Globetrotting

A dear friend called us up a couple days ago with a fun request. She worked for the Richmond Christmas Parade and acted as a liaison for the Harlem Globetrotters. As a result, she was given eight tickets to attend their game here in Richmond this afternoon. Would we like to be part of the group to go? YES! The boys got to experience the fun of the Globetrotters for the very first time, and it was a bit of a walk down memory for John and I. Our little group had a great time and we were very grateful for the gift of the tickets for this fun, somewhat spontaneous outing!

Owen, the sports guy, really enjoyed it. Brennan, NOT the sports guy, got bored and started asking for popcorn halfway through the first period! Getting him a snack perked up his interest a bit more and they both ultimately seemed to really enjoy the entire experience.

6!

We celebrated Brennan today! Can't believe the boy is already six years old! Seriously...the time really does fly. We started off the morning by visiting Jumpology, an indoor trampoline arena, for some serious jumping fun. The afternoon led us to the movie "Frozen" and the day was capped by Brennan's dinner choice of pancakes and bacon, washed down by birthday cake--which he helped make. It was a great way to celebrate this young man!

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours...Merry Christmas!

Comfortable

Owen and I went grocery shopping this morning. He really wanted to wear his blanket as a Superman cape and needed the headband and medal to complete the outfit. As soon as we got the store, he stripped off his jacket to let his costume shine in its full glory. Loved bringing smiles to people's faces today. Love, love, love that he is so comfortable just being himself!

Performance

I have been really blessed this fall to be part of Community Bible Study. We gather every Thursday morning to study the book of Romans. What a treat to get to really dive deeply into such a foundational book, wrestle with the teachings, and learn from the others in my small group.

The children's program has also been fabulous for Owen to participate in. He enjoys learning the Bible lessons and doing the crafts. The kids time is divided into six units, with a theme memory verse for every unit. It's a nice treat to hear his verses when we can convince him to recite them!

Today, after our large-group lecture time, the preschool set all came in to perform some songs they had been working on, as well as reciting their memory verses. It was a lot of fun to get to see Owen singing along up front, although jiggling his jeans up and down seemed to hold more appeal for the majority of the time!

Vacation

We just got back home yesterday after a week in Florida for Thanksgiving with John's family.  It was an overall good trip, but there were some pretty bizarre things that happened which made this trip pretty memorable for some odd reasons. It started off with me falling and badly spraining my ankle two days before leaving (it was my driving foot, so John needed to drive the entire way). Over the course of the trip, both of his parents vehicles broke down, their cell phones and Internet went out, their home phone went out, their Direct TV went out, the toilet overflowed and flooded the master bath, and on the very first night there, Brennan and Owen managed to lock themselves in the master bedroom and they needed to punch a hole in the door with a crowbar to open it. Add in massive traffic issues on the way back, and you get the picture of why this was a memorable trip!

Thankfully, we had plenty of good memories as well. We took some time to go to a power plant near Tampa where manatees gather thanks to the warm water. We saw a number of manatees and some pretty large tarpon fish as well. Pretty neat!

 

One of the dozen or so manatees hanging out

We also got to experience Legoland Florida. This was easily the highlight of the trip. Owen was a little young for it still (at least to enjoy the rides), but Brennan was the perfect age for it. We also learned that Brennan is a total roller coaster junkie! Never, ever saw that one coming! He would get off one and immediately want to go again. They even earned a "driver's license" at the Ford Jr. Driving School. This will be a definite repeat trip when we next make it down south again.

The miniature Lego Cities made it feel a little like being back home and taking a day trip up to D.C. :)

The boys also got some great hang-out time with their cousins and checked out the beach. We are definitely grateful for the time we got to spend there!

 Brennan and Owen "relaxing" with Uncle Dave and their three Florida cousins

Wading in the Gulf