Winter

Holy cow, it's almost March! Time flies when you're having fun (or even when you're not having fun as the case may be). The winter this past year has been rather snowy and a bit intense for the DC Area. The city shut down for weeks at a time - forcing Ly + Alan to spend lots of time inside (crutches and ice do not mix). They watched lots of movies, played lots of games and even watched every episode of LOST. Ly enjoyed spending the extra time with Alan, but nevertheless is going stir crazy waiting for spring and some warmer weather.

VCU Rams!

Well folks, the waiting is finally over. This evening Alan got an email announcing his acceptance into the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine's Class of 2014. School starts in the fall and Alan couldn't be more excited....he'll finally get to be a doctor, help people and do all sorts of doctor-y things. Lyanna is excited because Alan can now relax about getting into medical school and now he will be rich and famous and take her to China to see the pandas.

She is still waiting for that puppy.

A Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend Ly wanted to go to the zoo to see the pandas. Alan agreed - and even said he had no problem pushing her around in the wheelchair, as long as she agreed to see the other animals too. Ly laughed and brushed it off, thinking that there really wasn't much else to see besides pandas. 5 hours and 3 stops off at the pandas later, Ly realized she was wrong. She saw elephants fight over hay, a tiger fall into some water, and birds strutting their stuff for the ladies.

Needless to say, both Ly and Alan enjoyed their little outing - Ly got to see the pandas do what pandas do - play, eat, sleep, take a bath, eat some more, and play in the dirt less than 1 foot away from where she was sitting. Alan, on the other hand, got to actually enjoy the other animals the zoo has to offer - without his wife sprinting from the car to the pandas and back to the car again.

Medical School Interviews

As everyone knows Alan is currently in the process of applying to medical school -- it is certainly an arduous process. But today Alan has his first medical school interview, which he is sure to rock. It is very exciting to say the least -- and the first of many more to come!

So yay for being one step closer to medical school =)

Goodbyes

Sadly today Ly's dad flew back home to SD. Apparently 24 days with his daughter in the DC area are more than enough and no matter how much Ly attempted to bribe him (shoefly pie, scrapple, movies, game nights, etc.) he could not be persuaded to postpone his flight (again...once was enough)...something about missing his wife and wanting to sleep in his own bed. Anyway the Lees were very sad to see Rory go and are very grateful that he was here to help out with Ly's surgery.

Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Today Ly+Alan took Ly's dad to go visit Pennsylvania. Our first stop was Hershey where Rory was enamoured with the Hershey kiss lights and the chocolate factory tour. Everyone enjoyed the tour - especially Alan who ended up with nine pieces of candy at the conclusion of the tour. After the stop in Hershey, Alan drove everyone up to Lancaster County for what had to be the highlight of the day. Ly's dad grew up in Northern PA and since he arrived in DC would not stop talking about the following things he wanted to experience while on the east coast: Snow storms, scrapple, goods potato chips, and shoofly pie. While we had the snow thing covered, we were a bit lacking on the food parts - hence the trip to Lancaster County. While there Ly + Alan watched in amazement while Ly's dad discovered all his favorite childhood treats in an Amish market. After Ly's dad mini feast in the market, we drove back to Hershey for dinner at a yummy restaurant and then back home for an evening of games.

Somehow Ly's dad managed to convince a nice Amish lady to give him a "sample" (aka piece) of shoofly pie for free which he promptly ate while roaming the marketplace.

Ly's dad with his scrapple, which he bought and stored in a cooler and then cooked at home. He even made Ly try a bite of it. Which she did because she is an excellent daughter (she hated it)