Into the Woods

I am not a camper. While in my lifetime I have deigned to sleep in tents, truck beds, an outfield, and the occasional tipi, it was never for more than one night and it was not without complaint. It's not so much that I hate the outdoors, so much as I celebrate in all that its alternative has to offer: running water; refrigerators; wifi; and the absence of bugs. But we'd missed last year's Cub Scouts camping trip (the boys did a den overnight instead) and Owen really wanted the whole family to go to the Scouts' Weekend extravaganza at Shenandoah Springs, so I caved.

And then Nora broke her arm.

This seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse for Nora and I to forfeit the camping experience -- as I mentioned to Nora's doctor multiple times -- particularly given the forecast was for rain and unseasonably warm temperatures. But Nora's doctor said that as long as she kept her arm dry she'd be fine and both Nora and Owen really wanted this to be a family affair.

So we went. The rain held off, the temps were mostly mild and the fish were biting more than the bugs. Owen had a blast on the zip-line, canoeing, making and launching a rocket, fishing, and hanging out with his friends. Nora loved lying in the hammock, fishing, having Daddy paddle her around, and oddly enough, the mess-hall dining experience. Both particularly loved the Webelo II's "If I Were Not a Cub Scout, I Wonder What I'd Be?" medley with the clear favorites being: a Girl scout ("Buy my cookies! Buy my cookies! Give me all your cash!"); a Den leader ("Do this! Do that! I think I'll take a nap!"); and a Statue (" " -- you kind of had to be there).

Allen and I were a little less enthusiastic, mostly owing to my going through caffeine withdrawal and the sheer verbosity of Pack 230 leaders ("a terrible death to be talked to death, a terrible way to die!"), but we have to admit that we had some really nice family time and some cool memories. And honestly, if Nora could do it with a broken arm, the rest of us can surely suck it up.

But next year we're bringing a cooler of Diet Coke and some other adult beverages.

(click here for all the pictures)

Our Little Artist

Our Little Dancer and our little artist ;-)

Foodies

I finally managed to make one of Owen's Food Prints days, which was fortunate as this was the last Food Prints of the year. Owen helped make a lovely garbanzo bean dish (which he didn't eat) and harvested a lot of greens; I saved the day by correcting Stephen that doubling 1 tablespoon of vinegar results in 2 tablespoons of vinegar, not two cups; and the rest of the kids produced quite the feast: deviled eggs (some produced by SWS's very own Sarah and Louise), Swiss chard, bread with garlic butter, mixed green salad with cilantro lime dressing, strawberry lemonade, and for dessert strawberry-rhubarb bars. Afterwards, the kids partook in SWS's Field Day (and my phone ran out of batteries).

But if you could only make one Food Prints this year, this was definitely the one.

(Click here for pics)

Broken Promises

The plan for the weekend was a family trip to Great Falls so that Nora could finally break-in the harness she got for Christmas with an inaugural climb on belay.

Plans changed.

We went to the National Gallery instead.

(click here for all the pics)

The Fawcetts and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

It's been a rough week for the Fawcetts. Monday our internet service, which had been intermittent, became non-existant. Tuesday, Allen came home to find that a termite swarm had emerged in our bedroom.

And then came Wednesday.

It started off quite nicely. We all met up at Nora's school for her Knee Bowl Art Show and then headed out to dinner. After a lovely meal al fresco, the kids biked while Allen and I walked home. The kids were racing (and playing "invisible football" though I'm not sure how or why) and instead of having them wait at the corner for us to cross, I told them they could go ahead and turn at the corner. 

This was a mistake.

Owen whipped around the corner and Nora, being the adoring little sister, followed suit. Only her training wheels that we've been holding off on removing until the end of the school year (due to her commute requiring numerous boosts up various hills) didn't corner like they were on rails and she crashed. She was a bit bloody and very tearful, so Allen carried her the rest of the way home (despite my attempts to make her walk). Allen gave her a bath and put some bandaids on her scrapes, we read her some books and put her to bed.

An hour or so later she woke up crying in pain. I went an cuddled with her for a while and got her to fall back asleep, but then she woke again in pain shortly thereafter. It was around this time that I started googling "symptoms broken arms children bikes." After her third time waking up crying in pain, I decided to take her to Urgent Care, where they determined in about 15 minutes that she had a small fracture in her elbow, and that she'd be in a cast for about four weeks.

Now, I don't always give Nora credit for being the brave little girl that she is, but she was pretty amazing Wednesday night. Aside from a few tears when they bent her arm for the x-ray (from what clearly was some intense pain), she didn't cry or complain the entire time we were at Urgent Care. In fact, after about the 10th apology from me I was informed that she had already forgiven me and that I was now being annoying. And also that since it was her left hand she could still write and draw.

A very nice physician assistant wrapped her up and put her in a temporary cast and sling (she gets the real one next week after the swelling goes down) and sent us on our way. Since it was now after midnight, we decided Nora should stay home and miss the field trip she had been looking forward to on Thursday. We also decided she'd take a pass on piano and swim lessons and that our plans to go climbing on Memorial Day were now shot. However, we still needed to come up with an alternative for Friday's author's presentation at school that Nora had spent a month working on and centered on hand puppets.

As you can see, we made it work. Now to just get through the next 3 1/2 weeks...

Torture-Me-Elmo

Birthday Luxury

It's always good to start planning early for Elaine's birthday.  With Mom Mom's birthday on the same day, and Mother's day right in the mix too, things can get a bit tricky, but back in the Fall I came up with a plan that I thought just might work.  The only problem was I needed to find a date that would work for us, Mom & Don, Katherine & Lee, and Nancy Danny, wait until just three weeks out from that date, and then somehow beat the 10,000 to 1 odds to land one of the most difficult reservations in town -- the rooftop garden at Rose's Luxury on a Saturday night.  With some careful use of the official atomic time, some quick clicking, and a healthy dose of luck we scored the table. It was a beautiful evening, with perfect weather, amazing food, friends and family coming together to celebrate two wonderful women.  Thank you Elaine, and thank you Mom for all the happiness and joy you bring to our lives, and happy birthday to you both.

