Well, it doesn't get much colder than this weekend, which we've been spending snuggled indoors watching movies and doing some housework. Last weekend, however, after skating lessons we met up with two of Simone's cousins for a little Disney on Ice up in Baltimore. We got second row seats, so we had a great view of the show which featured Cars, the fairies, Toy Story, and the Little Mermaid (Simone's favorite).
Grabbed this light up fairy wand from one of the street vendors. Simone HAD to have it, only to find out it sings in Chinese --lol!!
We had dinner afterwards at a GREAT place -- b A Bolton Hill Bistro. If you're in Baltimore, we highly recommend it. We've eaten there twice now and had simply the coziest, most delicious experience with excellent service. It seemed like such a short visit with the boys, but we'll see them again soon enough.
Well, with only one lesson under her belt, we were amazed at how much better Simone was on the ice today. And by better, I mean she was vertical for nearly all of the lesson (as opposed to on the ground!). She only fell down four times the entire lesson (last week I lost count after 5 minutes). It was amazing how much more confident and balanced she was already.
Simone made it back and forth across the rink, forwards and backwards many times without falling.
They worked on some bending down while gliding....
Today they also introduced the backward wiggle. I thought it was hilarious watching the whole line of little ones shake it like a polaroid picture!!
And finally, I found this shot on my phone from a few weeks ago when we went to get her new skates fitted and sharpened. She was over the moon happy!
Simone's really enjoying these lessons and I have to admit, it's pretty fun watching her. It's a great way to get the family up and going on these cold winter Saturdays!
So, holidays are over and we are back into full swing for 2015. Our first week brought us a winter storm, two days of school closings, and a delay on top of our regular schedule of work, school and activities. This weekend was equally busy with taking down Christmas decorations, having playdates, and watching movies. But the highlight of the whole week was Simone's very first ice skating lesson on Saturday. She has been excitedly waiting for this since Christmas, and despite the fact that she spent far more time on her bottom than actually skating, she really loved it. She can't wait to go back next week.
The whole event was probably much harder on mommy and daddy than it was on Simone. After a very short tutorial on how to fall without hurting yourself, they threw them right onto the ice with a complete "sink or swim" philosophy. Here's Simone holding onto the wall for dear life, but she was totally brave and didn't stay there long.
I won't lie, watching her fall over and over and over again, hurt my heart(and my stomach), but she didn't mind a bit and didn't suffer even one bruise. I kept trying to convince myself that she's much closer to the ground than I am, so it didn't hurt as much. I can tell this is gonna take lots of practice, but we saw her balance and confidence gradually improve even in the span of 30 minutes.
Really not too bad when you think that she'd never even stepped foot onto the ice until 10 minutes earlier.
The still shots are great -- they make it look like she can already skate! lol!
By half way through, she was even confident enough to try to wave at mommy and daddy.
I was really surprised to see them start teaching the forward swizzle to kids who could barely even hold themselves up. I guess there's no point in waiting.
And by the end of the lesson, Simone could ALMOST keep herself up skating back across the ice. I love the boy in the dark blue coat, who decided it might be easier to just crawl back off the ice LOL!!!
We were so proud of our little girl for hanging tough through the whole lesson. She's eagerly awaiting the next session, and I suspect we'll be spending some extra time at the rink between lessons!
This season has been a total swirl --filled with old and new traditions. For the very first time we stayed in Virginia for Christmas and Simone got to experience the holidays at home.
We have stayed very busy getting ready for the big day. However, we did manage to take time to enjoy the season and make some memories
Once again we went to the cookie exchange at Patowmack Farm, which was lovely as usual. This year we made reindeer cookies that appear at the bottom right corner of this shot.
Daddy and Simone sipping their respective hot chocolate and warm cider.
We also made cookies for our house. Here's a peak at the gingerbread trees decorated by Simone.
Finally, we spent one Saturday afternoon at Oatlands Mansion sharing tea with some close friends who have been going there for many years. It was very special to share in their tradition and we had a great time!
Well, for the very first time in our life we went out tree hunting and came back empty handed. On Sunday we visited our traditional farm, and found.... nothing.
You'll notice that nearly all of the trees are barely taller than Simone -- just not gonna cut it (no pun intended).
Next farm and here again, mostly tiny trees with a few that were either way too tall or damaged.
We were hopeful at the next farm, but same thing. All too small.
Thought we might get lucky here, but ..... still the same problem.
In 2-3 years all of these places look like they will have a great selection of my beloved Colorado Blue Spruce, but not this year -- devastating. Apparently demand has been so great over the past few years that the local farms simply can't grow the trees fast enough.
We finally gave up, got some dinner and went home. So for this year, it looks like we'll have to settle for either a cut tree or an artificial-- I never imagined! We'll let you know how it all works out...
Well, it's my favorite time of year once again. Thanksgiving was, in a word, frantic. With a house full of family and a turkey feast to prepare, I didn't have time to snap a single picture. But we made it through a traditional Thanksgiving day with a special treat from Simone who performed Ode to Joy on the piano before we ate dinner. Simone was also ecstatic to have her cousins with her for the weekend, AND a little bit of snow to give us our first glimpse of winter.
So, we have, of course, begun to get in the Christmas spirit, and before commencing the decorating and parties we took some family time to kick things off. After church and dinner, we took a visit to Meadowlark Gardens for a holiday light display.
Simone loved doing the scavenger hunt among the lights. It was hilarious to watch her and Tony argue about the answers to some of the scavenger questions--it was serious business.
Hands down, Simone's FAVORITE part of the evening was roasting marshmallows at the end of the trail. Her eyes lit up brighter than any of the lights when she saw the fire pit and sticks. She's been asking for ages to roast marshmallows over a "real fire" outside in the cold. Well, she finally got her wish!!
Indeed a fitting and successful start to the Christmas season, with so much more fun to come. As always, we'll keep everyone posted.
Halloween was a success! The rain held off, kids were trick or treating in full force, and our little party was a great way to begin and end the evening. This year Simone decided to be the tooth fairy--fitting really, for all the teeth she lost this year.
From the front...
and from the back.
This was our trick or treat gang. Some decided to stay back at the house and pass out candy and the rest hit the streets for all the fun.
Once again, the community was abuzz with kids and driveway bon fires. It was good to see that neither the chilly weather nor the Friday night football games dampened the festivities.
Mommy's halloween bouquet. Nothing else quite makes a holiday as special as fresh flowers!
And finally a shot of some decidedly UNWELCOME trick or treaters! These little culprits have been chomping my mums for days. Tony found seven of them in the front yard yesterday morning, these were the boldest of them.
Overall, another memorable Halloween with good friends and good fun. So long October, helllllo November!
