Philfree

First 2012 Snowfun!!

2012-01-22T13:11:00.000-05:00

The Birthday measurement!!

2011-12-28T19:17:00.000-05:00

8 years old and growing!

Wii-induced mellowness

2011-12-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

Thea loves her new Wii game, Monster High! She connects it much more to her everyday life than other Wii games we have (Lego Harry Potter, Lego Batman, Lego Indy Jones, and Lego Star Wars, as well as Clone Wars and Lego My Ego - ooops, sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Wii Mania on Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:28:00.000-05:00

Liam got Pirates of the Carribean! Lego Jack Sparrow is hilarious.

Gelato at National Gallery

2011-12-16T20:21:00.000-05:00

Their holiday party is faaaaannnncy!

The Tunnel of Tigers!

2011-12-16T20:20:00.000-05:00

in total awe!!!

2011-12-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

Yay for light sculptures

2011-12-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

Brother and Sister

2011-12-16T20:17:00.000-05:00

in a moment of peace and fun!

Kids and Capricorn sculpture

2011-12-16T20:16:00.000-05:00

presently...Liam's unwrapping!

2011-11-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

Liam loved his sixth birthday sushi dinner, and the wonderful presents he received: some Wii games, a remote control helicopter, a skateboard, and (from his sister) a finger skateboard set with ramps, etc. Donuts are waiting for breakfast...well, after breakfast!

At Kayleigh's birthday party

2011-10-24T14:22:00.000-04:00

the playground was awesome, and Thea and Liam got to watch skateboarders at the skate park.
Thea posed for me, but Liam was more elusive.

Thea the monkey bar climber

2011-10-24T14:19:00.000-04:00

Running from my camera

2011-10-24T14:18:00.000-04:00

I finally caught a picture of Liam

2011-10-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

All's well in the big playground!

2011-10-24T14:14:00.000-04:00

Crafts with Kayleigh

2011-10-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

The birthday girl has the rainbow shirt!

Grayson's birthday party

2011-10-23T16:03:00.000-04:00

at Pump-It-Up!!

Throwing Muses

2011-10-14T23:55:00.000-04:00

performed tonight at the Black Cat in DC.
They were just as amazing as they ever were!

The Watch

2011-10-10T23:09:00.000-04:00

The Green show, including Genesis' Selling England by the Pound, performed at Orion Studios, Baltimore.

First Day of 2nd Grade

2011-08-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

First day of Kindergarten

2011-08-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dad's Day gifts, from Thea...

2011-06-21T11:03:00.000-04:00

...and from Liam!

2011-06-21T11:01:00.000-04:00

My lil soccer player!

2011-06-15T17:09:00.001-04:00

Looking good in those shades!

2011-06-15T17:08:00.000-04:00

New Amsterdam

2011-06-09T20:41:00.001-04:00

Thea took this and the next two pictures of the interior of this gorgeous theatre. We saw Mary Poppins, and it was stunningly produced, wonderfully acted, and the staging (sets, clothing, sound, etc) was beautiful...impecable.

Detail above the stage

2011-06-09T20:35:00.000-04:00

I wish I had a better camera to get some of this.

Box seats?

2011-06-09T20:34:00.001-04:00

They're too grand for that title!

What a beautiful Play-ce!

2011-06-09T20:32:00.000-04:00

Almost like Thea's big sister

2011-06-09T20:25:00.000-04:00

Leah was so sweet all day hanging out with us. There could not have been a better companion for our field trip group.

Leah gives the headdress a try

2011-06-09T20:23:00.001-04:00

Headdress sculpture

2011-06-09T20:22:00.000-04:00

It fits!! We went to a really cool Western Store near Canal and Broadway. They were playing Kraftwerk's Man-Machine over the stereo, and Had lots of cool stuff.

Leah and Thea

2011-06-08T12:54:00.000-04:00

This one pales in comparison

2011-06-08T12:53:00.001-04:00

to the next one!

My Statue of Liberty!

2011-06-08T12:51:00.001-04:00

Whoo-hoo!

ready to board the ferry

2011-06-08T08:53:00.000-04:00

to the Statue of Liberty!

