Tag Archives: photos

Mint Springs in Winter

One of our favorite spots in Charlottesville is Mint Springs. This lovely little park in Crozet has a small swimming lake and a sandy beach nestled in a valley. Every summer, my children look forward to paddling in the warm, spring-fed waters right alongside the curious sunfish that sometimes like to gently nibble at swimmers’ toes.

This weekend we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to visit the park for the first time in the winter. We hiked a well-marked mountain path that loops around for a little less than two miles and has an elevation change of about 370 feet:

A view of Crozet from about halfway up the trail…

This stone fireplace is all that remains of a house perched along the trail. I wonder who lived here?

I loved this rocky outcrop..

with lichen-covered rocks.

Along the way, we passed this brave little tree, which kept right on growing despite an assault by a ruthless vine.

Our favorite spot on the hike was this one, where we paused to listen to the sweet sound of the mountain stream…

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning. I’m trying not to squander the precious little time I have to get things done. Friends are coming over for dinner tonight and I’ve got to get the house in order. Outside, I’ve swept the walkway leading to the front door. I’ve raked and bagged up piles of endlessly proliferating leaves. Inside, I’ve wiped countertops and cleared off the dining room table. As I vacuum the rug in the foyer, I glance into the dining room and see that the kids have undone my work by piling mugs of hot cocoa, sticky candy canes, dirty napkins, and scattered books all over the table.

“NO!” I bray over the roar of the vacuum cleaner. A casual observer might look at the expression on my face and reasonably conclude that I’ve just witnessed the clubbing of a baby seal. “I JUST cleaned that table off. Clean up that mess!”

“We WILL, I promise! Just let us finish,” my daughter pleads.

I’m about to insist, when I pause for a minute and see. I turn off the vacuum cleaner and get my camera to record this moment. Because this, not the bags of leaves, not the once-spotless dining room table, not the dinner that we’ll have later, this is the most important thing that will happen today, and I want to remember it.

New Years Past and Present

For years we rang in the New Year with friends of ours who have daughters close in age to our boys…Our kids have grown up with each other. Every year we would have a sleepover so that the kids could hang out until their bed time, and the parents could play after the little ones went to sleep…

2003
2005
2006

Although the two-year-old was busy taking important phone calls, we still managed to include her in the annual New Year’s photo.

We were finally able to prise her away from the phone to have some cake…

2007

For one reason or other, this cherished tradition fell by the wayside. We were delighted to be able to have our friends over to celebrate the New Year together again this year.

We prepared with a thorough cleaning – inside and out!

My husband made his famous lasagna…

and we ordered a galette des rois from MarieBette, the new French bakery in Charlottesville. Délicieuse!

Look what I found!

I got to wear the crown!

Crackers…

…and games until it was time for the countdown to 2015!

Get ready, kids, because next time we’re going to recreate the pajama photos!

2014

For the past four years or so, we’ve been making holiday videos in lieu of sending Christmas cards. This year, I had serious doubts that it was going to happen, but here it is after all…Our rather rough-around-the-edges Holiday video for 2014, featuring every single member of the family playing an instrument, pretending to be an instrument, beatboxing, whistling, singing, etc. etc.:

 

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Story

In days of old, it was foretold that, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”

And it came to pass that people traveled great distances…

“And all went to be taxed every one into his own city.”

Every one came to adore the new baby…

“Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes…”

The shepherds came with their sheepdogs…

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

There were three kings…

“…there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.”

…and although it is not widely known, there were a couple of queens too…

There were gifts…

“…when they had opened their treasures, they presented…gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

And a multitude of heavenly host sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men“:

Holiday Snapshots

MONDAY

Quiz Time!

In preparation for the upcoming holiday season and seeing our extended family, my sister and I decided to give the kids an after-breakfast quiz. “What is your Grandfather’s first name?” “What is the name of your cousins’ new dog?” etc. etc.

The kids decided we should be quizzed too. After lunch they gave us questions that included: “In which month are most babies born?” “How much does the earth weigh?” “Why can you not take a picture of a man with a wooden leg in British Columbia?” (Answers at end of post).

Having been roundly humiliated by this latest set of questions, we decided to up the ante with new questions of our own, relating to our work: “What are the ingredients of a roux?” “What is the purpose of a Form I-765?”

The kids were not amused. The next round, a math quiz, continued at the shabu shabu restaurant we went to for dinner…The kids posed questions along the lines of: “What is the cubed root of 512?”

Here was the final bonus round…

Adding only mathematical symbols (NOT numbers), make the three numbers to the left equal 6:

0              0                0        =      6

1              1                1        =      6

2              2                2        =      6

3              3                3        =      6

4              4                4        =      6

5              5                5        =      6

6              6                6        =      6

7              7                7        =      6

8              8                8        =      6

9              9                9        =      6

My sister and I, English and Russian majors respectively, looked at each other blankly.

“Here! I’ll even do one for you as an example,” my son generously offered.

2     +      2     +     2      =      6

My sister and I puzzled our way through almost all of them, but were stumped by the last few.

Again, my son tried to save us from utter humiliation with what he thought was a huge hint.

“Factorials.”

Alas, this did nothing to shed light upon our benighted ignorance.

“What’s a factorial?” I asked my sister. She shrugged.

Quiz Time is not over. Not by a long shot. We’ve already got the next round (“The Etiquette Round”) queued up and ready to go.

TUESDAY

The National Gallery

Wow, I’m short.

WEDNESDAY

Princeton

Proud Grandma and Grandpa
Meeting Daisy

The rest of the tribe arrives tonight…

Answers to Round 2 Quiz questions: August, 1,000 trillion metric tons or 6 sextillion, You can’t take a picture with a leg.

 

Weekend Snapshots 17

I forgot my camera at my parents’ house a couple weekends ago, and have been suffering from withdrawal. Thanks to my sister and FedEX, I finally got it back today! I had my camera phone and an old camera to tide me over…

Parents’ Night Out! (See last post)!

Me and my old man
Picking up our helper elves…

We picked out our Christmas tree this weekend…

Note the nervous smile. This girl is scarred for life by the creepy singing Santa!

We made “gingerbread” (graham cracker!) houses at the Lorna Sundberg International Center…

Gingerbread House of Horrors
Proud homeowner
Gingerbread houses!

While the boys had their final piano lesson before their recital, my daughter and I ignored the NO TRESPASSING! NO PARKING! signs at Foxfield to admire the beautiful sunset.

Foxfield

Brussels through her eyes…

I just had a look through the photos my daughter took of Brussels during a longish layover en route to England…

Maison du Roi, which houses the Museum of the City of Brussels, La Grand Place
She caught her dad hobbling along in front of Maison des Ducs de Brabant
She was intrigued by the famous Manneken Pis…
…as well as the chocolate shops!
Sharing her photos with her cousins on Saturday.