(click here for all the pictures)

The Replacements

Kelly is one of our few non-econ friends from Austin. A photographer/book-keeper, mother of three and wife to the lead singer or one of our favorite Austin bands, Grand Champeen, Kelly is a really cool lady that we haven't had the pleasure of seeing since our last trip to Austin back in 2011.

Kelly had decided to celebrate her 40th birthday with her husband Channing in her beloved Pittsburg listening to her beloved Replacements. All was well until Paul Westerberg's throat started hurting on Tuesday, at which point her best laid plans went to hell.

After importing grandparents to watch her three sons, taking off work and flying cross-country, Kelly wasn't quite ready to let the dream die. She remembered that we lived in DC where coincidently the Replacements were scheduled to play on Friday, that Channing knew a guy who knew a guy who had an extra ticket to the show, and that three nights should be enough for even the hardest of rockers to re-cooperate. It seemed like a sign.

So Channing flew back to Austin and Kelly took the bus to DC to hang with us for a few days. She took in the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery, several cello tunes from Owen and even the "Arsenal of Democracy" flyover. Things got a little dicey on Friday -- the metro we put Kelly on to go to the concert broke down for 20 minutes and it wasn't until after she'd hung out for several hours in the neighborhood that Kelly discovered the concert wasn't at the 9:30 Club like we thought, but rather Echostage which is across town and next to nothing. Kelly is now a huge fan of Uber.

In the end, Kelly said it was a great show. And while we're sorry that Channing missed it and that she had to be without her boys for three extra days, we're really glad we got to hang out with her. Hopefully, our next meet-up will be a bit less stressful.

Spirit Party

As a new SWS family, we kind of planned on watching and waiting to see how all the various events and fundraisers worked before getting too involved.  However, as the annual Jazz Auction & Gala was approaching, the Rubens approached all the new 3rd grade parents about hosting a Spirit Party to auction off at the Gala.  Elaine wasn't convinced, but I'm a bit of a sucker for these things, and got it in my head that it would be fun to rent out one of the Skyboxes at a Baysox game for our Spirit Party. Long story short, it was a lot more work than I really anticipated to set everything up, and of course there was all the stress at the auction about whether or not enough people would sign up for our Party, but when the day finally came, it couldn't have gone better.  The weather was stunningly perfect, we had a great group of friends come out for the party, and the game couldn't have been more exciting as we watched the Baysox win 11-9 on a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the 9th!  We might even have to do it again next year ;-)

(click here for all the pictures)

And the Band Played On...

Owen had his second cello recital on Saturday afternoon (after he had helped to clean up the Sherwood Rec Center and had his little league game -- another win for the Pendragon Nationals!).  It's pretty amazing how far he's come given he's only been playing for eight months, and we were incredibly proud to hear his and the rest of the Level B Cellos' rendition of Mahler's Theme from First Symphony (a step up from December's Hot Cross Buns and in proper concert attire this time!).

The cellos were fourth on the program (after the harps, guitars and bass). Afterwards, Owen was off with his fellow musicians leaving Allen, Nora and I to enjoy the violas and a whole lot of violin performances. Nora had spent the entire concert sitting at a table next to us, writing a book about the things she loves. It had seemed like an ideal way to keep her both occupied and quiet, and it would have worked perfectly too had it not been for some precariously stacked textbooks. Unfortunately, as Nora reached for an errant crayon, the table tipped and 40 or so copies of "City of Magnificent Intentions" crashed onto the floor and the backs of the people in the row in front of her, while a bunch of five year olds played "Twinkle, Twinkle."

It made for a painful last 15 minutes of the concert, but once we were at dinner and the kids had chips (and Allen and I had margaritas), it became more of an amusing footnote in Owen's musical journey rather than a completely mortifying parenting failure. Mostly.

Congrats again to Owen for doing a great job and if you'd like to see more pictures, please click here.

W&M

It's been many years since I've been back to William & Mary for anything more than a quick lunch stop on the way to the beach, but this past weekend we actually had a full blown Psi U reunion.  It was great seeing so many old friends and their families.  We had a lovely lunch with everyone at the Alumni House, a fun walk through Colonial Williamsburg, and Elaine even let me have a night out with the boys at the Green Leafe, our old watering hole.  Best of all, the trip might even have nudged W&M ahead of Northwestern in the list of places our kids say they want to go to school ;-)

(click here for all the pictures)

First Pitch

Last year was Owen's first season AA machine pitch Little League for 7-8 year olds, and we were expecting that he would play in AA again this year with some younger kids finally on his team. Well Little League through us a curveball and changed the age cutoff, so even though Owen is still 8, he's playing in AAA kid pitch Little League for 9-12 year olds.  Not only is he playing with some really big kids now, but in just the third game of the season he actually was the starting pitcher! There's a lot less hitting in AAA than there was in AA since the kids are far from machine like in their ability to throw strikes, and Owen was no exception on the mound.  He threw some strikes, but the other team wasn't chasing pitches, so outs were tough to come by, as the batters were all angling for walks. It was a long inning on the mound, but I was proud of him though for sticking it out against the big kids, and we're all looking forward to another fun baseball season!  

Opening Day 2015

Despite some computer glitches, Mom Mom managed to secure four tickets to opening day. DCPS and MLB conspired to ensure that students had the day off. The weather gods were generous and delivered perfect baseball weather. So, it was probably too much to expect the Nats to actually win. Oh well, as Allen says, baseball doesn't really count until May...

