Pike Schemes

Snow Day? Nope!

2012-01-09T16:16:00.002-05:00

We had a touch of snow today. There were fluffy white flakes and snow tipped trees, at least for a bit. Since this happened near the end of the school day it got Sara's kids pretty excited. Too bad the forecast puts us at 55+ degrees for tomorrow's temperature.

Is it time for pajamas to be put on inside out?

We are dying for just one snow day.

Pretty please...

Godmother's Brunch

2012-01-08T13:14:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed a lovely brunch this morning to honor and celebrate the year anniversary of Frances' baptism. While not all of her "Fairy Godmothers," as Sara likes to call the group, could be there in person, all were there in spirit and by phone. All four of Francie's godmothers delight in her and are thrilled to celebrate the first year in her spiritual life.

Sara, Karin, and Francie

A smile from our dear one!

Nothing like a little tickle time, reading, and general fun with your godmothers!

Sara's Scoop: A Visit to the Portrait Gallery

2012-01-02T13:35:00.007-05:00

Before Jessica jets off this afternoon for a wedding in New Hampshire, we took some sister time to visit the National Portrait Gallery and hang out with our family friend, Andy T.

A squinty self-portrait

Entering into The Black List, the exhibit we came to see

The Year in Review: 2011

2012-01-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year from Shawn and Sara!

Here are a few highlights from our adventures great and small during 2011:

Jan	A weekend away in St Michael’s and the eastern Chesapeake Bay shore in Maryland Baptism of Sara’s new goddaughter with close friends in DC
Feb	Sara’s vocal talents shines brightly at a Wizard’s basketball game as she sang “The Star Spangled Banner” with a teaching partner, the school cub scouts trooping the colors
Mar	Early spring weather brings us local produce, spectacular walks, and cherry blossoms
Apr	Sara’s parents visit – we daytrip to Baltimore, enjoy a Nats game, and Pink Martini concert Sara escorts students to the White House Easter Egg Roll
May	From high-rise to townhouse, we make a quick move to a larger place in Arlington Sara’s cousin visits from Idaho; Memorial Day Civil War tour around Fredericksburg
Jun	The school year ends with a brief visit to Harper’s Ferry and Antietam battlefield Shawn starts work as a Program Manager with the Vision Council
Jul	Exploring the Brandywine River valley and Wilmington yields beautiful manses and art A girls’ weekend away for Sara in Seattle; returning for Potter marathon & debut of final film
Aug	Five years in Arlington! Sara’s parents visit – jaunts to museums and around Virginia Annapolis wedding begets lovely weekend and tour of Naval academy; first earthquake!
Sep	Baseball with friends begins and ends the month; wine tour around Charlottesville Shawn begins commuting by bike with the advent of fall
Oct	Evening sail on the Potomac; pumpkin patch and corn maize; wintry excursion to railroad tour in W Virginia – the seasons are really changing
Nov	Shawn’s parents visit – Ford’s theatre, Newseum and MLK memorial fill the weekend Ft Lauderdale, briefly, for a warm Thanksgiving with Sara’s parents
Dec	Day trip to NYC for a Broadway show with Daniel Radcliffe North Idaho with Sara’s family fulfills our annual white Christmas wish

First Coffee and Sister Fun

2012-01-01T13:08:00.004-05:00

Shawn has been enjoying a very wonderful gift from Sara's dad, an amazing new coffee machine! Now we have a home barista!

The first cup of coffee from his new machine

On a completely unrelated note...
At the shoe store, Jessie and Sara couldn't resist trying on these sparkly glam shoes

New Year's Gathering

2011-12-31T23:00:00.014-05:00

We decided to hold an impromptu New Year's Eve party, inviting anyone who wanted to ring in the New Year with us over for a fun evening. Some of Shawn's former college friends, Nathan and Raul, and their wives, along with church and dance friends were able to make it. Maybe next year we will plan something further in advance.

Individual baked Bries with some scrumptious Cranfiggy Chutney from our wine tasting day

Jessie graciously lent her skills in the preparation
Too bad we didn't get any pictures of the finished products - they were puffed, lovely, and finished by the end of the evening

Hoppin' John, a southern black-eyed pea recipe, for good luck in the New Year

Preparing some peanut butter Biscoff fudge

Greens for wealth

Cracker and champagne to ring in the New Year

A good time was had by all

Christmas in North Idaho Wrap Up

2011-12-30T10:53:00.029-05:00

The Glow of Christmas

We had such an amazing visit to Coeur d'Alene this year. Our camera was hidden away for some of the fun and it seemed like we took fewer photos than we would have liked. Some of the highlights that did not make the blog:

