Kenny Weekend

Cousin Kenny came to visit for the weekend!  

First, we enjoyed a fun trip to Alexandria for sushi and drinks before catching the pre-Broadway run of the new musical Mean Girls at the National.

On Saturday, Kenny came to cheer on Abigail in her last soccer game, in which the girls won(!) but we don't keep score.  The game was awesome; the girls had so much energy and did a lot of passing and were more aggressive than they were all season.  I am not sure if Kenny is their good luck charm or if not having 5 subs on a team that can only play 5 kids at a time was our winning strategy.  (I kind of suspect it was not having subs: the kids get bored and unfocused when they have to sit for 50% of every game.)

After that, we went on a short hike at Government Island and got caught in the rain, which was still fun.  

Additionally, the kids "helped" Kenny prepare some of his vials for his big "science fair" at NIH in Bethesda.  They were super impressed that Kenny is a Very Important Scientist and he taught them how to use the pipette correctly.  

Our favorite little mid-fielder in action!

Kenny the Human Sherpa (for carrying humans)

Christmas 2015

Weather:  warm, nearly 70F, overcast and a bit rainy

Location:  the farm, western PA

From Santa:  Abigail got a tiny hedgehog stuffie, Joseph got a Blue Angel plane, and together they got a 4-person set of laser tag

Abigail's gifts: Legos, an MP3 player (which we loaded with a variety of music for her, yet she has gravitated towards the Broadway songs we put on it and has been walking around singing from Avenue Q and Book of Mormon), many Star Wars items (classic Han action figure and BB8 stuffie are favorites), t-ball set, Card and Go Seek game

Abigail got to go to a fairly new coffee shop in the town (there certainly was no coffee shop when my brothers and I were growing up there!) with her aunts and uncles, which was awesome to her.  She cherishes experiences with them so much more than gifts they give her.  The experiences (hot cocoa at the coffee shop, learning to play checkers, playing laser tag, watching her brother fall in the creek) are what she is still talking about several days later.  

Joseph's gifts:  Legos, a camera (it is SO adorable watching him taking pictures of everything), many Star Wars items, a kids' drum set (click here for a 30 second video), a lunch box (he has been so jealous of Abigail's), Good Night Construction Site PJs and Excavator stuffie 

My family put up with me trying to capture a new family picture to include Joseph.  The weather and lighting were weird and it was beyond muddy, but we did it.  

The Bittersweet:  My parents are saying this is the last Christmas at the farm.  I want them to live closer to me, closer to their 2 grandkids.  But I don't want to lose the farm. I cannot imagine Joseph never remembering it or Abigail pining for it.  I want the kids to grow up knowing the magic and beauty of that land, the woods, the creek, the quiet.  I wish we could just do a farm-transplant to Virginia.  

listening to music while waiting for everyone to
wake up and come downstairs 

taking 100 pictures while waiting for everyone to
wake up

hot cocoa at the coffee house

we were lucky to have such nice weather on Christmas
Day so Joseph could take tractor rides and Abigail
could play in the woods

Christmas #2 at our own home

J'adore

A Fall Weekend at the Farm

We went to the farm last weekend.  I love the farm in October.  I love fall.  We went when we did to help out my parents, who have had some medical things to deal with in the past few weeks (like emergency surgery for one of them and a respiratory infection for the other one).  

But there was still plenty of time for fun too.
We took the kids to a fresh apple market that also had a fall festival/ pumpkin patch.  I don't have pics of that because none of us took our phones and I didn't have my camera on me.  

But the kids played outside all day/ all weekend in the warm fall sunshine and fresh fall air.  I love the farm.  (Well, not in the winter.  It sucks in the winter!  But it is absolutely lovely in the fall!!)

Enjoying some of the many apples they
ate this weekend

Swinging from one of the apple trees

Joseph found my favorite childhood stuffy:  Mulligan the Mouse

Me with Mulligan about
35 years ago!

Lake House Vacation

Recently, Jim and Steph (my brother and his wife) rented a gorgeous lake house with its own dock on Smith Mountain Lake.  We were invited to spend 2 days of their vacation with them!  I had no idea about this man-made lake in the western part of our state, but it has 500 miles of shore length in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The lake is super clean so that swimming in it doesn't feel gross and when you get out of the water you don't smell like fish.  Since I detest the ocean (salt water is not my thing), I adored Smith Mountain Lake.

Joseph didn't love the water, but he loved playing on the beach. When he was in the water, he wanted to be held and he also liked putting his face into the water and lapping it up like a puppy, but on the shore, he was a fun little boy, building sand castles to stomp on them with great satisfaction and playing with a bulldozer/digging truck he had.

Abigail gave us the most amazing surprise of the trip: she started swimming!!!  She learned to "cannonball" off of the dock (it was more of a crazy limbs-flailing event than a big splash, but she was brave).  She also "swam" (wearing a life jacket) several times across the inlet with Jim and Steph.  Once, at night when it was dark, she swam across and there was a docked boat and Jim or Steph dared her to "touch the butt**." After asking what a dare is, she obliged, and then swam back to their dock in the dark.  Jim said he was a bit freaked out in the dark, deep water, but that Abigail was so brave.  My kid is the coolest kid ever.

