During a fit of good weather (temps in the 70s!), we went for a walk in our old neighborhood and visited some playgrounds we used to frequent.
Seesaw!
Spin the sister!
We had yet another "final" snowstorm of the season in the middle of the month.
Out geocaching
The backyard disappearing again!
I did some geocaching by Annapolis and found the Coretta Scott King Memorial Garden. It's a nice quiet spot that I never would have discovered otherwise.
Coretta Scott King Memorial Garden
On a school holiday I took the kids back to the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area for a hike. We always enjoy rediscovering the car that was abandoned in the middle of the woods who knows how many years ago.
Crossing a lame bridge
Nice car!
We went for a walk in Old Ellicott City and enjoyed visiting the TARDIS Little Free Library.
Who's excited?
Our son had his performance for the Columbia Youth Orchestra. They played music from Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro, and Carmina Burana, among other selections.
The basses
March was Robotics Competition month so our daughter was off with her fellow high school roboticists at two competitions.
Some more pictures that didn't make their own post...
While visiting the Oakley Cabin Museum and Park we hiked the trails and crossed a bridge. We noticed the river had a slim layer of ice and tried to break it, only our stone bounced when it broke the ice and stayed up top!
On the bridge
Breaking the frozen river
Closeup of above
I went to Ellicott City and saw the full-size (except for the inside) TARDIS little free library. I had a Geocaching travel bug that was a TARDIS too, so I snapped them together. In hindsight, I should have put the TARDIS inside the TARDIS to create a spatial paradox. Maybe next time!
What's the plural of TARDIS?
Books are bigger on the inside!
The big snow storm at the end of the month dumped a good deal of snow, meaning we had to shovel.
The view out the back porch
Shoveling out the front porch
We eventually made it out. It wasn't the most fun snow because sleet came during the storm transforming it into concrete-hard surfaces--not good for sledding, snowball fights, or making snowmen. Oh well!
We had our first snow storm early in the month. The schools had a two-hour delay three days before for a non-event so they didn't panic this time and our kids went to school in the inch of snow. Everything went fine. The snow was gone in two days, alas. Even worse, there was not enough for sledding!
Actually, we did have snow ten months ago...
I won a contest months and months ago and the prize finally made it to me! The Holiday Hijinks series is a set of 18-card escape-room games, so that box has a dozen games in it. I am looking forward to trying them out!
My youngest went on a Scout outing to Urban Air, a fun indoor adventure land. I was a chaperone so I was able to take pictures.
The Leap of Faith
High ropes adventures
You're being followed
Spider-Man routine
Wall-crawling, also like Spider-Man
He made it to the top
They also had laser tag, a VR game, go-karts (indoors!), and a Ninja Warrior-style course. It was big fun.
We had a second snow storm in the middle of the month which was on a Sunday so only Sunday school was canceled.
We had our lights up by then!
The middle of December is also the time for the Winter Showcase at That's Dancing, our ballroom dance studio. We had a fun time with the theme, Country Christmas, and danced to two George Straight songs (videos to come later). The gift from the studio was a glass perfect for a pour of Guinness!
Commemorative glass (beer not included)
We did our traditional Christmas cookie decorating with an aunt.
Working hard
Making faces
Results
Getting plates ready for neighbors
My son spent some time hanging out by the computer.
Okay?!?
We went to Savage Mill for a "flash mob swing dance," which means that some dancers showed up and played music and danced while people shopped. We did not get pictures of ourselves or the dancers, but did get a shot of the long line for visiting with Santa (and the fabulous decorations).
View from the upper level
Christmas was a lot of fun if a bit melancholy. We miss our oldest son but had a good time celebrating with family at home and visiting in Phoenix. More on that in future posts!
We had a serious bit of snow the first Friday in January, I happened to be out running errands when it started.
Snowy parking lot
Our front porch even more decorated
Little did I know the next week would bring an even bigger snow storm with two days off from school for the kids.
9 a.m. photo
We took that time to put away the Christmas tree and indoor decorations. The outdoor lights were already partially buried in snow so I decided to leave them up.
Vacuuming up fake needles that fell off our fake tree!
We had a family video game night for which the kids were especially enthusiastic...
Are we having fun yet?
The next day we played in the snow, or at least the youngest did...
Sledmaster!
I forgot to post this video with last month's post (or even the Christmas post), so here is the rocket launch from our cul de sac. What an awesome Christmas present!
Our youngest was the top speller in his classroom in December, which meant he moved on to the school-wide spelling bee in January. The school sent two tickets home for parents or other adults to come watch on a Friday afternoon. He was eliminated in the fifth round when he stumbled on "committee." Too many double letters! He confided in me afterwards that he did not want to go on to the county-wide spelling bee and would have deliberately misspelled a word if it was down to three students.
Some chairs emptied by round three
On the spot
We went to a concert for our eldest held at his school. It was a fun time!
High school band
We did our first rollerskating of the year at the nearby rink. I swear my youngest has other t-shirts!
Wearing a chess shirt to a roller rink?!?
I was amazed to see a certain chocolate bar in a local convenience store. Our family is convinced that Mr. Goodbar only comes in the Halloween multi-packs, but there it was.
No more need to go looking for Mr. Goodbar
We went ice skating at Color Burst Park, which was a lot harder than the roller rink.
We went to a Renaissance Dance at our dance studio, That's Dancing. We had a fun time learning a Scottish folk dance along with dancing to older and older-sounding music.
Dressed like back in the day
We went for a fmaily hike in the Daniels Area of Patapsco Valley State Park. We saw the dam (presumably for a mill on the river) and some ruins of a building, along with the only natural cave in Howard County. It was a fun hike though a bit long for the kids.
Beach under the dam
On top of the cave
Enough cinder blocks to make a house
Train bridge across the river
A swing we didn't try
My youngest got a couple of awards at his cub scout pack meeting.
Receiving awards
On a morning walk, I spotted a blue heron down on the Hammond Branch near our house.
Posing for a pic?
The first snow of the season happened in November, it was great big flakes that did not stick to anything. Maybe there's hope of some good snow storms in the future?
Snow is never photogenic for me
We hiked the Wincopin Trails near our home to find a geocache and to get ready for more hiking later in the month. We found a bespoke bench in the woods.
Posts
