Happy Holidays

After a long fall and a hard fought semester of school, the dude is halfway through 1st grade, the princess is halfway through here first semester of pre-school, and dad finished up his final class requirement for grad school (now there is just that small matter of picking and completing a thesis). We got a break from all that hard work just in time for the holidays. The princess got a princess tent and many princess accessories and the dude got clothing that will launch his career as a grifter. We hope everybody had a very Merry Christmas and is looking forward to the adventures 2013 is sure to bring.

Halloween

Halloween was again spent terrorizing the neighborhood with the local kids. I am not sure what the dude went as because I couldn't see him, but the princess had the arm of Prince Charming to escort here around all night.

Back to school

After all the fun of the summer, it came time for fall in Minnesota. That means back to school for the kids. For the last time ever, that is true for dad as well.

Irondad

Not too long after returning from Maine, I headed back east. This time just to Madison, WI to compete in my first ever Ironman Triathlon. I had been battling injuries all year and was unable to put in the amount of training I would have liked, so finishing the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run definitely was a source of anxiety.  I did finish though, with a lot of help from the truly impressive crowd that cheared everybody to the finish line. Upon my return the kids had made a wonderful sign for me too. Man, I can't wait for the next one.

Lobsters in Maine

Shortly after returning from London (like a week later) we headed back east. This time with the kids to Biddeford Pool, Maine. Roddy's from New Mexico, Minnesota, and Spain were all converging on one little sleepy beach town. So many Roddy's in one place at one time, it was bound to be ... interesting. The ocean was a 30 second walk out the door so it was beach games and swimming all week long. Rock bottom lobster prices allowed us to gorge on the local delicacy at nearly every meal. When we were not at the beach or getting a run in, were were somewhere eating lobster. It was an incredible week; truly the best Roddy family vacation yet.

London 2012

What an incredible experience! On a whim at the end of summer we decided to drop everything at go visit some friends that lived in London. It was like visiting Europe, but everybody was speaking English! In a 4 day period, we hit Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Big Ben and the parliament building, walked through each of the major parks, had pints and pimms at various neighborhood pubs established hundreds of years ago, and hit a really cool karaoke bar with private karaoke rooms. It turns out, there was quite a bit to do during the time we were there. By a stroke of good luck the Olympics were in town so we were lucky enough to witness the women's 200 breaststroke world record being broken, a Phelps-Lochte showdown in the 200IM, a Kerri Walsh / Misty May match, and the Brit's go crazy at the velodrome.

As much as we missed the kids, a vacation without them was a whole lot of fun!

Three!!!

One lucky little girl turned three this year and had dessert for breakfast with her Great Grandma. She also was thrilled to receive some toys that did not previously belong to her older brother. Her brand new, very own dollhouse even came in pink and purple, her two favorite colors.

Minnesota Summer

A full year of kindergarten and a brand new pogo stick did nothing to diminish the desire to dress in a tie, although in the the warm weather it has slightly lessened.  The summer has been filled with kids events, swimming, ballet lessons, races, and trips up to the cabin.  How great would it be to be a kid again?

Little girl has really developed her personality recently.  She also gives the best hugs in the world, but don't let that and the cute dresses fool you; she has shown she is not one with which to trifle.

Dinseyworld!

Orlando was a blast. We packed 10 people into a 1000 sq ft unit on the Disneyworld campus to maximize time at the parks. Surprisingly, there was only one recorded illness requiring a visit to urgent care, and powerful antibiotics wiped that out quick. We hit the Magic kingdom, Animal kingdom, Hollywood studios, and Epcot and got to see all the usual characters. Although we took no part in the Tower of Terror, we did take both kids through the Haunted Mansion, let them drive race cars, and send them through hyperspace with Darth Vader in hot pursuit. If you see the unhappy painted face below, don't worry, behind the makeup was all joy; he just didn't want to mess up the face paint in any way before he was able to properly scare his little sister.