ICE at the National Harbor

We stopped at the National Harbor to see the ICE show on display outside the Gaylord Hotel. It was really amazing. Beautiful ice sculptures and 4 large slides inside the tent. It was freezing inside though, only 9 degrees, so everyone had to wear these big blue parkas. We only stayed inside for about 15-20 minutes.

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas visiting with family. First thing Colby did when he woke up on Christmas morning was to find the little piece of a cookie that Santa left behind.

We spent Christmas evening at Adam & Niki's house with Jacob, Lilly, Nana, Emma & Amy.

Trying out some of my new presents: green screen software and box lights. Colby just loves his baby cousin, Lilly. She's 8 months old now and doing great!

Lilly with my grandmother in Harrisonburg, VA.

Colby, Lilly, and Jacob on Colby's new Thomas couch from Pa

Nana with her grandkids

Colby helping Grandad build a fire

This is Colby's new "Cheese" face. He just started doing this. Now, he'll sit and say "Mommy cheese", and he wants me to take his picture. We think it's so funny!

Big Snow

We got a huge snow storm a few days before Christmas. It dumped about 2 feet of snow in Annapolis. It was almost funny to look outside and see so much snow everywhere. It cancelled school for 3 days, so all the kids were happy.

Colby wasn't too fond of all the snow. I guess I wouldn't be either if it was up to my waist.

Going cross-country skiing with daddy. They didn't get very far :)

Sledding down the big hill. Colby thought this was lots of fun!

Christmas Tree

I enjoyed creating our Christmas cards this year, and I played around with my camera settings (& a tripod) to get this shot of Colby at the tree. I also hid fruit snacks in the tree to get him to look at it like this :)


Here it is in black & white:

Train Party

On Saturday, we had a train themed party for Colby's 2nd birthday. We even got a couple inches of snow. I thought it was kind of early for snow, but I remembered that it was snowing on the day we brought Colby home from the hospital. Luckily, we live less than a mile away. We had a great time, we appreciate everyone coming out in the weather, and Colby is now all set with lots of train toys!

The train cake I made:

Lilly is ready for the party!

Emma & Jacob were big helpers while Colby was opening his presents.

Colby loves his baby cousin, Lilly.

Colby is T W O !!

It's hard to believe that 2 years ago today, our little guy came into this world. We've loved every minute with him, and I think it's just getting better and better every month! Colby loves to run, jump, climb on, and jump off of everything! He's talking up a storm and has lots of phrases to tell us. He likes to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-cake, If you're happy and you know it, and lots more. His latest word is "beer", which we thought was hilarious...but we finally figured out that he's referring to his bear, Pooh Bear. :) His favorite toys right now are cars and trains. He loves his Thomas choo choo trains. We're having a Train birthday party for him on Saturday.

Today, Nana and I took him to Baltimore's Children's Museum, called Port Discovery. He had a great time!

Thanksgiving

Catching up on posts...

We spent Thanksgiving in Richmond at Amy & Emma's new house this year. We had a great time, great food, and great company.
Colby had a great time swinging on Emma's new swing. This was the first time he's swung in a big kid swing (without the bucket seat).


I tried to get pictures of Colby in the fall leaves, but he wasn't too cooperative. It's getting harder and harder to get a picture with him looking at me, and smiling!


Having a very important conversation with Pa about cars:

Big Accomplishment!

We're paci free tonight!! Somebody told me it takes kids about 3 nights to forget about it. We started on Friday night, and Colby cried about 20 minutes, repeatedly asking for his "paaa". It was so sad. Saturday night, he cried about 15 minutes, and tonight...he asked for his "paaa" one time, but he didn't cry at all. He just talked himself to sleep.

Way to go Colby!

This picture has nothing to do with my post, but I had to put a picture up! Jason was throwing him in the air, and he just giggled and laughed. Then, he says "More Daddy"!

Happy Halloween

Our pumpkins...Ernie and Elmo

CHOO CHOO! Our little engine had a great time trick or treating.


Checking out his loot when he got home.

Enchanted Forest

On Sunday, we went to Clark Elioak Farm in Ellicott City, MD. We had a great time at their Enchanted Forest, navigating the pine tree maze, and picking out a pumpkin from their patch.

They had lots of characters (Humpty Dumpty, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack & Jill, Mother Goose, 3 Little Pigs, and lots more)



This baby goat was REALLY hungry!


Colby feeding the sheep.

Deep Creek Cabin

We spent the weekend up at a cabin near Deep Creek Lake. A friend of mine has been telling me about her cabin, so we decided to give it a try. After a very long drive Friday afternoon into evening (we hit a ton of traffic), we arrived at the cute cabin. Apparently, there are a lot of bears up in that area, so there were a lot of bear decorations around. Colby found one he liked in particular.



Saturday, we got up early and hiked around Swallow Falls State Park. There were 3 different waterfalls. The ground was a little wet and slippery and there were a lot of stones and tree roots to climb over. Colby did a great job though. We had a nice lunch overlooking the lake and then we drove around the lake and a nearby town to get Colby a change of clothes since he fell in a puddle at the end of our hike and got soaking wet.


Sunday, we checked out Herrington Manor State Park. It was a little cooler, so we didn't get out and play. They have a nice beach and more trails, so we'll have to check this place out again next time.

Then, we drove over to Wisp Ski resort. They have a man-made white water rafting park, a roller coaster on the mountain, and of course the slopes. It was wonderful to see all the trees changing color for Fall.

We had a great weekend and definitely plan to go back in the winter (to ski) and probably the summer to check out the lake activities too.