White House Tour

Bryant and Elise got a behind the scenes tour of the White House in early November.  Our friend Sarah Kendall, who works on the National Security Council, invited us for a private tour of the Old Executive Office Building and the West Wing, including the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Rose Garden and—from a distance—the Situation Room.  We weren’t allowed (for obvious reasons) to take photographs inside, but to the left is a picture of us standing in front of the entrance to the West Wing.  Thanks to Sarah for a fascinating tour and for all the great White House trivia.

Vivian's Dolls

Vivian has enjoyed taking care of her dolls this Fall.  It started with her carrying them around the house.  Then we noticed she was spreading out a blanket and patting them to sleep.  Then she began feeding them with a bottle.  The other day, Bryant walked into the family room and discovered her throwing a full blown tea party.  She had her dolls arranged in a circle and was serving them tea and cakes.  We’re thinking a doll changing table may be in Vivian’s future.

 

 

Spoooky Time

Henry loves Halloween and all things “spooky.”  At the first sign of Fall, he began asking if we could carve pumpkins and break out the Halloween decorations.  Under Henry’s direction, we added a hanging skeleton, gravestones, and an inflatable ghost to our front yard display.  For pumpkin carving, we decided it was best to avoid knives and stick with the “Mr. Potato Head method” again this year.  As you can see, Henry enjoyed making a pirate jack-o-lantern.  The pumpkins were so big, Bryant had to use his electric drill to make holes for the eyes and ears.  Although he had asked to be a skeleton, Henry decided at the last minute to switch to Spider-Man.  Fortunately, he received a Spider-Man costume for his birthday.  Vivian chose to be Minnie Mouse and made a valiant effort at wearing her mouse ears for at least part of the evening.

On Halloween night, we met up with our friends the Mates for some neighborhood trick-or-treating.  Halloween is always a big event where we live, and this year one family had a particularly impressive Harry Potter display.  They used plywood cutouts to transform the front of their house into Hogwarts and enlisted friends to dress-up like Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape.  They even had a Sorting Hat to assign the neighborhood children to different houses!  Henry wasn’t so sure about the hat and just watched from the sidewalk, but we’re thinking he would have been a Slytherin.

 

  

Fall Fun

October was filled with fun Fall activities.  Over Columbus Day weekend, we made an excursion to Sperryville, Virginia near the entrance to the Shenandoah National Park to shop for a new dining room table.  We’ve been wanting a farm table for years and finally decided it was time. After some research, we found a furniture maker in Sperryville who is going to build an Irish immigrant table for us – he promises it will be ready for Christmas!

That same weekend, we ventured to Cox Farms in Centerville, VA for the mother of all Fall festivals.  We usually visit the pumpkin patch at Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, Maryland but decided to try Cox Farms this year.  While it was bigger and more elaborate, Cox Farms was also much more crowded and somehow not as quaint as Butler's.  We missed getting to pick pumpkins from an actual pumpkin patch (as opposed to a stall on the way to the parking lot).  Next year we’ll head back to Butler’s.  

 

  

Later in October we returned to Claude Moore Colonial Farm for their Fall market fair (think Colonial Williamsburg meets Renaissance Fair).  We explored the old tobacco farmstead, visited the toymaker's booth (Henry chose a clay bird whistle and Vivian chose a rag doll), and enjoyed a delicious lunch of grilled sausages, meat pie and ale.

   

Finally, toward the end of the month, we went to Disney on Ice at the Patriot Center.  To Henry’s dismay and Vivian’s delight, the theme this year was Disney Princesses.  A busy month, and we hadn’t even begun Halloween celebrations!