Cheese Boats, Hole-in-Ones, and a Raccoon in the Attic

Highlights

• Family day trip to Canaan Valley and hiking around Blackwater Falls State Park - beautiful and we had to go off trail and Zach called it orienteering. 
• Indoor pool time and the new Sky Zone finally opened
• Audio books: Percy Jackson, Gordon Korman’s Unplugged and Faker, Mr. Limoncello’s Library

• Philly Flower Show: Wow! Emily and I left and hit quite a bit of traffic driving up to Philly. The show was insanely crowded. I loved seeing all the flower crowns. We ate hand pulled noodles in Chinatown. I got a cheese boat from a Republic of Georgia stand in the Reading Terminal Market. We had an amazing dinner at Laser Wolf and picked up donuts on our way home at Diablo Donuts. Because of the flower show, we had to leave at 5am of the time change weekend, which really felt like 4am. Nuts! A weekend we’ll remember for sure! 
• Frank and Zach continued ski season, though they only got in one last trip to Massanutten in late Feb; Frank took a day trip on his own to Canaan Valley State Park
• Ping pong! 
• Loudoun United Soccer opener with Theo. Fun times! 
• Theo played with Zach at our house after the game and had so much fun that he wanted to come back the next day. I loved that. He and Henry played with Teddy, Jewelle, Logan, and Cora. 
• Erik was off on one of the school holidays and took the kids on a bike ride to Lake Anne. Love that!

• Trip to Williamsburg and Jamestown. So fun! We stopped for donuts on the way down, took back roads and stumbled across a local foods restaurant. Perfect cool and blustery weather! We played mini-golf, ping pong, and basketball. Zach and I both got two holes in one! We checked out Williamsburg over two days and explored Jamestown and the ferry from Jamestown to Scotland. We got an early dinner at a local seafood place, The Surry Seafood Co., which had great views! We discovered a terrific coffee shop, Column 15 Cafe and Roastery. Picnic at Caledon State Park on the way home and more back roads.

• No Kings Rally in Williamsburg. We loved it when people honked their horns as they went through the intersection, especially the WATA buses and a USPS truck
• Playdates with Theo, Jackson, Adrian, and a lot of neighborhood kid fun - hide and seek and tag and baseball
• Susan and Zach to Meadowlark and to DC to Planet Word and Zaytinya. Love Planet Word, especially in the music room! I was impudent and Zach was dour! :)
• Tea with Liam and Lynne
• Walks to school, as always 

Food and Cooking

• Pizza at Sirianni’s in Davis, WV
• Auntie Em’s English muffins and crackers
• CHIKO
• Ethiopian - we went out to Enatye and Zach LOVED it!

Zach: Of Note

• Basketball continued to be quite fun. I enjoyed the connections on the team! The team made it into the playoffs, and I loved how they played a pick up game with their families after the last game. It really changed the mood from disappointment to joy! 
• Soccer tournaments in March; it was fun to get the gang back together! Nice weather for both weekends! The team made it to the semi-finals in tourney #1 and held their own in tourney #2. 
• Soccer season started with a game in Charlottesville, and the team lost big, but they held off the first goal for 17 minutes! Zach got compliments for staying in the game as goalie. Aww. Chuckie came. We got in some serious audio book listening and a fun dinner and ice cream on the way home after that hot, hot day! 
• Practices have been a total mess because of tryouts. 
• Zach did tryout for and join RBFC for 2026-27 and got in some goalie training with Liam

• Zach started crocheting with a Woobles kit and got a lot of help from Beth. The kids also had a craft hour at our house. Love it!

• Science and math and literacy nights at school
• Zach started work on his graphic novel
• Field trips! Mount Vernon and symphony
• Singing chorus songs: Keene and This is Me from the Greatest Showman

Projects

• Met with Zach's teachers about Let Grow and working on having a Play Club at Lake Anne!
• Working with Leni and Megan on muffin exchanges
• Helping with RBFC soccer club at Lake Anne
• Looking for the next step post-GoCanvas and some great help from Angela

Enjoying

• Heartland, Ripple, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
• O11ce New Beginnings
• National Treasure movies and the limited series
• Chang Can Dunk and Macfarland, USA
• Frank and Zach went to see Hail Mary

Challenges

• Jeff and emergency surgery and recovery (Glad we got to have dinner all together just before his unexpected health challenge)
• A raccoon in our attic! New insulation for us!
• Work has been tough. Judie (my leader at GoCanvas) is leaving. No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ; Goodbye to Anita and Athena
• Dead garbage disposal, luckily Frank replaced it! 
• Tough with such a disrupted schedule: snow days, tornadoes, so.many.days off
• Working through some frustrations and working on emotional regulation
• 
  
• Kate lost Itsy Bitsy
• Travel soccer - OMG!

