Christmas 2012

We had a quiet Christmas at home this year.  On Christmas Eve, we attended the children’s mass at St Mary’s (and just barely found a seat in the bleachers) and then went for dinner at Clyde’s.  On Christmas morning, the kids almost forgot to look for presents; they walked right past the tree and headed straight for the family room!  Vivian was super excited to find that Santa had brought a Cinderella castle, doll and nightgown for her.  Henry’s requests were more eclectic: he asked for a Grover and a big green ogre—and received both.  Despite our vow to have a simpler Christmas, it looked like a toy store exploded in our living room by the time we finished unwrapping all the gifts.  We’re still not sure where to put it all.  Time to start culling.  While the kids played with their presents, Elise baked some homemade bread and Bryant prepared a leg of lamb for Christmas dinner.  You can check out our holiday spread here.  Mimi Pauline arrived the day after Christmas and spent the week with Elise and the kids.  A highlight of the visit was a trip to see the model train exhibit at the U.S. Botanic Garden on Capitol Hill (see pictures below).  Mimi Pauline also helped to redeem our recent Thanksgiving turkey fiasco by walking us step-by-step through the bird roasting process.  The final result was a resounding success—at last!  It was a relaxing week, with lots of good food and wine (we looked at the recycling bin and wondered if we really drank all that), and no rushing about for school or work.  If only the holiday breaks were not so short.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake-Off at the O.K. Corral

While the kids were preparing for their Christmas concerts, Bryant was enjoying his office holiday party (western-themed this year!).  After some hesitation (and a fair amount of ribbing from Elise), he decided to enter the annual staff bake-off.  That meant cooking until midnight and getting up at 5am to apply the finishing touches.  But the effort paid off: his chocolate framboise (a chocolate bomb covered in whipped cream and raspberries) won first place!  Bryant was very proud but a little annoyed that folks kept asking if his wife made the dessert.  You can keep up with Bryant’s culinary successes (and failures) at his new blog: Mercy Buckets—Adventures in (Mostly) French Cooking.  Check it out!

School Christmas Pageant

The kids have been practicing all month for their annual school Christmas pageant.  Vivian’s class opted for an Hawaiian theme: they made grass skirts out of grocery sacks and sang “Mele Kalikimaka.”  If you watch carefully, you can see Viv hula dancing in the video below.  She was the loudest singer, by far, in her class—a real show stopper.  (Viv loves to sing, especially in the car.  She does nice covers of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Part of Your World,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”  Just don’t try to sing along; she prefers to perform solo.  One morning, Bryant even heard her singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in her sleep!)  Henry’s class went for a more traditional line up: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Little Drummer Boy.”  We heard reports that Henry was hamming it up during practice, but when the big day arrived, he seemed a tad embarrassed to have his parents watching him from the front row.  After the concerts, the kids enjoyed their class holiday parties.  Below are photos and video from the festivities.

 

Christmas Town 2012

We kicked off the holiday season with a quick trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Every year they decorate the park for Christmas Town.  We took the kids two years ago, but the weather was so bad (cold, driving rain), we didn’t stay more than an hour.  This year we got lucky.  It was a mild night and no rain.  Unfortunately, that also meant big crowds.  First stop was dinner with Santa and Ms. Claus (and a creepy little elf named "Jingles").  Then we explored the park, which is themed around different European countries (sort of a poor man’s Epcot).  Henry was disappointed to find there were no roller coasters he could ride, but the carousel, bumper cars and miniature airplanes kept him entertained.  We wanted to see the live penguins but not enough to wait 1.5 hours in line.  If we go again, we may try a Friday or Sunday night when the crowds are thinner.  Below are some photos from our night out.

