Christmas 2017 - 3 Parts

Christmas 2017 Part I - Washington DC

Christmas in 2017 was a multi-part affair. It started early in Washington DC with Granddad and Aunt Debbie. We ordered food, opened gifts, and watched the McLean parade. Both kids got hammocks from Aunt Debbie which we managed to hang.

Santa was in the parade, but this picture is from when he drove by our house handing out candy canes.

Christmas 2017 Part II - Cedar Rapids Iowa

RJ and Julia were super excited to get on an airplane and see their cousins. Dad was super stressed about how much luggage we were taking with us and the cost of tickets. We flew into Chicago and rented a 'car' to drive the rest of the way. The car turned out to be a F150. The luggage had to ride in the cold, but the 4-wheel drive came in handy for the 1-2 inches of snow.

We stayed at a 'downtown' hotel which featured a real train that drove past and blared it's horn 3-4 times a night. The hotel had a workout room and a pool. Julia maximized her time in the workout room. Here she is doing a 1.5 mile walk/jog at 2-3 mph. Yes ... do the math ... Dad had to stand there for 40 minutes and monitor the machine.

While at the cousins, we had fun playing in the basement, running crazy with cousins, playing hockey in the front year (except for a puck/tennis ball to the face), and a few random things such as having a squirrel funeral.

Church on Christmas Eve was super cold and packed. But, we had seats thanks to Aunt Trina.

Christmas 2017 Part III - McLean Again

Santa came while we were in Iowa, so as soon as we returned home to got to open more gifts. Julia was very excited about Gigi (dog with sequin dog house) as well as Abby/Gabby (bitty baby like Katelyn's). RJ liked his junk box of legos and his Nerf dart gun.

Ice Skating

St. Luke Kindergarden Ice Skating Social

RJ's class organized a day of skating at a local ice rink in Reston. RJ got his first experience on single blade skates.

At first, RJ had fun, but spent a lot of time on the ice.

But as the session went on, he got quite good at going forward and make it around the rink a few times without falling.

His classmate Emmit was there ... trying to keep up with a hockey player was super fun.

Train Party

Neighborhood Train Party

Folks came over to eat cookies, drink cider, and look at trains. This year the trains featured HO only. Thanks to eBay, we have new engines that can pull a lot of cars and work more reliably. Five trains running at once was the highlight.

Julia delivers freight before the party.

New engines, longer trains, more reliability.

Granddad visited for the party

Downtown included a traffic jam (not pictured) thanks to the kids.

A wider angle view of the layout

Halloween 2017

Preparation

There was diligent prepwork including decorating, pumpkin carving, and costume making. A few highlights below. Thanks to Granddad for sacrificing half of his garden for the pumpkin plants.

Costumes

RJ wanted to be a ghost to maximize his ability to move and get candy. Julia wanted to be a train. Julia wore her costume at school. RJ is pictured with the neighborhood kids prior to trick-or-treating.

  

Wedding in Cleveland

Mark and Kira got married in Cleveland, so we made the trip. We stayed with Aunt Donna and were within walking distance of a cool park. The first day, RJ and Dad walked about 5-6 minutes and ranked all of the Halloween decorations (A = awesome, F = no decorations) and got a Slurpee.

After the wedding, Julia crashed out on the bed. RJ passed out as well - but he passed out because he had 0.2 milliliters of champagne.

The car ride to Cleveland was quite manageable because of iPads. Hopefully we get a few more pictures posted.

Apple Picking

Everybody helped pick lots of apples. Anybody know what to do with 50 lbs of apples?

But jumping off hay bales, climbing trees, 'fishing' in the pond, and balancing on logs occupied the majority of our time.

We also took a video of the kids jumping. Don't get too excited, it is only 7 seconds long.

Grampa Farmer Bob and Gramma Diane Visit

Grampa Farmer Bob reads to RJ and Julia (and Grandma Diane!)

Generational Divide (in full disclosure, she was holding Grandpa's cell phone after he left it at the airport and we recovered it)

RJ helped Grandpa Farmer Bob mow the lawn.

Gramma Diane's night to read

We celebrated RJ's first week of school by going mini-golfing.

Afterwards, we came home and the kids got to have their first ever rootbeer float. They were pretty excited!

Everyone enjoying their dessert.

RJ, Julia and Doug on GrandDad's boat on the Bay.

Fishing...no bites. :(

The 3 Bobs

RJ and Julia checking out the crabs sloughing while we waited for a table at Cantler's.

First Day of School!

RJ started kindergarten today. A couple of us cried!


RJ was pretty excited for his first day of kindergarten!

Julia wanted to be in the picture too.

The Principal escorted him down the red carpet because he is new to the school.

Pat & Fifi's

It was so fun to visit Uncle Pat and Aunt Fifi. The trip was much too short, but we did manage to see a few beautiful views from around their community, in addition to spending the solar eclipse with them.

The kids were begging to go on a hike, but seemed happy enough to climb this rock.

Overlook behind the church

The kids tried their best, but somehow managed to not break any of the musical instruments.

Solar Eclipse

The Plan

Drive 7 hours to see Aunt Debbie and Granddad in Ashville, NC. Drive an additional hour to see Uncle Pat and Aunt Fifi in Landrum, SC. Drive a final hour to The Beach Club to see totality.

The Execution

Route 81 (and most other travel) involved Granddad Johnson and 3 million of our other 'friends' in Washington, DC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other areas driving to the swath of totality. This added about 1 hour to the drive to and from DC and about 2-3 hours from the eclipse back to Landrum, SC. Uncle Pat was a great sport and even took us for pizza afterwards.

The Eclipse

The totality was totally worth it. We had glasses so we could look at the event in progress. We also made a pinhole viewer which amused everyone (mostly that it actually worked!). Then, during totality we got to look without the glasses.

The Venue

The kids will remember the water slides, the free paddle boarding, and the pools more than the eclipse. A few pictures below.

RJ Rides the Slide

Julia (after a while) goes solo

Sara never says no to a water slide