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We had another wonderful trip to Annapolis/Baltimore. This trip we checked out a new attraction Port Discovery. The kids had a blast playing grocery shopping, play restaurant, and the other activities they had there. We also went to Oliver’s favorite The Maryland Science Center, which almost always ends up being a stop while we are in town. Finally on Sunday we took a trip to Camden Yards to see the Orioles take on the Yankees.

Luckily for the kids, the Easter bunny knew where to find us, and they were greeted with baskets Sunday in the room.

We finally got around to get new family photos taken! I just uploaded all the poses that they took (almost 100). We got a few with the full family, a few with the kids alone, and a few with the kids together. Some of the poses came out with goofy faces, as expected – but overall I am pretty pleased with the new additions.

Well we were just at a rollerskating birthday party – and now a bowling party. The kids had a blast bowling – and Summer was picking up spares like mad (of course there were bumpers and the kids ramp to assist her).

It’s amazing how loud these parties end up being. After bowling we went to the party room for pizza and cake. The room wasn’t exactly huge (in fact the room between tables was small enough that I decided to just stand near the door instead of squeezing over to a chair). Combine that with a 10-20 kindergarten kids hopped up on sugar, and you got yourself a party!

In any event I am glad we went, I have been wanting to take the kids bowling to see if they would enjoy it (and seems like they did), and the parents of one of Oliver’s school buddies wants to set up a play date sometime soon – which he seems interested in doing.

Oliver’s buddy Mitchell had a rollerskating birthday party this past weekend.  We were not sure how it was going to go – the last rollerskating party was not exactly the best experience for him, thankfully this time it went better and I am glad we gave it a second chance.  We figured that he would have fun, since he really seems to love ice skating – and its pretty much the same thing, but with wheels. Some of the pictures came out pretty dark – but there are some good shots in there.

Well 2011 is officially here, so I am taking a moment to reflect on what 2010 brought us. We had a pretty interesting year overall I would say. I was just reviewing the posts I have made in 2010, and it is amazing to see how much the kids have grown in just that one year.

Oliver had some interesting milestones for 2010.  He started Kindergarten this year.  He lost his first (and second) tooth this year.  He had his first Halloween Parade, as well as many other school activities this year.

Summer continues to grow everyday, and is really starting to get her own personality, with a dash of little miss boss attitude.  She is still going to dance class and seems to enjoy it quite a bit.  She had her first dance reticle this year.  She  is very much interested in coloring and other artistic things – and she does rather well in my opinion.

Both kids have been enjoying more outdoors activities lately, they like going fishing from time to time, and going on nature hikes at on trails at the local park.

Kim continues to work at the same company – but at the end of 2010 transitioned to a new position which should keep 2011 interesting for her.  She also ran her first Half Marathon in 2010.  She also suffered an injury that put her training back a bit in 2010, but managed to run almost just under 450 miles over 10 months, and is making a recovery and has big plans for 2011.

I made an effort to get back into shape, and even start running myself in 2010.  I was able to shed about 35 pounds over the course of about 6 months.  Mostly accomplished by eating better – but I also logged a little over 332 miles of running myself.  I ran a few 5K’s and also ran the 2010 Run for the Diamonds.

We had a few nice outings as a family.  We had a couple trips to Annapolis / Baltimore - where the kids sparked an interest in baseball and the Orioles.  We also checked out the science musuem an Maryland zoo.  We took advantage of our Philly Zoo membership as always, and Kim and I took a refreshing trip to to Turks & Caicos Islands.  We also had plenty of fun around the house, and other activities in the area.  So looks like overall we had a pretty good year

In other family news,Grandma Larrabee became Grandma Smith (though the kids still call her Grandma Larrabee).  Uncle Tommy got his own apartment in the NYC area, and is engaged to be married, and Uncle Leo ironically also moved to a new apartment and also is engaged.

Here is hoping for a great 2011!

Seems like we have been busy lately – I haven’t posted anything in a while. I think I can put at least a portion of the blame of that on facebook. With quick updates, and the ability to just send pictures from the phone to facebook – sometimes actually posting here gets lost in the shuffle. In fact, thats probably why I don’t have any photos for November to post – just October, and December.

When pulling off the Christmas photos we found that we forgot to get these Halloween photos posted, they are from Halloween – and Oliver’s school parade – as well as some shots before trick or treating.

The kids loved Christmas this year. They seemed to be the most excited they have been over it to date – which makes it all worth it.

Here is hoping to a bright 2011!

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This past weekend (October 2nd) took a trip up north to celebrate Grammy Larrabee’s (actually now Smith) wedding. It was quite a drive and the constant water trucks for all the gas drilling and road construction didn’t make it any easier. In any event it was a nice party, and we got to meet some of William’s family, and I was able to run into some old friends the Kelley’s as well.

The kids didn’t stop moving, as you can see in the photos. Kim baked the cake, and put a pretty impressive into it. By the sounds of everyone at the party it paid off, as there was nothing but great things said about the cake.

I got caught off guard a bit asking me to give a toast to the new bride and groom. I didn’t have anything prepared so I kind of stuttered some things off the top of my head which hopefully came out all right.

Congratulations to both of you, and here is to many more days of happiness to come!

Our weekend started a bit interesting with some car trouble that is yet to be determined what exactly is the problem as of yet – we just know that the dashboard is full of error lights and hope its nothing major. It still under warranty, so I am not concerned about the cost or anything, but who wants to be bothered with waiting for a major car repair?

Next on the agenda was a weekend down in the Philly area for the ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. Kim has been training for the past 3 months or so to run this race – and I am happy to report she did it. There was about 19,000 registered runners – so it was pretty hard to actually catch her on the course (but luckily I did at least once). I am extremely proud of the accomplishment and the dedication she put towards finishing it.

Now as a spectator its a totally different experience. Everything is organized and set in place but with 19,000 people running in the street, and who knows how many people around the course watching and cheering the runners on – it still feels pretty chaotic. Running 13.1 miles isn’t exactly something you do in 20 minutes – even the elite pros take about an hour to do it, so you find yourself wandering around keeping yourself busy and/or watching the other 18,999 people running that you don’t really know.

Way to go Kim – we will wait until you get a full recovery before we see what’s next

We planned another family trip down to Annapolis, MD – since everyone had a fun time with the various activities that we did there last time, and Kim scored a good deal on a hotel for the weekend. We did completely different things this trip though.

One day we went to the Maryland Science Center – which was a pretty big hit for the kids, and mom and dad even had a pretty good time. The next day we went to the Baltimore Aquarium – which we previously did go to, however its one of Oliver’s favorites. Finally on our way home we went to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore – which wasn’t all bad, however I still think the Philly zoo is 100′s of times better. We made the mistake of missing the Orioles game one day, and going to the stadium the next – thinking they were playing….they were just not at home – so that was the only downfall to the trip. I believe with the kids interest in baseball, and the Orioles in general – we have become official Orioles fans.

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