Zula, Gideon, and Ari Zev's Blog: March 02, 2012

New Year's Eve 2011

You know where the best place to start New Year's Eve is? On a carousel, of course. I told Mommy that it went so fast it felt like my horse was going to fly away.

Guess what was right near the carousel? The Washington Monument...

...and the Capitol!

Where were Zula and Daddy, you ask? Ice skating in the sculpture garden!

It looks like Daddy might be having more fun than Zula...

...but she's definitely getting the hang of it!

They say I'm too young to skate yet...

but do you hear that music?

You're never too young to get your groove on!

And when that gets old...

You can always be a knight or a superhero.

The Christmas House (Hanukah and Christmas 2011, part 3)

We celebrated most of Hanukah at the "Christmas House" we rented this year on the Chesapeake Bay.

Of course, we also celebrated Christmas at the Christmas house! Here, Lucas and I are getting down to business opening gifts as Grandaddy plays Santa.

Oh, cool, Lion King! My first love, you'll remember, before knights and superheroes and BeyBlade, was lions.

Daddy got this cool towel. Wait, maybe that was for Ari Zev?

Meme got a calendar...

And Zula and Oliver had way too much fun together. (Thanks to Auntie Bridget for these great shots!)

Ari Zev really liked hanging out on Zula's giant new bear.

Xmas Trip 2011 (Hanukah and Christmas 2011, part 2)

Every year for Christmas, we go somewhere with the Westendorf side of the family. This year, since Ari Zev was newly arrived, we stuck close to home and drove about 30 miles east to the Chesapeake Bay.

You can find a lot of cool stuff by the bay...

Want to see something?

This looks like a shell, but it might be a prehistoric shark's tooth...

Zula found a crab shell...

...and then a pirate ship! No wonder it says "Play at Your Own Risk"!

Hanukah and Christmas 2011, part 1

Now that it's March, the time has come to reveal how we spent our winter holidays, don't you think?

We spent one of the first nights of Hanukah with the Riedels, to continue the tradition of celebrating together that Mommy and Emily began when they were kids. See the menorah behind Ryan's arm? Emily even made the latkes this year since Ari Zev was so newly arrived -- thanks, Auntie Em!