Vivian's 4th Birthday

We held Vivian's fourth birthday party after the Thanksgiving holiday at JW Tumbles, an indoor play gym.  This turned out to be a good choice because the weather was nasty that day (freezing rain and wet snow).  Despite the mess outside, the kids had a blast climbing, jumping and running in circles.  In between free play, the instructors kept things interesting with freeze dancing, an obstacle course (check out the video below), and a zip line. Afterward, we all wished Vivian happy birthday with cake and treats.  We were relieved when Vivi requested an Alice in Wonderland party—it was nice to take a break (if only temporary) from princesses.  However, organizing Alice-themed decorations and refreshments took some effort.  We ordered playing card plates and napkins for the table.  For the cake, we re-purposed a princess sheet cake from Giant with Alice figurines from the Disney Store.  We also served edible tea cups (from an idea we found online), white cheddar bunny crackers and grapes on flamingo toothpicks.  We're not sure folks got all the references, but the kids enjoyed the food.  Bryant also made Vivian a special Cheshire Cat cake to enjoy at home.  It turned out surprisingly well and, most importantly, Vivian loved eating it!  Below are pictures from the party.  As you can see, Vivi was proudly sporting her new Alice in Wonderland dress for the occasion. 

 

 

 

 

 

Things We Like: Silver Diner

Although Henry and Vivian do relatively well in restaurants, we don’t dine out that often.  For special occasions (Christmas Eve, Mother’s Day) we usually head to Clyde’s.  In the summer, before it gets too hot, we sometimes eat on the terrace at Chadwick’s, near the waterfront in Old Town.  But our go-to place for an easy weekend meal is Silver Diner.  Although styled like a classic 50s diner, the menu is actually a touch more upscale, with lots of locally sourced ingredients and interesting twists on traditional fare, such as bison sliders or challah french toast.  They have a great children’s menu and are one of the few places where you can order a bowl of strawberries (not just mixed fruit) for the kids.  They also hand out coloring books and origami cars.  Each booth comes equipped with a faux jukebox player with classic tunes like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or the Scooby-Doo theme song.  Best of all, because the place is always bustling, we never worry about the kids disturbing other patrons.  More often than not, we end up here after Saturday evening mass.  Here we are (below) enjoying some old fashioned milkshakes for dessert.

 

Anniversary

We celebrated seven amazing years of marriage on July 8th with dinner at Bistro de l’Herimitage in Occoquan, Virginia.  Tucked away in a sleepy little mill town off I-95, this restaurant was a real find: authentic French cuisine served in an informal setting.  When Bryant first proposed the idea of driving to Occoquan for dinner, Elise was intensely skeptical but became a convert after the first course.  Since it was our anniversary, the restaurant kindly served us an extra dessert, which meant we got to sample not two but three items from the dessert menu: millie-feuille, chocolate mousse and creme brulee.  To avoid traffic, we arrived a little early and had the chance to stroll along the riverfront before dinner.  Occoquan was surprisingly charming, with a number of quaint shops and restaurants in the “Old Town” section.  We both said it would be good to come back with the kids and have ice cream along the river.  Although only 20 minutes from Washington, it felt a lot further away.  This has been a busy summer, and it was nice to escape for a few hours of uninterrupted adult conversation.   Here we are (above), before heading out for our big night on the (small) town.

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!

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).

 

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!

Swim, Run, Cook and Watch TV

July and August were relatively slow months in the Morris household.  We spent most weekends at our community pool, trying to stay cool.  The kids have been doing great in the water.  At the start of summer we bought Puddle Jumper floaties (highly recommended) for both kids, and they were soon splashing around the pool on their own.  This was a big change from last season, when they clung to us constantly in the pool.  In mid-August, Henry took a few private swim lessons.  The instructor had the patience of Job and needed every ounce of it--Henry was a feisty pupil! By the end of the week, she had him swimming without floaties for a few seconds, but he still won’t put (much of) his face in the water.  Hopefully we'll make more progress next summer...

Elise continued to train for her marathon in the fall.  She’s been getting up at daybreak on the weekends to go for 12, 15, and even 20-mile runs.  The big race is only a few months way, so this is really crunch time for her training.

Bryant has continued his culinary adventures, making rack of lamb, boeuf en croute, coq au vin, potatoes anna, cauliflower au gratin and blueberry and apple tart.  Except for a miserable failure with the coq au vin, most dishes have turned out better than expected. 

In between running, cooking and taking the kids to the pool, we also found time to discover a new favorite TV show: Doc Martin.  A British comedy about a doctor living in Cornwall—perfect for us!

 

 

Father's Day 2012

So far, Bryant and Elise are both keeping up with their respective hobbies.  Elise is continuing to train for the Marine Corps Marathon in October, and has been taking longer and longer runs.  Bryant continues to experiment in the kitchen, cooking mostly French recipes.  He has become a devotee of Laura Calder, which will be the subject of a future post.  All that Bryant wanted for Father's Day was a few hours alone in the kitchen to cook a special meal: blanquette de veau (veal stew).  So, Elise took the kids to the playground, and when she returned, we all celebrated with a nice dinner on the back deck.  Check out the new beard!

Scenes from a Birthday

June was a busy month for birthdays.  On the first weekend of the month, we had four (4!) birthday parties to attend, not to mention swim class and Spanish lessons.  Gone are the days of simple backyard birthdays.  Today's kids expect something more elaborate.  The festivities in June included a tour of the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Station, a "snake party" at the Glen Echo Park Living Classrooms, an indoor moon bounce party, an outdoor moon bounce party (with a pirate theme), pony rides, and Vivian's personal favorite: a princess dress-up party.  The princess party was for Sara Powell, daughter of our friends Brad and Tonia Powell.  Vivian absolutely LOVED this party and has been talking about it ever since.  She's already made very clear that this is where she wants her next birthday party.  Below are some pictures from the afternoon:

 

 

And it wasn't just kids' birthdays that we celebrated.  Paw Paw had a birthday in early June, and Mimi Pauline drove down from Michigan to celebrate her 70th birthday with us in Alexandria.  To mark the occasion, Bryant cooked a special meal: beef tenderloin, accordion potatoes, green beans with hazelnuts and creme fraiche and, for dessert, "chocolate framboise" (basically, chocolate mousse cake with whipped cream and fresh raspberries)...and, of course, Pauline's favorite red wine, Tempranillo Rioja.  Happy Birthday, Mimi Pauline!