Christmas Eve

Miriam's birthday ended up being a busy day. I never got the chance to take some good pictures of her. Since it was so nice I took her outside to take some pictures. A few minutes later what started out as pictures for Miriam's birthday turned into a family photo shoot. I'm glad we have these pictures to remember what beautiful weather we had this Christmas break.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Wedding Party and Ward Christmas Party

Yesterday we headed out to Lucketts, VA for a wedding reception. A good friend's daughter got married. It was amazing to have such beautiful weather in December. After the wedding party (that is what Miriam and Simon call them) we went outside the building and let the kids run around. Miriam found some dandelions to blow away and shared them with Simon and Levi. They had fun getting some energy out before we hopped back into the car. It was great to get out and see some old friends.

That same night our ward had their Christmas party. It was a Polar Express theme. This kids were excited to wear their pajamas to the party. After a short program the kids brought toys to give to the fire fighters for toys-for-tots. The kids also got to meet Santa. Some people worked really hard to decorate the church. It was pretty amazing.

Leesylvania State Park

Since Michael was out of town on Columbus Day we asked Trevor and Robyn if we could tag along with them for the day. We went to Leesylvania State Park for a hike and picnic. This is from the website:

Leesylvania is nestled along the tidal shores of the historic Potomac River. Native Americans lived on this land for thousands of years. Capt. John Smith visited the area in 1608 on his voyage of discovery. It's also the ancestral home of Virginia's legendary Lee and Fairfax families. Listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks, Leesylvania offers many land and water activities, including hiking, picnicking, fishing and boating. A universally accessible fishing pier, playground, boat launch, boat storage area, snack bar and store, visitor center and gift shop are available.

Robyn is a history buff and loves historic sites. I forget how much history is around the area we live in. It will be good to have her close and encourage us to see more things we take for granted. The kids had a lot of fun playing with cousins and collecting seashells.

(photo credit Paige)

(photo credit Simon)

We didn't realize until we got back that all the shells they collected were actually sea snail shells.

Therefore they smelled SO BAD!

The kids didn't seem to mind and spent all afternoon sorting and "cleaning" them out.

We let the kids play around near the playground for a while. I got a video of Levi swinging and sliding:

Paige's birthday was the next day, so after dinner we had a cupcake showdown. Paige has been watching a lot of Cupcake Wars and wanted to have our own little competition for her birthday. It was fun to watch Paige and Miriam decorate their cupcakes.

Playing Outside

Now that Levi is walking it is much more fun to go outside with him. He loves to play with balls and push his bike. Miriam and Simon spend a lot of time outside playing. It is nice when we can all be out enjoying the weather together.

A video of Levi playing outside:

Swimming and Parks

With summer coming to an end and school staring we wanted to soak up the last warm days outside together. We took the kids swimming the Saturday before Labor Day (after our trip to Gravelly Point). On Labor Day we took the kids to dinosaur park. A couple of weeks later we took the kids to a new park we found in Herndon. Any time spent together as a family is the best!

Here is a short video of the park days:

Picking Apples

I love that picking apples has become a yearly family tradition. Last year by the time I thought about picking apples we had missed my favorite apples. This year I was determined to remember to go early in order to get the honeycrisp. We drove out to Marker Miller Orchards so we could pick our own. Miriam and Simon really love picking the apples off the tree. Even Levi tried to pick a few. After all the hard work picking apples the kids played at the playground and ate ice cream.

Apple picking video:

Since we drove all the way out to Winchester we just had to stop at Sonic for lunch.