Shenandoah National Park

We went to Shenandoah for a few days in mid-October and had such a great time! We knew the kids were in good hands with Mel and Cherry, and so fully enjoyed ourselves without any responsibilities, or needless worrying.

We were able to book a great cabin that had the most beautiful view of the valley below and spent several hours just gazing out the window and talking. We also went on a hike that wound down the mountain alongside a stream; it was gorgeous. We stopped at a small pond and watched the fish dart back and forth before wandering back. The hike was nice and easy - though we realized on the way back up the mountain that we should have had T-shirts rather than sweaters.

The Power of Spiderman Underwear

Michael is now potty-trained! It's amazing, the power of spiderman underwear mixed with reward M&Ms. Especially once I discovered, thanks to a tip from potty-training expert Marcia Stewart (a woman who goes to my church), that Michael should get M&Ms for dry pants (!) along with successful bathroom activities...

Yes, I know this isn't quite so interesting to many of you, but if I don't write this down I will not remember, and twenty years from now I'll be claiming something totally unbelievable ("My son Michael was potty-trained at six-months...").

Grandma and Grandpa Bryson Retire

Michael and Jax are enjoying the happy results of Grandma and Grandpa Bryson's retirement. Retirement for Grandma and Grandpa was, I am sure, met with conflicting emotions but the kids felt only excitement at the prospect of more time with them.


Grandma now comes to play with the kids at least once a week and boy do they look forward to it! Grandpa joins us for many activities, including one of Michael's favorites: feeding fish at the pond (not actually the pirhanas that Grandma calls them, but they do go crazy for a little bread).

Great Falls with Friends

We went to Great Falls with our friends, Tyler and Danielle Kraus, in the end of September - timing it just before we thought the weather would get cold. After a dinner of pizza and snacks (mostly snacks, as Michael is thoroughly un-American at the moment and doesn't like pizza) we walked along the trail toward the old river locks, throwing and kicking what we think were walnuts.

Along the way we stopped to examine a hollow tree which, until going to the park at Great Falls, I didn't know existed outside of books.

Once we got to the locks the boys ran, climbed up stone "bricks," and wrecklessly jumped off again. Michael and his friend Tyler are great pals and loved playing together.

Teaching Jax to Read

Michael is a very quick learner - just two days of preschool and he's already teaching his sister to read!

Michael Goes to Preschool

Michael is now officially a preschooler! Thankfully, he just outgrew the phase of prolonged crying at Nicole's departure, and was therefore deemed developmentally prepared for the rigors of preschool curriculum. As such, we'd like to say he came home happy and unscathed, but instead we'll just say that he came home happy (as he got quite a scratch during a brief altercation over a coveted toy...).

While there, Michael must have been part of the preschool crowd's discussion of "in" items, and has since decided that he must, absolutely must, have some spiderman underwear. Hmmm. Some real excitement is in our future.

In addition to honing his social skills, Michael has also been perfecting his talents in physical comedy. He plays to an easy crowd at home - Nicole and Jax think he is hilarious.

Our Long Vacation Out West

In August Nicole and the kids flew out to Utah for an extended vacation with family. It was great! We spent long, lazy days playing in the backyard - "watering" the sandbox, sliding down grandpa's death slide (!), climbing up ladders, riding cousin Gavin's hand-me-down "motorbike" and playing in the tree house.

The highlight of the trip was spending so much uninterrupted time with our family. On many evenings we'd all talk together in the kitchen for hours, just like old times (though, with a slightly reduced number of people, the decibal level was lower...). Chris and Gavin joined us often, and Michael had such fun with his cousin! Nicole also introduced everybody to her favorite Canadian tween show, "Strange Days at Blake Holsey High," and watched it each night to see how Josie and the gang were faring.

Jax met her namesake for the first time, and they really took to each other. Nicole's grandmother spent many hours answering all sorts of questions about her life so that we can develop a name book for Jax. We learned so many great things! We made some progress on the book, and we're looking forward to continuing the "work" when Nicole heads back to the area in December.