New Jersey?

We spent last weekend in New Jersey.  Dan and Margot Higginson's wedding prompted the visit.  I can't say that I have ever really considered going to New Jersey just for a visit, but it seemed like a nice place.  The wedding was lovely and we got to see lots of extended Smith family and meet Margot's delightful family.  Once again I discovered that if a person wasn't in near proximity to either Garrett or Clare they didn't get much photo time. Fortunately Calvin at least got one shot of the bride and groom.

On Saturday morning we had an adventure to a park on the Hudson River.  It was quite lovely there and Calvin and I memorialized the visit to prove that we really had been to New Jersey.

The wedding was in a restored Victorian mansion with beautiful grounds. Clare was dressed up and feeling as beautiful as the bride.

But she also required a few breaks for boulder climbing with her Goolsby and Higginson cousins. Here are Clare and Soren at the top.

Since everyone was dressed up I made Sarah's family pose for a few photos.  You can actually see Garrett's face in this one.

But just in case I got a close up of his big blue eyes.

Sunday morning Margot's parents hosted an Easter egg hunt for all the little cousins.  I think there were just 6 "hunters" and 300 eggs to find.  Here Clare is just about to start the hunt, dancing with excitement.

All in all it was a very good weekend.

April in Alexandria

I got to spend a few days in Alexandria with Sarah, Clare and Garrett while Toby was out of town last week.  I arrived during the peak of the cherry blossoms, so one of the first things we did was take an outing to the mall to see the blooms, along with a few thousand other tourists.
Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

You can see the cherry trees in the background, I was trying to get the Washington Monument in this shot, but it is a little to the right just out of the picture. In the picture with the Washington Monument in the frame all you can see is the top of Garrett's hat, so I opted for people over monuments.

Clare climbed way up in a tree for this shot.  She is a fearless climber.

It looks like Clare and I are ready to go after taking a break on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial.

Garret held up really well being dragged all over the place

But we were all a little tired by the time we got back to the car.

Clare and I went to the park.  I loved this swing picture.

Friday we took the water taxi from Old Town Alexandria to National harbor, which is just across the river.  Another little girl, Trina, and her grandmother who was visiting from Germany also made the trip and Clare quickly made friends with Trina. She is a few years older, but is very outgoing herself and was very good with Clare.  We had lunch, rode the carousel and took the water taxi back. It was a really fun outing and a really fun visit.

Springtime in Nevada

It is springtime in Nevada, that means snow one day and 70 degree weather the next.  Last Friday we timed the snow just right for a great ski day.  Fairly soft snow and perfectly groomed runs.  I felt like the champion of the world and got in ten runs in two and a half hours of skiing. Calvin had 6 great runs in the "Chutes" which is a season best for him.  Calvin, Peter and Roque went up the next day and had icy slopes and gloomy weather.  Timing is everything.

Spring also means it is time for Calvin to do spring pruning.  Sunday he convinced Peter to help him take down the blue spruce in the back yard.  It was a lush tree, but had some serious structural problems.  Looking at it without branches I am amazed it has stayed standing all of these years. 

It is hard to capture all the twists and bends in the trunk.

 Believe it or not, it is not resting on the the ladder.  That is its natural angle.  Calvin and his chainsaw made quick work of the branches, but he is still figuring out how to get the trunk and roots down.

It seems a shame to cut down any living tree in Nevada, but the time had come for this spruce.