January 2018

 Remember that colorfully decorated gingerbread house from December...

 ...by New Year's Tundra had eaten all of the icing. Which meant that when Tai-Tai bit him sometime in December, we passed off the red color on his neck fur as leftover icing from all that licking. And then when the bite turned into an abscess that suddenly ruptured on New Year's night, it required an emergency trip to the vet.

and an Elizabethan collar 

with oral antibiotics the wound healed fine 

After we removed the collar, Tai-Tai, always the curious one, pushed his head in and tried it on

 Tundra is so huge that Tessie can barely hold him

Erin can stuff him anywhere

Tessie was all smiles for her final ear tube removal surgery 

 and finally she thinks Dad is worth snuggling with

meanwhile winter came and went and came and went 

 this igloo lasted one day before melting in the rain

Caroline had her first cello recital 

and non-snow related activities included reading,

dress-up,

swim meets,

science experiments,

board games, 

and following construction of our new porch

Christmas 2017

Christmas Eve caroling on the Lexington town green

All smiles on Christmas morning

Sledding on our white Christmas day

a few days later we flew down to Baltimore and stopped at Fort McHenry. Their movie ended with the screen rising to reveal a view of

the star spangled banner gallantly streaming

it was cooold at the frozen fort

we worked on the booklets in the barracks

 and the girls ended 2017 with another badge bringing Caroline to 200 badges, patches, and pins

 At Katy's place, their 2 inch-deep dredge pond froze and we could use the skates that we packed

  raccoon tracks

 Lyla tried the dessert pizza with Grampa Ed at the Pizza Hut lunch buffet

 The theme for the National Botanical Gardens displays was Roadside Attractions

 Here is one that we rode earlier this year

 Aunt Claire and Uncle Peter's house was extra cozy with Peter's roaring fires

The New Year's Eve theme was Victorian-Medieval

Happy New Year

The icy hills were more of a draw than the singing

at the Museum of the American Indian