Fun with cousins

Finnian and cousin Demetrios

Seeing Lincoln. Finnian and Anastasia (and arm of Demetrios).


The ride back to the midwest.



"Are we there yet?"
(Finnian, Domionos, Adalia, Anastasia)



Maryland cousins, Sophie and Willa with Finnian.

(Is it obvious yet that the motorhome was a hot spot?)

Part of our crew outside one of the beautiful pools of the WWII memorial (Soutsos cousins).

Standing in the bread line at the FDR memorial. (The FDR memorial is defenitely one of my favorites.) Maryland cousis, Sophie and Willa with Finnian.

A Mother's Day performance by "Takoma-Cross"

Puddle stomping
(Adalia, Theodora, Evangeline)

Cousins in tub-bins
(Adalia and Anastasia)

There and Back!

Vacations always move along much quicker than anticipated. We are home and shall show some glimpses of highlights:

(I tried every which way to get these 3 posts in the correct order. Blogger won't allow it. This was supposed to be the first post of the three. It won't work for me. Hope you enjoyed the reverse order.

On our 2nd day in Front Royal with the cousins, the baby chicks arrived!!!! 50 baby chicks in a box not much bigger than two shoe boxes! A TOTAL HIT!

Drinking lessons began immediately.

PEEP!


PEEP! PEEP!!

D.C. or BUST

The Falvey family of LaCrosse, Grandma Connie, and Grandpa and Grandma B are vacationing for the next 10 days out to sunny D.C. to visit family, monuments and historical sites. We are traveling by motorhome. We shall journal here for your enjoyment!

Our CHARIOT arrives.

Grandma's "stuff" (plus Grandpa's guitar). Um... can I bring a pair of underpants?

Exiting the driveway, 8pm Tuesday evening.

D.C. or BUST (continued)

Bunk viewing

The (um...) Navigator

The 'Cappy-Tan'

Motorhomes don't allow for much view. This is all I saw for about 18 hours.

Incidently, traveling by motorhome is quite the experience. We *thought* it would be smart to drive at night while kids slept. BAD IDEA. Motorhomes are not to be slept in while enroute. It was like trying to sleep next to 823 stacked cookie sheets- while on a rollercoaster. Or, it is also comparable to really bad turbulance. 18 hours of really bad turbulance. At about 2:30am Wednesday morning, I begged the driver to stop and allow rest. He acquiesced.

When we woke up in the morning, Grandpa B asked if anyone wanted coffee and walked out the door straight into Mc Donalds. The kids were amazed we slept at and awoke right outside the door of McDonalds. Yes, readers, there is much excitement to document on this trip!

Happy arrived in Front Royal, VA at approximately 8pm Wednesday evening. After lots of cousin hugs, we crawled (literally) to bed and awoke to a rainy day. Rainy days are good days for chess. Finnian was the champion of this match with his cousin Demetrios.

We went to Iowa, and all I got was...

A COOL NEW BICYCLE!

You are looking at one happy and excited 5 year old boy! We drove to Decorah today and came home with a radical new bike. Now all we need is some bike riding weather.

These Irish eyes are smilin'!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Making St. Patrick's Day Mud Balls

First, you start with one crazy Mamma -- one that thinks baking with a 3 year old and 5 year old is a good idea. One you've found a crazy Mamma, allow the 5 year old crack ALL THREE eggs. After each egg is cracked, spend the next 10 minutes trying to coax out all the shells. One you've recovered all egg shells, spend the next 5 minutes fighting over who gets to stir.

Next, you repeat 100 times: "Not too much! There's raw egg in there!"

Then, you sit back and smile about how cute and happy they look. (This only lasts a moment before rushing them to the sink as you intercept a crash landing on the couch.)

After stirring a baked and frosted cake with a little milk mixed in (seriously) you roll the globby cake into cute little balls and sprinkle them with green sugar. Mud Balls seemed like the perfect Kindergarten treat for Finnian's "special day" at school today. With a name like Finnian Falvey, it seems only right to celebrate St. Patrick's Day - even if it is a couple days early.