Hines Happenings: Thanksgiving Adventures

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving Adventures

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year! My parents and Deborah came to visit for 4.5 days and we had a great time together! Probably the most memorable will be the woods adventures shared by my dad and the older boys. We live only about a mile from the Potomac River, and between us and the river is woods. Philip and the boys occasionally walk to the river, but they have always taken the same path and so we were unaware there were several other trails through the woods. Caleb, Joshua and my dad thoroughly explored the trails. They found the biggest leaves we've ever seen (about 10" across), an albino squirrel, a squirrel tree home. They forded creeks through the water, and crossed over 30 feet of water on a board. What a grand time. The best part was they couldn't really get lost, with the river on one side and neighborhoods on the other, so they explored without fear. A young boy's dream. :)

In addition to all the woods adventures, both boys stepped up a level in bike riding. Caleb finally learned how to ride without training wheels. He had been really hesitant to try until just recently, so I asked my dad to work with him and Caleb was immediately able to ride the 2-wheeler. Yeay! Joshua had been riding a way too small tricycle and was afraid to move to the bike with training wheels, but he is now riding away on that. How wonderful. These two can now really zoom around the cul-de-sac!

We also took a trip downtown to the American History Museum and National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum on Saturday (sans Deborah, Andrew and Joshua). Caleb really enjoyed the portrait museum. We weren't sure how he would do there, but he said "I don't know why everyone kept saying I would be bored. I like everything I'm seeing!" His favorites were the unfinished picture of Woodrow Wilson and the license plates that write out the Preamble to the Constitution.