhere to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather. But we woke up Saturday morning and realized we didn't really know where we wanted to go. Just before giving up and playing out in the cul-de-sac, we decided on Annapolis. Ali did a quick search and found this pirate place, which we kept as a surprise for the kids.

When we got into town, we got lunch at Chick and Ruth's which makes a mean pastrami sandwich, and old fashioned egg creams and shakes and about 150 other menu items. From there, we strolled around town and found a big shady playground for the kids.

Finally, it was pirate time. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this place did a great job. After all the kids showed up, they took them outside to paint tattoos and beards and dress them up in pirate and mermaid gear.
And then for the rest of the adventure, they kept the kids in one group and parents in another. They told them how to be pirate-y, and got them all excited about our boat ride. On the pirate ship, all the kids sat in front and were entertained while the parents relaxed in the back and enjoyed a beautiful day on the bay. We searched for treasure, fired water cannons at Pirate Pete, and even drank some grog. It was a really fun time. And no, we had no idea it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Not kidding.


For dinner we went to Cantler's and had some of the best crabs I've ever had. Jake loved hammering the crabs, and even got some tips (and big crab bites) from the locals sitting next to us. Sadie tried a tiny bite, before switching to hush puppies and ketchup. We were there for almost two hours, which has to be a record with the kids. About halfway through, we switched them to strawberry cake and they were in heaven.

Great day trip!

More pics here.

Day 0 and day 1 of school year 2009-10

Before I start talking about the new school year, I first need to talk about this:


That's me and Deni in the back seat there, with Patrick and one of Smith Mountain Lake's barnstormers at the controls. For Patrick's birthday, Deni got him a flying lesson and when we showed up, it turned out the instructor had room for two more. Deni took her camera up in the plane, but I don't have those pictures so you'll have to take my word for it that it was beautiful and so much fun to see the lake from, oh, 3,000 feet?? I have no idea. My eyes were busy looking out the window at all the sights I'd seen from driving and boating around. I think Patrick may have been a little too focused to do much sightseeing, but he did a great job we only buzzed the control tower once, a la Top Gun. The best piece of advice I took away from it was, "fly it like you stole it," which is my new motto.

Yesterday the kids' school was closed to get ready for the new school year, so we went had a crazy adventure day. After we dropped Ali off, we drove up to Huntley Meadows Park for a morning hike. I've never been, but it was a great spot for exploring and running through the woods, and they also have a great boardwalk through the wetlands where you can pretend that you see all the animals they say live there. We did see the "beaver dam" they advertised, but it just looked like a ranger dropped a handful of twigs. Anyway, the kids loved it.

Here we are at a stoplight. I just held up the camera and took a quick shot since everyone was wearing sunglasses and we had MIA blasting on the system. It wasn't until we got home and I looked at the pics that I saw Jake giving me the tongue. On our way downtown, we stopped at the Maine Ave. fish market for a snack. This wasn't my best idea ever (forklifts, hobos, Sadie-sized spaces between the boats and the Potomuck), but the kids loved it. They got to touch the live crabs, and see all the giant fish. They also got to see that mackerel that Ali's always talking about (I told them this particular one wasn't "holy"). We got some oysters, shrimp, crab balls and hush puppies. Sadie didn't want any of it, but she finally tried a hush puppy and loved it. Then she thought she was getting another, but got a crab ball instead. She made a very sad face and returned the half chewed crab ball to me, and not wanting to risk repeating that experience again, she refused any more hush puppies.


We got down to the mall and ran around a bit. Here they are in front of two monuments (beat that, Sears Portraits!):



Then Sadie saw the Carousel and that was that. We got on and they picked their horses -- Sadie on the purple one, and Jake on the one with a big number "3" that I assumed they painted on to appease the NASCAR tourist lobby. I tied the little strap around Sadie's waist, and wondered, what the heck does that strap do anyway? As the vintage carousel started turning, I noticed the sign that required one adult per child. In about 30 seconds, we were spinning faster than any carousel I'd ever been on. I was feeling the G-Forces more than that plane ride, and I could see both kids tilting outward on their horses ("They're PONIES!" Sadie kept reminding me). I kept jogging back and forth between the kids, making sure they weren't about to fly off, and trying not to show any fear in my expression. I think the ride lasted 34 minutes. I was glad when it was over.
Next we went over to the American History museum to check out the transportation section, and then the kid-zone. We also did the ride simulator thing that they could probably do a better job explaining how it fits into American History, but whatever. Jake loved it, and Sadie "was a little bit scared". She reminded me tonight that she was a little bit scared. I told her we wouldn't ride it again, but she said she wanted to, except this time with Mommy, Daddy, Jake, Sadie......and Cousin Lyssa.

Ok, so the first day of school was today. It was a hectic morning here as we were running a bit behind schedule and Sadie insisted on SLOWLY finishing every.......last......bite.....of her waffle. In the meantime, I took a picture of Jake, sporting his new favorite comical expression: Here are both kids, ready for what turned out to be a great first day in their new classes!

8 hours in Baltimore

Jake was asking about Baltimore and the first description that popped into my head was "a fun version of Washington DC". Don't get me wrong, DC is a fun town with lots of character. But Baltimore is Baltimore and it has at least two things going for it: duckpin bowling and no congressional staffers.

Baltimore also has a pretty good roller derby team in the Charm City All Stars. Saturday night they soundly beat the #2 Philly Liberty Belles, 149-74. We left to get the kids home right after the opening bout in which Charm City's Female Trouble took a beating from Philly's Independence Dolls. Cousin Lyssa was with us representing Philly and we taught Jake to boo every time Lyssa cheered. It was a lot of fun and we even got to see some old friends. Here's Sadie helping Mya Bloody Valentine of the Charm City All-Stars sell tickets:


Sadie kept looking up at us to say "now Sadie roller skate". Maybe a few more years...

Before the bout, we had a ball at Port Discovery where Sadie fearlessly climbed every rope bridge she could find and Jake ruled the soccer field: