Thanksgiving Weekend

Miriam (Nate's cousin) and Bryant and their son Calvin drove up from North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had such a fabulous time. This was our first time hosting Thanksgiving, so I was a little worried about all the new dishes I would be making. I planned well in advance, and Miriam was incredibly helpful. I couldn't have done it without her. While Miriam and I cooked the boys went to watch the planes at the airport's viewing area.

Meanwhile Miriam and I successfully prepared lots of delicious food. We were not disappointed with a single dish.

The next day we headed off to the city to see the sites.  Beckett absolutely loved riding the metro. He narrated the entire trip.

First we went to the Air and Space Museum. Then we took advantage of the beautiful day and saw the monuments and memorials.

Beckett loved the World War II Memorial. He stood between the two fountains and alternated pointed at one and then the other saying, "water, more water" over and over.

Beckett also really likes stairs, so he enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Korean and Vietnam Memorials. Then on our way tot he White House we happened upon this building:

Miriam had to get a picture because she is studying to be a pharmacist.

Calvin was a super tourist. He is such a happy baby. Nate and I were very impressed with his appetite.

Here's the whole family in front of the White House.

We posed in the same spot. (Beckett got that leaf at the pharmacy building. He carried through two metro rides, one with a line change, back to our car where he crunched it up.)

On Saturday Nate's cousin Julie came to visit. (Why didn't we take any pictures?) We had another great dinner (planned and executed by Nate) and enjoyed talking until the wee hours of the morning. 

We also went to Old Ellicott City and spent some time at the B&O Railroad Museum. 

You can sit in the caboose.

 

And ring the bell.

The station also has lots of model trains set up and the best Santa Claus any of us had ever seen. Beckett found him fascinating.

We had a great time with Miriam, Bryant, Calvin, and Julie. We are so happy to have family within driving distance and hope to see them all again very soon.

More Fall Stuff

A few weeks ago we went to Alexandria to check out Nate's old stomping grounds from 10 years ago.

We saw a fire truck in Alexandria.

We went to the George Washington Masonic Memorial. There are lots of stairs and lots of George Washingtons.

A few days later I took Beckett to Clark's Ellioak Farm. This is when I discovered that Beckett likes tractors (big surprise). In the picture below he was watching them intently.

Beckett showed off his animal husbandry skills, fostered by the Deanna Rose Farmstead, in the petting pen.

I vastly prefer the Deanna Rose Farmstead (both in terms of animals, attractions, and price), but Clark's has these cute nursery rhyme-inspired structures.  The shoe from "The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" is a slide.

Beckett loved this little train.

We took a turn around the pumpkin patch. However, it wasn't until Halloween that I would realize Beckett's intent interest in pumpkins. Seriously. We have taken several walks around the neighborhood where he stops at every house that has a pumpkin on the porch and checks it out, often saying "hiya punkin." He got two pumpkins at Nate's work's Halloween party that he carried around the entire time saying, "a punkin, another punkin." He lies those pumpkins on their sides and says, "night-night punkin." I have four little squishy pumpkins that Beckett's been taking to bed and feeding drinks.

Before we could leave Clark's I told Beckett we needed to try and get one good pumpkin shot. This is the best we could do.

 

Intellectual Recreation

Need a little more Halloween? Check out:

Creeptastic Art on Intellectual Recreation

Where I expound on the similarities between Little Red Riding Hood, Barbara Semmes's photography, and the 2004 film The Village.