No Mo' Sno'!

It's that time again when records are broken and even anticipated. Unfortunately, the records we are breaking are not the kind to be proud of: winters of Olympic-sized proportions. It seems no matter where Becks and I move too, mother nature is not far behind to dump snow in record-setting amounts (maybe we deserve gold medals).

You may recall back in March of 2008 in our first few weeks in Cleveland, OH, we experienced blizzard-like conditions one weekend that dropped approximately 20 inches of snow, the biggest storm Cleveland had seen in 30 years. We went on to have the greatest regional snowfall season of all time.

Nestled safely in the Shenandoah valley in central Virginia, Charlottesville usually gets no more than a few inches of the fluffy white stuff each year, often enjoying winter temperatures that average in the 40s. In fact, C-ville gets so little snow, that some school systems virtually removed snow days from this year's schedule. Maybe we should have told them we moving into town. Twenty-two inches of snow appeared practically overnight on December 19th, 2009, making that the largest December snowfall ever for our new home town. But wait, there's more! In the last 2 weeks we have had a barrage of snow storms that have generously donated over 2 feet of snow, closing schools for the last 14 days--most reopening just today, President's Day. Once again, this snow season is the largest on record. Thomas Jefferson would be proud.

Also pictured is "Mt Barracks", the largest snow pile I've ever seen, topped with the American flag. This snow depository was created in the Barracks Shopping Center just down the street from us. I can't even imagine how the bulldozers were able to pile the snow that high. My guess is that it won't be totally gone until our aniversary, April 23rd. What are your guesses?

Boys will be (soccer playing) boys!

Behold! Baby boy Peterson's first soccer shoe! This little beauty was purchased yesterday on our first trip to actually buy something. With more than 4 months to go until the big day, we're in no rush so we only bought clearance items. One apparent bargain was a clearance armoire for $200 off the retail price. It seemed like a steal but 2 hours of inspection this morning revealed both broken and missing pieces. I've contacted the company and hopefully we'll just get a whole new armoire (or we'll just return it and get our money back!) In conclusion, we'd like to thank our many fans for their votes on our baby poll and we hope you didn't lose too much money on the outcome!

We've Moved!

Neil and I are now official residents of Charlottesville, Virginia! Home of the Virginia Cavaliers and Thomas Jefferson! Since our move we have enjoyed spending time sight-seeing at Monticello and settling into our new place.

This is what remains of a tree that dates back to the time that Thomas Jefferson actually lived at Monticello. Last year they had to cut the tree down for saftey reasons and in the process they were surprised to find that it had hollowed out over time.

Thomas Jefferson was also a fantastic gardener! We enjoyed walking around capturing pictures of many of the unique flowers and plants in his garden.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of best attractions we've been to and it's too bad we didn't get to it sooner than our last week here. Admission is free (woo hoo!) and boasts works of art from Monet, van Gogh, Picasso and my personal favorite: a medieval armour gallery! Can you tell in this picture which one is Rebecca's knight in shining armor?

Let's get ed-ZOO-cated!

On Monday, Becks and I enjoyed Cleveland's very own zoo. Mondays are free for county residents (and you know how I am a sucker for free stuff!) We saw an old lazy lion, a sleeping siberian tiger, and a bashful bear (oh my!) We really enjoyed the Australian exhibit, with wallaroos roaming freely across our paths. Crikey!

A close-up of one of our fine feathered friends at the zoo... Mr. Lorikeet!

5-strike fireworks for the 4th! To the trained eye this may look like an ordinary bowling score sheet. But on second glance you will notice that, for half of the game, I declared independence from imperfection; the reign and tyranny of the gutter was defied! May bowling alleys everywhere be reminded that my irrationally chosen 10 pound ball has the right to pursue happiness, from pin to shining pin!