A Merry Madagascar Xmas

 Last weekend Shawna, Audrey and I visited the National Harbor area just across the river from Alexandria, VA.  40+ Chinese Chiselers spent a month and a half carving multiple sculptures out of ice blocks to create a Merry Madagascar Christmas theme.

Shawna slides down the slide of dooooom

The best characters of the show: Skipper, Kowalski, Private and Rico

The temperature is regulated around 0 deg F which is pretty chilly on bare hands.  No one was brave enough to lick any ice blocks.  We also visited the marina area to check out the shops and restaurants.

Santa wants YOU to have a merry xmas

The ball of wonder

I like to Move it move it...

The same day, we visited a xmas tree farm and took a tractor ride, ate chili, and picked out free winter clothes for Audrey.  Xmas trees were also being donated to military families but we declined since we have no space in our tiny abode.

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Now an update for Audrey: she is not walking yet (even at 21 months) so we have a physical therapist to help her out a little.  She weighs a gravitational defying 18 lbs now!  She has an extensive vocabulary but cannot string two words together yet.  We are learning numbers and songs and she really enjoys listening to all types of music.  She has finally warmed up to daycare and gets excited when I come to pick her up. It's probably my favorite part of the day. 

Taxation without Representation

  OK, we are live again! We are coming up to our 3rd month residing in the DC area (technically Bethesda, MD) and have adapted to the bad driving, massive population density, and sordid federal spending.  Shawna is now working for Dr. Marie Kay as a dental receptionist/dental assistant three days a week in Tenley Town.  The dentist is an enigmatic Vietnamese lady who runs her practice out of her own house.  Shawna enjoys the assisting but despises anything to do with insurance.  My job has been busy at the hospital with post Army-Navy integration and reorganization woes in full effect.  I thought I had prepared myself to stomach government waste and abuse but my expectations fell an order of magnitude short.  I watch half a million dollars get sucked into human resources, facilities and infrastructure in a heartbeat.  Half the time money is all dried up and the other half there is so much money available that no one can spend it fast enough.  No one seems to care though, in pursuit of the finest healthcare and medical education that taxpayer money can buy.

In the last week of October my Mom and Mike ran over to DC to visit us.  Three days later, my dad came to visit.  We saw the DC sights, visited the Shenandoah Valley, visited Harper's Ferry and Antietam, biked along the Potomac and saw a concert in downtown DC.

Capitol Bldg

Antietam Battlefield, Dunkard Church in the background

The weekend before Thanksgiving we visited Shawna's relatives in Pennsylvania.  It was my first time setting foot in this state.  Most of Shawna's cousins are die hard snowmobilers/outdoor sports enthusiast.  We had a massive Thanksgiving feast with 20+ people; two Turkeys were devoured in a matter of an hour.  Eileen was a great host and coordinator, thank you Eileen!

Audrey loved the plethora of displays set up at Kraynak's - a gift store and flower shop

Audrey's LOOT

Audrey the Bumble Bee sits next to her Pumpkin

 

Great Falls, Class VI rapids.  Kayakers love playboating just below the falls

Crash course into the leaves

Fall Picnic in the Park