Red Robin Nostalgia

Back in the day (the day being when the MMs lived in C'ville), we'd often celebrate birthdays at Red Robin. For old time's sake we went again (even though it wasn't anyone's birthday!) Seeing as it's nearly 2013, I guess it's a bit like a birthday of sorts. We need very little justification for these things.

Ivy Creek with the MMs

The MMs came to stay with us for a week over New Years. We had grand plans to hike in Shenandoah National Park, but Skyline Drive was closed due to snow and ice. So, we decided to hike a bit more locally. Ivy Creek was a favorite spot when the 3 bigger kiddos were littler, so it seemed like a reasonable plan for the 8 of us. We even managed to fins a few trails that the MMs had never hiked before!

The first picture is of Zara tree climbing during our "winter-nic" aka winter picnic. It wasn't crazy warm, but warm enough we had a nice light outdoor lunch. Quite a novelty in December. The next picture is Amity holding hands with Luke, everyone's favorite Toddler Whisperer. I don't know if the shine will perhaps wear off as she gets older, but for now Amity is extremely enamored of Luke. The third picture is the kiddos during the hike, relatively bundled up. By the end of the hike, as you can see in the fourth picture, the kids had pretty much doffed all of their outer layers. It wasn't really *that* warm, but it probably wasn't as cold as their earlier outfits would indicate, either.

Bed for Three

Kiera and Claire (lucky for me and Wes, they brought their parents, too) came to visit from Montreal. It was fantastically fun. Kids had a great time and then promptly passed out altogether on the futon downstairs. Cute x 3!

Christmas Run

While we do not celebrate Christmas in the same way many people do, we still have some longstanding (though constantly evolving) traditions. Looking back over the blog, I'm surprised that we've never documented these shenanigans photographically. Or if we have, perhaps, wisely, these photos have not yet seen widespread public dissemination.

In any case, our current Christmas tradition includes a run. This run dates back to the pre-kiddo Ann Arbor days, where we'd run in the streets because they were as empty as if someone had closed the roads for a race. Or sometimes because the sidewalks were so snow covered it was easier to run in the streets. Or both. We've kept up versions of this tradition since moving to Charlottesville, though the run has been shortened to a mile loop in our neighborhood, but we do it regardless of weather. This was Zara's first year running (as opposed to riding in a stroller), and she ran nearly the whole thing, with just a small walking break on the steepest hill. And if you know anything about our neighborhood, it's really nothing but steep hills. So hats of to Zara. I expect it won't be too long before Amity's joining in for some portion of the run as well...

Flower PJs

Not sure what Amity was showing us here. The ubiquitous and adored boots? The flower PJs that used to be Zara's? That she can follow our instructions so when we say "spread your arms out wide" in order to get her to stop "posing" she follows our directions? Probably all of the above.

Baby and Boots

Amity displays several of her favorite things in the is picture. She's wearing the hat Auntie Gabi knit for her, as well as her furry boots and "winter" dress. She's snuggling her baby. And while I don't think she's so attached to this specific one, she's surprisingly fond of water bottles.

Butterflies dancing a Reel

Zara's current irish step dancing class is known as the Butterflies. Here they are performing a reel at the BRIMS Winter recital.

The Wren

Zara and her Scoil (irish for "school") buddies perform a seasonally appropriate song and dance at the BRIMS Winter recital.

Last Night of Chanukah

Lots of Chanukah posts this year. This one might be my favorite.

Wingspan

A while back we measured Zara's wingspan. Now Amity's old enough to get in on the act, too.

Amity's Baby

Amity has many stuffed animals, which she dotes on in a variety of ways. No one (or nanybody, as she used to say) is particularly a favorite. But we hear she likes the baby dolls at school. So, for Chanukah, we bought Amity her very own baby doll this year. While she still remains more attached to both Wes and I and not really a "lovey" kinda kid, she does seem to adore playing with her baby. As of now, baby's name is "Charlotte Violet Craig" but it does change periodically. We'll keep you posted.

Zara's Turn

Zara's become a pro at candle lighting. Amity watches carefully, taking notes for her next turn with the shamash.

Amity's Turn

This is the first year that Amity really "gets" Chanukah. As such, it seemed only fair that she get a turn lighting the candles. So we alternated nights. Zara wasn't entirely pleased with this arrangement, having spent the last several years as the sole lighter of candles, but so is the sibling life.

Third Night of Chanukah

Despite the fact that Amity's face may tell a different story, all of us in the Bromberg-Craig household wish you, dear readers, a very happy Chanukah!

Glitter

According to Mary (one of Amity's 3 teachers), you can't have Chanukah at a Jewish preschool without silver and blue glitter paint. And glitter. Apparently Amity thinks purple is also a requirement. So, here's Amity (working with a friend) on a Chanukah art creation, complete with much glitter.

Amity's Box Fiddle

Zara and Wes made this box fiddle for Amity so she could play along with Zara. It was such a brilliant idea, and they had a lot of fun making it. Alas, Amity (who was thrilled when she first received it), doesn't actually play it all that much anymore. We're not sure why. But when she does, it is very, very, cute!

Pausing during a Hike

I don't recall where we were hiking. Maybe Ivy Creek? Kids stopped, posed, looked cute, we took a picture. Perhaps there was a snack? Maybe just a water break. We've been trying to get Amity to walk a little more in preparation for our Australia trip, and weekend hikes have been our thing.

P-p-p-pudding Face

Auntie Gabi came to visit (yay!) and requested chocolate pudding (yay!). Amity turns out to have quite an affinity for it, as seen here.

