Meadowlark Winter Walk of Lights

We went with our friends, the Sharps, to Meadowlark's Winter Walk of lights tonight.  What a great way to start the Christmas season!  The weather couldn't have been better and although the kids are bundled up in the pictures, it really wasn't that cold!  It's always nice to have outings with the Sharps - their kids line up exactly with Aidan, Emmy and Aoife and they all get along really well. 
You have to buy tickets for a time slot to go see the lights, but there is plenty to do for a few minutes while you wait in the entrance building.  You can write letters to Santa, look at the fish in the fish tank, take a picture in a sleigh or sit by the fireplace.  Once we got in, it took us about 45 minutes to walk through all of the lights.  It was beautiful and there were so many lights - it was very impressive. 
We had a great time and I am excited to make this one of our winter traditions!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had Thanksgiving all together today!!  It was so nice to spend the holiday as a family instead of over Skype!! 

 All of us together!!!

 These kids love "kids' wine"!!

 Cheers!!

 I cannot wait until Aoife's front teeth come out - they are just hanging there!!

 no make up - another bonus of not having guests!!  :)

Pre Thanksgiving Snow!

 We got a whole day of snow right before Thanksgiving!  It was beautiful, covered the ground just a bit and didn't stick to the road!  Perfection!  It was so cozy to be in this house with the big windows watching the snow fall!  Declan just couldn't believe the snow - he watched it for hours!!

Aoife's Kindergarten Songfest and Sharing Breakfast

 Today Declan and I went to Aoife's Kindergarten Songfest and Sharing Breakfast at school.  Oh my goodness - it was about the cutest thing ever!!  They were all so well behaved and organized - so many kids to get all set up and they did it beautifully!  The songs were so cute AND you could actually understand them!! 
Declan was an absolute nightmare which is rare, actually.  He usually sits in the stroller and takes everything in but today he wanted to be OUT and to play with the playhouse in the back of the cafeteria.  It worked out just fine - he played (and was joined by about 4 other little boys) and didn't disturb the production.  At first he was upset that he couldn't follow Aoife up onto the stage!  Poor kid is always being left behind! 
After the singing, we went back to Aoife's classroom for a quick snack - it was so crowded between all of the parent, grandparents and little siblings. Declan and I didn't last long!  Kindergarten is just the best!  So happy that I have one more coming along behind Aoife.  What am I going to do when we go through Kindergarten for the last time???

Ballet!!

Emmy and Aoife started ballet on Monday!  They were so excited and loved every minute of the class!  I feel so badly that I didn't start them earlier.  Emmy took ballet for a while when she was little and didn't really get anything out of it.  Granted she was TINY but she got bored with the classes pretty quickly.  I think this is different - the teacher is wonderful and we've heard great things about her classes - fun but not too serious or intense!  Can't wait for next week!

Aidan's Football Banquet

 Aidan's team - the Admirals - had their end of season banquet tonight.  It was a small get together at a restaurant in Crystal City.  The kids ate, wrestled and got trophies.  They all seemed to enjoy hanging out together again since it had been a few days since they had seen each other! 
We are already looking forward to next year's season!!

The Zoo! Again...

 We went to the Zoo again today but this time we met Aoife and the Kindergarten kiddos!  It was a beautiful day and all of the animals were really active!  We saw the pandas, elephants, lions, tigers, apes, reptiles and the winner of the day - the small mammal house!  Declan just LOVED the meerkats and was hysterical watching them run around in their cage.  I would go back to the zoo JUST so Declan could sit in front of the meerkats for hours!!
We had a fun morning.  Aoife got to hang out with her best friend all morning - they are so cute together!!  Declan was completely worn out from being pushed around the zoo all morning and took a good nap after barely being able to stay awake for lunch.
It was a fun time - maybe we'll head back over for Zoo Lights at Christmas!

Declan at Bon Air Park

 More photoshoot scouting today!  I think we found a great location!!

Aidan for Secretary

The big vote was today!  Aidan did everything that he could have done - he had a great speech and ran a great campaign.  Unfortunately, you can't win them all and he lost to a 5th grader.  He was a bit disappointed but energized for next year.  He's already talking about his campaign for when he's in 5th grade!

Yorktown Dance Team Clinic

 The kids didn't have school today - thanks elections!  Emmy got to go to the Yorktown Dance Team's Dance clinic.  She had SOOOOO much fun and the dance that they did at the end of the day was adorable!  I realized that I am really missing the boat with both Emmy and Aoife so now they are both signed up for ballet and will start next week!