Picking up where I left off…
July
We started July off spending the holiday up in Massachusetts golfing with Aunt Gigi, spending lots of time in the pool, and enjoying nightly games of Yahtzee!!
Giving Shay Shay Ma a top knot!
When we returned home it was time for Rowen's big surgery. He had his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears. We spent two weeks at home resting, and eating lots of frozen yogurt. The most amazing part of the entire process was that Rowen almost instantly could hear and even began singing. This relatively small surgery changed our lives for the better!
feeling good before the surgery
resting at home after surgery
Froyo date!
While we were home in Massachusetts we purchased the boys a new swing set so Rudy had to set out and deconstruct the old rotting one that came with the house. The boys and I loved supervising from the deck!
In mid july our family lost one of our most beloved dogs Katrie. She blessed our family with almost thirteen wonderful years and she is greatly missed.
After only a few weeks of waiting the new swing set arrived and the boys loved it! I hope there are years of fun memories ahead of us spent in that little fort!
Towards the end of the month, Rudy and I celebrated our four year anniversary with tickets to Lion King at the Kennedy Center. We found out this show was coming to town in January and bought tickets then so we wouldn't be hemming and hawing about what to do for our anniversary come July. We ate dinner at the Roof Terrace Restaurant at the Kennedy Center which was absolutely wonderful and I discovered my new found love of creme brûlée!
August
We rounded out a wonderful summer with many more fun days in August! Swimming visits with Bruce and Gail, a trip to the B & O Rail Museum to explore some of our favorite trains, and a great trip to the National Zoo where the lions, orangutangs , and elephants were some of our favorites!
baby gator and dog being pirates!
posing at the zoo in front of the triceratops!
crazy hair
Can't wait to see how they grow with these wheels over the years!
The last week of August saw the men of the family surviving on their own as I headed to florida for a work trip. While I was happy to get the opportunity to travel for work I certainly missed my little family and we had daily FaceTime dates.
September
September was a little less busy and we ended up spending a couple of our weekends up in Pennsylvania on day trips. We visited Dutch Wonderland and later that day discovered the Choo Choo Barn, a model train display that the boys absolutely love!! They routinely ask to go visit the Choo Choo barn, and we made a quick trip up in December and discovered they even update the layout for Christmas!
train love
one last swim at Bruce and Gails!
This month we finally completed the boys' shared bedroom. We wanted to incorporate some whimsical elements, trains, pirates, and what they are currently loving. Eventually we will transition them to twin beds, and right now they absolutely love sharing a room!
Rowen's halloween costume came in early September, and a full 46 days before Halloween we began dressing as Captain Hook!!
Towards the end of the month we traveled up to Pennsylvania to the Strausburg Railroad for day out with Thomas! The boys were thrilled to ride the trains all day and we ended up having beautiful weather!
On our way home we stopped off at the Turkey Hill Experience for unlimited ice cream and tea samples. Rowen enjoyed milking the artificial cows and the little museum is a great interactive experience for school aged children.
my little shopping helper
October
Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins! At the beginning of the month we ventured down in Virginia to Kings Dominion for a fun filled day! This is the second year we have visited the park in October, the crowds are a little smaller, the weather a little less brutal than summer, and a great activity while we can still spend lots of time outside!
we came home with a T-Rex of our own
Mid-month we ventured over to Montpelier Farms for pumpkins and apple cider donuts. We have been going to the farm every fall since Rowen was a baby and it is one of our favorite October traditions!
Rowen and Rudy with their matching stance
Finnegan decided he wasn't interested in being Peter Pan this year, but was just as happy to wear Rowen's lion costume from last year. He may be the cutest baby lion I ever did see!
before work/school selfie with my big guy!
trying to make Captain Jack wear his costume, he wasn't having it!
On October 14th we celebrated Rudy's 35th birthday! The birthday boy requested brownies and vanilla ice cream for his birthday celebration!
visiting trains in Hagerstown, MD
On October 17th, we officially began our obsession with the Polar Express. I sometimes hear Tom Hanks in my sleep I know this movie and the songs so well! There was also no stopping them from wearing their Polar Express t-shirts to school, complete with one of our favorite Halloween books Room on the Broom!
Pumpkins courtesy of Rudy. A certain almost two year old wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins!
The boys absolutely loved Halloween! Rowen stayed in character for most of the night, uttering little more than trick or treat, argh!, and thank you. They made it to about twenty houses and then we came back and hung out with our neighbors in the cul-de-sac for a little while!
sleeping Captain Hook!
We started the month off by decorating our Christmas tree! Since we don't typically spend the holidays at home we often decorate early, plus we just love Christmas decorations!! We knew this year one of the boys' big gifts was going to be the Polar Express train, we just didn't know when to give it to them. We decided to have a special morning with them early in November so they could enjoy the train throughout the season before we headed out of town for the holidays. They were absolutely shocked and thrilled with the addition of this wonderful train!
first fire of the season, and golden retrievers make the best pillows!
everyone looking and smiling!
nightly train time
On November 15th, we celebrated Finnegan James' second birthday with Bruce and Gail. Our spunky little guy loves all things Thomas so it was only appropriate that the slight theme we had be Thomas!
That weekend we also journeyed back to the aquarium to celebrate Finny's birthday!
This year, my family ventured down to Maryland for Thanksgiving! This is the first holiday we have hosted since moving to Maryland, and the first Thanksgiving we have spent with family. It was wonderful having everyone under the same roof for a few days and it was great being able to host everyone in our home!
Rudy carving!
December
December is always always a whirlwind month trying to wrap everything up before taking time off for the holidays!
This year we finally found the perfect garland for the banister at Costco and I love seeing the twinkling lights every night as we head up to bed!
The first weekend of the month the boys had a holiday performance for school where each class sang songs from Frozen. Both Rowen and Finnegan's classes had a bit of stage fright and didn't really sing but the older classes did great so there is hope yet!
We headed up to Pennsylvania once again, stopped at our beloved Choo Choo barn and then went to Christmas Candylane at Hershey Park. The weather was cold but not freezing and we had a wonderful time exploring the park. We didn't stop at the factory tour so that will be on our to-do list for our next visit!
We made many nightly visits to our favorite driving light display to see all of the Christmas lights. It is crazy to think the first time we visited this park Finnegan was only days old and now he is in the back seat chatting away pointing out all of the different lights to us!
on the road!
This year instead of riding the Polar Express we rode the train to Christmas Town on Cape Cod. The ride was pleasant and we got to meet characters from the book about Christmas Town, Santa Claus, and most importantly the Conductor. Even though we were only two days away from Christmas, the boys were more concerned with meeting the conductor than Santa Claus!
Getting our ticket punched!
reading with Shay Shay Ma on Christmas Eve!
the tree at 3 in the morning!
Christmas morning started a little later than normal as everyone slept in til almost nine. We were all gifted way too much and the boys enjoyed discovering their new toys. Rowen was slower at opening gifts, and Finny didn't care if the gift was actually for him or if he got anything, so long as he got to do the unwrapping!
We didn't get a Christmas family picture this year, it must of just slipped our minds. 2014 ended with great times with family and friends and we simply wouldn't of had it any other way. Here's to health and happiness in 2015!
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