F%*# YEAH! THANKSGIVING!

Boris made me a Birthday Chesecake completely from scratch!

Seriously, and I am being completely 100% honest when I say it is the
BEST cheesecake I have ever had!
Thanks B!

Royal as... a Ghost..?

Hella before her snack! ;-)

Hella after her pre trick or treating snack..!

Boris is The Grim Reaper

Spike is 'Nothing'

The gang!

SIX YEARS OF SPIKE SPEED

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPIKE!





Spike continues to be the magical, wise, surprising, philosophical one of our Crowd...





...he inspires and delights...everyone that meets him is smitten...he casts a spell without even trying...





We surprised him with a day at the National Zoo...he got a monster pile of Legos, a nerf crossbow, new shoes and a lesson in patience since some other presents didn't show up in time!

He requested a blue alien cake and pasta for dinner...he got beautiful weather, both Mom & Dad home, and happy times with the family...a good birthday!

25% FINISHED

Christina's big left-arm project got under way during our trip to N'rn Ohio this weekend...all hail the Mighty, Mighty, Ink-Stained Ryan Speed...



For anyone wanting the details, this is Christina's 'mother' tattoo...she picked each kid's birth month flower and had Ryan design the sleeve...

top of the shoulder = chrysanthemum = November (C and Rik)
back of the arm = larkspur = July (Boris)
crook of the elbow = aster = September (Spike)
bottom one = Gerbera daisy = April (Hella)
small ones scattered about = snow pea = January (Royal)

this is all about 25% done...lots of color to come...

(and, for the record, the butterfly is her 4-yr-old 'sister' tattoo, shared with Bev...Ryan is incorporating it into the design...)

Reading to his brothers

Time to pick the peaches!

We wanted to take the kids somewhere new and fun, and since peaches
are the fruit in season right now, we found an orchard right outside
town and made the hour long trek!
The kids had a blast! We will definitely be back as the season change!
Can anyone say, pumpkins?! :-)

Royal on phone with Robyne

WHO PUT THAT THERE?

We are lucky to be living a life where scenes like this are completely
par for the course.

there's a Royal bug under our rug

MARINE CORPS IWO JIMA MEMORIAL a.k.a. we love living here!

watching a plane take off from National Airport

Boris the Botanist

on the shore of the Potomac

Royal discovered a bee on the flowers he was admiring

FIRST ROAD TRIP OF THE SUMMER

So, finally got around to uploading the pictures from our long weekend in Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, there weren't many to choose from, so not a lot of variety here...

Hitting the road, not-so-early Friday morning:



There weren't any good pics of Boris from the visit to the Falls, so here's one from his School Field Day a few days prior to the trip:



The Official Family Visiting Niagara Falls Portrait (our scanner is not working, so it's got pretty bad resolution):



If you've never been to the Falls, you may not know that you can actually walk right into a part of the waterfall. You take an elevator down to the 'Cave of the Winds' (which, these days, is really a concrete tunnel), then walk along the edge of the cliff to a wooden walkway. Following the walkway takes you on a loop through the water. Here's some pics from just before entering the deluge. Royal hated wearing the required raincoat:






And then, after shedding the maddeningly sticky and hot raincoats, here's the happy family post-waterfall:





I wish we had some decent pictures of the Mays (Mandy, Jordan, Bradley & Sammy - friends we stayed with), their amazing Tenenbaum-like house, or Nanny (Christina's 97-yr-old grandmother).

It was a great weekend, the first time since Christmas we had all been able to spend more than a minute hanging out together as a family.

We've got at least two more major road trips planned for the summer, so stay tuned...

SOME SPRING SATURDAY

Started by taking the whole Crowd of Speeds (+1 Texan visitor) to see UP...phenomenastic! fantabulous! super! Easily lives up to Pixar's high standards...the 'Life of Carl and Ellie' montage throughout the first 15-20 minutes is worth the admission alone...



Then we drove over to Fort Washington in Prince Georges county, Maryland. Established to protect D.C. from any invaders sailing up the Potomac, it was never involved in any fighting. Pretty cool to walk around, these days.



Boris on some spooky stairs...



Royal...



Spike, some of the defensive diggings & buildings, and the Potomac in the background...



Hella and Spike climbing the hill behind the fort...they got to the top, then rolled most of the way back down...although...



...not without Christina joining them...(yes that's her near the bottom...Hella still halfway up the hill).