It's the holiday season...

Christmas in Old Town always kicks off with the Scottish Parade down St. Asaph Street. We are right where the parade starts and therefore always manage to get prime seating to see all the bagpipers, men in kilts, and little dogs wearing sweaters. Evie enjoyed listening to the bands with Dad the most, along with the lollipops.

Once she woke up, Ellie got to show off her Scottish plaid.

Ba and Opa planned to drop by as a surprise and found us at the parade.

Santa was traveling in style in a convertible this year, and apparently brought his pet cheetah along for the ride.


Ellie looks excited to see her first glimpse of Santa Claus!

That night we lit the German carousel - Ellie was amazed!
The next day was a big event: Evie's first viewing of a real performance of the Nutcracker! She and her friend Izzy wait excitedly for our other friends to arrive to take our seats in the auditorium.


Evie, between friends Sidney and Ava, loved every minute of the performance, as you can see from this picture. "Look, Mom, there's ballerinas!"

After the curtain went down, the girls danced around on stage for a couple of minutes. Evie and Ava show off their dance moves.


Hot pink shoes (but her stockings were a little too big)!


The girls are getting a real kick of playing with each other these days. In this scene, Ellie and Evie sit in the "boat" of Daddy's legs while Mommy pretends to be a hungry shark (with a camera). Evie was very dedicated to making sure the shark did not nibble on baby Ellie's fingers.

The girls like to play in the hamper sometimes - with its wheels it makes a pretty good car. Evie made everyone wear crowns and here was Ellie's. What a wonderful weekend for all! And to think the holiday fun is only beginning!

Evie is thankful for... lollipops?!?

What a lovely Thanksgiving we had! The family traveled up to New Jersey to celebrate at Bebe and Popi's new house. Before leaving on Wednesday, though, Evie models her turkey pajamas and Native American headdress she made at school. Mommy is looking forward to a new headdress every year (see last year's)!

In the morning, Evie assisted in feeding Ellie her first taste of pears, which she seemed to enjoy a lot!

Popi, Tootsie and Opa enjoy some appetizers before the big meal (well, Tootsie just gazed longingly at the cheese).

Meanwhile, Ellie looks like she has eyes on the cheese as well! She is really trying to stand every minute these days, with the help of Ba.


Ba and Opa get ready to sit down for a delicious turkey dinner. Evie helped create the turkey placeholders using her handprint for all the turkeys in the family, including Ellie!

Bebe places Ellie in a nice seat near the head of the table, so she could see all the action.


Ellie was a very happy baby throughout dinner, for which we were very thankful!


Ba, Evie and Bebe enjoy the nice fire in the living room before turning in for some turkey naps.


Dad and Bebe put their heads together to talk turkey basting strategy!

Earlier that day, the family took some time to take some pictures for our holiday card with the help of Bebe. These are the shots that actually didn't make it into the holiday card, if you can believe it! Thanks Bebe for the great photo session and some beautiful pictures!

Luckily it was 60 degrees so Evie could run on the beach and play on the sand to her delight. She was running for the water as usual!

Ellie got a kick out of watching her sister's antics...

...which included dancing and twirling on the beach behind Mommy and Ellie.

We also got some great shots in the backyard among the holly and pine trees.

You can't help but have "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." running through your head when you see this picture!

On Saturday we returned back home to start unpacking the Christmas decorations. We all got a little dusty and needed a bath - and Ellie is her happiest right after splashing in her tub, wrapped up in her peacock towel! What a great weekend for all, with much to be thankful for.

Ellie has her first bites...

Ellie is growing up fast! This week, she had her first bites of rice cereal and did rather well in keeping it in and swallowing! Must have been all those longing gazes at her sister Evie - finally she is getting a turn.

A little messy, but looks like Ellie will be ready for Thanksgiving next week!

The family journeyed out to Clemynijontri Park in McLean on a beautiful fall Saturday morning and met up with the Kallaur family. The kids had a great time - "Where's Evie?" Sam would call out as they ran from one area of the playground to the next.

There was so much for Ellie to absorb, she watched all the kids with eyes wide open. She especially liked standing in front of the "funhouse" mirror that made her look so tall (she loves any opportunity she can get to stand these days).

Ellie models her Ireland hoodie with pride.

Evie crawls into a rocket ship and gets ready for take-off!


Paul, Emily and Sam take a short break from the Chex muddy buddy mix to take a family picture!

Three Girls and a tall Daddy!

Bebe and Popi visit Alexandria

We had a lovely visit from Bebe and Popi this week. First stop was dinner at Southside 815 on Tuesday night, where the ribs, meatloaf, po'boys and pulled pork sandwiches were much enjoyed. The next day after Evie's preschool was finished, Dad, Popi and Bebe headed into the city to check out the National Building Museum.

Evie had her first taste of playing with legos.

Dad fed Ellie while Evie gets to building. She gets her inspiration from "This Old House."

Evie helps bring over Popi a selection of desserts - all of Popi's favorites - as we celebrate his birthday a couple of days early.

She also likes to show off her signature on his birthday card.




Ellie wants a piece of the action. The next day Bebe took Evie to ballet while Popi took Ellie for a stroll. It was a lovely visit for all! Thank you Bebe and Popi!

The sisters goofing around

The girls were in an especially happy mood tonight so we caught the moment on film. Here Evie is giving Ellie her silly face.

Here Ellie demonstrates her silly face.

No one can make Ellie laugh like Evie can. All she has to say is "scrambled eggs" and Ellie bursts into giggles.

Evie takes her big sister responsibilities very seriously - she loves hugging and kissing her little sister (and taking pictures of her too!).

Here comes Thomas!

BOO! What an amazing Halloween we all had, starting with Daddy's jack-o-lantern, which Evie requested we make really scary this year.


On the other side of the scary spectrum, Ellie's cupcake costume! Aw, she looks so sweet I'm getting a sugar high just looking at her!

Evie and Mommy had a fun time trying to get her to laugh for Daddy's photography session.


Then it was off to the Del Ray parade with - SURPRISE - Thomas the Tank Engine! Daddy and Mommy put together the costume using a box, a little spraypaint here, and little decoupage there... and viola! Everyone's favorite train, but Evie's in particular!

And who is her trusty companion?!? None other than Sir Topham Hatt, of course!

Evie was the hit of the parade - everyone recognized her, and would call out "Thomas! Thomas!" Evie began to wave to her fans like a regular beauty pageant contestant. People even came over and wanted to take her picture!

Mommy is attempting to be Lady Hatt, Sir Topham Hatt's wife, but ended up looking slightly like Mary Poppins instead. The parade was fun but the best part was the pumpkin frozen custard from Dairy Godmother.


The next day was Halloween, and the family headed over to Lee Street, an Old Town tradition. Evie was a very good sport about donning her Thomas again (since she said she was a little sore from the day before). But Daddy helped carry the box so it was a little easier, and once she got moving she was unstoppable.


Ba, Opa, and Ellie the cupcake joined the festivities. Ellie was wide-eyed and taking it all in.

Thomas on the go! He's #1!