March 2011 Recap

They keep saying Spring is around the corner here in Seattle, but we haven't seen much of it. Temperatures are still in the 40s or low 50s most of the time, and of course a fair amount of rain.

We had another busy month of exploring around, mixing in lots of other structured activities. Joseph has continued his piano lessons and is doing well in school. He also plays the clarinet in band in school, and had a Spring Concert earlier this week.

Jack has ended basketball season and started baseball. He had his first game last Saturday. He got up in the first inning with the bases loaded and promptly hit a double to right field, scoring two runners. The game was eventually called for rain (of course), and the teams were tied at that point. It was his only at-bat so his average is currently 1.000!

Henry has been keeping busy with First Grade and continues to be as voracious a reader as his older brothers. He is reading the third Harry Potter book now, and has also been reading some other good books.

Skiing was definitely one of the highlights of the month, as Joseph highlighted in a previous post. We finished our lessons in February, so going up to Snoqualmie Pass for a full day of skiing to try out what everyone learned was a big thrill for the kids.

At the end of the month we're busy planning a big driving trip. The kids are off from school for the first week of April, so Dad is taking the boys on a tour of the West - out to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. The scenery should be amazing and much bigger mountains than we had been used to in Virginia! Expect lots of blog posts about our trip to follow.

3/20 - Skiing in March

       On Sunday, we again went skiing. This time, though, we weren't part of a lesson, just skiing by ourselves. We arrived at the ski place around 8:45, and had all of our skis, boots, and helmets on by 9:15. Then, we started going down the hill.
       Jack and Joseph went with Daddy on the smallest ski lift. We went up and down lots of times. Henry, on the other hand, was with Mommy on the Bunny hill. Then, Henry decided that he was ready to do the big hill. He went down for his first time with Daddy, while Jack and Joseph continued to ski with Mommy. After a break for lunch, we continued skiing. This was the most we've ever skied before in one day, as Joseph and Jack went down about 20 times each. Henry got about 5 runs down the big hill, and though he fell a few times, he got a lot better by the end of the day.

                                                                                                -Written by Joseph

Both Mommy and Joseph brought cameras, so we finally have some pictures to show you:

 Jack on skis

 Joseph on skis, with the hill in the background

 Joseph and Jack on the ski lift

 Henry coming down the mountain

 The ski lift at the top of the mountain

Mommy, Daddy, and Henry on the lift













NOTE: You can always click on the pictures to see a bigger version

3/18/11 - Recently in Seattle

       Not much big has been happening here, so I decided to do a post on the last week or two, and what we have coming up. We've been sort-of busy.
       The week after the Webers left, Joseph began taking piano lesson again. He took them in Virginia for a few months, but hasn't really done much on the piano. We got a new piano when we moved here, because it cost about the same to buy a piano, and to move it 3,000 miles across the country. Also, Jack's basketball season has wrapped up, with Jack playing his last game, and then having a party. Jack has also started having baseball practice, with his team, the Mariners. Henry hasn't started practice or anything like that yet, but he is on a team - the D-Rays.
       Since our ski lesson the Sunday before the Weber's trip, we haven't been skiing at all. If there isn't bad weather to stop us, we'll be going up to the Cascades Mountains again this Sunday for skiing. The difference this time is that we won't be with a lesson, just on our own.
       While the Webers were here, we drafted for the Web-Rod Fantasy Baseball league. The season starts in Early April, and that's when we start getting points in the league. Last year, Joseph won the league, and the Webers came in last (This is partially because they picked all Yankees players, and the Yankees didn't do very well). Also, Daddy, Mommy, Joseph, Jack, and Henry have all made NCAA basketball brackets. Daddy, Joseph, and Henry are currently tied for first, but the first round doesn't mean much.
       While UVA didn't make the bracket, UW (University of Washington) did. They are a 7 seed, and play Georgia Friday night at 9:45PM ET. Go Huskies!
       Spring Break isn't next to Easter like normal (for us) this year, and it's early - it starts 2 weeks from now. The boys (all but Mommy) are driving out to Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP, in Wyoming and Montana. It's a four day trip across 4 states, and is going to be a lot of fun. We're also taking a bunch of trips this summer, but it's not for a while.

                                                                                         -Written by Joseph

2/28 - Skiing in the Cascades

       Over the last few months, we have been going out to the Cascades Mountains to ski at a ski resort. Everyone in the family has been taking lessons, and we've been up there 3 times. At first, the kids were only going down the Bunny Hill, but now, Joseph and Jack have been up the smallest chair lift many times. The lessons lasted for one month, but we couldn't do the last one, because of the snow. Skiing was lots of fun, and we hope to go back up there sometime and ski (not in a lesson).

                                                                                                -Written by Joseph