Oyster stew was mentioned, but not pictured. We know that some of our reader's cannot stomach oysters, but this meal is what Christmas Eve is all about
Midnight Mass at St. Thomas with family
Time with Grandpa D
Sara's Aunt Jan's amazing Christmas morning brunch - incredible food and the best company
A gift exchange between all 23 family members - one at a time, starting with the oldest person in the room (the family draws names)
Going to a Christmas evening movie together as a family - this is always a fun Christmas tradition - this year about 15 people went in for the fun
So much wonderful family time! Since everyone was in town for the holiday, we saw all of Sara's cousins and her aunts and uncles, some of which we had not seen in years
XBox Kinect time - dancing like rock stars (B and her sisters were the most fun to watch - they can cut a rug!)
Time to relax, read, and rejuvenate

City Drive, Spokane, WA

2011-12-29T06:58:00.033-05:00

Jessie flew to Washington DC bright and early this morning (at 7:00 from Spokane, WA) necessitating an early morning drive in to the airport. We opted for the early start (B & D are working today) and took the opportunity to have breakfast with Shawn's Aunt Bea and Uncle Dale. After the airport drop off and the lovely breakfast, we found a city drive to enjoy in the first morning sun. Shawn especially enjoyed this as a former resident of Spokane.

Follow the arrows - it is like following paper plates to your camping spot

Views of the Spokane River

The path took us along parts of the river we had never seen before

A quick self-portrait

This is further down nears some falls

A picture of the Northwest!

We stopped at Manito Park and hoped to see the Japanese Garden - but it was closed for the winter

Looking toward the Palouse

A nice vista

Sadly we got no pictures of our lovely breakfast with Dale and Bea. We leave for home tomorrow, Jess is actually staying with us.

Hudson's Lunch

2011-12-27T12:54:00.002-05:00

There is one place EVERYONE must go whenever they come to Coeur D'Alene: Hudson's Hamburgers. Today is our day...

The back door feels like a secret special entrance

Welcome!

Yes, that is the magic: grill, cheese, hamburger, and bun (pickles and onions are optional...)

Sara's childhood favorite - Huddy burger with cheese only and a Mountain Dew

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-26T20:52:00.003-05:00

Jessie, who is studying to be a nurse these days, has never lost her culinary chops! She has made wedding cakes for friends and always does special birthday lovelies for family and friends. At Christmas dinner this evening, for all 23 family members, we celebrated Barbie's birthday (which is on 12/31) with a 6 layer coconut cake with dark chocolate and pastry cream. Amazing!

The chocolate is added to each layer

Now it is time for the pastry cream
The coconut is also going between the layers

The amazing finished product

Birthday fun!

Happy birthday to you!

A Man and his Boat

2011-12-26T17:51:00.005-05:00

Sara's dad bought a used sailboat last year and we have yet to see it. Her dad is going to retire in September and he loves sailing, so the boat is a perfect retirement project. As a nice Boxing Day outing, we drove up to the boat's slip on Lake Pend Oreille to get a peek at her. We can't wait to be in Idaho in the sailing months!

A look at the marina (you can see that the snow is gone)

Lovely Northern Idaho landscape

There she is, in her winter coat

At the end of the dock

A man and his boat!

So lovely

This house boat/floating house continues to be upgraded!

Family Christmas Fun

2011-12-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

Every year Sara and Jessie get matching PJs for Christmas. Every year they attempt to make a family Christmas card...

We were so busy with Christmas day family brunch, a gift exchange between 23 family members, a family-wide movie outing, and general gathering, that we snapped no more pictures of our wonderful day.

Christmas Eve: Decorating the Tree and Oyster Stew

2011-12-24T19:39:00.001-05:00

One thing Sara loves about being home for the holidays is decorating the family tree. Each ornament has a story and there is a process to put them on the tree and tell the story. Some ornaments have to be put on by their owners and others are free game. It is a lovely tradition. As she has rotated Christmases between her parents, it is nice when coming in late in the month (like 12/23) that there is still a tree to decorate. Her Northern Idaho parents always wait to decorate until she comes home, whether that be for Thanksgiving or on Christmas Eve. This year was no different..

Ornamenting the tree

Jessie, the star cyclist, strikes her podium pose! Much to our amusement

Barbie, Jessie, Daddy, and Sara - the tree is done

Final touches

The tree looks awesome next to Barbie's baby grand!

After tree decorating we went to Grandpa's house for traditional oyster stew.
It is nice to have to add leaves to the table to accommodate the whole family!

Northern Idaho Beauty

2011-12-24T10:36:00.007-05:00

This morning we drove north to Cataldo, Idaho to pick up the prime rib from Scheffelmaier Meats (a local butcher) for our family Christmas dinner (With the whole family in town for the holiday, we have 23 this year). It had just started to snow. Northern Idaho is always beautiful, but these snowy scenes are simply majestic!

Driving up into the mountains

A portrait of North Idaho

Snowy fun!

The prairie land next to the river

From the back seat of the truck...

This is Sara's parents' backyard

Some accumulation

Grandpa's Tree

2011-12-23T17:30:00.001-05:00

After we settled in, we spent the rest of the evening at Sara's Grandpa's house. Our first order of business was to decorate the amazing tree that was waiting just for us. We had missed decorating our own tree, so we had a great time!

