The Once a Year Blog: March 2013

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler is a big two year-old now! We hosted a small Thomas the Tank Engine themed party at our house yesterday in his honor. Brian attempted to dress up as Sir Topham Hatt for the occasion, but he really just confused everyone. Tyler's cousin, Alex, asked me "Why is Uncle Brian dressed up as Abraham Lincoln?" I agreed with him that Brian can pull off an excellent Lincoln.

We cooked up a huge pot of spaghetti for everyone to enjoy. Tyler had worked up an appetite running and jumping and screaming with his friends.

The little guy blew out his "2" candle and dug into his cupcake so fast I barely had time to get the paper off.

Claire told me I had done a good job with the decorations. She was very helpful, particularly with helping her brother open his presents.

Brian ditched the Sir Topham Hatt costume after a while, just so he could get down and have some REAL fun.

Tyler received his first outdoor grill from his cousins! He helped his father assemble it. He used his new yellow power drill like a pro.

I suppose I should now lament the fact that my baby is already 2 years old. Seriously though, he is just as cute and smiley as he was at 2 months old! I am excited to see what our little man has in store for us in his third year.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

TV Mounting

Having kids Brian doesn't get a chance to work on home improvement projects much anymore. However, this past weekend he was able to squeeze in mounting our TV to the wall.... which required reinforcing the metal frame. Below you can see the project from start to end and even see Brian goofing around a bit:

Claire and Tyler's quest to visit all 50 States, all US national parks, and to see the world

Progress:
States: Claire 37/50, Tyler 33/50
Countries: Claire 14/203, Tyler 14/203
National Parks: Claire 11/62, Tyler 8/62
State (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
California (C: 1/30/2009, T: 5/15/2011)
Hawaii (C: 4/24/2009, T: 8/7/2021)
Missouri (C: 5/22/2009)
Texas (C: 5/25/2009, T: 5/26/2012)
Colorado (C: 11/25/2009, T:8/16/2014)
Iowa (C: 11/25/2009, T: 7/27/2011)
Oklahoma (C: 12/20/2009, T: 12/24/2011)
Arizona (C: 4/02/2010)
Nevada (C: 4/17/2010)
Virginia (C: 5/29/2010, T: 5/27/2011)
Maryland (C: 5/29/2010, T: 3/16/2011)
Delaware (C: 8/05/2010, T: 6/25/2011)
New Jersey (C: 8/05/2010, T: 6/25/2011)
New York (C: 8/05/2010, T: 11/19/2011)
Connecticut(C: 8/08/2010, T: 11/21/2011)
Massachusetts(C: 8/08/2010, T: 11/21/2011)
Kansas (C: 9/05/2010)
Pennsylvania (C: 10/09/10, T: 6/25/2011)
West Virginia (C: 10/17/10, T: 7/6/2012)
North Carolina (C: 12/24/2010, T:4/12/2014)
Florida (C: 12/24/2010, T:2/14/2015)
Illinois (C: 7/27/2011, T: 7/27/2011)
Michigan (C: 9/2/2011, T: 9/2/2011)
Ohio (C: 11/23/2012, T: 11/23/2012)
Vermont (C: 11/28/2013, T: 11/28/2013)
Washington (C: 8/24/2018, T: 8/24/2018)
Tennessee (C: 11/30/2018, T: 12/6/2019)
Maine (C: 8/24/2019, T: 8/24/2019)
South Carolina (C: 11/24/2020, T: 11/24/2020)
Georgia (C: 12/1/2020, T: 12/1/2020)
Louisiana (C: 12/28/2021, T: 12/28/2021)
Mississippi (C: 12/30/2021, T: 12/30/2021)
Oregon (C: 7/19/2022, T: 7/19/2022)
Montana (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Wyoming (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Idaho (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)

Country (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
United States (C: 1/30/2009, T: 3/16/2011)
United Kingdom (England+Scotland) (C: 6/25/2009 T: 8/18/2017)
Mexico (C: 12/09/2012, T: 12/09/2012)
Switzerland (C: 09/18/2013, T: 09/18/2013)
France (C: 09/18/2013, T: 09/18/2013)
Germany (C: 09/20/2013, T: 09/20/2013
Lichtenstein (C: 09/24/2013, T: 09/24/2013
Cayman Islands (C: 02/16/2016, T: 02/16/2016)
Ireland (C: 08/15/2016, T: 08/15/2016)
Bahamas (C: 04/08/2016, T: 04/08/2016)
Canada (C: 07/25/2017, T: 07/25/2017)
Italy (C: 07/25/2018, T: 07/25/2018)
Iceland (C: 07/21/2019, T: 07/21/2019)
Costa Rica (C: 4/07/2022, T: 4/07/2022)

National Park (Date Claire or Tyler First Visited):
Lassen Volcanic National Park (C: 9/3/2009)
Grand Canyon National Park (C: 4/2/2010)
Yosemite National Park (C: 7/4/2010)
Virgin Islands National Park (C: 12/21/2011, T: 12/21/2011)
Cuyhoga Falls National Park (C: 11/23/2012, T: 11/23/2012)
Shenandoah National Park (C: 10/26/2013, T: 10/26/2013)
Rocky Mountain National Park (C: 8/8/2014, T: 8/8/2014)
Olympic National Park (C: 8/27/2018, T: 8/27/2018)
Acadia National Park (C: 8/25/2019, T: 8/25/2019)
Yellowstone (C: 8/20/2022, T: 8/20/2022)
Grand Tetons (C: 8/24/2022, T: 8/24/2022)

Amusement Parks Visited:
Busch Gardens (Pennsylvania) (C: 07/2010)
Sesame Place (Pennsylvania) (C: 06/2011, T: 06/2011)
Dutch Wonderland (Pennsylvania) (C: 06/2013, T: 06/2013)
Adventure Park USA (Maryland) (C: 07/2013, T: 07/2013)
Disneyland (California) (C: 10/28/2013, T: 10/28/2013)
California Adventure (California)(C: 11/1/2013, T: 11/1/2013)
DisneyWorld*4 Parks (Florida) (C: 2/14/2015, T: 2/14/2015)
Six Flags (Maryland) (C: 6/15/2016, T: 6/15/2016)
Universal Studios (California) (C: 8/7/2021, T: 8/7/2021)

Sports Stadiums Visited:
Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals (C: 05/23/2009)
Nationals Stadium, Washington Nationals
Camden Yards, Baltimore Orioles
XFinity Center, Maryland Terrapins