MLK Weekend 2013

We escaped the Inauguration Day/MLK weekend crowds to visit Kevin, Templa and the girls in Huntsville.  As an added bonus, Mimi and Paw Paw drove up from Mobile to join us for the weekend.  We were surprised at how much our newest cousin—Baby Regan—has grown.  She’ll be one year old in February and is easily keeping up with her sisters.  Micah and Rylan also are growing up fast.  Rylan makes her First Communion this year, and Micah is a budding CYO basketball star (apparently athletic skill didn’t completely skip the family).  On Saturday we watched her score a dozen or more baskets against a team of much bigger (and slower) girls.  Kevin is the assistant coach, but Micah didn’t need much instruction on the court—she’s a natural!  Later that evening, we left the kids with Mimi and Paw Paw and went for drinks in downtown Huntsville with Kevin and Templa.  It was a real treat to have some adult conversation, a designated driver and free babysitting all in one night. 

On Sunday, the girls went for a pedicure, and Henry, Bryant and Paw Paw visited the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center (home to Space Camp).  Huntsville was the site of the Redstone Arsenal were Wernher von Braun and other German scientists re-located after World War II to help jump start the American rocket program.  We’ve talked about visiting the museum many times (you can see the large Saturn I rocket from the road to the airport) but never got there; this time we finally made it.  The museum is huge, and includes extensive indoor and outdoor displays of Saturn I, Saturn V, and V-2 rockets plus the Apollo 16 space capsule and a full-scale space shuttle replica.  We wandered through the exhibits, watched an IMAX movie about the Artic, and sampled a few simulator rides.  Henry particularly enjoyed seeing the Darth Vader movie memorabilia and climbing inside the space capsule.

Below are some pictures from the weekend.  As usual, our visit passed all too quickly.  No sooner had we returned home than the kids were asking if they could visit again.

 

Vivi's toes in the middle!

 

 

Ringing in the New Year

Bryant and Elise went out for New Year’s Eve—for the first time in five years.  We’re usually in bed well before midnight, but when several neighbors invited us to parties, we had no excuse not to hire a sitter and enjoy ourselves.  Bryant came back at 1am to relieve the sitter, but Elise stayed out until 2:30am!  Fortunately, the parties were just up the street, so all we had to do was stumble home, and try to survive our sore heads the next morning.  Here we are at the start of 2013 (yep, Elise really was drinking beer and champagne at the same time):

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