Christmas Tree Shopping (and cutting & hauling...)

Today was one of those storybook days whence Christmas fairy tales are made.  For the third year in a row we went to the Snickers Gap Tree Farm to cut our Christmas tree.  Two years ago, the day was very cold.  Last year the day was foggy.  Today dawned to blue sky, moderate temperature and a few inches of fresh snow.  In a word, postcard weather for our adventure. After cutting our tree and dragging it down the hill we enjoyed hot cider while the tree was shaken, baled and measured.  

We met our friends, the Munks, at Wolf Trap so Will could ride with Ross and Cathleen could ride with Tamara.  Wolf Trap was its own wonderland, with sparkling ice on the trees and covering the parking lot.  Our kids played and slid around while we waited for the Munk family to arrive.  This was one of Lyra's first experiences with ice, and it was a good thing she was well bundled because she spent a lot of time falling down.

After cutting our tree we retired for brunch at Magnolias in Purcellville, Virginia.  The food was delicious; I just wish we could have stayed longer and relaxed (and enjoyed some Virginia wine).  As it was, we needed to get Eva back for a play date and Ross back to the Cathedral to sing the Messiah with the Choristers.  

Three years must qualify as a tradition, and we will be back next year, hopefully with more time to relax and enjoy brunch.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Another video! From Will's recital...

Will played a Sonata by Scarlatti and this jazzy little modern piece called "Bright Orange" by Robert Starer. He wasn't happy with his Scarlatti performance but Bright Orange turned out quite well so here it is. It is short and sweet!

Posted via email from Cathleen Phelps

First Snow

Yesterday and last night we had a small storm that was mostly rain in Alexandria but 3" of snow further west. Today we went to cut our Christmas tree so the combination of fresh snow and blue sky made it picture perfect. Here Eva is playing while we wait to meet or friends the Munks.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

If you missed the Scottish Xmas Walk, you can watch it here!

Despite the rain and snow, the parade went on. I think it was an abbreviated version but it was fun nonetheless.

There was a great big man in a kilt handing out flyers for a Scottish festival...he was shouting "Come to our festival! Eat yucky Scottish food! Watch great big men throw heavy objects!" With marketing like that, how can you pass it up? So I did get a couple of flyers and there's a Celtic festival in St. Leonard MD on 4/24 and the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg on 6/12 and 13. Not sure which one this guy was advertising (maybe it was a third one!) but put them in your calendars now! I will because, coincidentally, the St. Leonard festival is on Will's birthday and the Leesburg festival is on Eva's.

Posted via email from Cathleen Phelps

Lyra has a day of beauty!

Will was supposed to get a much needed haircut before his piano recital today.  But he is very proud of his mane and didn't want it cut.  Lyra loooooves to go to the beauty shop plus Bill TOLD her she was getting her haircut.  Telling her she wasn't going to get to go was going to be unpleasant for everyone involved.  So here she is!  She let Myra wash her hair this time and the final result is really cute!!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

At the Dairy Godmother

The apple cider sorbet was especially yummy! This cute hat is complements of Auntie Cheryl. Eva and Lyra had a fight over it in the car on the way here.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

SportRock Alexandria ABS Comp Photos

Today was the fourth leg of the local American Bouldering Series / Friction Bouldering Series competition calendar.  The final competition is at Earth Treks in Timonium Maryland on December 12th.  

It was great having a competition at SportRock in Alexandria.  It is our local climbing gym, so it is familiar ground for Eva, and they are in the final phases of a major renovation/expansion, and the climbing area is big and the bouldering terrain is complex and varied with lots of overhang.  

Bouldering is scored based on the best five climbs (hardest, highest point climbs) in a three hour period.  For the Junior division this is usually 10:00am - 1:00pm.  Eva got off to a slow start and only had one completed climb in the first half hour.  Chalk dust was bothering her eyes and she was trying some routes that were beyond her ability.  She started to get her groove around 10:30, and posted a couple of more good scores by 11:00am.    By noon Eva had five completed routes on her card that were respectable, but probably not good enough to win.  

We spent the last hour trying to find higher point routes that she could complete.  She found a couple of routes that were 290 and 295 (V2+) that she completed but we could not find any 3XX point routes that she could make.  She found a 555 that she thought she could do, but after two tries it was clear she was overly optimistic (and she still needs to work harder at planning (sequencing) her climbs before she gets on the wall).  

