Election Night Catching Up

Well, it's election night, and we're glued to the TV just like we were four years ago, and I finally finished the speech I was writing... 

So we wait. And blog. I'm behind, due to a work trip and the madness surrounding election predictions and trying to pull off a joyful, craft-y fall.

May as well drink wine and play catchup.

In other "futile attempts" news, we also took a shot at Christmas card photos last week. The blooper reel was something else. Look out for holiday cards that aren't going to win any contests. 

But at least Finley got to live out her modeling dreams.

We got in a few DC adventures, including this trip to Eastern Market

and a lovely (if COVID-crowded) trip to the National Arboretum. Where the big hit was the koi pond.

And then the kids got a surprise, work-trip-prompted visit from their BFFs, which was just pure, unbridled, sandy, bedtime-free, joy.

Because vacation wasn't a thing this year, we're maximizing any chance we have to get away. We had two days mid-last-week handy, so we gleefully left the beltway just after rush hour for rural PA

and got in some decent fishing (Seth) and allthefallactivities (F+F and I.)

Seriously, all of them.

Plus, Finley really, legitimately beat me at chess.

Once we got back, Jayne arrived (!!!!) and I had a work trip to Rhode Island to contend with. (During which time I told the rental counter in the middle of an unseasonable snowstorm that I wanted something small and easy to park, and wound up with this ridiculous vehicle.)

I got back jussstttttt in time for Halloween, which was kind of cancelled in our neighborhood but which was alive and well in the southern suburbs. So the kids managed a Halloween scavenger hunt with Scott & Grace, and the neighbors felt bad enough about no trick or treating that they gave out full-sized candy bars.

We kicked off the beginning of the season in which we should already- by Walters Family Decree- have put up our Christmas tree with a quiet Sunday and a sunset ride on the Capital Ferris Wheel.

and bonus spin on the carousel.

Not a bad way to savor the start of a week that promises to be wild. Some of my faves from the weekend are this one, of Finley having dressed herself for just another day at school

the discovery of how best to eat kebabs;

and Ford "getting promoted" at swim school. 

To Finley's class, because the universe hates us.

T3 is 7. And Dancing in Parking Lots.

Sometimes, you wish you were back in the land of cotton.

Mostly, when it's T3's birthday, and it's a family tradition, and you heard there was a limo involved. But I digress.

After a week that included swimming ribbons,

"leaf identification" homeschool days spent at Sugarloaf,

(where we finally saw glimpses of fall),

and decorating for Halloween;

we fled for warmer climes.

T3's birthday, albeit smaller than usual due to the pandemic, was still the extravaganza we remembered. 

Which had become an annual event, complete with VIP trampoline park access and the aforementioned limo ride. Plus-- an aspirationally-themed fall fire pit and the resurrection of Run Club.

We're never sorry we made the trip. Especially when the weather allows for October pool and park time.

My fave photos of the week have to be this preview of Chief Brody's Halloween costume,

and this sweet photo of F+F dancing in the Target parking lot. 

Because sometimes you try to kill each other with whatever you find in the car... and sometimes you say "shall we dance?" "we shall." Weirdos.

(They totally talked me into ice cream afterwards, for being sweet. I was happy to oblige.)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Columbus Was Lost (And We Still Enjoyed Our Long Weekend)

It's apparently fall here. Although you wouldn't know it from my morning runs,

or from our evenings at the lake. As much as I love hot chocolate and sweater weather, every warm day is a gift, and we're grateful.

Our week also included date night (pedicures and a socially-distanced screening of Jaws, respectively),

and outdoor checkers in the Mosaic District before everybody got ribbons at swim school. 

The highlight, though, was teaching the kids about Columbus Day with a little help from Missy and this spectacular song, and celebrating with a road trip along the Eastern Shore.

I had always wanted to check out Rehoboth and the surrounding beaches. Some of them were really gorgeous,

although I had forgotten to note the Cape May to Lewes ferry, which meant that it was also effectively the Jersey shore. I found this incredibly off-putting, but- lovers of tacky sh*t since day 1- the kids adored it.

They reveled in hot tubs and breweries,

played Jaws and discovered the hilariously real "Delaware First Shark,"

posed in front of lighthouses and engaged in the opposite of skinny dipping,

and discovered this incredible restaurant.

And we capped off the long weekend with our long awaited "Girls Gone Wild (Horses) Camping Trip" to Assateague Island with Kelly and H+H.

It was idyllic- the ponies really did scamper on the beach and wander through our campsite- and everyone enjoyed hobo packets and s'mores and ghost stories...

until Tropical Storm Delta hit with torrential downpours and gale force winds, and we all finished the night in our cars with broken tent poles and soggy sleeping bags. 

The veteran of an infamous Walters Family camping trip windstorm in the badlands (decades ago) (Missy and I traded texts about this at like 2am), I remain a believer that this builds character. 

Plus, unlike our parents- who threw granola bars at us and told us to suck it up- Kelly and I atoned with a warm breakfast at the nearest diner.

 And highly coveted junior Ranger badges.

 

We have now-finally- recovered. The copious loads of wet camping laundry have been- finally- put away. Which meant time to relive childhood memories and look for fall foliage at Sugarloaf,

shop for Halloween costumes (this may be my fave of the week),

and cheer for the Dodgers.

Happy fall, y'all. But more importantly (to quote our Columbus Day song), "[s]o tell me who discovered what? Columbus was lost, the Caribs were not/ they were already here." Indeed. And to quote Finley, "but we still get the day off, right?"