Thanksgiving 2017

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving in Hartfield this year. The weather was nice, the food was great, and the family time was fun - that’s a lot to be thankful for.

 

Thanksigiving morning started out with an impromptu “Turkey Trot” with the girls (young and not-so-young) donning their turkey feather headbands!

It never hurts to run off a few calories before the day of eating begins!

  

The girls ran and the pups played.  They always have such a good time running and chasing each other!

 

The boys were busy with their annual oyster shuck on Thanksgiving morning.  The tradition of oysters on Thanksgiving has continued each year, and then on Friday we come up with cool recipes for different ways to have oysters.  

  

After their oyster shucking finished, they warmed up for their Friday golf round by taking target practice at trees across the water.

The Thanksgiving meal was delicious.  Mouse always does such a great job with the sides, and G’s smoked and brined turkey was amazing!  There was more food and dessert than we could tackle, as always, but that just means delicious left overs for the next day.

While they were letting their food settle, the girls took another trip down the street to visit the miniature horse farm.  Before we walked down, I caught them for a quick photo together.  We are very blessed to have such beatiful young ladies on the inside and out.  They are great friends, and they get so much joy from spending time together. We are very thankful to have such a close family!

The horses are so friendly, and the girls love to pick the “good grass” from outside the fence to feed them.  The horses always come to the fence to get attention from the girls, and the girls love it!  

I think this girl loves it the most. Lyla is still my horse crazy girl, and whenever we’re at Hartfield, she takes any and every opportunity to walk down to visit the horses.

 

 

After the busy day of eating and playing, the humans were tired, but the pups were exhausted as well.  With couch space at a premium, somehow they still managed to secure their position pretty well.  It’s a rough life those two have!

  

Friday was a morning of making craft birds for the girls (Mouse always comes up with a cool craft for them to make the day after Thanksgivng), the boys played golf, and then we feasted again on Friday night, played cards and watched football. As always, our time there comes and goes seeminly quickly, but it’s always great to spend time together as a family.  In a season of remembering things to be thankful for, our family is at the top of my list.  We are fortunate to like each other, enjoy spending time together, and have the ability go get together as often as we do for making great memories - much to be thankful for.

 

 

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Finishing Up the Season

Lyla’s fall season finished up with two busy, cold weekends of soccer.  The weekend after her regular season games were finished, the teams headed down to Fredericksburg on a Saturday for ScrimmageFest.  While it’s no one’s favorite Saturday by any stretch, it’s not that bad if it’s warm (since you’re out at the fields all day long with no where to go in between scrimmages).  However, this time was cloudy and COLD. The girls still manage to have fun, but I was the happy one to get back in the warm car after a full day.

  

The following weekend was the Bethesda Premier Cup tournament.  Lyla’s team played in a tough group/bracket, and while they didn’t get off to a good start with their first game, they battled and played much better the second game and still better the third.  So, it was good to see them stay tough despite a rough start.  It was another very cold soccer weekend - much moreso than the ScrimmageFest.  I think Nina was the warmest one on the sidelines though!

  

Since she’s gotten into soccer, Lyla has always wanted to play an offensive position.  She’s either played in a striker or wing position.  However, for one of the last regular season games, two of their defenders were out, and Lyla’s coach had her play defense, and she did a good job.  After the rough first game for the team, Lyla’s coach put her in defense again for the second and third games.  She played tough, was very focused (wish we could channel that at home), and even though they didn’t get to advance to the finals, we were very proud of her and thought it was a great experience for her and a good note to close out the season on.

  

Halloween 2017

 

Last weekend was the annual Halloween party at my parents’ house. However, before the party, Nina had a mini-performance with her cheer team for a Breast Cancer Awareness event.  After the teams performed, the girls got to take part in some fun and get their faces painted.  Then it was a quick turnaround to head out to Haymarket for the Halloween party!

   

 Every year they put on such a fun party for the kids and families we are friends with. It’s a party that the kids look forward to so much every year, and every year it never disappoints!  Since it was a big hit last year, the donut eating challenge made it back again this year.  As before, the kids have to try to eat donuts hanging on a string without using their hands.  Evidently, it’s harder than it looks, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!

  

Poppy took them on a hayride after the donut eating...

…then they took part in a new addition to the Halloween party - Fear Factor.  Each of the items on the list below were things that they had to eat or do.  It was so funny to watch. From eating baby food, cat food, and drinking a blended up McDonalds Happy Meal, to seeing who could outlast the other holding a handful of ice, transporting dog biscuits in their mouth or cracking eggs on their head to see if they were hard boiled or raw, or using their mouths to dig for gummy worms in a whipped cream pie, it was such a funny part of the party for the kids.

  

  

  

Another new addition to the party this year was a capture the flag type game in the dark using LED bracelets and discs.

Of course, there was fun food, lots of dessert, and some nice socializing as well for the adults.

 

The evening closed out with the haunted walk through the woods and the bonfire to finish.

 

 

As always, the whole evening was a blast, and the weather was perfect for an outdoor party!  The kids and adults both had a great time, and while I know it is a ton of work for my parents, they always do such a great job making sure it’s a fun and memorable night for the kids every year.  

Halloween was also a great weather day!  The kids really lucked out.  Nina wanted to be a pirate this year...

 

…and Lyla was Mal from the movie Descendents.

 

Halloween is a really fun night in our neighborhood.  There are tons of kids and adults out in costume, houses decorated in really cool ways, and always lots and lots of candy!  The girls had fun trick-or-treating with each other and friends and had a great evening!