 

  

 

  

Vici

Surprisingly, we’ve never posted about our cat, Vici.  He’s a Himalayan and former show/stud cat.  His name—frequently mispronounced “Vicky”—comes from the Latin saying veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”).  Vici was a gift from Mimi Pauline during Elise’s medical residency.  Bryant has something of a love/hate relationship with Vici, simultaneously plotting his removal from the house while slipping him treats from the dinner table.  The kids (especially Vivian) love Vici, but their rambunctious ways have shattered his nerves.  He’s now on a daily dose of Prozac to help keep it all together.  In younger days, Vici would bound around the house, chasing toys and nuzzling against your leg for attention.  Now he mostly sleeps—all day and a good part of the night and always at the head of Henry’s bed.  He lost his teeth a few years back and (as posted earlier) had his beautiful mane shaved for easier grooming.  He’s a shadow of the champion he once was (see vintage photo below), but still a winner in our book...at least until the next vet bill arrives.



Vici in younger days -- with hair, teeth and claws

Hair Cuts

We knew it would happen eventually.  Henry got creative and decided to cut several large chunks of hair (his own) to make “clouds” for a school art project (see picture below).  Fortunately, he was due for a haircut, so we were able to minimize the damage (the barber assured Bryant this sort of thing happens all the time). Concidentally, we decided to have Vici (our pet Himalayan) shaved.  In his old age, Vici has stopped grooming himself, so we opted for a “lion cut” to make life easier.  The result was one fairly ridiculous looking—but much cleaner—cat.

 

Thanksgiving 2012

One stubborn bird

 Mimi and Paw Paw drove up from Alabama to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  Mimi made her usual spread of family favorites: macaroni-and-cheese, rice casserole, lettuce salad, sausage balls and charlotte rouge (or, as Vivian calls it, “charlie rouge”).  We tried roasting a turkey for the first time this year (in the past, we’ve had HoneyBaked Ham or purchased a smoked turkey from Rocklands).  We’ll never know whether it was our oven (which has been acting up) or the bird (which may not have been fully thawed), but despite following Mimi Pauline’s instructions to the letter, our turkey would not cook.  Eventually, we decided to stop waiting (Paw Paw was getting anxious) and eat without it.  When it eventually finished cooking (hours later), it was actually quite tasty.  Ah well, better luck next time (with a better oven).  At least the stress of trying to cook the bird gave us a good excuse to have some extra wine at dinner.

Below are some pictures of Vivian's birthday trip to the American Girl Store in Tysons Corner on Black Friday (see Vivian's 3rd Birthday).

 

Vivian’s 3rd Birthday

Vivian had four (4!) separate birthday celebrations this year.  The first—her official birthday party--was at MoBu Kids, an indoor play facility in Falls Church.  Vivian’s birthday falls over Thanksgiving Day week, so we had to schedule the party several weeks in advance.  Vivian and her classmates (and special guest Sara Powell) enjoyed romping around the “play studio” and participating in the special party games (like bouncing plastic balls on a parachute).  Interestingly, the little boys in Vivian’s class were reluctant (at first) to enter the play studio—it was the girls who took the lead with running, jumping and climbing.  Afterward, we had cake  and snacks in the party room.  Vivian surprised us by requesting a “fairies” birthday cake (we were sure she would want Cinderella).  Henry seemed a little lost during the celebrations but kept himself occupied by climbing the rock wall.

Vivian’s second celebration was closer to her actual birthday and at school, when we brought cupcakes for her classmates and teachers.  Then there was the third celebration when Mimi and Paw Paw visited over Thanksgiving.  Elise, Mimi Joanne and Vivian went for lunch at the American Girl Bistro in Tyson’s Corner, and afterward, Vivian had her new Bitty Twin’s hair styled at the American Girl Salon and shopped for doll accessories.  Actually, Elise did most of the shopping.  Bryant has decided that the American Girl store is a very, very dangerous place.  Finally, we had our own private birthday celebration on the 24th, with just mommy, daddy and big brother Henry.  Vivian got so accustomed to having parties, she seemed a little sad and confused when we explained that there would be no more celebrations until next year.  Below are some pictures from the party at Mobu Kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween 2012

We weren’t sure if we’d get to trick-or-treat this year, but things were mostly back to normal (see Frankenstorm) by Halloween night.  Henry decided to dress as Darth Vader this year.  He’s still a little young to understand/ appreciate Star Wars, but he knows some of the characters and seems particularly fond of intergalactic villains.  Going as Darth Vader also was a clever way to convince mom and dad to buy him a light saber, which quickly got confiscated after repeatedly terrorizing his sister.  Vivian decided to go as Minnie Mouse—again.  We upgraded her costume with a fancier dress and gloves; otherwise, it was recycled mouse ears.  Below are the kids just before heading out for trick-or-treating.  Notice the spooky yard decorations in the background.  Henry loves Halloween and insists that we add a few more props every year.

