FIrst Day of Soccer

As any red-blooded northern Virginian will tell you, you're not pulling your weight as a three-year-old if you're not playing soccer. While this curdles my blood, we've dutifully signed Finn up for his first "soccer team."

While what follows may not not strike purists as "soccer" (or worse, "football"), it should at least serve to amuse.

And, speaking as a completely neutral observer, I think it's safe to say we have a budding North American Pelé on our hands. Just saying...

Header...

Pelé!

This is soccer???

Manzanita

Some pics from our recent trip out west.... Great time, awesome place and even better company. Special thanks to Ethan, Erin, Ellis, Emile, Eiron, Patsy, Cuinn, Scout and Althea; we started missing you all the minute we drove away. We're not waiting so long to do it again next time! Love, us!

Hot time, summer in the city....

Ok, so we don't really live in a "city"..... But it's been hot. Damn hot! 


And it sure as heck hasn't been a dry heat.


But you know what? That's why the deity invented sprinklers. 'Cause it can get hot under the hood....

Because it's a New Year

A couple pix, a couple vids, all out of perversity, and all with love....

Enjoy!

Xmas at our house....

Where'd Finn go?!?

There he is!!

Finn's first job...

For those of you concerned that personal hygiene doesn't get the attention it deserves at our house....

Finn and his friend McCauley at her beautiful Northern Neck farm....

That's for you, dad.... (and yes, that is dad's lob wedge Finn's dragging all over that field)

Spooky trees.....

Do a Little Dance

'nuff said....

Outside

Just a couple short vids from a recent trek around Ida Lee Park in town, and a couple still shots of our newest neighbor.

As you can imagine, there's a fair amount of hullabaloo about the neighbor...

Come on, dad!

Bye-bye snakes!

From our neighbor's back-deck.

Later!

Today, Finn tried to give the cat a bath.

In the toilet.

Yaayyyy......

We still have a blog?!?!?

So maybe 8 months between blog posts is too long...

Sorry about that. Finn is 2 1/2 going on "can we sell children on eBay or craigslist?" only once or twice a week. Other than those special moments, the ones that bring grandparents the world over such perverse pleasure, he really is doing great and mom and dad can't really complain either. It was a wild and crazy fall and winter, and spring seems to have leaped overnight into 100-degree days o' summer. As always, we promise to do a better job (but don't hold you breath) and thought we'd surprise everyone with a couple little somethings...

Be well, stay cool and give us a holler the next time you're in the Piedmont!

f., a., m.

The Honker

Taggin' the driveway

You can't eat like this at a 7-11. Just sayin'.

First watermelon!

Delicious!!

First Easter Egg hunt...

Yup. Gettysburg.

Yup. Finn commanding the Union Army at Gettysburg.

Truckin'.

"No Bebo Monster!"

Off to School!

Well, Finn survived his first day of school. OK, so it was daycare but hey, it was a big deal!!

Here're a few pix of him this morning before we went. He was in fine form, as you can tell....

And, if you're curious, mom and dad survived too.

Love to all!

The summer's flying by and our postings have gotten fewer and farther between. Finn is doing great, and mom and dad couldn't be more in love with him. He's totally amazing and every day brings something more incredible. In more ways than he'll probably ever know, he really gives more to us than we do to him...

Anyway, we're getting settled in our new "country" digs and loving the space and pace. Mags has gotten super busy and the fall looks even more so. Jamestown is keeping dad busy, with some really fascinating projects (and some cool travel around the corner), and come September 7 the boy starts daycare 3 days a week. We're all very excited, if a little trepidatious.

Finn was still off-the-charts at his 18-month checkup. Well, technically, his noggin and his height were off the charts; his weight was just near the top of the charts. Might have something to do with his new diet of solid foods.... He's a great fruit eater, a middling protein eater (have to work on that for Snackerbowl) and an awful veggie eater (which is just fine for Snackerbowl.)

His fascination with planes, trains and automobiles has fully kicked in, and he's becoming quite adept at a wide range of animal noises: monkey, dog, cat, wolf, goat and sheep (interchangeable in Finn-speak), lion, tiger, bear (also pretty interchangeable now that I think about it....) and elephant. Oh, cripes, how could I forget!! He does a mean snake impression, too. A little Parseltongue, this one... (Yeah, dad's a dork.)

Wanted to get a few pix and a vid from a trip to the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazey Center that we made on a recent rainy, swampy day. Museums are a really interesting experience with someone who's got an attention span of about 15 seconds.... It was a hoot; I don't know who had more fun, me or the boy. Anyway, it was a great excuse for gratuitous photography, and a great excuse to post an update for you all.

We send our love to all, and formally announce the opening of our new casa to anyone who finds themselves in the Piedmont region, and specifically to anyone who finds themselves near Gilbert's Corner.

Peace and bacon grease!

f., a., m.

Just really cute...

18 months and pensive

I know there's a snack in here somewhere...

The Goober meets The Blackbird

Get that stuff outta here!

The Wanderer