Fun Stuff

• Hanging with Auntie Em
• Catching up with Paige, Mom and Dad, Mary Kay and Kathleen and Nikki
• Emily started her new job and Paige got a job!!!!
• Artemis 2 launch

Health stuff

• Foot stretches
• Maintenance of dentist, callouses, and ear clean out
• Picked up my orthodics

Tranquilo, Connection, and Tough Times Too

Highlights

• Trip to Deep Creek Lake with Kathleen and Brian, the Pages, and Kate. We had a great snow hike together, and the game room and games were incredibly fun. Frank, Zach, and Hance enjoyed the hot tub!I really liked Wisp, a great resort for hanging out! 
• Connection: Katie and Katie - she came to one of Zach’s basketball games! Liam and Krista at the RCC Camp Expo

• Sledding with the neighbors and play dates with Noah and Jackson, Cora, Theo, and Gimkit with Domingo and friends
• Impromptu time with Adrian at the pet store and library and we ran into Leland’s family and Domingo and Eileen
• Charles first cousin’s daughter is the Canadian national champion, and we got up to watch her perform
• Dinner with Charles and Leni
• Calls with Paige, Mary Kay and Angela
• Hanging out with Jenny at the futsal practice! 
• Taking care of a neighbor's cats
• Chatted with the new RBFC Travel Director

• Frank and Zach and skiing, which included an overnight with Gamma and Daddy Bob and two days of skiing with James!
• Frank and Zach to the Mall for the Air and Space museum and the Hirshorn. (See gallery pic of Zach at the very bottom.)
• Super Bowl party for Frank and Zach with Auntie Em, Uncle Jeff, and Charlotte

• Lunches with Auntie Em at new spots, Zumba, and a day trip out to Mom and Dad’s
• Auntie Em got a job!!!
• Playing tennis, basketball, bowling, etc. on Nintendo sport video game
• To Claude Moore's indoor pool on a Wednesday after work
• Ping pong at Claire and Beto’s
• Costco
• Games, particularly the Escape Room and Harry Potter for Zach
• Goodbye Alan and prepping for spring soccer

Food and Cooking

• Sweet tahini pastry
• Auntie Em’s pumpkin muffins and rhubarb muffins
• Heart shaped biscuits and Brownies! 🙂
• Leni’s chili, cornbread, shishito peppers, tomato and avocado and onion toppings and yellow kiwis
• Choolah twice and we finally took Frank
• Blue Chicken goodies, but no Cardamom Buns. Sigh!

Zach: Of Note

• Nerf basketball hoop and Reston Hoops Basketball! The games have been fun! I bonded with a referee and helped track scoring and fouls for one game; chatted with Jen and Monica; Zach’s PE teacher came to a game!

• Walking to school in early January
• Aidan’s and Tom's parties!
• Some goalie training, early season soccer before the snow, and a couple indoor soccer sessions
• Piano and got an Imagine Dragons music book, starting with Demons
• Zach’s book idea: The House of Mysteries and his characters: James, Margaret, Stewart, and Jeannette <3
• Zach finished his first non-chapter book, The Misfits Book One by Lisa Yee and he and I are enjoying Chris Grabentstein’s Super Puzzletastic Mysteries
• We finished the Dive series by Gordan Korman
• We’re still enjoying Gordon Korman (Linked, Unplugged), Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter for listening
• Watching OIIce, The Crossover, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day on his sick day (Feb 15)

• Snow storm, "snowcrete," and days off school
• Coordinated camps with Claire for Zach and Theo
• “Tranquilo” at school!
• Zach’s fave subject is social studies - who knew?!
• He’s healthy as per his 10-year well appointment/annual doctor’s visit

Insights

• AI and technology… As Dr. Becky Kennedy said she’s “not anti-technology, but pro-human development and pro-childhood.” The idea is that we need tasks like waiting in line, running errands, or doing “boring things” and living in uncertainty in order to build resilience and be able to connect and be creative. If AI eliminates those experiences, then how can we build the skills to actually connect and be and creative? 
• I want Zach to have a growth mindset, but I tend toward a fixed mindset. I think, “I have to get this right, or there’s no going back!”
• The people of Minnesota are an inspiration to us because of their bravery and courage.
• Thinking about more unhurried time together, walking home from school and walking with others. Just time to hang out at the grocery, etc. The idea of kids having time to do their own thing with parents adjacent
• Good Inside insights remain helpful!

I'm enjoying...

