Winter Break 2019

Posted by Lucy:

During winter break, we had a lot of fun. This included the regular Christmas traditions and a fun trip to New York City. We had a great time together. We had a fun time opening presents at Christmas and a fun time doing different activities in New York. Christmas was great! We got lots of presents and treats. We got books, clothes and more. In New York, we went to various activities including ice skating and seeing the Rockettes “Christmas Spectacular”. We went to see the big Christmas tree covered in lights. Then we went ice skating. Ice skating was fun, even though we had to wait in a line for an hour and a half. When we did get on the ice, we all had a fun time skating around on the ice. When we went to go take off our skates, our socks were completely soaked! We walked to the Rockettes show at Radio City Music Hall.  We all loved the show! We had a great winter break!

On the Fourth of July, we went to our picnic with our ward. It was pretty fun. We did relay races, ate breakfast, played volleyball, and sang, This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land. Lucy had her friend Liam some too. I did the water balloon toss with Dad, and we only lost because Dad fumbled and dropped the balloon! There was also a chicken named Mary Jane that Lucia Bacon brought.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while! I forgot for a couple months, and when I did remember I forgot how to sign in! I did try and blog once, though, but then it totally erased!

 We went to Ocean City with our friends the Kirwins, like we do almost every year. It was really fun. We went to the boardwalk, and of course, the beach, every day. Lucy fell asleep on the blanket some, and it was really cute. We also went to Candy Kitchen, a really good candy shop. The water was really  fun. I wouldn't get out of it, while Samantha and Lucy wouldn't stop playing in the sand! On Sunday, we went to Assateague(I hope I spelled that right) island, we went on a short hike, saw the horses, and went canoeing. I was with Dad, Samantha with Ella and Sam's aunt, and Lucy with Mom. Mom said Lucy talked ALOT, while Mom paddled and paddled.

Family reunion

A week ago we had a family reunion. Grandma rented the house, complete with a pool and hot tub. One day just we went parasailing, AWESOME! Their rule is you have to be five to parasail, but apparently Lucy could do it too. Every night we would play mouse tails, which is a game involving candy.  The beach was great! I went jumping waves like 5 million times- it was so fun! I stayed out there for hours. We also have a new baby cousin named Evelyn(Evey) and she is so cute! Sorry mom didn't take any pictures of us at the beach. After the week was over, we stayed in a hotel and went to Busch Gardens for a day! There were so many rides! I loved it. Lucy went on a lady bug ride like a billion times and she never got bored of it. At the end, we got huge ice cream cones!

It's like Sam's part monkey. Mom has suggested gymnastics, but she refused. Instead? Karate.

Do I look different?

Lucy

This is my sister Lucy/Lulu/Luce(Those are her nick-names) The first year of her life,she was pretty grumpy. It's amazing how she's so silly now.

Sammie

This is Sammie. She's been our nanny for most of the summer, but she went back to Arizona a couple weeks ago. This picture is when we went to Mount Vernon just before she left. As I said in another blog, she does amazing hair. I MISS HER SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sammie does amazing things in our hair.

Yesterday I made breadsticks shaped like letters. Can you read it? How it started out: Well actually, Lucy and I were just playing with dough, making shapes and stuff. I came up with Lucy's first. Mom asked if I wanted to bake it, and of course I said yes. Then I made one for Sam, and then me. They turned out DELICIOUS!!!!!!!

Hi, this is Ella. Mom said I can take over the family blog, so here I am. You're probably not going to read this, as mom hasn't blogged in a while. and I mean A WHILE.  The last time she blogged was last Christmas. I really hope you like my blog!

A December To-Do List

I know December is particularly busy for most, but apart from the shopping and holiday festivities, things seem busier than usual around here. Between now and the end of the year:

1) Demo the basement. This falls squarely on Brian's shoulders, but I certainly feel the pinch too. Our contractor is supposed to start up after the first of the year. Brian punches out walls and saws down framing, while I offer unsolicited advice. We'll let you know how that combination pans out. 

2) Rake the leaves. This sounds lame, I know. But we really do have more leaves in our yard than anyone else in the neighborhood. It's getting so bad, as a true blue environmentalist, I am actually trying to justify cutting down trees in our yard. The next door neighbor informed me today that the tree in between our yards is not officially sick, according to their tree expert. Darn--I wasn't expecting a tree expert to get involved.

3) Chocolate making. This coming weekend is THE weekend. The women fly in Thursday. 40 pounds of solid chocolate awaits to cover mints, caramels, toffee, truffles, etc. It's our biggest planned crop yet. We'll let you know how it pans out.

