Washington, D.C. - Happy Birthday Avery!



Happy Birthday! Mon and Dad
are taking you to Washington, D.C. 





Avery turned 9 in November. Cameron and I took her to Washington, D.C. to celebrate and left the boys at home. Since I am attempting to get my blog act together, I really couldn't start the new year of blogs without adding a post about our amazing trip to D.C. We love to travel and have been very fortunate to have traveled all over the world. This trip to Washington, D.C. however, was truly one of my favorite trips EVER. Maybe it was because it was my first trip to D.C., but I suspect it was because it was Avery's dream trip and seeing your child be so excited about everything they see makes you realize that making your kids' dreams come true tops just about anything else you can do. We spent the whole week celebrating Avery's 9th birthday by cramming in as many museums we could. We loved riding the metro, taking pictures and learning new things. Avery's favorite spots were Georgetown University Medical School (she has decided this is her top medical school of choice) and the National Museum of Health and Medicine. We also visited the National Museums of Air and Space, American History, Natural History, African Art, American Indian, the National Zoo, the White House, the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress, which Avery decided after she becomes a medical doctor she will need to get a PhD in something so she can request an assigned desk in the Main Reading Room (she sounds like her Uncle Eddie!). Avery crossed off some major Bucket List items on this trip: seeing live panda bears (at the National Zoo), seeing live seahorses (at the National Aquarium) and holding a hissing Madagascar Cockroach (at the National Museum of Natural History). We also got to visit Ford Theatre and the Petersen House (where Lincoln died). I really thought she was going to pass out when we were at the Natural History Museum Insect Hall looking at different exhibits. An insect specialist brought some insects out in little cages for us to observe. He looked at Avery and asked her if she would like to hold some. Of course she said yes and she held a grasshopper and a millipede. Then he opened a cage and brought out the cockroach. He asked her if she knew what it was and she said a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, and then she got to hold it. It was second on her bucket list behind scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. Seriously, dreams were made true on this trip. Here are a ton of pictures you may (or may not) want to take a look at.



The weather was amazing and
we felt so proud to learn so
much about our great country!

China Town

We were in D.C. on Veteran's Day. Very humbling.
We were able to remember how grateful we are for
so many amazing people that keep us safe.



Just arrived on our flight across the country



HUGE moment!
 Holding the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach



Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Daddy and Avery on the Metro

We LOVED the Library of Congress

How's this for a First Family?!?

 



Avery rockin' the Washington Monument

One of our favorites - the Lincoln Memorial





American History Museum-
We became big Amelia Earhart fans on this trip!



The Washington Monument

 

The National Zoo. We weren't allowed to photograph
 the actual pandas.

More Amelia Earhart at the
 Air and Space Museum

A night visit of the Lincoln Memorial



Loved the Metro







Happy New Year

Ringing in the New Year has certainly changed for us over the past few years. Now that the kids are getting bigger, they want to stay up until midnight and watch the ball drop from Times Square on television. And of course, they want to celebrate it with us. This means no more staying out with friends celebrating the new year. This year we were able to have the best of both worlds. We went to dinner with a few other couples and then headed over to one of their homes for games. We played Farkle (a really fun dice game). I came in first place and Cameron came in second place, so that could be why I thought it was so fun (we tend to be a bit competitive around here). After our victory, we were home by 10:30 to celebrate with the kids. We played Farkle with them and then tuned in to watch the ball drop in Times Square. I love starting the new year. It is so fun to be able to start fresh and reevaluate what is working for you and what you can tweak to make work better. I am probably so fond of new beginnings because I am such a great starter and tend to be a poor finisher! Maybe that should be a goal for the new year! 

Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving at the Coast

We headed out to the Coast for Thanksgiving this year. We rented a house with our friends and went out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. A little nontraditional but it was fun to do something different. The kids had a great time with their friends and it was nice to just relax without all the work the holidays often bring. As you can imagine the weather wasn't the greatest, but we hit the beach anyway. The boys of course went body surfing while the rest of us looked for sand dollars on the beach. We also had a fun time going to the arcade, shopping, feeding the seals and visiting the aquarium.  

Camp 18 where we had Thanksgiving Dinner

Here are the crazy boys (Ethan, Cameron and Jackson) in the ocean that happened to be 48 degrees! Brrr...

Gavin, Avery and Delaney finding sand dollars

The aquarium was so fun!

Set myself up for failure . . . again!

I have had my Christmas cards printed and ready to go for 3 weeks now, and they are still sitting here waiting to be mailed out. The problem? I put my blog address on them to force my hand and make me get my blog updated (which as you can see is 7 months behind). Surely, I would be able to whip out a bunch of posts while trying to get everything done and ready for Christmas, not to mention all the other 100 things I have commited myself to doing. Ugh! Why do I always set myself up like this?!? So please come back in 2013 where maybe I will have learned to say no a little more, stopped volunterring for jobs no one else will do, and as a result have blogged a little more! Merry Christmas!

Halloween

Halloween always sounds good in theory. It is a lot of work for little payout. Regardless, here are some pictures of our spooky night out! They love it so much so I guess we will keep doing it! 

Spooky theme this year. I absolutely love Gavin's smile. He is a sweet Grim Reaper!

Here they are carving pumpkins. Definitely a Halloween tradition I could do without.

Here are the trick or treat bags I made each of them this year.

Here is my mantle. Best part of Halloween - the decorating!

Family Fun Night

On Friday nights, we have family fun night. Usually we rent a movie and make homemade pizzas, but tonight we went bowling! We had such a great time. Ethan has some crazy backwards flick throw, Gavin just runs and throws while hoping for  the best and Avery kept on trying until she finally hit her first pin in the eighth frame. It was a great night that reminded me why I love being mom to this crazy bunch and wife to my sweet hubby (even if he did beat me in both games)!

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,
I think of you often and just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about you. I have lots of pictures and great post ideas in my head. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get my act together and actually get them posted. Please be patient with me, I really do want to spend time with you . . . it just seems that everyday life has a way of getting all my attention these days!
Fondly,
Sloane