(click here for all the pictures)

Easter 2015

Easter was pretty low-key this year. The kids woke up early meaning we managed a long breakfast at the bagel place and still made it to church in plenty of time (the kids even had their own row for a while). Mom Mom wasn't expecting us until 2 pm so there was some down time after church. And the Easter bunny scaled things back a bit so the kids weren't as hyped up on sugar as in Easters past (though they went to the dentist on Good Friday just in case...). All is all, it was a lovely day.

(click here for all the pictures)

Maketto

Toki Underground has always been one of our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, so we were thrilled when our friends Eric & Kathryn won a dinner for ten at their house with Erik Bruner-Yang of Toki fame at the J.O. Wilson Elementary School Auction, and kindly invited us to join them.  It took a while to schedule the dinner, but the wait paid off, because a few days before the dinner, Erik called Eric and suggested that instead of him cooking at Eric & Kathryn's house, we all join him for a sneak peak at his long rumored new restaurant Maketto.

Maketto has been in the works for a long time, and if our dinner there was any indication, the wait was worth it.  The space has undergone an amazing transformation from the old goodwill building to stunningly gorgeous kitchen, courtyard, retail, and coffee/bakery spaces.  But of course, it's the food that will keep us coming back.  We sampled the whole opening night menu, and while everything was delicious, some of my favorites were the super spicy raw kobe beef salad, the steak and hoisin sauce bao, and the whole fish that I was almost too full to eat at the end of the night.  All told, it was a wonderful night with good friends, great food, and all for a worthy cause.



(click here for all the pictures)

Tilting IdeaMills

Eight months ago, the Department of Labor started the equivalent of an electronic suggestion box, where employees could post suggestions to improve the work-life experience at DOL, employees could vote on the suggestions, and management would implement those deemed sufficiently feasible and popular. I quickly wrote up one regarding time-off bonuses (it was during the summer and my leave-balance was down to fumes) and quickly forgot about it. Until mid-February when I was invited, with several other contributors, to meet with the Secretary to discuss implementation of our ideas.

I don't get to meet with the Secretary very often in a small group (this was my first time ever with this particular Secretary) so I jumped at the chance for an hour of face-time discussing outreach ideas with the Secretary, his entourage and other "idea" people. Afterwards, I assumed my work was done and went on my merry way to Whistler, only to discover upon returning that no good deed goes unpunished.

In order to encourage participation in the Idea Mill, the Secretary decided to take his campaign to the elevators, and since I fit some demographic niche that needed to be filled, the Office of Public Affairs insisted that I be one of five very special elevator posters. I was horrified but ultimately assented; Allen was delighted and decided that my new-found celebrity required a special field-trip to Labor to take some pictures to accompany my signed and suitable for framing mementos of the experience...

Sledding

Snowstorms in March are an odd thing. We awoke Thursday morning to find schools and the Federal government closed with n'ere a flake on the ground (only a lot of rain). A few hours later it was a veritable non-winter wonderland. And while Congress proved to be a bit of a Grinch when it comes to snowday activities, to paraphrase William Wallace, "They can take our land but they can never take our sledding" (particularly when the hills of Gallaudet are only a few blocks away).

Whistler 2015

After wonderful trips to Snowmass in 2011 and 2013, we decided to mix things up for our 2015 ski trip out west and go to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada with the Hyatts and the Mettenbergs.

It was a funny weather year for a ski trip in the western half of the continent.  The east had one of the coldest winters in years, temperatures were even in the single digits in DC the week of our trip, but the west experiencing a relative heat wave.  There wasn't much fresh snow at Whistler, but there was plenty of skiing in the high alpine of the two mountains to keep us busy, and we couldn't complain about the sunny skies and pleasant weather at the base.

Nora & Gigi spent the week together in Ski Camp with instructor Glen, who according to the girls was from London and 21 which is 'very, very, very young."  They did a great job advancing from the magic carpet the first few days to skiing down the 'big mountain' by the end of the week. The best part though may have been the 'unexpected surprise' of running into us parents on the slopes and showing the dads the amazing tree fort.

The boys -- Owen, Kaden and Liam --were all in their own groups for lessons.  Kaden kept coming back with reports of various black diamonds he concurred, Liam cruised through level three of ski camp, and Owen was ready for level four by with stories of his own experience on a black diamond by the end of the week.

For the rest of us, the days on the slopes were wonderful, and the evening were filled with friends, food, hot tubs, olympic rings, VR, and a little more than our fair share of Munchkin.

In closing, we all need to remember the words of Edward, Nora & Gigi's ski camp buddy from London, "Glen, why are there so many gondolas in the world?"








(click here for all the pictures)

Advice for JK Rowling

I've been reading the Harry Potter books to Owen, and just before our trip to Whistler we reached the third task in the Tri-Wizard Cup from book four.  Harry and Cedric Diggory had competed with each other, but also helped each other and showed wonderful sportsmanship throughout the competition. When they decided to grab the Goblet of Fire together in order to share the victory, Owen felt a deep sense of satisfaction with the story.

That's where we left off before our ski trip, and I was a bit nervous about what was coming, so I warned Owen that the story was about to get much darker, but he insisted we continue reading when we got back from Canada.  Well, we read the next chapter tonight, and despite Owen making up an alternate version where Cedric wasn't killed, but instead awoke from the avada kadarva curse, crawled back to the Goblet of Fire -- which was still a portkey -- and grabbed it to transport himself to safety while Voldomort and Wormtail were distracted by Harry, Owen couldn't sleep and decided we needed to chat.

Dad, why would the author kill Cedric, didn't she want to make more money?  If she wants to write more Harry Potter books after this one, and she wants people to buy them and read them, she shouldn't have killed Cedric, because no one will want to read more of her books if she kills good people like Cedric.

