Busy Day

Joe and Ian spent most of their day doing this ...


... and I spent most of my day cooking and doing this.


We also worked in a 3.5 mile walk and a quick trip to Target. I might be too tired to stay up until midnight. Happy New Year!

First Haircut

Ian doesn't have a lot of hair, but the hair he does have was getting pretty long and shaggy in spots so we decided he should get a hair cut before Christmas. He did very well and only minded wearing the cape. The Wiggles kept him entertained, and it was finished pretty quickly. He looks very handsome!

Getting ready ...


buzz buzz in the back ...


And a snip or two on top.

Santa made a special appearance on Frugality Court today. Ian was not impressed.

ICE!

The Hansroth family spent the day at the National Harbor to kick off the Christmas season. We started the morning with a trip through ICE!, which featured the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was only 9 degrees inside the ICE rooms, so we all had to bundle up in our warm parkas.



My favorite is always the Grinch's dog.


Joe and Emily braved the ice slides, but by this point Ian was so cold we had to make a hasty exit.


Ian's favorite part was the fountain in the hotel atrium. He kept pointing at it and saying 'bubble.'


We also went for a ride on the Potomac Express. Ian wasn't sure what to make of the experience.


Then e did some shopping around the harbor and ate lunch before calling it a day. We had a lot of fun, so much so that all three of us slept late on Sunday!

Poor Clipper

Clipper had surgery on Tuesday to remove a tumor at the base of her tail. We don't have the biopsy results yet but the vet said it came off easily and doesn't appear to have spread anywhere else, so hopefully it's benign. Clipper has a funny new hair cut and has to wear a cone for at least a week. She's been pretty mopey about the cone, and sticks to us extra closely, but at least Teak is enjoying the reprieve.

Thanksgiving is exhausting, and since this nap was before the meal they can't even blame it on the turkey.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Ian models his hand-made holiday headgear.

Uh Oh

Ian's favorite thing to say is still "uh oh" (although he seems to add new words to his vocabulary every day). Today he surprised us with a hand gesture to accompany the phrase, which he must have picked up at daycare.

Raking Leaves

Someone isn't too thrilled with the leaf pile.

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Happy Again

Poor Ian has had a rough few days. He had a nasty cold, goopy eyes, an ear infection, and has two molars coming in. To top it off he had a little tumble that resulted in a slight limp for a few days. He took it in stride and is back to his happy self again, with the help of some antibiotics and a lollipop!

Halloween, Part 2

A few shots of Ian in his scarecrow costume:











Ready to go trick-or-treating!

Happy Halloween!

Ian's daycare had a Halloween party and parade this morning. All of the kids got dressed up and did a lap around the playground to show off their costumes (or in Ian's case, rode around in the buggy).



He spent most of the parade trying to pull off his hat, but was also very amused by Taylor's fuzzy pink costume next to him in the buggy, so I think he had fun.



He makes a pretty cute scarecrow!

Corn Maze

Last weekend was the 4th Annual Ferner/Guilfoyle Corn Maze Adventure, and it was a perfect day!

Ian hitched a ride through the corn field on his Dad's back.



There was lots to do at the festival too. Ian met some sheep and goats, then he and Maggie went down the slide and picked out a pumpkin. There was also a "sandbox" full of corn!








This one is my favorite, taken by Christy when Ian was crawling through one of the big pipes. Actually, most of these photos were taken by Christy.

Sugar Addict

Ian's syrup addiction is a little out of control. After finishing his whole plate of french toast this morning (with a little dribble of syrup), he picked up the plate and started licking it, hence the syrup blob on his forehead.

NYC 2010

Joe and I spent Columbus Day weekend in New York City while Ian stayed home with Grandma H. and his Aunt Emily. We did a lot of walking and our feet were definitely ready to come home, but we also had a lot of fun. Here are some of the highlights.

Friday morning we took an Amtrak train from DC to Penn Station, then spent the afternoon walking around the financial district. We saw Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, the construction site at Ground Zero, and took an afternoon walk along the Hudson River and Battery Park.


Friday evening we went out for a fancy dinner at Le Bernardin, where we had a seven course tasting menu that included octopus, lobster, and carmelized white chocolate, complete with a wine pairing for each course. The wine was great but the food didn't live up to our expectations. We did, however, get to see the restaurant's famous chef Eric Ripert talking to NY Senator Chuck Schumer in the dining room so that was pretty cool.

After dinner we walked through Times Square and visited the world's largest Toys R' Us (but poor Ian didn't get a souvenir).


Saturday we spent the day walking. We toured Chinatown, ate breakfast al fresco in Little Italy, and sampled grapefruit margaritas featured on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate.



We took a break from walking to take a water taxi tour around the southern tip of Manhattan.


We rounded out the afternoon with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and some delicious pizza at the famous Grimaldi's.


After a long nap, we braved the subway to Greenwich Village, where we hopped around to several bars and restaurants and had some delicious food and wine.


Sunday we had a picnic in Central Park, toured the Museum of Natural History, and did some window shopping in midtown.


Sunday night we met our friends Sam and Roy for dinner and a visit to Top of the Rock, the observation deck 67 floors above Rockefeller Center.


Monday we ate some NY bagels for breakfast and attempted to buy a fake designer purse in Chinatown before catching the train back home. We loved New York but next time we have a child-free vacation we'll spend it lounging on a beach because now we're exhausted!

Garage Door: Before and After

We finally replaced our wooden, rotting, squeaky, very blue garage door with a quiet, insulated, cream-colored one. We think the house looks so much nicer.

Before


After

Fall Festival

We spent Saturday with some friends at the Cox Farms fall festival.

Not so sure about this hay business


Ryan is king of the mountain while Ian does his best farmer impression


Throwing rocks in the pond


Lots of fun on the train






Sliding with Dad


Again again!


Picking a pumpkin