Anna Grows

"The Real Santa" by the National Christmas Tree It is safe to say that Anna had a GREAT Christmas vacation.  Between parties, ice skating, Santa Claus and a visit to Massachusetts just in time for the first snow, it was non-stop entertainment. Anna kicked off her break with her friend Molly's birthday party on December 22, complete with a visit from Santa.  Anna decided that each state has its own Santa Claus in addition to the real Santa. She concluded that the Santa that visited Molly's house was the Virginia Santa.  This was definitely the largest Santa ever - he was easily 6'4" and very big.  Anna was so surprised to see him, that she forgot to tell him what she wanted for Christmas!  Dad & Anna at the National Tree That was taken care of the next day with a visit to the real Santa at the national Christmas tree.  Anna told him she wanted a Monstaz and that was it.  After enjoying the tree and some holiday dancers, we headed over to...

The Christmas Season has been a busy one for Anna.   She kicked off the season by joining her Daisy Scout troop for a trip to the Warner Theater to see The Nutcracker for the first time on December 1.  One of her classmates was dancing in the show and got tickets for the girls.  Aunt Gayle joined in the festivities.  Joe also decided to go since he never saw The Nutcracker before....or so he claimed.  Theresa remembered taking him to the show, along with friends Wil and Pauletta, sometime before they were married.    According to Aunt Loren, Joe also went when he was a kid.  Clearly going to see the show was not a memorable event for Joe.  As for Anna, she had a great time watching it with her friends.After the show, we stopped at the U.S. Botanical Gardens to enjoy the fantastic train display and beautiful flowers and lights. Anna & Dad at the Botanic Gardens Breakfast with Santa December 8 was breakfast with Santa...

There are times when it is necessary to expand blog coverage and focus on other members of Anna's extended family.  This entry will also serve as a reminder to Joe that he may have snagged the least crazy Kohler. Christmas in the Kohler family is always a big deal.  One of the most important parts is the selection of the Christmas tree.  It is all about getting the largest tree possible to fit into a not so large space.  It was always considered a tragedy among Theresa and her brothers that her grandparents had a house with 12 foot ceilings, yet a small Christmas tree while they were left to suffer with 7 foot ceilings that required a small tree.  Since that time, Uncle Rod and Uncle Tim have sought to right the wrong as they hike the tree farms of Ohio in search of the largest Christmas tree possible.  This year they set a new record. The tree: Uncle Rod & Uncle Tim's Christmas tree   To fully appreciate this, you  must watch the ...

This was the year for a Kohler Thanksgiving.  Once again, everyone met up in beautiful Deep Creek Lake, Maryland to enjoy the holiday in the mountains. Anna was beyond excited for the trip and had a great time with her cousin Aidyn.  Grandma arrived with Thanksgiving dinner in tow.......and roughly enough food for 50 additional people.  She truly is meals on wheels.  She also had daily presents for the grand kids.   Uncle Rod was in charge of bringing condiments and promptly arrived with a bottle of ketchup with approximately 1 tablespoon remaining in the bottle and a case of Mountain Dew.  Fortunately he also brought Courtney, who served as chef for a large part of the weekend. The weather was beautiful on Thanksgiving Day with temperatures in the low 60s.  Everyone enjoyed the outdoors, including an evening hot dog and marshmallow roast.  The rest of the weekend was snowy and cold. A hiking trip was attempted on Saturday only to discover tha...

Soccer season is over for the Orange Pumpkins who finished the season undefeated!  Actually, every team was undefeated since there is no official score keeping (although the parents that were keeping score all agree that our girls were undefeated).    The weather was good all season long with no rain-outs.  Every Saturday, the pumpkins took the field to face the likes of the Red Roses, the Blue Whales, the Pink Panthers and who could forget the Yellow Bananas. The girls had a great time, as did the parents who enjoyed Friday night happy hours during practice.  They have improved a great deal and almost know the difference between offense and defense this year. The team celebrated the end of the season last weekend with a party at Joe's pizza (let's just say the young waiter earned his tips that night).  Coach Tom presented trophies and special awards for all the team members.  Anna received the "Let's Roll" award for her willingness to play...

Anna celebrated Halloween in super style this year!  After agonizing over which princess or fairy to be, she quickly changed her mind when she saw the Supergirl costume glimmering under the lights at Target.  Theresa was happy to see her buck the princess peer pressure and trade her wings for a cape.  There was some practice flying around the house before the actual costume debut. Not to be outdone (and to carry on the Kohler tradition), Theresa joined in the festivities by donning a clown costume, courtesy of Anna & Charley.  This was quite the conversation piece both at the office and around the neighborhood.  As it turned out, one of Theresa's office colleagues was also dressed as a clown, which may be fitting for a bunch of budget folks. Anna's Halloween celebration began the week before with a costume event with the girls scouts (Theresa chaperoned in costume)  Last Friday was trunk-or-treat at school.  This involves everyone pulling their...

Pumpkin Picking with Dad It has been a busy fall with plenty of opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Between assorted festivals and hiking opportunities, Anna was able to explore some new areas in Virginia. Luray Caverns In September, the Fagellas headed to the mountains to Luray Caverns.  After years of driving past the signs for the caverns and assuming it was an over-hyped tourist trap, we discovered that it is actually quite a spectacular natural phenomenon.  A trip through the mountain of Virginia requires appropriate music, and Theresa always manages to find the blue grass station on the radio to listen to (so far, Anna seems to enjoy it).  Joe, having read that the caverns are cool, packed numerous jackets for everyone, only to discover that it was actually warmer in the caverns than it was outside that day.  The caverns truly were spectacular and worth the trip.  We also enjoyed the local museum and  a garden maze ...