Owen is a very gentle soul, and I think we might want to wait a bit before reading the rest of the series... 

40

The passage of Allen's youth was not the rager I initially thought it would be. At 30 we took over a bar. At 35 we took over a very nice private dining room. For 40, I figured a video arcade was the way to go.

But then Allen found out he had to fly to Boston the morning after his birthday. And Owen got really sick culminating in two ambulance rides and one admittance to Children's Hospital for severe croup. Given we were going skiing in Canada just 10 days after the milestone, we decided to scale down the celebration with just a quiet dinner for two at Rasika (plus I let him and Owen play lots of Zelda at home).

It was really nice and I think we both needed a mellow night out. 50, however, is going to be epic...

MLK

Our plan was to go skiing on MLK day, but apparently so was everyone else's which meant there were no openings in any of the ski schools in the tri-state area.

Skiing with Owen on a crowded ski slope makes me nervous; skiing with Nora on a crowded slope terrifies me. We decided to instead go with Plan B: checking out Daddy's new digs, visiting the American History Museum and dinner at Mom Mom's.

Surprisingly, the kids' favorite part of our agenda was visiting the Clinton Building where Allen's office moved over the summer and which Nora likened to a mansion! There was a lot of fun re-enacting the murals, checking out all the marble and chandeliers and then timing how long it took to climb the spiral staircase (until a devoted EPA employee asked us to keep it down lest she be stuck at work for even longer).

So we headed over to the American History Museum.

It was actually a pretty appropriate way to commemorate Dr. King as we were able to show the kids the Woolworth's lunch counter, Hale Woodruff's murals portraying significant events in the journey of African Americans from slavery to freedom, and civil war artifacts from "The Price of Freedom: American's at War," though if we're being totally honest, Nora preferred the Ruby Slippers and Owen was pretty focused on some gun.

Afterwards, we headed up to Mom Mom's for dinner and a second re-enactment of Nora's favorite mural at Allen's office -- this time in costume (or at least authentic hair-styling)!

(To see all the pics from MLK day, click here.)

Pinewood Derby 2015

The Pinewood Derby is probably the highlight of the year for the Cub Scouts.  Last year, in his first Pinewood Derby, Owen made it to the semifinals.  This year we started construction over Thanksgiving with some help from cousin Kent and his bandsaw, and with a few new tricks up his sleeve, Owen built a car that was faster than his old one.  He finished second in each of his first three heats (his friend Lucas finished first each time with his fast & cool looking 'Toothless' car).  Owen advanced to the quarterfinals, but the competition was stiffer than last year, and he just missed out on making the semifinals.  Not too bad considering there were over 70 cars entered this year.

We had some extra fun this year building a dad car out of our extra Pinewood Derby kit, and a sister car out of the leftover wood from Owen's car.  Nora painted hers a teal color to match Elsa's dress from Frozen, and I built my car with a GoPro mount.  The GoPro car was a big hit at the Dad's race, they entered it into every heat for 'historical documentation reasons' ;-)  It was designed to be slow, so it would have cars in front of it to film, but it actually beat the super cool 3D printed flame car, and legitimately made it to the finals, where it had a great view filming the other cars from the back of the pack.

Liberty GoPro

So on the last day of school before the winter holiday, Nora announced to her class that she was going to Ski Camp over break.  This wasn't entirely true, at least not yet.  We have a big trip to Whistler planned for February, and we we're thinking that we needed to hit one of the local slopes before then for a warm up day, but until Nora's announcement, we thought that would be later in January.  Well, we wouldn't want to make a liar out of Nora, so I decided drive up to Liberty Mountain the day after New Year's with the kids and Aunt Katherine & Uncle L (Mommy sadly had to work.)  True to her word, Nora spent the afternoon in Ski Camp, while Owen skied with the grown-ups, and I played around with my new GoPro (Thanks Mom!)

Christmas 2014

Allen really, really loves Christmas. Which is why it's a downright shame that due to an ineffective flu shot, a bike ride in the rain, an excessive mise-en-place and probably too late of a Christmas mass, he pretty much missed it. Sure, he made it down to see the kids unwrap their Santa gifts, but after that he disappeared for several hours before I told him he had to wake up and shower if he wanted to go to Mom Mom's. He barely rallied, was shivering while getting dressed, had to rest on the couch eating dry toast before he could make it to the car, and went straight to Mom Mom's guestroom once we arrived where he spent most of the day (we would occasionally bring him out to the couch to watch us open presents or force more toast and ginger-ale down him). He was home and down for the count by 10 pm.

The kids had a great time and Mom Mom made a lovely meal, but I have to say it probably wasn't our favorite celebration. Also, with Allen largely out of commission, it was pretty much our least documented one, but thanks to Grandpa Don, you (and Allen!) can get the gist of our celebration here.

Here We Come a Caroling

One of our Christmas traditions is to go caroling on F Street with our old neighbors.  Several of us have moved away from the old block, but we still gather to raise our voices in song, catch up with old friends, and share some cookies and hot chocolate.  Happy Holidays F Street!

Bust a Move

Nora had a very enthusiastic final dance class on Saturday, and was in no way harmed in the making of this video. At least permanently.

Happy Solstice

They do things a little differently at SWS: instead of a holiday concert, Owen (aka Sun #2) and his classmate proudly present a Winter Solstice play.

But Wait, There's More!

A scant three days after the final performance of Annie, the kindergartners had a holiday concert. Kate was scheduled to introduce the first song, but the weekend proved too much for her, so Nora had to step in as understudy. She sort of stole the show (or at least the parts I managed to record), and even provided some choreography for the "Jingle Bell Rock" mash-up with the first graders.

