Liam wore this pumpkin costume as a baby too. Cute, cute.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Mt Vernon, George Washington Estate
Who doesn't love George Washington? He's probably America's most lovable guy. After visiting his estate, believe it or not, you love him even more. The man is a rock- a solider, leader, philanthropist, architect, linguist, farmer, hunter, scholar extraordinaire. His estate is a little haven just outside a traffic laden, bustling city.
The picture of us is on the chairs of Washington's back porch.
Gettysburg, PA
Gettysburg is a very impressionable place set in a beautiful location. There is a very humbling spirit that accompanies these battle fields. It should be on every history-lovers 'must see' list.
The day included a car audio tour, movie, artillery reenactment and museum visit. Even if you know nothing about the Battle of Gettysburg before your trip, by the end of the day you've fallen in love with the place and the 50,000 fallen soldiers.
Brady and my dad both have been wanting to visit these battle fields their whole lives. The bottom picture of my dad is perhaps my favorite picture of him ever and it shows his fun personality. I love the excitement on his face- it's worth a thousand words.
The day included a car audio tour, movie, artillery reenactment and museum visit. Even if you know nothing about the Battle of Gettysburg before your trip, by the end of the day you've fallen in love with the place and the 50,000 fallen soldiers.
Brady and my dad both have been wanting to visit these battle fields their whole lives. The bottom picture of my dad is perhaps my favorite picture of him ever and it shows his fun personality. I love the excitement on his face- it's worth a thousand words.
Liam enjoyed the day sneaking around the rocks with his bow and arrow. . . . .and stalking dogs.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
why we love our kids
Dani and Liam were learning about dinosaurs and he said that they found dinosaur bones by digging in rocks. And Dani told him the word for that is paleontologist- "Do you wanna practice it?" He replied, "Practice, I don't need practice"-- Then he closed his eyes for a second, opened them, and said confidently,
"Pay-Liam-tologist. Got it". Then he was off to the next thing.
This morning on my way out to work bright and early he was on the front porch in his undies squirting me with a little water gun. In the middle of the barrage he stopped, gave me the routine high five, thumbs-up, knuckles that I get every time I leave, then he kept on shooting until I was out of range.
After dinner he had all his pirate gear on and he and I were on the couch steering the ship around the shark, which was little Elsie kicking happily on the floor. He's also been spending most of his play time with some random rope he found laying around, which he ties up to things and 'climbs' up mountains. And sometimes he ties up his mom by her belt loops to the computer chair when she's not paying attention.
Last night I fed Elsie rice cereal for the first time. She took it well and most of it went straight down the pipes. Except for when she shoved her foot in her mouth right after I'd get a spoonful in, then it was all over the place.
Liam was talking with Dani about getting bigger, and he said "Yeah, and when I'm BIG, *I* will be the boss of DAD!!"
Whenever there's more than two of anything, he always says there are three. It's his own little word for lots. He pronounces three as "free". And he gets really excited when there are free of things.
"Dad, I'm getting big, huh? Yeah, but mom doesn't want me to get big, because she wants me to stay small so I can snuggle. But guess what? I'm going to get big. I take lots of naps and that's what gets me big."
Dani and the kids went to play group and Liam was running around and came back to Dani and said " I tried to chase the girls to get them to play with me but it didn't work. Then I started yelling "I'm not going to hurt you!" at them, and it still didn't work."
Elsie's rolling over both ways all over the place and she's never quite where we left her on the floor when we come back-- always a few feet in a different random direction. Liam can get her to crack up basically on command.
"Pay-Liam-tologist. Got it". Then he was off to the next thing.
This morning on my way out to work bright and early he was on the front porch in his undies squirting me with a little water gun. In the middle of the barrage he stopped, gave me the routine high five, thumbs-up, knuckles that I get every time I leave, then he kept on shooting until I was out of range.
After dinner he had all his pirate gear on and he and I were on the couch steering the ship around the shark, which was little Elsie kicking happily on the floor. He's also been spending most of his play time with some random rope he found laying around, which he ties up to things and 'climbs' up mountains. And sometimes he ties up his mom by her belt loops to the computer chair when she's not paying attention.
Last night I fed Elsie rice cereal for the first time. She took it well and most of it went straight down the pipes. Except for when she shoved her foot in her mouth right after I'd get a spoonful in, then it was all over the place.
Liam was talking with Dani about getting bigger, and he said "Yeah, and when I'm BIG, *I* will be the boss of DAD!!"
Whenever there's more than two of anything, he always says there are three. It's his own little word for lots. He pronounces three as "free". And he gets really excited when there are free of things.
"Dad, I'm getting big, huh? Yeah, but mom doesn't want me to get big, because she wants me to stay small so I can snuggle. But guess what? I'm going to get big. I take lots of naps and that's what gets me big."
Dani and the kids went to play group and Liam was running around and came back to Dani and said " I tried to chase the girls to get them to play with me but it didn't work. Then I started yelling "I'm not going to hurt you!" at them, and it still didn't work."
Elsie's rolling over both ways all over the place and she's never quite where we left her on the floor when we come back-- always a few feet in a different random direction. Liam can get her to crack up basically on command.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Three Cheers for Gabe! We'll miss you.
We all know that nothing lives forever. Not pets, not plants, not even people. All good things come to an end. Our rabbit, Gabe Rabbit Firth, died yesterday and shocked our family with such a reminder .
I don't know why it's so hard to lose a pet. They're "just" animals and theoretically they should be very easily replaced. But somehow they sneak into our hearts and when they leave us for good, they create a void.
Pets foster a type of unconditional love for their owners that's not quite replicated by humans. They become a part of our daily routine and with each act of nurturing we do for them they reciprocate and give us a sense of satisfaction and a job well done.
Gabe has been a very important part of the Firth home since we instantly bonded with him nearly 4 year ago. We loved this bunny like dog owners love "mans best friend." We have had him since before we had Liam. He has lived illegally in our bath tub in Utah, in luxury in his own garage in Michigan and most recently in our backyard in Maryland.
He was potty trained and would drop what he was doing and come when his name was called. He was cheap and low maintenance. He made our compost thrive. He was always good for a snuggle even when everyone else was busy. Dang it, we weren't yet ready for him to leave and we'll miss him.
Enjoying time with family
This week we were so lucky to have our family come and spend time with us. My brother Jared and his wife Lacey came on the tail end of a trip from Africa. Brady's mom and sister Lindsey and our baby niece Molly came too for a few days. The house is quiet and lonely now that they're gone. It was fun discovering our new town with them. A quick list of our favorite things: Smithsonians- Absolutely amazing collection of dinosaurs, animals, a butterfly house, mummies. . .
National memorials/ monumentsThe White House-
Senate tour and session visit-
Gettysburg (Lacey and Jared)
dc metro, dc warf, getting lost in the dc ghetto
Arlington national cemetery- while we were there a wreath ceremony was occurring for a mother that lost her son, It was hard not to get all misty eyed while they played taps. It is a very touching, sacred place.
Nana's "birthday"
i
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