Jessie and Sara work on the lights

Cole supervises

Getting there

Sisters

Jessie seems to have a bright idea...

Welcome Home!

2011-12-23T13:28:00.000-05:00

Three planes and eleven hours later, we arrived safe and sound in Spokane, Washington (which is a half hour drive from Sara's parents' home in Coeur d'Alene, ID).

Welcome back to the NW!

Hello, Idaho!

First stop? Jessie treated us to a favorite, Mexican Food Factory lunch with Barbie
Since we are in the land of tots, we couldn't resist

Capitol Christmas Tree 2011

2011-12-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

After visiting the Botanic Gardens we wandered over to the Capitol Christmas Tree for our annual holiday shots.

It is so lovely!

After many attempts...this is our best

Thanks,California, for another great tree!

Looking back to the Monument

Botanic Capitol and Real Capitol - Just for fun!

Season's Greenings: Botanic Garden Outing

2011-12-20T19:47:00.034-05:00

After work this evening we met our friends, A and P and their sweet little one, at the US Botanic Garden. With the Season's Greenings program the garden gets dressed up for the holidays and has live music nightly. What a fun way to spend a December evening!

The Capitol in the glow of the garden's lights

A holiday self-portrait

We loved these terrarium ornaments

Project Natale playing

Look at all of these adorable dwellings in the train exhibit

Mount Vernon, Sara visited the actual house with her class today!

The botanical version of the Capitol

Lovely night glow

Merry Christmas 2011!

Deck the Halls

2011-12-18T16:48:00.010-05:00

Today has been filled with errands, Christmas shopping, trip planning, and decking the halls. It is so nice to have a productive day as we prepare for our trip to Northern Idaho.

A stop at the downtown Holiday Market, with many local vendors

A lovely sunset on the way home

Nursery stop for a Laurel Wreath

The door is decked

And the house gets its sparkle with a gold bow

Vintage Piedmont Wine Tasting

2011-12-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Off for another Virginia day trip, this weekend we opted for a wine tasting tour at some of the closer wineries. The four wineries we visited are all part of the Vintage Piedmont group, through which we purchased a certificate for the tastings.

The first and largest winery was Barrel Oak Winery (BOW - with a lot of dogs in the tasting room)

Looking out

Next door was John Marshall's home from which the winery took its name

A pretty church and churchyard on the way

Next was Philip Carter's fire engine red tasting room in the middle of one of the vineyards

We brought home some of their mulled wine spices and a jar of Virginia-made Cranfiggy Chutney

Another country church

Beautiful Piedmont vistas at dusk

Yes, Virginia, we passed the Marriott Ranch

Buddy, the horse, greeted us at our next stop

Desert Rose and its country-themed tasting room reminded us of Idaho
Later, talking to the proprietor and winemaker we discovered that he was from Eastern Oregon, so we weren't far off

Sara couldn't resist snapping these

Our last stop at Rappahannock Cellars was no disappointment either

After the day's worth of country travel, we stopped for a quick bite at Spelunker's in Front Royal before heading home

Shawn's Scoop: Ice at National Harbor

2011-12-16T19:46:00.000-05:00

My office enjoyed its holiday gathering today at the National Harbor. We had luncheon together before walking to the annual ice exhibit at the Gaylord hotel, themed this year as Merry Madagascar. The whole thing is modeled after and uses workers from the Harbin Ice Festival. We donned the blue parkas you see to stroll through the frigid air. The ice slide (not pictured) was a particular treat.

This ice nativity ended the exhibit

Down at the waterside, The Awakening, free of climbing children

A quick self-portrait before heading home

Advent 2011: Third Sunday

2011-12-11T19:43:00.012-05:00

O God, who see how your people
faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation,
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.

Archie joined us for the lighting of the Advent candles

So cute!

NYC Day Trip: Bus Home

2011-12-10T21:36:00.001-05:00

What a great day in NYC! We had so much fun at the show and exploring the city for a few hours.

Here we are on a very quiet bus ride back home as we roll through the Lincoln Tunnel

NYC Day Trip: Top of the Rock

2011-12-10T19:45:00.002-05:00

We had just enough time before our bus back home to head to the Top of the Rock observation deck for some killer views of New York.

Can't wait to get to the 67th floor

Some views along the way

A preview of the view

We are here

The clear top elevator

Such stunning views

St. Patrick's Cathedral from 3 perspectives

Views from another side of the building
The Empire State Building is in red and Chrysler Building is slightly obscured

All dressed up for the holidays

A glowy self-portrait with the Empire State

NYC Day Trip: Rockefeller Plaza

2011-12-10T19:29:00.002-05:00

We stopped by Rockefeller Plaza to take in NYC at its Christmas heights. It was completely packed!

Let's get our holiday on

Such a famous view

Merry Christmas from New York City

And from us, too!

You can see just how many people are there!