4) Church parties. I play a significant role in putting these on this year. Sigh. I even converted one of them from a full dinner to just "desserts". Maybe they'll fire me. 

5) Christmas Lights. Brian, the known Christmas light guru on the street cannot disappoint the neighbors. However, it requires much time and care. 

6) Lucy's Birthday. Now that she's turning 3 I think I have to make a little bigger deal out of it. And especially since she's been talking about her birthday ever since August, when she saw how great Samantha's birthday was. Cannot disappoint.

7) Violin Performances. Ella will be playing a piece in church this year, and I picked a song that is a little above my accompaniment skills. I am actually having to put in practice time. Ella will also debut in her first orchestra concert this month. 

8) I decided I wasn't busy enough and tacked on a statistics class so I could delve into some data analysis at work. My course runs through December, which means I have to squeeze in homework, quizzes and a final exam! 

This is making me tired. I'm going to bed. 

A Day at Mt. Vernon

It matters not that I have been to Mt. Vernon a hundred times, I love it every time. Especially with Christmas decorations. And Megan loved Mt. Vernon so much, she made it back a second time before she heads back to Utah. I was grateful for her extra hands to help with the girls!

 My parents along with one brother Andrew, wife Sarah and my sister-in law Chloe.

 I didn't even get a picture of the mansion, partly because it was so blasted cold. I figure I've got plenty of those in my library. But the girls did manage to ham it up on several occasions. Samantha decided she fit in nicely with the Washington family. 

And here is Lucy Washington herself. 

Meet Cobbler and Gobbler. They are the famous turkeys pardoned by President Obama just 3 days ago. They are a type of turkey bred specifically to be eaten. However, these lucky turkeys got to spend their Thanksgiving at Mt. Vernon and will get to live long, happy lives. How did they luck out?

 We spent a considerable amount of time with them. The girls loved the turkeys. Ella said "This is the first time I've ever seen a living turkey. I've only seen them dead before."

 Lucy and Samantha had a ball in the Children's room where they dressed baby dolls in period clothing. A must stop if you have young kids... 

Hail to George Washington and Mt. Vernon!

A Thanksgiving Report

I've fallen behind on posting--but it's been a busy few days preparing and celebrating Thanksgiving. We've had family in town and beautiful weather. 

We started our Thanksgiving with the Annual Turkey Chase in Bethesda held very close to our home. Megan, Ella, Samantha, Lucy and I ventured on the 2 miler. We tried to sustain a run for as long as possible, but there are simply too many walkers in the 2 miler to run for too long. It feels great to get some exercise in the cool air before you fill yourself on heavy, rich food. 

Ella told me that this was the last race she was doing this year. I told her that was fine--we'd start up again in January. :)

And a job well done celebrated by bunny ears and bagels. Two of Ella's good friends were on the course with us. 

The 2-mile team

 And the 10K team. Brian conquered the 10K and did great! 

And then the Thanksgiving festivities occurred at my parents' home. We were lucky to have both of my brothers named Andrew, along with their wives. Sarah won the award for being most willing to clean the turkey.

I agreed to sit at the kids' table with the girls, since they were feeling a little put out that they were at a kids table. We quickly deemed it to be the "vegetarian" table and prohibited all turkey from coming our direction. I will try to remember next year that my kids really do not like the Thanksgiving meal and will feed them before hand. I just need to be realistic about it--they won't eat it and who wants to fight over food consumption at Thanksgiving dinner? 

Chloe and Drew--we are so happy she puts up with him.

You know who that is

And I had to enlarge the following pictures so you can see how tolerant Drew is of three girls pounding on him. Perhaps after his football days it just feels like a good massage. They cannot get enough of wrestling their uncle--it's like they're deprived of physical contact at home. 

And Lucy finally warmed up to the other Andrew 

And got in a good nose honk, too. 

What good, tolerant and patient uncles my girls have. 

A funny find

This morning I opened Ella's bottom dresser drawer to put away some clothes and this is what I found:

The combination of the three made me chuckle. Perhaps I do have a Katniss in the making. And it's so Ella-esque that the book is bookmarked--I'm sure she wanted to pick up right where she left off in the archery skills section, or the section that teaches how to properly skin a deer. At least this leads me to believe that I'm not raising my girls to be delicate flowers--and that brings me great satisfaction. 

Unibrow alert

Today I reflect on a past conversation with my dear friend Anne, as we discussed the necessity of eyebrow waxing. And how I carried a unibrow way too long into my childhood. It was rather scarring. Anne mentioned if one of her children developed a unibrow, it would be mighty tempting to take matters into her own hands. Not that I would subject my almost 3 year old, but there might be some difficult decisions ahead. :)