Snow!

Virginians take snow very seriously.  Just the threat of snow causes schools to close and people to make emergency stops at the store for milk.  Up until this week, school had been cancelled three days because snow was forecast.  And then never came.  I think one of the days it rained instead.  And one of the days there was some ice, which makes for very dangerous driving conditions on the narrow, twisty-turning, up-and-down hilly roads of Virginia.  I have tried to not snicker about the fear Virginians feel about a bit of snow; I try to not be judgemental, but it hasn't been easy.  This week, though, we've had ourselves a true snow event, and have gotten about 3" of snow.  So we've had two days off from school and work!!  The girls' school, the public library, and the university where Jason works have all been closed for the past two days (along with just about everything else including the Marine Corps base at Quantico and most state and federal government offices in the area).

Our view at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday (schools, library and university closed), 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, and 5:00 a.m. Wednesday (everything closed again).

The girls totally enjoyed the snow and have been out in it as often as they can.  We have a small hill behind our apartment and it made for some great snow fun!  The girls pretended they were penguins and slid down the hill on their bellies. (see video here)

Science Museum of Virginia

Now that I have a full-time job with a regular schedule, I only work one Saturday each month. That means we have time on the weekends to do fun things like go to Richmond to the Science Museum of Virginia!!

Richmond is 50 miles from Fredericksburg and we can take Interstate the whole way, so it doesn't take long at all to get there and it is no problem to go down for the day.  It is pretty great to be located in between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, it gives us a TON of things to do!

The Science Museum of Virginia is housed in the old Union Station, a building that is on the National Registry of Historic Buildings.  It is beautiful inside and out and the exhibits in the museum had us all marveling at the wonders of science and nature.

As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted by an enormous example of a Foucault Pendulum.  That really impressed the girls!

The pendulum hanging from the dome at the museum's entrance.
This photo is taken from a higher floor.

Playing with physics experiments...

It was a lot of fun to see bugs and butterflies under a microscope, to see their furry legs and (kind-of scary looking) mouths.

The grown-ups had as much fun exploring
as the kids!

Mostly, the girls led the way and jumped from one thing to another, free to explore.  Every once in a while I tried to turn something into a teachable moment...

Here I am explaining to Anja that what she just saw in the microscope was dandelion fuzz ("you know, Anja, that stuff that you blow and make a wish")...

And here she is saying "I know, Mom" and running off to the next thing she wants to see...

Astronaut Elise!

Imagining life on the space station.

The variety of displays at this museum was fantastic.  We got to explore and find out about healthy foods...

Anja gets to see how her balance is...

Checking out how our joints move...

This machine scanned an x-ray of a human body and explained how it all works...

We watched Rat Basketball (rats trained to put a mini-basketball into a mini-basketball hoop) then learned a bit about rats (even in captivity, they only live 2- 2 1/2 years) and got to pet them.

The animatronic triceratops was VERY cool...

Probably the part of the museum the girls liked best was the Live Animal Lab, where there were tarantulas, amphibians, snakes, and other reptiles.  These girls have been fans of snakes for years!

Tae Kwon Do Green Belt!

The Tae Kwon Do gym where Anja takes classes does belt testing every month, so students can test for the next level of belt whenever they are ready.  Anja has been dedicated and very focused, has been learning her forms and self-defense moves pretty quickly, and has been testing and advancing belt ranks every couple of months.  In January she tested for her next level belt -- green!

Ready to test for a green belt!

Testing on her form...

she performed it perfectly!

She never met a board...

she couldn't break.

Hello Miss Green Belt!

 

Jason's Birthday!

Jason's birthday was earlier this month and we had a fun day, filled with cake baking, celebrating, and a dinner out.

First, the cake...

Normally, I ask the birthday boy or girl what kind of cake they want, and bake or buy a cake to meet their wishes.  But this year, while shopping at Target, the girls saw a cake mix box that looked interesting and they decided THAT was going to be Jason's birthday cake.  So, Jason didn't get to pick his cake this year.  Sorry, honey!  Here is the cake box they saw...

Creating the cake was pretty fun, first mixing it up, then dividing the batter into six dishes and coloring each dish, and finally putting the batter into the pans and baking them.  The girls were very good helpers, pretty soon they won't need any help from me!

Coloring the batter

Six colors for the Tie-Dye cake!

Going into the oven

Out of the oven

The girls also frosted the cake, and did a great job with the icing, especially considering it was very watery and tended to leave puddles. 

We hauled the cake and Jason's gifts to mom and dad's, where we celebrated (so Jason could watch the 49ers game, since we don't have cable).  And we tried the colorful cake!  Normally I am not a fan of boxed cake mixes, but this cake was really tasty and was a hit with everyone. 

Jason also got some fun gifts...

The San Francisco Giants have a special place in Jason's heart,
so I thought this print of the ballpark might make it seem
not so far away.

After watching some football (49ers won!) I took Jason out for dinner to Peter Chang's, a Chinese restaurant here in Fredericksburg that has been on some lists for "Best Restaurants in Virginia."  I really liked my dinner, seafood in a light curry sauce, which was delivered to me, bubbling in a giant bowl.  It was sooo delicious! 

And there was so much, that I had leftovers the next day (well, the next 3 days, hehe).

Happy New Year From the Roden Girls!

Christmas!

It's been several years since we traveled for the holidays, and I have come to love the lower stress and more enjoyment that comes from just staying at home at Christmas.  We just hang out, enjoy each other and don't have to worry about being anywhere at a particular time (except church on Christmas Eve).  After church on Christmas Eve, mom, dad, the girls, Jason and I came back and opened gifts.  Of course, it was most fun to watch the girls.  They get so excited about everything.

Awww...giving Grandpa some love.

Christmas chaos.  As usual, Dutch eventually just
gave up and sacked out in the middle of everything.

Jason helps Elise with the Origami kit she got for Christmas.

Christmas morning:  big, soft blankets and fairies from Santa.