Turkey Time

We were lucky enough to host Thanksgiving in Alexandria this year. With Carolyn’s crew back on the East Coast, Northern Virginia is once again a “good, sort of in-between and convenient to travel to” location for the holiday weekend. The Clays road tripped from Rhode Island, the Wiktors flew from St. Paul and one Mumsie…

Peak Season

Come late October temps are finally below 80, the humidity is gone and the leaves are changing. It’s the best time of year the DMV if you ask me! I couldn’t have timed our family photos better this year – perfect weather, fall foliage, and my three favorite people. We were able to link up…

Good old fashioned summer fun!

A trip to Minnesota in the summer is such a treat! It’s a rare occasion when we get to go and just visit – no holiday, specific event, or agenda. Well, maybe there’s still an agenda because I like a plan but the agenda items are relaxation and family time. Our summer trip was three…

Bikes, BBQ, Ballet, and SUMMER!

It’s June in Washington, DC which means school is winding down and summer is starting up. That means (more) baseball games, (more) bicycle adventures, and plenty of time on the porch with the grill fired up. Between Will and my MTB adventures at Fountain Head and Wakefield we are in the triple digit territory on…

Moments from May

After a year of a somewhat normal schedule for Phil, May brought a full month of travel. While Dad was away, we were fortunate to have grandma with us for a few weeks – what a treat! The weekdays were filled with work and school, but grandma got to see lots of Will’s baseball games…

Early Blooms

Normally an April event, the peak cherry blossom bloom this year was predicted to be 22 March by the Park Service thanks to a moderate winter and some early season warming. I can’t remember if we had been back since 2017 but I was up to my usual pre-blossom viewing grumbles this year. Rain all…

All of the Gluten

I’m not sure what prompted it, maybe a post-holiday / post-vacation rut, but I spent an unusual amount of time working with dough and trying to figure out sourdough levain in February. The intent was for the two activities to be linked. Step one: perfect a levain. Step two: use it once a week to…

New Year, Old Haunts

You may stick us on the East Coast and not give us a flake of snow for the winter but you can’t keep us off the slopes forever! Well, three of us anyway. We’re still working on the skiing part for Mere but she enjoys the quiet time and beautiful views during the days and…

Ho Ho Ho

What’s better than Christmas with family? Not. A. Thing. Well, maybe Christmas with a little bit of snow on the ground but that is kind of splitting hairs. The lead up to the end of the month was spent listening to Christmas music, taking evening spins through the neighborhood to see the lights, and prodding…

A Full House

Hooray for visitors! The house of four (plus one Lucy) swelled to ten for our first Thanksgiving in Alexandria. Dad and Elaine flew in for a few days with us then Gabe, Laura, and crew joined us for the big feast. We spent our time playing outside during the day and finding reasons to start…