St. Patrick's Day 2014

Each year our neighbors host an elaborate St. Patrick’s Day party complete with beer kegs, a moon bounce and Irish music and dancing.  This is always a great occasion to reconnect with neighbors after a long winter hibernating indoors.  Despite a really rough winter, the weather this weekend was perfect—sunny and seventy degrees.  Below are some photos of the kids and us enjoying the festivities.  Just to be clear, the keg in the picture below is filled with rootbeer.  Slàinte!

 

  

 

 

Skating Lessons

Another way we kept the kids busy this winter: ice skating lessons.  Both kids had been skating before and Henry had previously taken “mommy and me” lessons, but this was the kids’ first time on their own with an instructor.  We must say, they both did a great job—arguably the stars of their class.  Henry is fairly comfortable skating on his own, and Vivian quickly learned to march and glide while mostly staying upright.  Next up is Snow Plow Sam II starting in May.  Hopefully we’ll all be skating on our own next winter–or at least well enough to help dad.

 

  

Cures for Cabin Fever

Keeping the kids occupied during the bleak winter months is always a challenge, especially with a season like this past year’s (we were still receiving snow and freezing rain in late March).  To keep from going stir crazy, we got out of the house when we could.  Museums are always a good bet, and two of our favorites are the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Port Discovery children’s museum in Baltimore.  We visited both and learned that the kids have a curious interest in Egyptology and mummies (see below).  Our diversions weren’t limited to indoor activities: on milder weekends, we ventured outdoors for visits to Great Falls Park (near the Potomac River) and Huntley Meadows Park in Fairfax County.  Both excursions were a little slushy from the melting snow but provided some much needed fresh air.  Our trip to Great Falls was particularly memorable for the post-hike dinner and drinks we had at The Old Brogue Irish pub in the town of Great Falls.  As the season drew to a close, we even had a few spring-like weekends.  One particularly fine Saturday in March, Bryant and Henry paid a visit to the Mount Vernon Estate and learned all about our nation’s first president.  Bryant was impressed with Henry’s interest in the various historical exhibits and spent a lot of time answering questions like: who was the shortest president (John Adams) and who was the tallest president (Abe Lincoln).  Below are some photos from our various late winter/early spring outings. 

 

Dinosaurs and mummies at the Smithsonian

 

 

More mummies and water play at Port Discovery

 

Nature walk at Huntley Meadows Park

 

 

Family hike at Great Falls Park

 

 

Father and son fieldtrip to Mount Vernon Estate