The Historic Triangle

We went to Williamsburg this year for a few days during spring break. We had planned to visit the sites in historical order but the weather was not cooperating so we started at Yorktown Victory Center. The boys loved it. They got to see them fire a charge and dress up.

Here are our "Colonial Boys."

Nathan trying to look mean but just looking goofy.
Then we went to Yorktown Battlefield. We walked around the town and visited the museum. Both the boys did the Junior Ranger Program.

Here's Nathan getting his patch. Sammy is a Junior Ranger for the first time!
The boys were obsessed with the cannons! The Ranger let them go behind the ropes so they could close and personal with one of the cannons.

We drove around the battlefield and looked at even more cannons.

Then next day the weather was better so we headed for Jamestown. Nathan also did the Junior Ranger program here. Here is Nathan near one of the recreated buildings.

The next day we went to Colonial Williamsburg. They had a kids' program where they read a story, had a little tour of the museum and did a craft. Here are the boys working on their flower necklaces.
Nathan and the Governor's Palace.

Sammy in prison on a toilet.

In the garden shop one of the workers let the kids water the plants.

Refilling the watering cans.

The boys are really obsessed with guns right now. We don't have any "weapons" at home but they turn everything into a weapon anyway. Every gift shop had guns and they just couldn't keep their hands off of them.

We also went to the Jamestown Settlement. It was a re-creation of what Jamestown looked like. We wish we had come here before going to Historic Jamestown because it would have made it easy to visualize where everything was at the real site. There were a lot of hands on activities for the kids.

The boys working on a dear skin.

The family.

Boys on a replica of one of the Jamestown ships.

Soldier Nathan.

Boys and chicken.

Water boy.

Happy 3 1/2 Birthday Sammy!

Sammy is getting so big! He celebrated his 3 1/2 birthday on St. Patrick's Day. Here he is opening his present.

Sammy decorating his cupcake.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Messy boy!

Here are some cute pictures of Sammy at the gym near Aunt Kristin's and Uncle Steve's house.

Jumping Sammy.

Crazy hair!

Hoedown and Stitches

They had a hoedown at Nathan's school. Here are some pictures.

Our Cowboys:
Sam on a horse. He was very possessive of this horse and wouldn't leave it the whole time we were there.

Sam explaining to another little cowboy about the horse.

I don't know if you noticed Sammy's stitches in the other pictures but here is a close-up. Sammy has had a rough couple of weeks. He fell and hit his face on a tree and needed 4 stitches. Less than two weeks later Nathan hit him in the mouth with a hockey stick and pushed his right front tooth back. Luckily the x-ray showed no nerve damage and it has slowly moved forward again. Now we are just waiting to see if it changes color. Five days later he came down with an ear infection! The poor kid just can't seem to catch a break!

February Fun

As if the snowstorm in December wasn't bad enough we got hit with another one in February. This storm was of Upstate NY proportions. We got over 30 inches in a two day period. Then had a day off and got hit with another 12+ inches. It was that wet heavy snow that is impossible to shovel and of course we don't own a snow blower. Boy were we sore!

It took days for the roads to be clear and Nathan was off from school for over a week. Even after they went back to school the kids couldn't walk because the sidewalks were still not passable in a lot of places. Almost all of the kids at Nathan's school are considered walkers (there are only 3 buses) so this created a huge problem. Most of the parents actually drive their kids to school but you couldn't do this because you couldn't park because of the huge snowbanks. The school instituted a kiss and ride procedure that meant we didn't have to get out of the car to drop or pick him up. It was great in the morning but it took over 30 minutes to pick him up at school everyday.

Here is the house after we finally got shoveled out.

The snowbanks were taller than Sammy in many places!

A bundled Sam.

Sammy sliding down a snowbank.

Tracy, Sean and Jenna decided to move from Florida to Pennsylvania. They stopped by our house for a couple of days on their way. They missed the storm by a couple of days but we still had plenty of snow. Jenna was born in Florida so she had really never seen real snow.

Here she is with Charles in her first snow adventure!

Getting ready to slide!

Jenna sliding with Mommy!

We took a trip with them to the Natural History Museum. Here is Nathan and Jenna on the Mall in front of the Capital.

Spidey Cousins!

Jenna with her Valentine's cupcake she made.

Before the snow was completely gone Charles took Sammy outside to make a snowman. Sam decided that he wanted a snow bunny instead!

The snow was fun, but I'm glad to see it go until next winter! Our first winter in DC was the snowiest on record. The previous record was set in the winter of 1898-1899. It will definitely be a winter to remember!

Christmas and New Years 2010

OK, I know it's March but I'm going to post the Christmas pictures anyway.
We went to the Wilson-Rossi homestead for Christmas this year. It was a fun and relaxing holiday.

Decorating cookies.
More decorating.

Santa again delivered presents for the boys on Christmas Eve. Here is Nathan finding them.

Reading the letter from Santa. The letter basically says put on these pajamas and go to bed so that I can come and deliver presents.

New Hannas from Santa!

Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Gifts for Santa and his reindeer.

The brothers opening presents on Christmas morning.

The only presents that Sammy wanted from Santa were a "black doggy and a black catty." Santa remembered!

Uncle Mike helping Nathan open the Star Wars Fighter that he bought him for Christmas.
Nathan is still really into Lego's. The only thing he wanted from Santa was this Lego Police Station. The kid had it built in a matter of hours with very little help from anyone. In fact he spent most of Christmas day sitting at the dining room table building with all of the Lego sets he got.

Daddy with a sad Uncle Steve (a Mets fan) and his Yankees World Series Champions shirt.

Christmas dinner with the family.

There was still snow left from the December storm. Daddy, Uncle Steve, and the boys built a snow fort. They made a frame out of pallets and then covered it with snow inside and out. Here are the big boys after all of their hard word.

The boys in their snow fort.

We had a very low key New Years Eve this year. Uncle Mike came over and we watched some television and listened to some music.

Here Nathan is showing off some of his dance moves in his hockey Hannas.

Last year we lived on the West Coast so it was easy to let the kids stay up and watch the ball drop in NY. This year we had to get a little creative. Here are the boys watching the countdown.

Toasting the New Year.

Notice the time on the clock in the background? They were just getting too cranky to stay up any longer so Charles found the New Years countdown in London online and played it. They were none the wiser! Of course Nathan is getting much better at telling time so next year this strategy probably won't work.