On the road again

2011-05-22T09:48:00.001-04:00

On our way to Lake Artemesia. It's probably about a 4-5 mile round trip from our house, so it's great exercise for the kids - and wears them out pretty well.

Best use of a car ever!!!!!

2011-05-05T17:24:00.000-04:00

Action brings good fortune

2011-05-02T18:06:00.001-04:00

or so says the I-Ching.

Scooter Ninja!

2011-05-02T18:04:00.000-04:00

my lil sunflowers

2011-05-01T14:38:00.001-04:00

at Maryland Day, UMD, April 30, 2011.

First time on a driving range

2011-04-25T18:44:00.000-04:00

The kids loved hitting a bucket of golf balls this morning. A golf course worker at Paint Branch gave each of them a cool pastel golf ball (Thea took pink, Liam purple). Liam shows here what a blast he had!

Thea's golf pose!

2011-04-25T18:40:00.000-04:00

After a great shot, she does this and makes that clicking noise with her tongue that says, "yeah, I am just that good!"

Easter Egg Hunt!!!!

2011-04-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

at Mike's house. With hot dogs, leg of lamb, great company, and a really big, yet brief, rain storm.

Liam's first ride w/o training wheels

2011-04-23T09:40:00.001-04:00

Bike...

2011-04-07T19:04:00.001-04:00

...Ridin'...

2011-04-07T19:03:00.001-04:00

...and Cool...

2011-04-07T19:02:00.002-04:00

...Slidin'

2011-04-07T19:02:00.000-04:00

Liam's training wheels are next!

2011-03-16T20:52:00.000-04:00

To come off that is - he loves his bike so much, just like his sister.

First solo ride up the street

2011-03-16T16:38:00.000-04:00

Next stop, Lake Artemesia!

Fun Day Out

2011-03-05T18:20:00.001-05:00

We went to the College Park Aviation Museum this morning, then hit DC to size up the Washington Monument and see some fish n stuff at DC's National Aquarium.

Hangin out with Lions and such

2011-02-05T20:45:00.001-05:00

at the Museum of Natural History. They have a great exhibit on the history (evolution) of humans.

Two hour delay = Sled Morning

2011-01-29T11:25:00.001-05:00

Star Wars Lego for snow day!

2011-01-18T17:24:00.001-05:00

or sleet day, or whatever.

My lil Harry Potter fan...

2011-01-18T17:21:00.001-05:00

...is such a budding artist.

National Gallery of Art fountain

2010-12-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

We did a bit of Art viewing today - the kids liked the Rodin, and other, sculptures alot, plus paintings by Renoir (Liam liked Diana, Thea liked Odalisque). We saw a nice Modigliani, but i was rushed away before noting which piece it was. The fountain (from under and atop) was a hit, as was the starlit-like tunnel between the East and West buildings.

2010 Osborn 'tween Party

2010-12-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

A mellow point in the proceedings.

Spongebob watching...

2010-12-18T18:21:00.000-05:00

...figured prominently in the party plan. (from the left: Rosa, Kayleigh, Wendy, Thea, Jan, Dash, Liam - in the back row: Grayson and Ginger)

Make a wish!

2010-12-18T18:18:00.000-05:00

Kayleigh, Thea, and Wendy (Robert in the background - he likes cheese).

Look at that birthday grin!

2010-12-18T18:17:00.000-05:00

Art Photography

2010-11-28T11:56:00.001-05:00

Liam likes to play games on my i-Phone, and I occasionally find photos he has taken, usually of close-ups of my shirt, but this time he got a pretty good impressionistic view of a lazy weekend day watching movies on the couch.

Thea's last dance class

2010-11-20T19:33:00.001-05:00

She really liked it, so we'll probably let her continue if she wants, but we'll find a different class as we were less than thrilled with the teacher. That's not the teacher in the picture, but the assistant.

Good form, Thea!