Elephant PJs

We went shopping at Costco. I happened to notice that these adorable fuzzy and warm elephant PJs came in both size 3T and size 7. Sisters, for some unfathomable reason to me, like to match. So sisters now have matching PJs. I'm a sucker for Costco.

Humpack Rocks, re-revisited

It was a beautiful day, and Zara wanted to hike Humpback Rocks. So, along with 20 or more of our (not so) closest friends, we made the trek. It was so crazy crowded at the top we couldn't even stage our usual family portrait. This lovely snap of Zara will have to suffice as the proof of our ascent. As all of you local-ish to the greater C'ville area know, this is indeed Humpback Rocks.

Bodhran

Now that Zara's becoming a more proficient tin whistle and fiddle player, and the kids are getting older, I've been able to play my fiddle some. Also, Wes has taken up playing DADGAD guitar as well as tin whistle, so we've got the makings of a family band. Amity's still trying to decide where she fits in. Sometimes she dances, sometimes she plays the keyboard or guitar via GarageBand on the iPad (we're so 21st century), and sometimes she makes trouble. Zara cleverly suggested Amity try playing this bodhran she made at BRIMS camp this summer. She seemed to enjoy it long enough for us to take a picture, but it hasn't really stuck in her regular rotation, yet.

Driving the Bus

Once again, here's a behind the scenes peak at the fun Amity has when she goes to CBI school. I'm not sure what game Ami and her buds (and teacher Emily) are playing here, but when I showed it to her she said "oh, we're driving the bus." So, there you have it.

Dada's Shoulder

Not sure what was going on here, I think Amity was looking at whatever Wes was doing on his laptop. But it just looked so sweet. Also note, Amity is so fashionable she can accessorize PJs with a poncho!

Another round of BRIMS

Since Zara's been participating in Scoil (Irish for school), she's been performing a lot more. This video's cool because 1) It's mercifully short, 2) Amity is singing with the big kids in the first part, and 3) BRIMS was participating in a fundraiser for the Arts Council of (neighboring) Greene County, so it was all for a very good cause.

Halloween

If you guessed Brobee (from "Yo Gabba Gabba") and "Pippi Longstocking," you're right. If you guessed something else, I'm sure you are a lovely person just the same. But, sadly, wrong.

Getting Ready

The day before Halloween we had a 'test run' of the halloween costumes. Anyone guess what the kids are going to be?

Dressing Up

I don't actually remember who took this picture, when, or why. Amity loves this dress. Amity also loves wearing Zara's headbands. That's all I got.

Mountaintop Montessori Fall Festival

Zara and her dance class (The Butterflies) did a really nice reel at the Mountaintop Montessori Fall Festival. Sadly, we didn't really get much video from that. While many of her classmates changed after their portion of the performance, Zara hung around in her dance costume watching the "Trad" group perform. As they started up a set (Kesh Jig/Irish Washerwoman), Lori (Zara's dance teacher and the Director of BRIMS) asked Zara if she wanted to perform an impromptu jig. Zara had never done this before, but was thrilled to be asked. She danced beautifully (as can be seen in the video above) and really rose to the occasion.

Puppies at Crozet Arts and Crafts

Fall in Charlottesville (and the greater Central Virginia area) is an awesome time for super fun festivals. The Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival is one of those fun fests. This year the kids spent a lot of time on bouncy castles and slides, though there was a bit of art admiring. Also, Service Dogs of VA was in attendance, so the kiddos enjoyed some puppy lovin' as well.

Amity at School

One of the great things about CBI is the fact that they take pictures of the kids playing in their natural habitat. It's nice for us because we get to see them do things we don't normally get to see. In this case, Amity takes her baby for a shop and is making something with flour. Bread? Cake? Not sure. Looks fun, though.

A few more from Katie and Eric's Wedding

Here's a few more pictures from Katie and Eric's wedding. These pictures were taken by the actual wedding photographer, as opposed to our camera phones. Most notable for me is the depth of field. Something I miss having from my old school SLR days. Maybe one day we'll have to break down and buy one of those "real" digital cameras.

Fiddlesticks

Zara's been playing fiddle for almost a year now. In the past, Amity's been content to listen, dance, or try and maul Zara or her fiddle. In the last few weeks, however, when Zara takes out her fiddle, Amity runs to the kitchen, grabs two chopsticks and runs back to the living room calling "hey, guys, I've got my fiddle" and proceeds to play for us as well. So as you can see from this picture, they've been playing a number of duets lately.

Katie and her girls

Just before we were leaving the party, Wes grabbed a couple of quick shots of Zara and Amity with Katie.

Katie and Eric's Wedding - Flower Girls

Katie and Eric got married. Zara and Amity were flower girls. So were several other very cute kids. The girls were great, the wedding was wonderful, and we wish Eric and Katie many years of happiness together!

Udvar-Hazy, Sukkah edition

Due to a series of rather fortunate events, it so happened that two of my favorite people from my college days, Ed and Rachel, and their adorable daughters, Lila and Alaina, had a day to spare while visiting DC for Rachel's sister Leah's wedding. This free day also happened to coincide with the lack of school/daycare due to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Zara will tell you this as they are studying mitzvot in Hebrew school this year, but in case you hadn't heard, it is a mitzvah to dwell in the sukkah. This is especially true if you are dwelling in the sukkah with dear friends you haven't seen in person since their wedding (since we up and left the midwest, where said dear friends reside, it's probably mostly our fault anyway). Well, sometimes the term sukkah needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and in this case our proverbial sukkah was actually the always awesome (and now, with a REAL space shuttle, Discovery, one that actually flew in space! See behind Zara and Lila in the top picture) Udvar-Hazy branch of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.

Long story short, a good time was had by all. We eagerly await another opportunity to adventure with the Wolfson-Fingegolds!