Holiday Party 2014

For our second annual holiday party, we had a plan. In order to avoid a repeat of last years' tribute to William Golding, we posted signs stating food was not to be brought upstairs (and subsequently flung downstairs) and co-opted Grandpa Fawcett's space for a viewing of Harry Potter, to give the eight-year-old crowd a quieter alternative to boys' club. But then the weather gods were kind and no diversions were necessary as the boys could be sent outside to shoot arrows and fence and scream and whatnot without disrupting the adult flow and killing our holiday vibe. It was a glorious thing, and it would have worked, too, had it not been for those meddling kids and Ronan shooting his sister with a blow gun.

So after an ice pack for Maeve and a confiscation of all weaponry, we had a very nice and relatively
calm holiday party.

 

Annie

This fall, Stuart-Hobson Middle School decided to christen their renovated auditorium with a performance of "Annie" and invited the other members of the "Cluster" to participate. This meant that Peabody kindergartners, that attended weekly early morning rehearsals, would perform "Tomorrow" with the orphan herself. Nora initially demurred, citing shyness, but we pressed on because seriously, who is she trying to kid?

So we bought the movie and made her watch it. We ferried her to 8 am practices on Thursdays. We forced her to wear her brother's weathered long underwear to achieve that truly uncared for look. And on Friday night, to a packed house which included Mom Mom & Grandpa Don, Grandpa Fawcett, and Allen, Owen and myself, Nora sung her little heart out.  She watched the performance in awe with her friends, and when the big kids reprised 'Tomorrow' for the finale, the little kids stormed the stage to join them in song, take their bows and share in the celebration of a successful opening night. Beaming as we left the auditorium she loudly proclaimed it the "BEST DAY EVER!!!" before returning home where she and Owen proceeded to reenact the entire play while I channeled my best Miss Hannigan.

Then came the two Saturday performances. Nora was pretty tired after Friday night, and she mustered just enough energy for the Saturday matinee to mouth the words before leaving early to get ready for her friend Kate's birthday party. She had a blast ice-skating, but the idea of performing one last time was almost too much for her. We insisted that the show had to go on, made her don Owen's cast-offs again, and she lip-syched for the five minutes she was on-stage before demanding to go home.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome experience (and the Stuart-Hobson kids did a tremendous job), but I don't think Nora's quite ready for a Broadway run.

Trains, Flora, and Wine

One of our favorite holiday traditions is going to Owen's favorite place in the world, the U.S. Botanic Garden, and seeing their amazing holiday train display.  This tradition used to involve standing out in the cold in some impressively long lines, but last year Elaine figured out how to make this tradition 1000% better.  With a donation to the National Fund for the U.S. Botanic Garden, we could skip the lines and see the trains at the Botanic Garden Holiday Reception.

This year the Holiday Reception was the same night as Owen's cello recital, so we invited the whole family to join us for the concert, and then thanked them for their support of our budding musician with dinner at Tortilla Coast and a relaxing evening of wine, plants, and a lighthouse themed holiday train display.



(click here for all the pictures)

The Music Man

Last year, Owen asked to start taking cello lessons. I was a little put off at the time, since after years of good intentions I had finally managed to arrange piano lessons for both kids and thought I should at least get a victory lap before we moved onto the string family.

But Owen persisted and in the Spring, we successfully bid at the Cluster's Auction on group lessons for the DC Youth Orchestra Program. Come Fall, outfitted with a 1/4 size cello, Owen started Beginning Cello Level A.

I should note that while Owen's paternal great-grandmother was an accomplished cellist (she played with the Cedar Rapids Symphony) and Grandma Z played violin back in the day, Owen's string pedigree does not include Allen and I, so Owen was kind of on his own at home (I have some piano, sax and a lot of oboe; Allen has a bit of piano, a little trumpet and some guitar. But cello? Not so much). After a month or so, Owen's instructor suggested we supplement the group lessons with some individual instruction, so Owen started also taking lessons from his music teacher at SWS, Mr. James.

All of this was building up to Saturday night's recital, in which about 200 beginning students played Jingle Bells, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and a host of other tunes. While our clear favorite was Hot Cross Buns by the Level A cellist, there were some other standouts -- some extremely talented harpist and a lone baritone that nailed the Star Spangled Banner -- with only a few painful moments, (I really wanted to give all the beginning oboes a hug after their rendition of Lightly Row -- it gets better!).

All in all, it was really exciting and endearing to see so many young people at the start of their musical education. And it was all worth it for the smile Owen donned after his performance when he found his cheering section (Grandpa Fawcett, Katherine & Lee, Mom Mom & Grandpa Don, and Allen, Nora and I).



(To see Owen's class performance, please click here)

Turkey Days

Thanksgiving didn't go quite as planned. First we left later then intended due to 1) Grandpa Fawcett having flown out early to help finish what can only be described as a super late harvest; 2) Owen had a really cool birthday party on Saturday morning that he didn't want to miss; and 3) having had 3 weeks of someone (myself included multiple times) being sick, I wasn't particularly excited about getting up at 5 am and splitting 14 hours of driving between Allen and me. So we decided to take two days and let Owen have his fun, arriving at Grandma & Grandpa Z's on Sunday afternoon. Then we found out on Monday that owing to some recent unpredicted snowstorms, Uncle Dave & Aunt Kara weren't going to be able to drive out from Colorado. We were all pretty bummed with the news, but Allen most acutely as he generally trades off being the "fun Uncle" with Dave and welcomes the reprieve that comes with being ranked second.

Despite the abbreviated schedule and guests, we had a pretty amazing visit. We managed to pack in dinner and a playdate with Grace, some sledding and work at the pond, Pinewood Derby preparations, a lot of Minecraft, a picnic or two, epic battles, an unexpected homage to Eminem, birthday surprises, Olivia's elevation to the grown-ups' table, a parting brunch at Ken & Helen's, Christmas brew, and of course, family.

(To see all the Thanksgiving pics, click here.)