2010-11-20T19:29:00.000-05:00

My tiny dancer

2010-11-20T19:28:00.001-05:00

Dinner at Hanami

2010-11-19T18:02:00.001-05:00

Liam's fifth birthday was yesterday, but i had an evening class, so i took the kids out for sushi tonight. We had a chicken appetizer, miso soup, California rolls, a cucumber roll, and an asparagus roll. The kids were well behaved, so after that fabulousness, we returned home for some of Kelly's delicious cupcakes.

Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA

2010-11-13T16:10:00.000-05:00

On the Ice

2010-11-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

at Rosie's fabulous birthday party!

The kids got scary amounts of candy this year

2010-10-31T20:19:00.001-04:00

saw The Watch tonight

2010-10-31T00:34:00.000-04:00

Milan, Italy's Genesis tribute band not only does a great job evoking the classic Gabriel era performances, but also write original songs in the style of early Genesis, and do it seemlessly and brilliantly. I bought one of their original CDs called The Vacuum. Can't wait to hear it.

It's sometimes scary how much their singer sounds like Peter Gabriel, but it's pretty awsome, too. I never saw Genesis, or solo Gabriel, and these guys performed tonight what I imagine the sound of a Foxtrot era Genesis show would have been. They said they are planning to come back next year and play Selling England By The Pound - I look forward to it.

What's scarier than a well-carved pumpkin?

2010-10-21T15:14:00.001-04:00

Face-eating squirrels

2010-10-21T15:13:00.001-04:00

Liam and Pumpkin McKensie

2010-10-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

take off, eh. get out! hoser.

this Halloween's Vomit-o-lantern

2010-10-17T16:48:00.001-04:00

What goes up...

2010-10-10T00:40:00.000-04:00

The kids had a blast today, even though it had to be a short (half
hour) blast, on the moon bounces at College Park Day. It was held on
Thea's school grounds and hosted by the College Park Community Center
right across the parking lot.

...must come down.

2010-10-10T00:38:00.001-04:00

and that's the funnest part.

Thea got to play with Jacqui

2010-10-10T00:36:00.000-04:00

They are fast becoming first grade BFFs.

The big slide

2010-10-05T06:53:00.001-04:00

This was the first ride of the day last weekend at Kinderfest 2010.

Action shot

2010-10-05T06:51:00.001-04:00

I love the stompiness caught in this picture - they had so much fun!

An alternate take

2010-10-05T06:48:00.000-04:00

There was much bouncing and fun last Saturday! Here's some proof. I
think Liam had paused to tell me something, like, "we're superheros
and we have to save the world," or something.

Today the kids played some guitar...

2010-10-03T16:23:00.001-04:00

...Thea did it Jimi Hendrix left hand upside down style...

...Liam took it Slide guitar style...

2010-10-03T16:21:00.000-04:00

...which relates to what else they did...

...slid down Titanic slides...

2010-10-03T16:19:00.002-04:00

...and slid some more...

2010-10-03T16:19:00.001-04:00

...and jumped in Moon Bounces.

2010-10-03T16:17:00.000-04:00

Midlake is great

2010-10-01T22:21:00.000-04:00

They're from Denton, Texas. They evoke lots of great 70's bands I
like. It all comes round.

9:30 Club cupcake

2010-10-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

for my birthday - Thanks Nick

Univers Zero at the French Embassy, DC

2010-09-30T09:10:00.000-04:00

September 25, 2010

Only their second US performance ever!

2010-09-30T09:07:00.001-04:00

and they formed in 1974. They were amazing!

Liam likes soccer

2010-09-11T13:42:00.001-04:00

Thea's first ever dance class

2010-09-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

Workin on those tap steps!

Playing detectives and spies

2010-09-11T09:10:00.000-04:00

Liam, puttin on the muscle

2010-09-11T09:09:00.001-04:00

Gathering evidence

2010-09-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

A picture of our house...

More evidence

2010-09-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

The ants crawling underground through their tunnels. Do my kids work
for Terminix?

Making air fresheners

2010-09-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

mmm lemon and cloves

2010-09-06T10:28:00.000-04:00

They're getting good at Dog walkin'

2010-08-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Kids love motorcycles...

2010-08-29T09:06:00.000-04:00