We finally found a 430 point route that played to Eva's strengths, requiring good balance and the ability to grip small holds.  She missed her first try, but made her second try with about ten minutes to spare.  She tried one more route, but did not make it.  

Eva ended up with another First Place in Youth D Female (10 years old and under). 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

SportRock Alexandria Comp

Eva warming up for today's bouldering competition.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Cheese Girl

Lyra loves soft mild cheese (preferably with a little tang). Her favorite is delice de argental but today she picked out brillat savarin which was similar.

This was at Fromagerie in Old Town. Not quite as big a selection as Cheesetique, but walkable and no long wait.

Funny that when I was Lyra's age the choice was yellow slices or orange slices.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Eva's 1st 5K!

Eva has been running with Girls On The Run at school and their short season ended today with a 5K race at the National Arboretum.  This was not an ideal day on many levels but Eva was still excited and it was going to be her longest distance to run ever!  The cold and the rain did not deter her and the extra hour of sleep from going back to standard time made it easier to get up and out the door. 

I'd never been to the Arboretum before and anticipated all kinds of navigation problems since I get lost whenever I drive to that part of the city.  There were some mishaps along the way but we arrived with 45 minutes to stand around in the rain (PLENTY of time!).  I've never been to the National Arboretum but I will go back some time on a nicer day now that I know where it is.  Getting there involves driving through a yucky industrial area and then all of a sudden, you are in this oasis of nature!  I bet it is beautiful at azalea time.

There were girls from Eva's school there (this year's school and last year's school) and it was fun to meet her coaches.  Eva ran a GREAT race.  Even with the rain, there were beautiful trees to look at and rolling hills. Eva enjoyed using those downhills to see how many people she could pass.  She took a couple of walk breaks in the second half of the race but she finished so strong!  I am so proud of her!  We crossed the finish line at 9:40.  Somehow I did not look at my watch as we crossed the start line.  It was definitely after 9:02 but not much after.  Hopefully chip times will be posted tonight but I am not optimistic since this wasn't the most organized race I've ever attended.

Maybe it is a new event or it's just too small to cover the basics or maybe the things I am used to on long races just don't make sense for a 5K, I am not sure.  The porta-potties were way past the start line and no one knew they were there until after the race started and it was too late.  Fortunately the Arboretum restrooms were nearby and it was possible to warm our hands under the hand dryers in there.  Also, there was no way to tell how far we'd run: there were little markers to be sure you took the right road for the course but there were no distance markers at all. I thought they'd at least have a sign at each mile.  This made it difficult for Eva to know whether her pace was too fast or not.  I guess I should have looked at the course map so I would know some of the landmarks...Lesson learned there!  There was no water after the race or if there was, we couldn't find it.  Eva really really wanted some!  Then we couldn't get out of the Arboretum because runners were still crossing along the only road that led to the gate.  Getting home was an exercise in frustration and stress as I was running on the memory of fumes of gas and had forgotten my purse!  I was dreading that I might be stranded somewhere and have to call Bill or other roadside assistance for a gallon of gas!

However, all's well that ends well!  We did not run out of gas and Eva had a great race and is ready to do another one one.  We came home to Halloween candy, a messy house and some hot chocolate!  And I will plan a trip to the Arboretum in the spring for a picnic.

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Post Trick-or-Treat Candyfest!

Sometimes I think this is the funnest part of Halloween...the sorting and trading of all the LOOT!  Eva can't eat half her candy because of her nut allergy and Lyra can't have the gum and hard candies because she's little and then everyone has their own personal favorites, so there is a lot of deal-making going on to even everything up.  You can see KC on the periphery of one of these photos.  There wasn't room for him to be right in the center of everything but he always likes to be nearby. 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

At last! Unveiling of the Costumes!

Putting the costumes together took more time than I had expected.  But we finally did it!  Our family dressed up as Interstate 95.  Bill is the road, Will is a traffic barrel, Eva is Wendy's, Lyra is Ronald McDonald and I am South of the Border.  My friend, Tehan, traditionally comes trick-or-treating with us and you can see her in one of these photos as a slimmer, prettier and smarter Sarah Palin! 

