A few snaps of the holiday season.

My parents came up for the annual family Christmas bash a couple of weeks before Christmas. It's probably the first time Jamie really knew who Grandma (Geee-ma) and Grandpa (Cow-pie) were. He's started asking to talk to them on the phone and was really excited about seeing them.

There was lots of snuggling and book reading time on the couch:



We also braved the cold and took Jamie for a family trip to the playground.

Swinging high!


Grandpa pushing:


That night we drove up to Baltimore to check out the famous lights of 34th street.



You may remember we were there before just before Jamie was born.

Christmas day came and we had lots of loot!



Jamie had a great time opening all the presents. He especially enjoyed his KitKat bar stocking stuffer!



This is a rare picture where all the cats are in arms reach of Jamie. Doesn't happen often and Christine captured the moment.

Preliminary Christmas Photos.

We went for a carriage ride and then visited Santa. Jamie was very impressed with the carriage. Not so impressed with Santa.

"Down the street we go on a one horse open carriage"



Santa didn't smell like pee so we let Jamie sit in his lap.



Pretty lights. Next year you'll be bigger than the Angels.

Emo boy wishes the grass would just cut itself already.

(actually not lipstick, but blue magic marker)

Turkey and Riding in Richmond

So we loaded up the truck and joined the national turkey day migration. Our flock headed to Richmond to intermingle with the Noodle flock. We got there just in time to eat. It was a good old fashioned feast with all the fixins and delicious pies of both pumpkin and pecan varieties. The boys had a grand time tearing up the house.



Natalie was out scoping the local thrift stores and found a $20 trike so we went and bought it for Jamie. He loves it.



Let the racing begin:



Natalie was nice enough to watch Jamie while Christine and I took off for a bike ride. Michael and Ian accompanied us on the road for the first 5 miles until we got to the trailhead then we took off into the woods. It's really cool to have a mountain bike trail this close to home. No cars needed. Just ride to the ride and ride!

Just before ducking into the woods:



We rode most of the James River Park System Trail loop. We hit the trail going east on Buttermilk. Christine was in a little over her head skills wise and ended up walking lots of sections on the first half of Buttermilk so it was kind of hard to get a flow going. It wasn't really that the trail was that hard, but it was narrow, and the drop off to the left into the river below made you feel pretty exposed. I made the mistake of looking down once and didn't do it again. Definitely not a place to fall. There were lots of cool features on this section, rock skinnies, a couple of short slick rock sections, the "ramp", lots of tight switch backs, etc.

About half way, the trail kind of mellowed out and we started getting into a groove and we made it down to Belle Isle pretty quick. The highlight of the ride for me was riding around on the big flat rocks out in the river itself just before crossing to Belle Isle. There are these huge flat rocks the size of foot ball fields you can just ride around on. Real neat!

We rode around the island on the crushed gravel path dodging dozens of people with unleashed dogs and darting children, then crossed the really cool suspension bridge over the James. Then we hit the Northside trail. I really liked this section. It's basically carved into the side of the hill and has lots of bridges, some of them really high up, with no railings. Nice. It also had some cool bermed switchbacks that you could really rail. We ended up pulling off the trail at TX Ave because of time and rode back to the house on the road. We did about 17 miles in just over 2 hours. Maybe 7 or 8 of those miles were dirt.

Overall, I liked the trails, but at the same time I didn't. They were very well built, almost too well. It was very man-made looking. While it was fun to ride it kind of it felt kind of manufactured. I guess that makes sense since they are right in the heart of an urban area and not off in the mountains somewhere.

We headed home before the huge rush and bad weather on Saturday. Jamie says sitting in traffic in Walforf MD sucks. It rained all day Sunday and I was able to get in my full allotment of football.

Some exicting local news!

New Trails 11 miles from our house:

New Trails Coming to Anne Arundel County?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 21, 2008
Contact
Michael Klasmeier

Millersville, MD -- The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts (MORE) have entered into agreement to survey the current state of trails in the Severn Run Natural Environment Area. The process will involve volunteers cataloguing the current trails and ascertaining their viability as part of a sustainable trail system on the 1800 acre piece of land.

Severn Run NEA encompasses the headwaters of the Severn River in the Millersville area. Currently the piece of land situated in the central part of Anne Arundel county and is underutilized. MORE's partnership with DNR is purposefully limited to feasibility for multi-use trails. If the soil and topography are appropriate for natural surface trails, design and construction could begin in early 2009.

'Many hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers head to Rosaryville State Park 30 miles to the south or Patapsco Valley State Park 25 miles to the north. There are no other large tracts of land in the immediate area for these users,' said Patrick Miller, Maryland Advocacy Director for MORE, an all-volunteer group that does trail maintenance and development in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. 'Where there are trail users, there are people willing to act as stewards of the land to ensure it maintains its natural beauty.'

MORE is interested in getting hikers and equestrians involved in volunteering for this project. 'It will benefit everyone in the area to have a sustainable, healthy activity that is easily accessible,' said Michael Klasmeier, a member of MORE and local resident. 'I'll have my kids out there every chance I get. This is something great for the citizens of Anne Arundel county.'

Founded in 1992, MORE is a 501c (3) representing thousands of area mountain bikers. MORE maintains over 250 miles of natural surface trails in 25 parks around the region. Members contribute over 3,400 hours of volunteer labor annually, and have opened or constructed over 80 miles of new trail since 1995. The club leads hundreds of rides each year at local parks. MORE is committed to environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain biking, facilitating recreational trail cycling, educating about the sport of mountain biking, maintaining local trails, and advocating for increased multi-user trail access.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 449,000 acres of public lands and 17,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 12 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov.

MORE INFO, STATUS UPDATES, ETC.


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