• The Way Home, though they time travel through a pond, so the actors are perpetually wet, which is funny! 
• Listened to a lot of Vertical Horizon. So good! 

Challenges

• Low level anxiety around the state of the world and left over trauma from work with Kitti. Also, everything about parenting right now feels important, critical, and high stakes. 
• Working through some foot pain with nightly stretches
• Called representatives about ICE and asked friends to call as well <3
• Zach had to have a smart watch. That was tough, but we’re tolerating the discomfort of those conversations, and they have completely fallen off...for now. 
• Zach wanted sports cards right then, but we tolerated the waiting and it never came back up!

Games, Goats, and Very Long Birthdays

Highlights

• Friend time - for the second year in a row we got together to hike in Maryland and visited a winery afterwards. The Pages made us grilled cheese sandwiches in the company of a goat, and the winery had a great herby sparkling grape juice. Yum!
• Traveled down to Linda’s daughter’s family winery in Culpeper. What a beautiful day and so good to connect again so soon after my trip with Zach down to Tennessee!
• Thanksgiving: the cousins (Bennie, Sisi, Zach, Gabe, and Nolan) played games: video, Klask, Skull King, and BS (Boloney Sandwich, as per Bennie)

• Friend time: playdates with Tom, Noah, Landon, and Theo
• RBFC dinner and kickoff gathering - I love me some connection and Valencia is a kindred spirit for sure!
• The Salamander in Middleburg: We went for tea (Mom, Emily, and I), and it was so lovely I took Frank and Zach, and we got the hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate shavings, and a candy cane. (No, it wasn't too much.) We stopped by Cana on our way home and had pizza and Frank had gluhwein. 

• Games: Mysterium and Carcassonne (for Frank, Jeff, and Zach)
• Playing “soccer” with the aerobee as the ball. 
• Trip to Charlottesville for Frank and Zach and to Roanoke for me to meet up with Paige; we loved the crackling fireplace we found!

Zach: Of Note

• Zach’s soccer team party. One of Zach’s team mates said, “This is the best birthday party ever, I mean party!” I don’t think he has too much fun in his life. So glad the party was great for him! :) <3

• Birthday fun lasted for 2+ weeks! Zach got gifts the Saturday before - a new video game and then we went to the Melting Pot on his birthday. Frank took him down to Charlottesville a day early to hang out with Gabe, and then he wrapped up his birthday with his joint party with Theo at Cub Run Rec Center!
• Birthday Party season started: Adrian, Zach, Theo, and Athena
• Basketball started!
• Jingle by the Lake singing and the holiday chorus and band concert - Zach was so into it!

• Ski season started early! Frank and Zach went to Bryce and Wintergreen and we all traveled up to Greek Peak. Frank shared that Zach is a playful skier, and he attributes that to his two ski instructors in Colorado in 2022 and 2023, who taught him to explore and enjoy the journey down the mountain by looking for wooded trails off the main path. 
• Zach and Auntie Em went to the Leesburg Cat Cafe!

With the beloved UVA hoodie!

• Reading Gordon Korman’s Dive series 

Challenges

Second shingles shot really took me out for days. I had brain fog and gastrointestinal distress. No bueno!

B'day at the Melting Pot

Food and Cooking

• Homemade roasted broccoli mac and cheese
• Holiday nosh and goodies: cheese ball, trash, and Emily’s jam and chocolate chip tahini cookies
• Auntie Em’s new salad addition
• Thompson Italian goodness
• Little Debbie Christmas tree snack cake

Chuckling Santa made
appearances around the house

Holiday Fun Times

• Auntie Em’s FIFA 2026 Advent calendar 
• Holiday cozy pants from Paige
• Enjoyed the holiday cards from friends
• Reston’s Winterfest - ran into so many neighbors and classmates
• Watching the Harry Potter movies, OIIce in Spanish, and season 2 of Percy Jackson
• Walk with Katie, and she gave us fun holiday cookies
• Coffee with Liam, and he shared fun British Cadbury chocolates
• A visit to the U.S. Botanic Gardens, their hotcho food truck hotcho is NOT to be recommended
• We watched The Princess Bride as a family on Christmas Eve to remember Rob Reiner
• Zach and I watched Elf on Christmas morning, and we took our family hike at Seneca at the end of Christmas Day
• Hershey Park and Hershey visit on New Year’s Eve

Greek Peak: Dec 31-Jan 1

• I love a winter wonderland! 
• The boys loved skiing, and I enjoyed wandering the property!
• We checked out Ithaca and Lake Cayuga.
• We stayed with Toni and enjoyed her cozy cabin. Zach warmed to her two dogs: Oliver and Spirit.
• We watched the beginning of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society movie after Zach bonded with Toni over All Creatures Great and Small. So sweet. 
• I love how much Zach enjoys meeting new people and animals. He’s friendly and chatty and loves to share his world. Toni was impressed that he always asked before he let the dogs outside, etc. We really enjoyed the classic Airbnb experience. 

