Bowling for Birthday Fun

Thankfully, Evan's birthday party with his friends was not snowed out (after a week where almost everything else had been canceled by the weather). We took Evan, Andrew, and 5 friends bowling, which was hilarious, exhausting fun.

Evan and his best friend Kendrick

Daddy helping Andrew bowl. Andrew did great, bowling 2 spares in 2 games!

Evan demonstrating some bowling form. 

The birthday bowling crew, after a fun-filled party.

The birthday festivities, Day 2

Since we continued to have snow on the ground, we continued not to have school. So the day after Evan's birthday we just continued to celebrate.

Wrapped in his birthday present Star Wars blanket/robe with his birthday present Lego Tie Fighter, which he made almost entirely by himself.

The awesome present from Grammy & Grampy arrived, and Evan spent hours minutely examining the carpet, hair, clothes, his brother's face ...

Creating and working on the volcano with Grandma

Andrew is determined not to be left out!

Two loved grandchildren and two loved grandparents!

Evan's "Totally Awesome!" Birthday

Evan's greatest dream came true when school was closed because of snow on his birthday. Grandma and PaPa were here, so it was a day packed with birthday celebration. Evan chose cheesy eggs and biscuits and gravy for his birthday breakfast, and lunch at Ole NC BBQ buffet. That afternoon my Aunt Georgie, who shares a birthday with Evan, came over with Martha, Denise, and Danielle.

The Birthday Duo

Fun family here for the birthday afternoon

Andrew, Evan, and Danielle--the Terrific Trio

Evan insisted that he wanted a carrot cake for his birthday. With carrots on top. Not balloons or anything festive. Just carrots. 

Evan gets pretty excited about presents. This is his volcano set.

Grandma and PaPa made sure Andrew got a little something special, too.

Snow Day--For Real!

So far, our winter storm succeeded in canceling Evan's basketball game, his best friend Kendrick's birthday party and sleepover, my lunch with a friend, a party for friends of ours, church, and school tomorrow. Not that the boys care about any of that--because it's snow! They can play in it!

This was Andrew's snow get-up. He does have a great coat, but I couldn't find his snow pants anywhere. Thank goodness for a warm Halloween costume!

My two snow-lovers.

He sat out there and played for about half an hour or more.

It's a Snow Lion!

National Air & Space Museum (Chantilly)

Before heading home on Monday, the boys and I went to the National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly. Unlike our excursion to the Mall the day before, this day was bright and sunny and warm. Figures--the day we're inside a museum, it's gorgeous outside! I'm not a big museum person, but this one was perfectly sized--enough to see, but not so large that I was overwhelmed. And it was almost totally empty. We had a great time!

Evan and Andrew pilot a Cessna 180.

Evan's favorite plane was the SR-71 Blackbird. It flew from California to Virginia in 64 minutes! He bought a model of it to build with Daddy (whenever Daddy finishes his dissertation ...)

The Space Shuttle (the Enterprise) was also a huge hit. The space exhibit included a display of food that astronauts eat in space. They had a package of M&Ms, which prompted Andrew to declare that he wanted to be an astronaut so he could eat M&Ms. Not necessarily in space, mind you -- just to eat them.

An AP reporter was there interviewing people about the end of the Space Shuttle program, and he interviewed Evan. When asked what he thought about the end of the Space Shuttle, Evan said, "Well, I'm not too happy about it!"

The two best guys to spend a day with at the Museum!

Trip to Washington, D.C.

I took the boys to visit friends in northern Virginia over the fourth weekend in January. We made a brief, cold, hilarious excursion into Washington, D.C. while we were there. Overall, it was a wonderful time with dear friends, and a memorable visit to our nation's capital.

Andrew and Keris on the Metro. Riding the train was without question the highlight of Andrew's entire trip. Monuments & museums--not so much.

A.J., Jack, and Evan on the Metro. 

Linda and me on the Metro, as photographed by Evan. Little did we know what adventures lay ahead.

Turns out it was COLD (and wet, though not actually raining) on the Washington Mall. The kids were freezing. And quickly miserable. And tired of being outside. Here Andrew demonstrates the end of cheerfulness.

 

Monuments, Schmonuments--The highlight for the kids was the squirrels who eat Cheez-its. 

Evan was very moved by the Korean War Memorial. 

This was Evan's favorite soldier in the Korean War Memorial. After our stop here, we all kind of resembled this guy: 4 out of the 5 kids were crying, and the 2 moms felt very tired and heroic. Andrew was crying because he was out of Sun Chips, Keris was crying because she was cold, Jack was crying because the geese had flown away, and Evan was crying about the horrors and injustice of war. It had taken us 2 hours to get from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. We decided to call it a day and head home!

Catching up on January

My work schedule picked up and got busy and I'm behind on the blog. We've had lots of wonderful times with friends the past few weeks that I don't want to forget to record!

Our dear friends the Jantzes visited us over the third weekend in January. We were friends in Germany, and then we moved back to the U.S. at the same time--we moved back to North Carolina, and they moved to South Carolina. They are moving to Japan in a few weeks, so we were thankful to spend some great time with them before they are too far for a road trip visit!

Dave and Steve went to the Duke v. Wake Forest basketball game, and we watched it at home with the kids. There was lots of cheering, "Let's Go, Duke!"

Our gorgeous January weather meant some fun play dates outside. We had so much fun at a park with Andrew's friends John and Michael. They are moving to Ann Arbor next month, so we enjoy all the fun times with them before they head north.