Harvest in the East

DC public schools likes to take the week before Thanksgiving to celebrate the harvest (though given we're an urban school district, the celebration tends to be larger than said harvest). Songs are sung, poetry slow-jammed and there's an abundance of food. Allen and I both managed to make Owen's party (and song) on Thursday, but Allen was off at a conference on Friday and so had to miss Nora's -- which meant he missed Nora's debut as the fifth fat turkey and the traditional harvest cupcake (and resulting purple tongue).

Carderock

So last year Andrew and I took Owen and Luke to Carderock on Veteran's day for their first climbing outing.  They had a great time, Owen got a harness for Christmas, spent lots of time on the climbing wall at camp, and got climbing shoes for his birthday, but somehow we made it all the way to Veteran's day again before taking the boys back out on the real rocks.

With the weather 70 degrees and sunny, we couldn't have asked for a better day for our annual climbing trip.  We set up a harder climb than last year, and Owen proclaimed we should climb youngest to oldest, I guess so he could show us all how it's done.  He scrambled up the rocks like a little monkey, then came down and told us that, "Climbing is like a team sport, your arms, legs, eyes, and brain all have to work together or you'll never make it to the top."

Luke was next up, but Owen couldn't keep himself off the rocks and started bouldering around barefoot.  When Luke was stuck at a tough spot on the climb, I went up to try to help him find some holds only to look over and see Owen 8 feet up on the rocks beside us also doling out pointers.

Andrew and I had our turns, and found that some of the spots on the climb really were a bit tricky.  Then Owen scrambled up again, with a little more difficulty at the first big problem on the climb.  When he got down he dropped some more of his zen climbing wisdom, "Another way to think of the climb is it's like a war.  Your arms and legs are the armies, and your eyes and brain are the spies searching for weaknesses in the wall for your armies to attack."

If we learned one thing from this spectacular November climbing day, it's that we need to do it more often in 2015...

(click here for all the pictures)

Halloween 2014

Halloween conveniently fell on a Friday this year, and it was a half day of school to boot. The kids went easy on us this year with their costume requests, Owen wanted to go as Ryan Zimmerman and Nora was set on Minnie Mouse, both of which we had readily on hand. Adam’s parents Karen & Edgar kindly invited us over to their pre-trick-or-treating party, where the kids burned off some pre-candy energy, and we enjoyed hanging out by the ‘poison punch’ with the grown-ups. Then instead of braving the madness on East Capitol Street, we trick-or-treated our way from Adam’s house to our old block on F Street, visited with some old friends and neighbors, and trick-or-treated our way back home. All told, a very satisfying Halloween for the whole family.



(click here for all the pictures)

Outbreak

It had been a pretty crazy weekend. After 12 distinct activities in the course of two days (soccer, cello, dance class, Cub Scouts popcorn sales, baseball, Halloween party/chili cook-off, church, Sunday School, birthday party, playdate, Cub Scout meeting, and dinner party), Allen had I were finally retiring for a good night's sleep when we received word that Nora's teacher had been diagnosed with viral meningitis (the second kindergarten teacher at Peabody to be diagnosed).  We were slightly concerned, but not too much. And while I did peruse the educational materials on meningitis provided by DCPS, I mostly wondered about the wisdom of DCPS handing out these materials along with donut on the playground with 240 little kids with questionable personal hygiene. That is until the wee hours of Tuesday when Owen threw up and it got personal.

As Owen was not the child we expected to succumb to illness, we were concerned. I alerted his teachers and school nurse and made an appointment with his doctor to make sure Owen was not sick and spreading a pandemic across Capitol Hill. After a half hour exam, the doctor concluded that he was fine (although she reserved the right to revise the diagnosis if circumstances changed). Feeling relieved and wanting be efficient, I asked if you could a get a flu shot even if you'd been sick. She said, "sure" so I went ahead and had him injected, informed his teachers he was in the clear and then took him to pick up the CSA and Nora from aftercare. After getting dinner ready, I headed out to a PTA meeting where we further discussed meningitis and proper cleaning methods for an hour and a half. Meanwhile, Owen went to bed at 6:30 pm and developed a fever. He threw up around 10 pm. This meant that we had to tell his teachers at his previously scheduled conference that while he wasn't truly sick, he also wasn't coming to school that day either.

So Owen and I had a second mother-son bonding day. He ate a good dinner and went to bed at, if not a reasonable hour, certainly one we're used to. And on the plus side, Owen actually made it to the toilet instead of vomiting in his bed this last time, which feel like something of a victory and a developmental milestone. An incredibly gross one mind you, but still...

Frozen on Ice

Last summer, in the middle of a playdate, Nora's friend Kate's mom called to invite us to join a group attending Disney's Frozen on Ice. I'm not a huge Disney fan, but Nora loves Frozen and an outing with her friends, even though it was on a weeknight, seemed like a fine idea. I agreed, wrote a check and put it on the calendar.

At Nora's birthday party, we finally received the tickets at which point I realized the extravaganza was not at the Verizon Center as I'd assumed (I mean the Capitols play there, it already has ice!), but at the Patriot Center. At GMU. About an hour outside DC with no traffic.

But fortunately, Lizzie's mom offered to drive and so Nora and I had little to do in the 75 minutes it took to get from our home to the Patriot center parking lot but sing various Disney songs. Once there, we power-walked to the nearest bathroom and then ran into Kate's mom who directed us to the our seats (past about 30 different Disney toy kiosks) just in time for the overture and introduction of all the Disney characters (full disclosure, the fish from The Little Mermaid seriously creeped me out).

