Tent city

At the last Parents' Night Out at our house, the 7 kids made a tent city in the living room and tried to break the world's record for number of children crammed into a pop-up bus tent.

An afternoon in the woods with the Lopezes

Highbanks, inside and out, just before it snowed.

Christmas Eve at the Lopezes

We had a blast!

Holiday happenings (4)

A hike with friends along the Olentangy River and OSU wetlands on the shortest day of the year.

Latke party

We had our 3rd (or was it 4th) Latke party with our family friends Scarpettis, Lopezes, Martins and our new friends Richa, Bill and Daksha (Sorry you couldn't make it Rory, Eve, Hannah and Sean!). Thanks to Trish and Dave for bringing jelly donuts!

Here you see the traditional reading of "The Latke that Couldn't Stop Screaming."

Season of giving

This year, we decided with many of our friends to not exchange gifts, but instead make donations to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. So last weekend, we gathered at the Lopezes for holiday cheer, to decorate boxes for the canned foods and to combine our checks. Considering that MOFB can translate one dollar into eight dollars of food, I think we should all be proud of what we were able to contribute -- Aaron and Claire both gave from their allowance.

New friends

During our trip to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, Aaron and Claire made some new friends: Sophie and Evan. The kids haven't spent much time with dogs and being around these loving dogs made the kids much more comfortable.

Hanging out with friends

After swim lessons, we had the chance to spend a pleasant afternoon on campus with Kim, Sarina and Anthony: Mirror Lake, the amphitheater, the Geology/Fossil museum and the new library.