This first winter for us in Alexandria has not only been busy and adventurous but also cold! I must admit the boys have handled it way better than I have. As long as they are bundled up, they can stay outside and play with their friends all afternoon long. However, I don't think I've been warm since we arrived in December.
In January, we were looking forward to starting our second semester of homeschooling. This year my resolution was to take the boys on one adventure a week. I listened to a book titled "Adventure Together," and I was inspired to try to be intentional with our time together by going on weekly adventures. We try to finish all of our school work by Friday so we can take the day off for our adventure. We have had a blast so far and have visited so many new places. We hiked at Rock Creek Park and Roosevelt Island, played at Chessie's Big Backyard, collected shark teeth at Purse State Park and we went went on a scavenger hunt around DC. We are not a lack of things to do in this amazing area.
 |
| Rock Creek |
 |
| The water was their favorite part |
 |
| Rock Creek |
 |
| Roosevelt Island |
 |
| Roosevelt Island |
 |
| Searching for shark teeth |
 |
| Our new friends joined us on this adventure |
 |
| We found some great ones |
 |
| The teeth we came home with. |
 |
| We found the original columns at the National Arboretum. |
 |
| We found the indicator tree at the Tidal Basin |
 |
| We found the Einstein statue downtown |
 |
| We found a yummy bakery that makes homemade pop tarts |
However, our biggest and most memorable adventure the winter was our first snow day. The boys have been looking forward to snow since we arrived on December 7 and it did not disappoint. They lived outside the whole day and had a blast sledding, throwing snowballs and building a snowman. The whole neighborhood was outside, so the adults had fun chatting while the kids were playing. It was a wonderful day.
 |
| Sledding Hill... we went with our neighbors. |
 |
| Their first snowman |
 |
| The snow is Abram's happy place |
Also, this season, Luke had a date with Chris (we try to do these when we can) and Luke wanted to go look at art with Chris down in Old Town. They had lunch together then they spent hours looking at paintings, photographs and sculptures.
 |
| Flipping through some prints |
 |
| Chatting with an artist. |
Some other special days this season include our the anniversary of our engagement picnic, Chinese New Year, and Valentine's Day. Chris surprised me with remembering our engagement anniversary and the boys helped him set up for a picnic while they sent me upstairs. So sweet to celebrate with them! We also enjoyed some Panda Express take out for Chinese New Year, and had a fun snowed in Valentines Day with our sweethearts.
 |
| Celebrating the anniversary of our engagement |
 |
| Chinese New Year and our red envelopes |
 |
| Enjoying our Cupid Shakes on Valentines Day |
 |
| Munching on our chocolate covered pretzel rods |
 |
| 14 special hearts for Jack |
 |
| Luke's hearts |
 |
| Abram with his Valentine hearts |
And our final big event of the winter was Jack losing his first tooth! It was super exciting because we didn't even know it was loose. He actually spit it on the ground because he didn't know what it was. Thankfully, I saw it and picked it up and showed him it was his first tooth! He couldn't believe it.
We had a super fun winter! I'm looking forward to spring not only for the warm weather, but also the cherry blossoms, Easter, birthdays and of course more adventures.