The first half went great, but intermission was a little rough as I was raised you don't but $20 Olaf Snowcones and apparently a lot of parents seated in our general vicinity weren't. Nora got pretty upset (as did Lizzie and Kate when Victoria's mom broke down and got one). Eventually they calmed down, but by the end, it was 9:00 pm and we had to pass another 30 kiosks selling Disney products and still not purchasing any goodies. Added to that, I neglected to bring Nora's pajamas (I had them packed in the car when we were going to drive, but then we carpooled...) while Lizzie's mom was more on top of things. Nora screamed the entire walk from the arena to the car and for the next 15 minutes while sitting in the parking lot trying to get out. She eventually calmed down and fell asleep for the drive home where her father carried her to bed and put her in appropriate sleepwear.

It was definitely an experience - though I'm not sure we'll be repeating it anytime soon -- and the next day, Nora talked of it fondly. I'm still not quite there.

Renaissance

Back in the day I attended the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, MN with my brothers and beloved Aunt Ellen. I've blacked out most of the experience, but distinctly remember witnessing the performance of "Puke and Snot" whose act consisted primarily of chewing a carrot and then spewing it out while insulting each other and anyone else in their proximity. The two performers took a liking to me (I think I was six or seven at the time) and singled me out. It was not attention I particularly wanted and I left the festival feeling dirty and disgusting and with an aversion to root vegetables.

Time passed, and over the years I've managed to avoid attending pretty much Ye Ol' anything. However, Owen recently attended a Medieval Times performance and Nora loves all things princess-y, so when Brad texted us in the early hours (ok, 10 am) of Sunday -- the only non-rainy day of the three-day weekend -- that the Browns were at the Maryland festival and basking in revelry and merriment, I agreed to put aside my past grievances and take the kids to the fair.

Owen was a little reluctant to attend, but became entranced as we walked by Shakespeare's Skum and saw their version of Henry V (we later went back to catch the tail end of  Othello: Having A Bad Day, and all of  Antony & Cleopatra: As the Nile Flows). We caught up with the Browns in time for a joust, and then got to partake in the massive slide before hanging out in the children's area, catching a performance of the "Dueling Fools" and then searching for the perfect medieval hat for Nora (Owen could only find metal armor which we all agreed was a bad idea).

All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday and while we discovered that Puke and Snot are still touring with the show, Allen agreed that we could skip that one...

(click here for all the pictures)

18 Innings...

The Nats' loss to the Cardinals in the 2012 NLDS was a roller coaster, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all unfolding before our eyes.  That team was young and exciting, and they filled us with hope for the future.  2013 was a reminder that even with the talent in the world, nothing can be taken for granted in baseball, and every trip to the postseason needs to be savored.  The 2014 Nats ran away with the NL East and we could taste a deep run into October.

Brad & I lined up tickets for the whole NLDS, I picked up Owen early from school, and we settled into our seats on a glorious afternoon ready watch our team take on the Giants.  But the Giants took the early lead, and the breaks never quite went our way (Desmond struck out with the bases loaded, Harper led off the next inning with a towering home run into the third deck, but alas no one was on base).  The Nats' comeback fell short, and the Giants took game one 3 to 2.

We had a whole crew for game 2: Owen & I went with Brad & Marlo and Mia and Ben, and Mom Mom & Grandpa Don got tickets too with Aunt Katherine and Uncle L.  Elaine was a bit bummed she and Nora weren't going too, though I think she was over that by the time the game was over.  The Nats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third, and Jordan Zimmermann, fresh off his no-hitter in the final game of the season was twirling another gem.  He was one out away from a complete game shutout when he gave up a walk.  Drew Storen came on, gave up a quick two hits, and just like that the game was tied.  On to extra innings!

Now, when the game started at 5:30, it was a warm sunny day. But as the night wore on and the innings mounted (10th), the temperatures plummeted and the wind was whipping around the park (11th).  We bundled up (12th), abandoned the upper deck (13th), warmed up in the gift shop (14th with a second 7th inning stretch!), and eventually made our way to a great spot out of the wind to stand (15th) and watch the rest of the game.  16th, longest game in Nats history.  17th, surely someone will score -- so cold -- but every inning is a chance for an ecstatic walk off win!  18th, Giants home run, the clock strikes midnight (Owen's first time staying up until the witching hour), longest game in postseason history, the Nats go quietly into the night...

The series wasn't over though. The Nats won game 3 in San Francisco taking back the momentum, but a series of miscues in game 4 gave the series to the Giants, and the season was over.  There's always next year...

Sailor Girl

The last few times we've been out sailing it's just been the boys out on the boat, so when Grandpa Don suggested the boys go sailing again, Nora put her foot down and decided it was high time she got out on the water.  Once Nora decided she was in, Mom Mom thought she better go too, and Elaine got the idea that she better help out somehow.  We made it out to the boat a little before lunch, and the weather was perfect for a day out on the Bay.  An easy sail out and back.  The bagels for lunch were yummy (Nora even tried the liverwurst!)  Owen showed Nora the ropes (not quite literally of course, since ropes on a boat are called lines).  Nora had a blast playing up on the bow, though she made mommy a little nervous with overconfidence in her sea legs, and she made daddy a little nervous with her declaration that standing on the bow with your arms outstretched is what you do "in romance"...    

(click here for all the pictures)

Tea Time

Several months ago, Mom Mom called us late at night to ask if Nora would like a fairy princess tea party for her birthday. The question seemed somewhat rhetorical, as Nora loves fairies, princesses and tea parties and the nexus of them would kind of be Nora's Shangri-La. But Mom Mom, was at a silent auction for Gadsby's Tavern, the bidding was heating up for said tea party, and so she wanted our blessing to go all grandmotherly and win big.

She was victorious, and so we began planning for eight little fairy princesses in training to descend.

Planning a tea party for non-tea drinkers can be a bit challenging, so we opted for pink lemonade instead. There weren't a lot of takers for the cucumber sandwiches and baby quiches, though the popcorn and goldfish crackers were pretty popular. Everyone loved the cake.

