3 months - 2 batteries

Battery Replacement

Today the family helped replace the battery in the 2005 Subaru Forester. Everybody got a turn to tighten bolts and Mom got to replace the headlight. As you can see from the old battery below ... a mouse had made it's way onto the battery during the winter months to stay warm. A couple shells from the nuts that RJ thoughtfully stored in the garage were cleaned from the battery area as well.

Three months ago, the Honda battery died. The folks from Auto-Zone are pretty happy about all of this. I'm getting good at changing car batteries. Yes ... I know that they do it for free ... but what's the fun in that?!?

Camping at Cunningham Falls

Camping, Swimming, and Hiking

We packed a car full of stuff for a 36 hour trip to Cunningham Falls. Swimming and hiking were the highlights of the trip. And 'camping' involved spending a restless night in an air conditioned cabin.

RJ and the boys patrolled the woods for hours against their arch-enemies ... the girls. The girls were not really playing ... except for Ellie ... who seemed to enjoy the attention of being held hostage.

The Sunday hike was pretty awesome when we got to Cat Rock because there was lots of fun climbing ... for both Julia and RJ. Dad and RJ hiked the Old Misery Trail, while the rest of the crew did the normal hike and beat us to the top by a couple minutes. Old Misery Trail was not too much different from the other trail ... but it had a much cooler name.

Julia decides to put on a show at the amphitheater.

Fixing the office microwave

Panasonic Microwave Genius Sensor 1250W

The door latch broke, and without the door latch, the Microwave would not operate. At the office, I didn't have much to work with in terms of repairs. So I used some computer screwdrivers to pry open the door and discover that a small spring that held the door latch down had snapped a cheap piece of plastic that held it in place. At my office work rate and given the price of microwaves, I probably only had 20 minutes to fix the thing before it would have made sense to purchase a new one.

In true MacGyver fashion I found an old key ring that I could use to hook the spring to a random piece towards the bottom of the microwave. With that in place, the downward pressure on the latch was sufficient to close the door and activate the microwave. Case closed.

Julia Turns Four

Happy Birthday Julia

Say goodbye to the "Warning I'm Three Shirt" because Julia is now four. Mom made an awesome Sunday celebration with a cake, pinata, lots of gifts, and some special guests: Aunt Debbie, Granddad, and Ms. Leanne.

In the morning, our neighborhood friend Sam has a bounce party at Jumping Joey's in Falls Church. Julia had a good time bouncing and shooting 7 baskets.

Getting a picture of Julia is never easy

A Cars 3 race track cake is always worth a smile

The pinata was the perfect level of challenge ... although due to time constraints, the decorations were a bit flimsy and it was referred to as a wasp's nest. The yellow-green blob heading towards the pinata was hurled with a lacrosse stick ... it missed.

Actual Birthday Monday

Julia's actual birthday was on Monday - the first day of Vacation Bible School at McLean Presbyterian. Julia made it clear that we were not to tell anybody about her birthday.

In the morning she opened a lot of cool things including a Lego Train (score Mom), clothes for Abby, books, some cool shoes, and a long list of other things. For dinner we had Moby Dick's - leftover from the night before!

RJ Skates Again

Caps Win Stanley Cup, RJ Skates in Practice Rink

Here is RJ in Kettler Arena after 6 skating lessons and 6 one-hour practice sessions with Dad. Nice improvement over RJ's first time skating back in November.

Riding Capitol Hill

Big Hill

RJ and Dad went for a ride in DC. We parked at our favorite spot ... only to see that the park service has started charging for parking by the paddle-boats at the tidal basin ... bummer.

Most streets were closed for a running race of some sort, so RJ got to do some 'street biking.' After climbing to the top of Capitol Hill, we took a break and a photo.

Julia and Abby Sign Legal Documents

Julia and Abby got to sit in a conference room in an official law office. Abby almost signed a manila folder.