Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Great Falls & Natural History


IMG_0038

The weekend after Thanksgiving turned out to be warm and beautiful here in DC, so we finally satisfied Owen's desire to go back to Great Falls. The kids decided that with all the rocks and rapids, they better be on the safe side and dress up as superheroes for the trip. We all had a lovely picnic lunch, and Owen and Nora scrambled around the rocks near the overlook together, before we hiked down the Billy Goat Trail, and Owen and I ventured off for some more challenging boldering off the beaten path (Mommy was happy she didn't see Owen climb the rock face in the picture above;-).

On Sunday we had a bit more of a low key outing to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, or the indoor zoo as the kids like to call it. We arrived right as the doors opened, and Owen sprinted to the Dinosaur hall to see the paleontologists working. He held up a rock he found in Texas, that looked like it might have a fossil in it, up to the window, and two of the paleontologists came out to talk with Owen and they all decided that it might be a tooth from the Cretaceous period. Pretty cool stuff for our little fossil hunter. Nora was much more enthralled with the Ocean hall, with the biggest hits being the deep sea sculptures in the back of the hall, and of course the fish tank with Nemo & Dory. Altogether a lovely post-Thanksgiving weekend.

(click here for pictures)

IMG_2512

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving Part II

While the Fawcett contingency loves going over to Nancy & Danny's for Thanksgiving each year, their one regret is that due to their role of "guest," they don't have full access to the leftovers the meal produced. So this year, they decided to do something about it and spent Black Friday cooking a turkey and all the fixings (sans the leftover pumpkin pie that Allen decided not to share).

I went into work while Allen went with the kids to pick out a Christmas tree and then headed up to Mom Mom's and Grandpa Don's for some extra Aunt Katherine bonding time (which involved Firetruck Park, a hike in the woods, and the re-purposing of a cardboard box. By the time I made it up for dinner, the crew was pretty exhausted and wondering whether Thanksgiving the sequel was worth it. However, based on the look of joy as Allen made a turkey-cranberry sandwich complete with his mother's homemade crescent rolls on Saturday, there was at least one convert.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving

It was our year to celebrate thanksgiving in the DC metro area, which meant we got to sleep in, have the traditional Thanksgiving pancakes and sausages, go to a park, take an early nap, and then head over to Nancy & Danny's in Old Town Alexandria, VA at three o'clock for some serious eating and the company of Grandpa Don & Mom Mom, Katherine, Adrienne and Christopher.

The kids' table was in its own room which allowed them to dine while viewing some classic Disney and Superman movies, as well as access to an unsupervised bowl of Chex Mix which Nora took full advantage of. Meanwhile, the adults enjoyed some delicious southwest influenced Thanksgiving standards, excellent wine, followed by an ambitious number of desserts.

Nora enjoyed her second trip to a park in one day, where we got some swing time in and called Grandma & Grandpa Z. Later, everyone else (save Grandpa Don who opted for a nap instead) took a lovely stroll to the riverfront to check out the lights (and work off some of the meal).

(click here for the Thanksgiving pictures)

IMG_2469

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

DOL Thanksgiving

IMG_1182

There wasn't a play or poem or even a song (though it was very loud), but Nora and Mommy still had a great time at her Thanksgiving luncheon on Tuesday (even though the traditional Thanksgiving cupcake necessitated an outfit change before nap time).

IMG_1183

Friday, November 18, 2011

Peabody Thanksgiving

IMG_2462

One of the joys of Kindergarten is putting on class shows for your parents. For the last couple of weeks, Owen has been learning songs and memorizing lines all in preparation for the Peabody Thanksgiving lunch, and we've learned a lot about 'Autumn's frosty art' and how the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to hunt and plant corn. Well yesterday was the big day, Daddy took the day off work, Mommy sneaked out over lunch, and Mom Mom came down for the show. Owen had a great time performing (though for some reason, the class decided not to utilize their costumes), and we had a lovely early Thanksgiving in Classroom 8.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Fall

IMG_2443

Just a little Fall fun...

Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Wedding Party


It's been a while since we've been to a wedding -- it seemed that most of our acquaintances that were able and inclined to be joined in holy matrimony have already done so. But then the state of Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages and my cousin Mark met and fell in love with a doctor named Bryan. Suddenly we had a reason to go to Boston and I got to buy a new dress.

The nuptials were adults only (which is kind of shocking, knowing Mark's fondness for the "Chicken Dance"). This meant that the kids got to spend two glorious days with Mom Mom and Grandpa Don -- watching dolphins jump at the Baltimore Aquarium, eating homemade waffles, and playing some new robot/alien/giant game which apparently involves laundry baskets.

Meanwhile, we got to catch up with some local friends (though not as much as we'd hoped to as storms in Boston delayed our flight by a couple of hours and ruined our dinner plans), explore Harvard Square, see lots of relatives, drink a few too many cocktails, over-indulge in a photo-booth, and bask in the union of two people who love each other (as well as Mariah Carey lyrics).

Congratulations Mark and Bryan. We wish you a long and happy life together.

(To see all the pics from our Boston weekend, click here.)

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Halloween 2011

IMG_1158

For Halloween this year, Owen decided he wanted to wear the superman costume that he's been wearing to fight crime in the neighborhood for ages, and Nora went as an absolutely adorable ladybug girl.  Keeping with our Halloween tradition, we went over to Grandpa Fawcett's house to trick-or-treat on East Capitol St., and hand out candy to the thousands of kids that descend upon the neighborhood.  We did have a slight break from tradition, instead of Kansas City chili, this year Claudine made spaghetti with Kansas City meatballs, but it still was delicious. This was Nora's first year trick-or-treating, and she was pretty thrilled with the whole concept.  Owen had plenty of fun getting candy from strangers, but he really preferred giving candy to strangers.  He's become quite adept at managing the crowds, and strictly enforcing the one piece of candy rule, which given some of the hungry monsters coming to the door, was definitely a job for superman.

(click here for all the Halloween pictures)