The girls got to choose from a bevy of ball gowns, and were then schooled in proper fan etiquette, the history of fairies, tea-time manners, and dances. They made magic wands, played games and earned their wings. And Nora had a really, really good time.

Thank you so much, Mom Mom.



(click here for all the pictures)
(click here for a video highlighting Nora's actual birthday)
(click here for a video highlighting her party)

Nora's a Handful

Nora has made a lot of promises about turning five. Throughout the past year, when faced with something she didn't particularly want to do, she would tell us she would do it when she was five. Brushing her teeth by herself; Riding a bike; Dressing herself; Eating strawberries -- these are activities that eluded the four year old Nora but ones that the five year old version will embrace. (Well, maybe not the strawberries.) Still, despite all her protestations, Nora accomplished an awful lot in her fourth year of life -- beginning school, piano lessons, teaching Daddy how to put together an ensemble for her that she could approve of... We're pretty proud of her and can't wait to see what happens next. Happy birthday, baby girl, we love you so, so much.

1. It's impressive how quickly one can find religion when donuts are involved.
2. "I don't need any weapons, I've got skills..and lasers beams."
3. If you're ever at a loss for words, go with the silly face.
4. Almost every problem can be solved with either a tissue, a hug, a bandaid or some combination thereof. And if that doesn't work: bubbles.
5. The doctor is occasionally in.
6. "You can go now."
7. Sometimes you have to make your own rainbow.
8. There are a surprising number of alternative uses for hair clips. 
9. All the world is a stage.
10. And in the immortal words of Ms. Ogden, "Be kind. Be brave. Be safe."

Bad Air Daze

Owen has been going to our softball games all his life, in fact Elaine was still legging out hits while she was pregnant with Owen.  With his love of baseball, it's no surprise that these outings are always lots of fun, whether it's watching daddy play, taking BP before the game, or tossing the ball around on the side.  For the last couple seasons, Owen has even come out in the field to help out in the outfield during the game.  For our last game of the regular season this year, Owen decided that EPA softball league rules allowed for 8 year olds to play DH, and since our league is pretty laid back, he actually managed to convince both teams.  So Owen was slotted into the Bad Air Daze line-up and he stepped up to the plate for his first official at bats with the grown ups.  His first time up he lined out to the third baseman (no gimmes in this league!)  With the sun setting on the Mall, he came up for his second at bat with a runner on third and two outs in a tight game, and he hit a sharp grounder down the third base line.  The runner sprinted home, and Owen was safe at first with his first hit and first RBI in official EPA league play!  The game ended with Owen on deck, so his official line for the night was 1 for 2 with an RBI (better than Dad!).  Now he'll just need to talk his way into the play-offs line up ;-)

School Daze

Last year around Spring Break, I asked Owen how second grade was going and his response was that, "I think third grade will be good." It kind of broke my heart. I'd been a bit frustrated by Owen's school for a while and had entered him into the DC School Lottery for the past two years to try and get into SWS -- a school that was at one point part of Peabody (Owen's Pre-K and Kindergarten that Nora currently attends), was expanded into a temporary location a couple of years ago, and then got a permanent home 1.5 blocks from our house, though we don't get any preference for it.

But the first week of summer vacation, we found out that Owen got off the wait-list and was in. Owen was less than thrilled -- he didn't want to leave his friends at Watkins -- but eventually, with the promise of lots of playdates with the Watkins crew, he grudgingly agreed and we prepared to join the SWS community.

Funny thing about the SWS community: they do things a little differently. Whereas at Watkins the first day of school is a day of instruction, SWS uses it as a conference day, a fact we didn't learn until we returned from Iowa. Meanwhile Peabody had decided to move from using the first day of school as a conference day to using the whole week for one -- a fact we also learned while in Iowa -- until enough parents complained that you couldn't let working families know this three weeks before school starts when all the summer camps are closed that they decided to revert to their previous stance. 

So on the first day of school, we met Nora's teacher (Ms. Rountree) and then sent her off with Mom Mom for a day of fun, hosted a playdate for Owen (with one of his SWS friends from baseball), went to Owen's conference and met his teachers, took a self-guided tour (primarily of the baseball section of the library) picked out his symbol (it's apparently a Reggio Emelia thing -- he went with a fleur de lis in honor of Cub Scouts), took Owen to his doctor's appointment, and then eventually reconvened at home.

Tuesday -- their actual first day of school --  Allen accompanied Nora, who rode her bike, to Peabody for her first day of kindergarten while I accompanied Owen, who also rode his bike 1.5 blocks, to SWS for his first day of third grade. By all accounts it was a successful first day. Now for day #2...



(click here for the pictures)

Come Rain or Come Shine

For four months -- sixteen weeks -- the DC metro area hadn't had any rain on a weekend day. That all came to an end on Saturday -- when we invited ten kids (including Nora and Brad) into the woods to celebrate Owen's eighth birthday by scaling the Labyrinth in inclement conditions. I was a bit horrified that we were latching children to a structure and forcing them to climb for two hours in the rain (Owen quit after one), but the kids all seemed to have fun and no one has developed pneumonia...yet. Owen got to show off his climbing skills, Nora kept up with the big kids and Hayden and Ronan had to be dragged away. All in all, it was a surprising successful birthday party (it probably helped that we watched Star Wars movies on the way there and back, we brought towels and a change of clothes for the kids and there was pizza), and one that none of us will forget.



(Thanks to Charlie, Hayden, Ronan, Adam, Gabriel, Elijah, Ben, Mia and Nora for being good sports and celebrating with Owen. Special thanks to Brad, Marlo and Aunt Katherine for helping out at the party, Grandpa Fawcett for driving four eight year olds and Mom Mom and Grandpa Don for showing their support -- until it started pouring. To see all the party pics, please click here.)