It was sort of misty and rainy tonight and so the usual Halloween party street didn't seem as packed as I remember from last year.  Even so, Eva's costume and mine made it tough to maneuver through any crowded space.  But the kids had fun and still ended up with a ton of candy, maybe because people were dumping it in their bags by the handful to get rid of it!  The best part was that Lyra walked THE ENTIRE TIME ALL BY HERSELF.  This is the first Halloween in recent memory where no one had to carry a child the whole time.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Pumpkin Shopping

Last weekend, we went to buy pumpkins at a nearby large church pumpkin sale.  Each kid picked out a pumpkin and sampled some delicious apple crisp that was for sale (which I will be reverse engineering because it was so good!).  Will finally got to carve his yesterday, i.e., on Halloween. This project is a lot more fun now that the kids are older and now that you can buy those little kits with the pumpkin saws.  They look so cheap and flimsy but they actually work pretty well!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Philadelphia Rock Gym - Another Blue Ribbon

Eva loves indoor rock climbing, and in the autumn competes in the Friction Bouldering Series / American Bouldering Series competitions in the Mid-Atlantic.  The competition this weekend was at Philadelphia Rock Gym (PRG) in Oaks, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia.  We had a miserable drive to Philadelphia, leaving DC at 4:30pm Friday and taking almost 4hrs to get to our hotel in Oaks.  It should have been 2.5hrs.  

Eva gorged on sweet breakfast food this morning before the competition, so I hoped she would have plenty of energy.  When she started climbing, it turned out that the routes were interesting, but frequently deceptive.  What looked easy turned out to have some twist that made the route very difficult.  The way bouldering competition works, a competitor has 3hrs to climb, and is scored on his/her 5 best (most difficult) climbs that have been successfully completed.  Normally you try and get five moderately difficult climbs done quickly, then work on more difficult (higher point) routes.  

For some reason, the waiting between climbs at PRG was long.  Eva would try a route, if she did not make it we would wait 15 - 20 minutes to try the route again. After an hour, she had only successfully completed one route.  She sent (completed) another climb, then had a bad fall and had to take a break.  Eva had some candy and soda, and said she would stage a great comeback.  She did, but it was a nail-biter.  

The competition was ending at 1:10, and at 12:55 Eva only had 4 climbs on her card.  She picked a pretty hard climb and had to complete it successfully, or she would have ended the day with only four completed routes.  I was nervous, but Eva finished strong.

Eva competes in the Female Youth D class - girls 10 and under.  There were five girls in her class, and she won.  This was Eva's second win, and she was thrilled and is now looking forward to competing at her home gym, SportRock Alexandria, in two weeks.  

In the photos, note the 'snow' in photo three.  This is the light from the camera flash bouncing off chalk dust in the air.  Climbers use chalk on their hands to improve grip.  SportRock in Alexandria bans loose chalk and requires climbers to use liquid chalk or chalk that comes in balls.  Both approaches minimize the release of chalk dust into the air.  My lungs hate chalk dust suspended in the air, and I hope all climbing gyms soon start banning loose chalk.  

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Philly ABS Comp

Eva and I came up to Philly last night in horrible traffic so she could compete at bouldering. She is now goofing off while we await results of the scoring.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

MORE Baking!

All my recent posts have been of things I've baked.  It must look like I don't do anything else (Not True though).  Yesterday morning, Will informed me that he needed cupcakes for his class Halloween party by TODAY.  ARGH!  This is the kind of thing I like to have a couple of weeks notice for because I will bake early and freeze and then plan to decorate at my leisure.  I don't like having to rush, especially since there are so many other things undone.  I suppose all the books say I should have told him No so he would learn a lesson.  Or I could have gone out and bought cupcakes but I rather pride myself on my baking and nothing I buy would taste as good as I what I would make myself.  Sooooo, I made some simple chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with Milano cookies and Oreo cookie crumbs.  These were not hard to do and they turned out pretty well!  I think the boys will like them.

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

More Halloween Activity!

