RJ turns ski-teen

RJ's 13th birthday was conveniently on Sunday during super bowl weekend. Crowds were light and snow was good. Monday after super-bowl was a FABULOUS NO-CROWD ski day.

Feb 8, 2025: Rail Jam

After a McLean hockey game Friday night, RJ got up early to register for rail jam.

RJ took 2nd place ... so he got a Bose speaker and a ski backpack to carry his tunes

Video above shows one of RJ's rail jam runs. 

Feb 9, 2025 - RJ's actual birthday and ski race

Due to an issue with the ski lift and the ice, the race didn't begin until 11am. RJ skied with Cody and Samuel from school and hung out with Rocco during the ski race.

Video of the practice round below.

RJ qualified for the final race but a crash (similar to other kid in video above) knocked him off the podium.

Dinner for super bowl was dumplings with lemon cake. 

After dinner, Cody and RJ skied until the slopes closed at 9pm. Then they came in and watched the end of the super bowl. Eagles won! Sara missed $100 on the neighborhood squares because the Eagles didn't stop the Chiefs on the final 2-point conversion.

Feb 11, 2025: Snow in McLean and presents birthday

Snow started falling around 3pm, kids cleared driveway, Dad picked up Mama Jun's for dinner

RJ and gifts

Favorite gift - charcoal pillows!

Teenager at last!

Floor hockey with Julia

Ice cream cake

Fabulous Brunch

Tia Jen and Scott came over for Sunday brunch. Nice spread!

 

Sourdough, eggs with perfect paprika, treats, and more

Basketball 2 on 12

Julia's basketball team was a bit late showing up. They won, but they might have forfeited because the last 3 players showed up 4 minutes late.

Julia and Elena prepare to take on 12 girls on the opposing team

 

Spice Challenge

Not sure I understand completely, but the Spice Challenge involves mixing up various spices and eating them in a corn chip. 

Kids lining up the spices

The festival came to an end when Julia choked on some cinnamon.

Hockey in Phily

The first hockey tournament away from DC featured the following:

• Snowstorm
• Bonding with teammates
• Visit from Doug's college roommate
• Watching Eagles win a playoff game
• Losing the first 3 games 
• Winning last game by forfeit due to snowstorm
• Playing inter-squad scrimmage with free ice time - USA versus Canada
• Ending up in a diner at 11:00pm at night

First Game - Doug and Julia watching in background

Hotel hockey rink (there was a PlayStation at the other end)

Girls cheering on the team in game 3

Scrimmage - USA versus Canada (during Canadian National Anthem)

Girls got to take shots after the game

Whitetail Weekend

Conditions were great. So were the crowds. 

We welcomed several friends ... Laurie and Duncan, Amelia and family, Hillary and Logan, and Lanna. We also got to see Zara on Sunday.

Julia, Ava, Zara at the top of Angel Drop

When the lift lines got too long, the boys built an impressive snow fort / igloo.

At this point 2 boys could fit inside. It got stuffy - so they made air-holes.

By the end there were 2 entrances and 5-6 kids could fit inside!

Air Fryer

Sara acquired an air fryer. RJ used his new cook book to make bagels and churros.

RJ busy making air-fryer bagels on a day off from school - Julia loved them