TeamAHearn.com

Stephanie has had her last day of school, so that’s enough to call it the official start of summer. With that, Lily said a final goodbye to her friends at daycare; it was really just another day for her, but Steph and I couldn’t help but feel bittersweet about it. She’s had two incredible years there, and it truly helped shape her little personality in wonderful ways. But it also means our baby is growing up! Everyone is eager and excited to see what adventures await in preschool in the Fall.

We’ve been having some fun now that the weather is warm and daylight hours push right into bedtime. As seen in recent photos, Lily has been spending a ton of time at Hidden Pond Nature Center, a little park just down the street. In addition to the usual pond/woods/mosquito fun, the Nature Center has exhibits and educational programs that Lily has really taken to. It’s a tiny little place, but it seems like there’s always something new to do.

Last weekend, we went to the annual Celebrate Fairfax festival – a huge community fair that we had been hearing good things about. It was a blast, and Lily had a great time playing games, eating junk food, and screaming with glee on some of her first carnival rides. From a mommy/daddy perspective, it was a success – decent price on tickets, very kid-friendly atmosphere, and good entertainment even for the 3-year-olds.

Finally, as seen in the thumbnail above, my eagerly-awaited inaugural homebrew recently emerged from the basement, and I’m happy to report that it was actually drinkable! The one gallon batch yielded about six and a half 16-ounce bottles, each of which were consumed selectively over the course of the past two or three weeks. Hopefully this is a casual hobby that I can continue – despite the effort, it was fun and rewarding. Also, it appears that Whole Foods sells various grain packs, so another batch is right around the corner.

As you’ve probably seen (or been a part of), the mid-Atlantic region was hit with monstrous amounts of snow over the past week. One of our official weather stations nearby at Mount Vernon measured 23 inches, and that doesn’t count “round two,” a little aftershock of a storm that brought a bit more (including some wind as well, which contributed to drifts up to a foot).

Well the sun has finally emerged, we’ve dug ourselves out, and are more than ready to get rid of some raging cabin fever. Photos here for posterity. And don’t think we didn’t get some more good shots of Lily in the snow – her album has some updates, too!

Last week Stephanie’s parents were in town from Richmond, and she and Lily took them to the Newseum. Unfortunately, I had to work and wasn’t able to go along, but they all came back raving about it. We’ll need to plan a return trip! It did get me thinking about all the sights and attractions around here, though, many of which we still haven’t seen despite living in the area. Of course we’ve made the rounds through the usual Smithsonian museums: art, natural history, American history, air and space, and even the Udvar-Hazy Center out near Dulles. But we still haven’t made it to the Holocaust Museum, the International Spy Museum, and several others that aren’t coming to mind right now.

Any suggestions that you’ve enjoyed and would recommend? Hit the “comment” link below and let us know!

Over the past week I’ve taken some time to upgrade some of the behind-the-scenes workings of teamahearn.com, as well as add a few new photo albums. Actually, they’re old photos, just new to the site. I figure I won’t have much time to tinker with this stuff after about two or three more weeks, so now’s my chance. And no baby news to report – we’re still ready and waiting!

Five classes down, two to go! It’s been a learning blitz for us over the past few months as we prepare for the new arrival in February. We’ve done “Prenatal I” and “Prenatal II” through Kaiser, “Infant CPR and First Aid” and “Breastfeeding” through Inova, and Lamaze. Basically, we have all this great information that we’ll immediately forget when the first contraction hits and panic sets in. Regardless, tonight is our hospital tour so we’ll know where to go for the big day, and January is the final “Prenatal III” class where I’ll learn stuff like this (from this book). I still need to assemble the crib, too – thank God for the holiday break!

I’ve continued transitioning material little by little from scottahearn.com, including two recent additions to the photo gallery: our honeymoon in 2003 and my NASCAR “ride and drive” from 2004. I’m also working on getting the video from the day at racing school on youtube, so now everyone can watch as I nearly pass out from the G forces.