Lyra really wanted to carve her pumpkin so we did it this afternoon while Will and Eva were at school.  Eva carved hers with Bill this weekend.  I rather like spreading it all out this way, one kid at a time.  I also baked the rest of the gingerbread cookies (which have since been eaten!) and got a start on my costume.  South of the Border!  There's still quite a bit to do to get the rest of the costumes ready but I promise there will be more pictures soon.  Happy Halloween!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Eva's Cat Pumpkin

We all went yesterday to pick out pumpkins for Will, Eva and Lyra. Will and Lyra are away today but Eva designed her pumpkin face, and I helped carve.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Don Quixote rides again!

I took the kids to see the Washington Ballet's Don Quixote this evening.  It was GREAT!  After frantically trying to find a synopsis of the books online, it turned out the ballet included one manageable story and, as usual, incorporated all kinds of great showcase dancing for the men and elements of comedy.  I think that is why we always love TWB's performances.  I don't really have another ballet company to compare it with so I don't know if TWB is unusual in this regard, but I know that the acrobatics of the male dancers are cool enough to keep Will interested in going and we all appreciate the the humorous parts.

It was quite long, with two intermissions.  I thought the kids might fall asleep since we'd already had an action packed day and sitting in a dark room with classical music going is just the right setting for a nap. Instead, the performance inspired such quotes as "There is one flat dress!" and "She has been on that toe for exactly one minute!" and "Now that is just funny!"  The only things that marred the performance were the lack of a live orchestra and the one (or more?) audience members sitting nearby who were excessively and unpleasantly perfumed.  Our eyes were burning and Will, especially, was miserable.  I think it is rude to wear a lot of perfume when going to a crowded place.  BLEAH. I am glad we were able to stay for the entire performance.

In December, we are going to see the Nutcracker and Lyra will come with us!  She is very excited to attend her first ballet and is already planning to wear her tutu and ballet shoes.  She is disappointed that she doesn't get to dance.  I guess I need to find the girlie some ballet lessons.

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

MORE Baking and Halloween prep

Eva had a friend over and they wanted to bake cookies and decorate them.  Am I the cool mom or what?  We made really yummy gingerbread and the kids decorated and made a mess.  A delicious mess though so it was OK.  I am going on a long run tomorrow to make up for all the cookie dough and cookies I ate.  Let's hope it is NOT raining.

Also I need to get going on Halloween costumes so I spent some time on that today too.  You can see Eva has made considerable progress with hers.  Lyra is going to be Ronald McDonald (Old McDonald, in her words).  Her costume is still in progress.  I colored red stripes on her sleeves but still need to do socks or tights, figure out something for her shoes and also decorate her yellow shirt.  Eva is excited to do Lyra's makeup. 

How funny is it that these are the costumes, and my kids HATE fast food and won't eat it even when we are on a road trip and desperately need them to just eat the fast food because there is nothing else?  Still not ready to divulge our Halloween costume theme....those of you who know it, shhhhhhhh!  More to come later!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Spoooooky!

Last night's adventure was a trip to the Haunted Forest with Will's class and a corresponding class of girls.  Due to a travel snafu on Bill's part, I had to find babysitting for Lyra and bring Eva to this event.  That was not the original plan and I was worried it would be too scary.  And it did turn out to be way over the top of any haunted anything I have ever seen!  I actually had to ask another mom to go ahead of me because I am a great big CHICKEN and was too scared to go first (Thank you Alice!).  But after that, I needed to be brave for Eva's sake but most of the boys enjoyed being scared.  Really if you take a pre-emptive first shriek at anyone lurking in the darkness, it takes some of the fright out of it.  But still, this was pretty dang intense.  It is not for the claustrophobic.  And, hands down, everyone thought the circus area with the clowns was the scariest. 

As with Harry Potter and the dementors, hot chocolate took away any lingering terror.  That and watching other forest-goers come tearing out of a haunted bus at the end of their walk.  I don't know what was in there because there were two trails and we took the other one.  But it was so predictable, every few minutes there'd be all this screaming and a few people would be hauling a$$ out of the bus and into the main fairground area.  I only got moderately lost on the way home and no one had any bad dreams.  All's well that ends well!

Posted via email from catphelps's posterous

Chicago

I'm in Chicago for a couple of days. House of Blues is an icon, and of course the building on the right is also an icon for fans of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Bill's posterous