Thursday, November 30, 2017

BrewLights

BrewLights

Every year the National Zoo is decked out with a huge holiday light display for ZooLights, and every year we manage to be too busy to actually make it up there to see it. So why was this year different you might wonder? There's a simple answer of course...beer. As Friends of the National Zoo we got the invite to experience ZooLights in a new way, BrewLights!

(Well technically, Elaine got the BrewLights invite, thought this would be a perfect birthday present for Dad, and thought Katherine and I should go with him for a little Father, Daughter, Son bonding. So, if you somehow harbored any doubts about Elaine being the most wonderful and thoughtful daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and wife, please put them to rest now.)

On the appointed night, we caught a Lyft up to the Zoo, got our wristbands and light up BrewLights cups, and proceeded to sample twenty or so local brews while enjoying the beautiful light displays, and even seeing a few animals ;-) (Really, there was so much beer, we even skipped a station!) After such a festive evening, we couldn't pass up the chance for 'sledding', so we took a ride on the tubes, and managed to catch a ride home right before the rain started. Happy Birthday Dad! (And thanks again Elaine!)

(click here for all the pictures)

Friday, November 24, 2017

Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving 2017

Another wonderful Thanksgiving hosted by Nancy & Danny. 

(click here for all the pictures)

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Running Girls

Girls on the run
We signed up Nora for "Girls on the Run" in the fall hoping that she'd finally embrace an organized sport. She loved it and dutifully ran her laps twice a week while discussing self esteem and weird facts about herself ("The toilet is my happy place"). I neglected to notice when I enrolled Nora, however, that the semester culminated in a 5k which required an adult buddy.

Now back in the day, I was quite the runner and even trained once for a marathon. Funny story: I never actually ran the marathon because I messed up my knee during my first 20 mile training run. I haven't really run since.

But I love my daughter and I want to support her and all girls (and Allen assured me that she probably wasn't as fast as she claimed -- plus she had a nasty fall a few days prior which had to slow her down somewhat). So we headed out as a family on Sunday morning to Anacostia Park where Nora and I ran (more or less) five kilometers. It wasn't always pretty (especially when Nora realized that she'd lost her sunglasses around the one mile mark and wanted to turn around and look for them despite the hoard of girls running towards us), but we did it and we're pretty proud of ourselves. Girls rock!

Girls on the run

(To see all the pictures, click here.)

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Climb On

Climbing
For the past few years, we've celebrated Veterans Day by heading to Great Falls and enjoying a hike or climb in the great outdoors. This year proved to be a bit too chilly and wet to enthusiastically commune with nature, and so we decided to go the man-made approach and headed to Earth Treks.


Owen's been taking weekly climbing lessons at Earth Treks for the past two years, but Nora had only been once before (and had been begging to go back). We briefly thought that even Aunt Katherine would join us, but she opted for a more spectator role. After warming up (perhaps a bit too long) in the bouldering area, we headed to the climbing walls where Owen conquered a 5.10b which had eluded him in class, while the rest of us opted for some less demanding options (at least in theory).

Two and a half hours later, we were exhausted and our hands were all pink, so we headed back to take care of the chickens, have a viola lesson, and head up to Aunt Katherine's for a long overdue overnight...

Climbing

(To see all the climbing pictures click here).