11 Degrees F

On our last day in Minneapolis we had to get out in the snow one last time. Although the mercury had dipped to 11 F we thought Dylan should experience Cross Country skiing for himself (sort of). We all got "rugged up" and set off on one of the many local Cross Country trails. It was a great way to start the day and after we started moving not very cold at all (Dylan was smiling from ear to ear when we finally unwrapped him).

Team Scooby vs Team Shaggy

Monday was all about downhill skiing. Tommy and Kelsie {aka "Team Shaggy"} and Rileigh and Les {"Team Scooby Doo"} hit the slopes while Michelle and Dylan watched the action. The girls did great, reinforcing our belief that children should learn to ski almost as soon as they can walk. We quickly moved from the bunny hill to the greens and soon after we were rocketing down the blues - a great afternoon of skiing capped off with a local micro-brew in the chalet and some playing around in the snow.

Great Sunday with the family

Very relaxing holiday Sunday with the family. The boys stayed in and watched the Green Bay Packers crush the Seattle Seahawks (48-10) and the girls went out for cross-country skiing at a local park.

Family Christmas in Minnesota

We're having a great time with the family in Minnesota - it's been great seeing the cousins playing together. It was touch and go getting here but after a slight delay in Chicago and a night without our luggage, all was well. There's nothing better than watching young children opening presents at Christmas and although Dylan didn't quite know what was going on his cousins Kelsie and Rileigh had a magical night. The highlight of the trip is meeting our new nephew, Orion. He's a very chilled out 2 week-old little man - we're looking forward to watching him grow up.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

First Steps

Dylan has been able to support his own weight from a very early age - over the last couple months he's really enjoyed standing (with our help and recently by supporting himself against the furnature. It was only a matter of time before he started linking a few steps together - still pretty unstable but we're calling this his "first steps."

...not so fast...

Somebody broke into the Christmas presents a few days early!

Vegemite

The Aussie education continues...Dylan is a big fan of Vegemite (must've picked that up from his mum!).

Footie

Dylan's Aussie heritage is coming out. He had his Carlton footie jumper on and gravitated straight to the footie.

Snow Day

Enjoying our first day of Snow in Maryland. We bundled up Dylan and let him explore the snow, he seemed to enjoy it.

Thankgiving 2009

Our first family Thanksgiving was a quite one, but enjoyable. Everyone seemed to like the Turkey dinner even Dylan enjoyed his pieces of Turkey with cranberry sauce. Les and Dylan ended the evening with the turkey induced snooze.

Fun and Games

We enjoyed Thanksgiving morning playing, doing some painting and learning to eat banana's, they are slippery little things, making for fun eating and not to mention the mess.

4th Anniverary

Thanks to Michelle's mum Francis we remembered our 4th Wedding Anniversary this year. We've been a bit busy so I guess the date just slipped up on us. A quick scramble on my part and we were booked in to a very nice brunch at the Kennedy Center Roof Terrace Restaurant. We paused for a few photos on the terrace and caught the President flying by in Marine 1 - the Presidential Helicopter. Afterwards we went down to the mall and toured the Botanical Conservatory. In all, a great recovery (we may have missed the day entirely!)...I've added a photo from the big day back in 2005 (on the beach in Ventura California).

Holloween 2009

The little man wanted to be Spiderman...we dressed him up like a pumpkin. Can't blame him for being a little upset.

California Trip Part IV: U2 Live

The idea for this trip began when Michelle said she wanted to buy me tickets to the U2 concert for my 40^th birthday…Whoa! – I’d wanted to see U2 live since 1983…but when they were scheduled to play Washington DC Michelle would be in Switzerland…I took a look at the tour schedule and the Rose Bowl show in Pasadena seemed like a great alternative and a great excuse to pack up the family for a big trip. The concert was amazing. Much has been said about the monstrosity of a stage they’ve been dragging around Europe and the US…while the carbon footprint of this concert probably dwarfs that of most developing nations I’d have to say it was worth it. As an extra bonus they had partnered with YouTube to broadcast the entire concert live to the world online. The concert is still available on You Tube if you want to check it out:

U2 Live

California Trip Part III: Redondo Beach

We arrived back in Redondo Beach for a couple days with Greg and Lisa – Greg had a fantastic meal prepared as we arrived: Salmon for Michelle…Steak for me. On Saturday morning the guys laid low while the girls went surfing (Manhattan Beach)…on Sunday the guys went sailing (Redondo to Marina del Ray in a Catalina 34)…not a bad compromise.

California Trip Part II: Sequoia National Park Day 2

Unfortunately, we could only stay 2 nights since we had much more planned for our too-brief stay back in California. On the way out of the park we hiked to the top of Moro Rock - amazing 270 degree views of the surrounding canyon (we did get some strange looks from the other hikers when they saw Dylan riding along on Michelle's back...but it was all perfectly safe...honestly!). Back in the car as we were exiting the park we finally came across a black bear on the side of the road…also perfectly safe…trust me!

California Trip Part I: Sequoia National Park Day 1

We broke free from the East Coast and flew out to Cali for an action-packed week. After a late night arrival at LAX and an overnight with Greg and Lisa we set off Wednesday for a Northbound road-trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. We had a cabin booked in the Grant Grove section of the park - near some great day hikes (General Grant Tree, Panoramic Overlook). Dylan enjoyed the ride through the massive forest - Mum and Dad enjoyed the family time away as well.

Chillin'

"Mummy doesn't want me watching TV but when it's just dad around...and the Formula 1 racing is on..."

Making Daddy's card

So it was Daddy's big 40th and I thought it would be fun if Dylan could make something special for his Birthday. We tried our hand at painting and got out the finger paints. I think Les was pretty happy with is home made card from Dylan.

1st Camping Trip

Dylan had his first camping trip last weekend (we went too). We booked a campsite in the Cunningham Falls State Park near the President's Retreat at Camp David. After setting up camp we loaded the little man into his carrier and set off in search of the Falls - it was a rocky descent but worth the walk, the leaves were turning and Dylan had a blast. This was a chance to try out the new "3-man" tent prior to our California trip - plan to do some camping out West next week as well.
After the hike we lit a campfire (no ghost stories but we did enjoy a 1997 Kalyra Carbernet Franc) and when it had burned itself out (the fire and the wine) we set off to bed. Although the temps dropped into the 40s we all stayed walm throughout the night - happy faces the next morning after we all got a relatively good night sleep.