Monday, March 26, 2007

Visit From the Wells Clan

On the 25th, the Wells Clan (except for Brad who was working) trekked to Dayton to visit us and to make a trip the U.S. Air Force Museum. Cote finally had to cave on her pact not to go to the Air Force Museum since it was family visiting (she almost made it the entire year). Everyone seemed to have a good time & we finished off the afternoon at the Museum by catching the IMAX presentation, Space Station.


We come to U.S. Air Force Museum with hundreds of cool aircraft, and the kids want to watch a video (at least it was about an aircraft).

Group shot.

Big tire.

Bombs away!

Astronaut Michael.


Astronaut Alex.


Taking a break.



Alex in the F-16 driver's seat.


The kids in the missile silo.


Play time on the playground.


Mid day nap.


Chilling out while the younger ones burn energy on the playground.

Hanging out in the Jeep.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Alex & Jen in Florida

On 8 March (that would be one day Jen returned from DC after picking out house fixings), Jen & Alex went south to spend 8 days with Nana and Papa outside of Naples, Florida while Joe finished up his projects and tests for school. Auntie Emily joined them from Boston a day later.

Needless to say, everyone had a grand time - time at the pool, the beach, nights on the town, a trip to the Zoo, walks along the pier, Red Sox spring training games, and so on. The series of pictures that follow tell the story pretty well.



Nana and Alex in the pool.


Pool games.



Emily & Jen out on the town.



Hammer time.



Happy hour.



Hanging out by the water.



Sand cone?



Alex's favorite beach past time.




The princess that loves creepy-crawly things.



Zoo pictures.



Auntie & Alex.




Hanging out in the Ocean.



Boat ride to see the monkeys.



Who wants to wrestle?




Nana and Alex enjoy the moment.





Spring training begins again.





Group shot at the pier.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

House Hunting in DC

In late February we began the house hunting process in DC. Joe was TDY to the DC area for his job and stayed the weekend to begin looking at house (or so we thought). While looking around with a buyer's agent, they stumbled across some home being built in the Ashburn area [technically Brambleton] which is out by Dulles Airport.

Joe really liked the place, and thanks to a wicked snow storm shutting down Dulles - he had an extra day to go back and look again. The following weekend the family drove out so that Jen could take a look at some houses as well as see the area and type of house being built. Big surprise - Jen liked it also. So, we put in an offer and are now on contract. To make things even more exciting, Jen flew back to DC one day later so she could pick out all of the house fixings (kitchen cabinets, bathroom tile & cabinets, flooring, kitchen appliances, shower heads, etc...).

If all goes according to plan, the house will be done in the middle of May and we will close the end of May. Just in time to move our stuff out from graduation on 14 June. We alternate between the excitement of owning our first house [and a new one at that] and sheer terror of the financial commitment we are about to make. Below are a series of pictures showing the house.

First set of pictures - taken on Monday 26 February:


That isn't our house - that will be our neighbors house. Look closely at the foundation in the ground - that will be our house. However, our house is the same style (called a "Morgan") as the one you see here. We will have a detached, 2 story garage also.



Our neighbors house, along with our foundation to the right. Even 30 miles outside of DC, space is still a premium.



An up-close view of our foundation. Notice the trees that our front yard opens up to.

Yet another picture of our foundation - this time from the front looking toward the back. It is hard to tell with all the dirt & snow, but in the front is our porch.


Second set of pictures - taken on Sunday 4 March:
Standing in the back of the house. The structure in view is the 2 story detached garage. You can see how close we are to our neighbors.


Family picture on our future porch. You can see where the two front windows and front door will eventually end up.

Third set of pictures - taken on Monday 12 March (thanks to Mel & Scott):
Seems like they are moving quickly with the house. You can see the location for the windows for the half bath (by the front of the house), in the stairway, and by the family room (the two narrow windows toward the rear of the house).


The front of the house is coming along nicely too. The two front windows will be for the den (as we converted the living room into a den).

And the garage.

Fourth set of pictures - taken on 19 March (thanks Dave & Heather, especially Dave for crawling into all the nooks & crannies):

Side by side with the neighbors (who have moved in already).


Closer view of the front.


Looking in as you enter the front door.



View from the dining room into the future den.



On the left is part of the kitchen, to the right will be the breakfast room.





Looking into the master bedroom (or as Alex likes to say, "my room").








Looking out from the master bedroom into the other rooms upstairs.




And the garage.