Success at Last

 

 

With weeks of practice, an all-day class at REI and some peer pressure from friends, Henry finally learned to ride his bike this weekend.  Along the way, there was plenty of frustration and tears (see the meltdown shots below), but we got there in the end.  Well done, Henry! 

 

 

All Saints Day: Henry as Francis

Henry chose to be St. Francis for this year's All Saints Day parade.  A child's monk costume from Amazon provided the basic look.  As a finishing touch, Elise picked up some clip-on birds and wooden beads from Michael's.  This year we also had to prepare a class report on our saint, and Henry made an impressive poster of scenes from Francis's life, including a detailed rendering of Francis receiving the stigmata.

 

 

Halloween 2014

Scenes from the Halloween season: the St. Anthony's costume parade, the Taylor Run block party, pumpkin picking at Butler's Orchard (very wet this year) and trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.  In case you couldn't tell, Vivian was Queen Elsa and Henry was a blue ninja.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Hershey Park 2014

 

We made our first trip to Hershey Park this fall.  We happened to visit on Milton Hershey's birthday (Sept. 13), and they were giving out free chocolate all day in the park. In fact, from our arrival at the Hershey Lodge on Friday night until our departing stop at Chocolate World on Sunday, the kids pretty much ate chocolate all weekend.  Even the air outside smelled like chocolate.  Elise didn't get to try the chocolate spa treatment at the hotel, but she did design her own chocolate bar (in purple, of course). A great family get away—we all want to go back soon!

 

 

  

 

  

  

 

 

Tiger Scouts

Henry joined Cub Scout Pack 301 as a Tiger Scout this summer.  The scouting activities got into full swing this fall with a den visit to the local water treatment plant, placing flags on soldiers' graves for Veterans Day, a hike along the Potomac and making care packages for troops in Afghanistan.  We're fortunate to have a very active pack at St. Mary's, with lots of enthusiastic (and patient) parents willing to invest their time with the boys.

 

 

 

First Grade

After a fun-filled summer at Burgundy Farm and an August vacation to Canada, Henry started First Grade in Ms. Walsh's class at St. Mary's. Here he is (left) on the first day of school with his best buddy Jack.  As you can see, Henry had a few visits from the tooth fairy this summer.  We're still waiting for signs of front teeth! 

Vivian was keen to start Kindergarten this year, but alas, she has one more year in Pre-K before she can join her brother at St. Mary's.

Good luck, Henry and Vivian, in the new school year!

Montreal and Quebec City



Some highlights from our summer vacation to Montreal and Quebec City.  We spent four days in Montreal in an 18th-century townhome--La Maison Dumas--near the Old Port.  While in Montreal, we went to Mass (en francais) at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, explored the Biodome and Science Center, and amused ourselves at La Ronde theme park.  Next, we drove along the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and stayed at the Hotel Frontenac overlooking the historic Lower Town.  We loved the Old World, European feel of Quebec: the cobblestone squares, the street performers and the funicular to our hotel.  Vivian was convinced she was staying in a castle.  We concluded our visit with a stop at Montmorency Falls outside of Quebec City.  After a week in French-Canada, we were a little sad to return to our very American Holiday Inn in Burlington, Vermont.  Nous avons eu de bonnes vacances!