Frankenstorm

We seem to be magnets for hurricanes.  In 2011, we were in Virginia when Hurricane Irene churned up the East Coast (see Earthquakes, Birthdays and Other Natural Disasters).  Last August, we were in Alabama when Hurricane Isaac menaced the Gulf Coast (see Labor Day 2012).  This October, we were watching the weather once again, as Hurricane Sandy threatened the mid-Atlantic.  Fortunately, none of these storms brought much damage to our immediate area.  Sandy veered to the north before making landfall and largely spared the Washington region.  We did get lots of wind and rain, and eventually lost power for a day and a half.  Bryant has been through several hurricanes, but never one this cold.  To keep warm, we built a fire in the living room and sipped hot coffee from a neighbor’s house (got to love those whole-house generators).  Just as it started to get really chilly inside, the power was restored.  Not that the kids seemed to mind—while we were huddled in our sweatshirts and jackets, they were running around in PJs and bare feet.  Storms are fun when you’re three and five.

Determination

Elise completed the Marine Corps Marathon on October 20th.  Until the last moment, we weren’t sure if she would be able to go through with the race.  Elise injured her leg in the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon a few weeks prior.  Then she came down with strep throat the weekend before the marathon.  But she was feeling better by race day and decided to go ahead.  Bryant left the kids with some friends (thank you, Brad and Tonia) and darted around Washington and northern Virginia cheering on Elise. By the end of the race, Elise was definitely feeling sore, but she finished the 26.2 miles in good time and was smiling when Bryant caught up with her at the finish line (see picture below).  It’s no small feat to run 26.2 miles, and we were all enormously proud of the great job mommy did in her race.  And thank goodness, no more early morning runs on the weekend!

Pumpkin Picking 2012

After experimenting with another local farm last year (and feeling sorely disappointed), we returned to Butler’s Orchard in Gaithersburg, MD for our annual fall festival/pumpkin picking excursion.  Below are some pictures from our day out.  Vivian was excited to get her face painted (again), and Henry had a blast on the burlap sack slides.  To our surprise, both kids also really enjoyed a little hobby horse play area.  Sometimes the simplest attractions are the most fun.  After a BBQ lunch, we headed home to “carve” our pumpkins.  Henry made a pirate jack-o-lantern and Vivian opted for, what else, a princess.

 

 

 

  

Oktoberfest

In honor of Oktoberfest and Elise’s Saxon heritage, we endeavored to cook an all-German menu during the month of October.  We didn’t get to make all the dishes we wanted (as you’ll see, it was a busy month), but we did cook: rouladen, wiener schnitzel, potato pancakes, bratkartoffeln, rice pudding and a really delicious (if we do say so ourselves) homemade apple strudel.  We’ve wanted to make rouladen—thin slices of beef rolled around a sour pickle with mustard, bacon and onions—ever since a friend’s father (a native German) served it at a dinner party last year.  Our version wasn’t as tasty as his, but still pretty good.  Here’s the recipe we used.  Don’t fear the pickle—it really is delicious wrapped up with the other ingredients!

Dutch Wonderland

Having missed Dutch Wonderland in the spring, we were determined to visit this fall.  Between weekend errands and Elise’s marathon training, we didn’t have much time, so we decided to make a day trip.  We arrived in Lancaster around 10am and stayed until the park closed at 6pm.  The kids had a blast at the “Amish Disneyland."  Henry couldn’t get enough of the log plume and roller coaster.  He rode the coaster eight(!) times before a green and queasy daddy said “no more.”  Vivian’s favorite part was getting her face painted like a fairy (see picture below).  It was a long day and, despite neither one wanting to leave, both Henry and Vivian were asleep in the car before we exited the parking lot!