But even more amazing to me wasn't that she could doggy paddle around in a life jacket in the dark, but that at the beach, when she was in water where she could stand, she wore goggles and went under water and just started moving her legs and arms around and started swimming underwater to get places and dive for things!  It was such a proud moment watching Abigail swim.  A month ago she was afraid to get her face wet.  Now she is swimming!!!!

** this is a Finding Nemo reference

Happy 4th Of July Weekend!

We went to my parents' farm in PA for the holiday weekend and had the rare opportunity to also have both of my brothers and one of my sisters-in-law there too!  My brother Jim hitched a ride with us to PA in the van.  With the kids.  For almost 6 hours, 1 hour of which was "Let It Go" on repeat.  It was an experience for him, to be sure, and probably some pretty compelling birth control. 

We enjoyed hanging out together at our childhood home, making new memories with my kiddos.  We are acutely aware that The Farm won't last forever and it is bittersweet, but having weekends like this are just amazing.  

Jim was a very proud uncle as he taught his niece the family game of croquet:

The next generation of siblings, having down-time at the farm
(If only there were cousins too...):

Showing off their dirty farm feet.

Catching lightening bugs (or fireflies).  See the one in the upper right corner of the pic?

My son needs a haircut.

The kids had mini light-saber glow sticks for the 4th of July.
They circled the perimeter of the camp fire area in an effort to ambush the grownups.

Bedtime is pretty easy at the farm.  They just pass out.

Jos got into fishing this time more than ever before.

Me and my boy.  

Uncles Jim and Dean got quite a workout pushing the kids up and down the hills on the big wheels.

Blueberry picking

After a long time apart

My mother was sick with respiratory gunk for a long time after Christmas.  As a result, we didn't get to see them, and they didn't get to see the kids, for almost 2 months.  But this weekend, there was a happy reunion.  Joseph was so happy to see them that the second my mom walked in the door on Saturday he clung to her like a baby chimp, arms and legs all wrapped around her.  Abigail hugged her Yinski and the dog joined in the happy, yappy chaos at the front door.  The grandparents couldn't even get their coats off before the kids were showing them new things and wanting to play.

Battling for control of the living room with Yinski

They slayed Grandma!

Joseph's First Christmas, Abigail's Fourth

Joseph has become addicted to candy this month, with an abundance of red and green M&Ms as well as chocolates set out in dishes, dozens of cookies from everyone we know, and daily Hershey's kisses in his countdown calendar.  In fact, his belly is like a bowl full of jelly.  (Okay, maybe that was already true, but even more so now; I lovingly call him "marshmallow" because he is so squishy and sweet.)

Baba showed Abigail where Santa was in
Western Europe.  

On Christmas Eve, I was working in the kitchen with my dad to make some soup and salad, Larry was at church with my mother, and the kids were trying to keep themselves busy.  Joseph saw that there was a wrapped gift under the tree and, being new to the existence of gifts, assumed (correctly) that is was for him.  It was long and thin and he picked it up and unwrapped an end and started to beat his sister with it when she tried to take it from him and put it back under the tree.  I decided to allow him to open it because it was a new light saber like Abigail's and the two of them could occupy each other while Dad and I finished making dinner.  He opened it, let out a squeal, and began jumping up and down cheering and yelling with excitement.  It was super cute.  (And, for the record, he and Abigail did in fact play together with their light sabers until after dinner time that night.)

On Christmas morning, Abigail wanted to plow through all of her presents in 30 seconds and then help Joseph with his.  We had to remind her to slow down and give her brother some space.  She received the remote controlled car she wanted from Santa, a Mensa endorsed game of building, spatial skills, team work and communication from Larry and me, as well as a Razor scooter, and Old Maid (which she has been playing non-stop with her grandparents for 2 days).  Joseph received a firetruck from Santa, a bulldozer from Larry and me, as well as a pattern puzzle.  Both kids also received a few things from their 3 grandparents and 6 aunts/uncles.  

Joe cool

Joseph has figured out how to use the word "MINE!!!" and he does so with great gusto 100 times per day.  It cracks me up every time, especially when he uses it on something non-desirable that he touched last or on something that isn't his but to which he is trying to stake claim.  

Abigail was old enough to watch my family play White Elephant Gift Exchange.  She helped by determining whose turn it was and bringing them the gift they wanted.  But she got pretty upset when I decided to "steal" from Grandma Judy.  She yelled at me "IT ISN'T NICE TO STEAL!!"  We all had to explain the rules to her to convince her that I was not being mean, but this is the way grown ups play sometimes.  She got into it before the 2 gift exchanges were finished.

With the mild weather, we were able to enjoy time outside as well as a fire on the deck with my whole family.  It was very relaxing and wonderful to enjoy some wine, chocolates, pies, chocolate pies, and great company around a fire while my parents played with the kids in the yard.

Joseph got into the stealing action
during our White Elephant game.
He stole this wine glass holder for his juice.

Best family pic we could muster!
Joseph is really going to need a 12 step
program to break this "M's" addiction.

My two sweet kiddos

 Look at Abigail's face
as Baba and Mama kissed!!  She
cracks us up!!