Thanksgiving in DC

We got to spend Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C. in 2011. Some relaxation in a hotel, no worries about cooking or cleaning, I say an annual event please! We did the typical tourist attractions and the kids were great and didn't mind all the walking. We started at the Lincoln Memorial and trekked to almost everything in the area - the White House, Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial and MLK Jr Memorial. We even tried Texas BBQ in DC, not bad east coast, not bad. I did, however, learn that pecan pie is NOT pecan pie where we ate for Thanksgiving. If there isn't a thick layer of goo goodness, then it's just a pecan tart, blah.

Riley, Grandma, and Shaelyn

Brian, Shaelyn, Me, Riley and Abe the Vampire Hunter

Thanksgiving Dinner

Why won't you pose Riley?

Milk in the ear please

Washington Memorial - anyone see that crack?

Sun in the eyes

Almost at the Jefferson Memorial.....not really

Big Boy Jefferson

Roosevelt and his little dog too

Newly opened MLK Jr Memorial

My poor attempt at planking outside the National Aquarium

Mount Vernon

Making sure the grass is up to par

Dad's 60th Birthday Bash

My Dad celebrated a very big Birthday milestone last month. Laura and I had planned a surprise party for Dad's big 6-0. We almost made it to the party without him finding out, but a little mishap let it slip the weekend before, oh well, we tried. Thankfully, Dad had no idea Riley and I would be there, so when he walked in he was still really surprised. Everyone had a great time and we had about 40 people show up to celebrate!! Thanks to everyone who helped, we couldn't have done it without you! Seeing everyone at the party from my childhood made me really homesick, but in a good way.

 Dad's Record Player Cake by Gigi

 Me, Dad and Aunt Cheryl (wow I hope I age as awesome as these 2!)

 Aunt Laura and Riley

 Me, Riley and Aunt Laura

 Party People!!

 Did I mention the Razorback game was on too?

 Uncle Ryan giving Riley a ride

 Can't go to Baba's house without getting your new cast stuck in the pool table!

 Bed jumping with Sooie

Bed jumping with Porkchop

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

We were suppose to go camping with some friends the weekend of Halloween, but it decided to snow.  Darn :)  I am trying to be more outdoorsy and like camping, but lets just say a last minute change of plans to go to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was awesome! Definitely something I have always wanted to do and as a rock and roll music lover, it's one of the coolest things to visit. Riley did so well, guess we will pass on the love of rock and roll forever!!

Pyramid = Rock and Roll, duh

Hot Dog from the Phish tour

Misc Hanging cars probably from another tour

Well, you get the idea

Riley posing with his future instrument

An up and coming Beatles's fan!

Hand-holding camera pose, not bad

Johnny Cash's tour bus

Halloween

I attempted to make costumes again for Halloween. 

Things I have learned during this endeavor:

• Procrastination does not work for costume making, so I ran out of time and didn't get to make my costume.
• I cannot sew well by hand, get a sewing machine.
• A hot glue gun is a good friend.
• Need an airbrushed abs onesie? Pittsburgh has 3 specialty air brush stores, who knew!

 Riley as.....SPARTACUS! (or a Gladiator for those who don't know Spartacus)

 

Trying out the double sword fighting

Batiatus and his slave Spartacus

 

Music time with Teddy

Ending the night hanging out with zombie baby

Rollercoaster Time!

Pittsburgh has it's very own amusement park: Kennywood. We got to all go this summer for Brian's company picnic. We were pretty worried that Riley would be too scared to ride anything. But, boy were we WRONG! This kid loved every ride and asked for more almost every time. Sometimes, we had a hard time getting him off the ride. We ended the day with a nice splash from the log ride (twice) - well just Riley (don't worry we waited as close as we could while staying dry). Here's my 2nd attempt at imovie, slowly improving my video editing skills...slowly.

Willie and Ji Young's Wedding Weekend Part 1

We got to go home last month for Willie and Ji Young's wedding. They decided to be crazy and asked Riley to be their ring bearer. So we got to be part of the wedding which was really cool for me. Willie and I have been friends since high school and I definitely consider him a close friend. Ji Young is one of the nicest girls I have met and I couldn't be happier for both of them!

Now, here's the thing: I had to ensure a 2 year-old would make it down the aisle (which he didn't) so we have no pictures of the wedding and then we realized we only had the video camera and not the camera - so no reception pictures either. I also had to stand outside with Riley for him to walk through the door and walk down the aisle, and then I had to run back inside and walk into the ballroom at the Peabody to see if he made it. Well, what do you think happened? I am not sure either, but in the 15-20 seconds I was gone Riley had managed to steal the show and stall the wedding. Apparently he did a partial walk with the flower girls and then decided it would be more fun to lay on the floor and try out a new dance spin/move.

Luckily it was funny to everyone (minus me who was hoping for a perfect performer, idiot mom.) and a great laugh. I did get to see the video, but blogspot won't let me post videos - any advice for that fellow bloggers? Anywho, I am learning how to get a still picture from video and that will have to wait until another post.

L-R: Ji Young, Me, Willie, Sylvia and Dao

Brian and I

L-R: Me, Shren, Muhammad, Sylvia and Dao

L-R: Ross, Shren, Muhammad and Me

The Caviness Clan (almost a Riley smile)

The boys

Dad and Riles

Riley's 2nd Birthday

Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. The theme for his 2nd birthday went off a HUGE success. Brian took on the feat of making him a train table and we got a bunch of new Thomas the Train tracks, trains, puzzles, bath toys, etc. etc. etc. I am going to bleed blue here pretty soon. I thought that Riley would be too young for the train table, but everytime he went down for a nap or bedtime he would ask me about choo-choo, and go running to the table to play when he woke up.

Laura, Baba (my Dad), Grandma and Shaelyn all came into town to celebrate his birthday. Baba and Laura hadn't seen him since November so it was nice to have us all together. I also learned for maybe the 10th time to NOT wake up Riley from a nap. You would think I would have learned this by now, but each time I say, maybe this time he won't be cranky.....WRONG. Oh well, he still had fun, just not without some mini-tantrums. Sorry Riley, that was my fault.