Check out our holiday card: Summing up 2025

My Favorite Time of Year

Highlights

• Board game club and board game/strategy game gathering with Mr. Johnson at the RCC on Sundays

• Soccer and goalie training
• A fun family day of hiking at Seneca Park, lunch at Taco Bamba, and a lot of great Halloween decorations in Falls Church, Dunn Loring, and Vienna
• Taking the day as it came: 100 Things to do before you grow up with Teddy and the soccer match with GFR coaches Illias and Carter. Had time to chat with Josh’s dad
• Walking to school - great as always
• A birthday celebration in Woodstock was great fun. Frank and Zach ran the RC car, and then met us for lunch and cupcakes. Zach spent the night! 

• Zach and I also stopped in to visit Mom and Dad on the way to and from TN
• I got my old job back! People missed me, and in my listening tour, they’ve been letting me know. Feels pretty good!
• Hubbard Street Dance performance at George Mason was a fun treat, though a late night!
• Math Olympiad for Zach
• Rediscovering the Indigo Girls’ song Mystery and Matt Kearney. Nice rocking out!
• We're getting in a lot of Gordon Korman listening. We like The Superteacher and Fort best and then Slacker, Snoop, and Ungifted. The books are so good!
• We celebrated Frank's 50th birthday! On Veteran’s Day, so we went out for a hike at Banshee and then lunch at Lark and then tried a new Vietnamese restaurant.

• At the end of the season, the boys got their first win and headed off to the Bethesda Premier Cup where they won all four of their games and finally won a tournament. The champions! Hanging out with Yousef and Alan.

• A sweet card from one of the soccer families. I appreciate the thoughtfulness from them, from Sameen and Amy
• Northern Lights in Reston!
• Dinner with Katie and Suji

Halloween fun: though I really dislike costumes and trick-or-treating, I loved checking out decorations in October and making fun treats (witches fingers and eyeball punch)! 

Not our carved pumpkin, but so good!

Visit to TN: magical - See Paige's special video here.

• Zach got to ride a horse for the first time, feed a calf, and see the where I grew up. We had fun with the Bell family! They were selling honey at the Willow Garden. There are good restaurants, Ghost and Grits, great food and coffee - all in Jefferson City. 
• We had some terrific inside jokes, played games all around, laughed a lot and ate Martha’s wonderful cookies, soups, and casseroles. 
• We visited the rodeo in Seymour, TN, and it poured and was so cold, so it was nice to warm up with and old friend, Linda, and her cat, Cornbread. Zach enjoyed vegan hotcho
• We visited Jonesborough and the International Storytelling Center and Kids Festival and learned about Buckminster Fuller, which was fascinating!
• When we left, Zach cried. I did too. 
• On the way home, we happened upon a wonderful coffee shop and bakery - The Girl and The Raven in Abingdon. 

Food and Cooking

• Trail mix pancakes
• Dinner out for Emily’s birthday at Reveler’s Hour in DC; the gnocchi and garlic knot were amazing
• Choolaah was an unexpectedly delightful find! Zach and I enjoyed the black lentil daal. Yum!
• Finally made it to Great Harvest Bread Company, and October was shortbread month! Ran into an old GoCanvas colleague!
• Don Sebas for tacos
• Dinners at Corsica
• Breakfast for Frank on the eve of Frank’s 50th birthday
• We tried out a new Vietnamese restaurant, Lantern House

Of Note

• Zach doesn’t like chorus because the teacher is cranky and mostly frustrated with the students. 
• We had Zach's parent / teacher conference and all seemed great, and I think it is, but his teachers this year "grade" on a harder scale! LOL!
• Ears cleaned out and a visit to the dentist
• Flu shots and COVID shots all around
• My second shingles shot made me so much more sick than the first. I was glad to see the same pharmacist. I really like her. 

Challenges

• Having empathy and understanding for others different motivations - Why isn't everyone like me!?
• Homework is still a challenge, but we’re rolling with it and are less intense.
• Halloween - the actual night! Though I had a lot of fun finding recipes and making witch fingers cookies and eyeball punch, the actual night is so energy draining! Claire and Beto made an amazing taco bar spread, but the conversation about Reese’s candy as the devil was a little hard to handle! Zach had a blast with Theo, Henry, and friends as Harry Potter. Year 2 of 2!