Back in the saddle again

What's the point of having a blog if you never post?

Don't worry readers (all six of you), you didn't miss much from the Monsteri, as 2010 came to an end, and 2011 began.

Only the birth of our nephew, new job, a 30th birthday, trip to Paris and some other crap. It's been a wonderful year and this weekend we were very happy to see some new posts from our peeps at Mildly Entertaining, who inspired us to re-think our blogging habits.

Instead of boring you with words, we'll excite you with pictures for this first post of 2011...

November of 2010 was a glorious month for the Monsteri & pals. Started with a Bentson baby shower/skeet-shootin' lesson in northern Virginia, and ended with the 2nd Annual Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival here in Lynchburg. By the way, November is Movember...

On the evening of December 28th, 2010, a rock star baby was born, one who the gods call...
The Chas.

You've turned 30! We celebrated Tommy's 30th birthday on January 12th. He walked into the office that Wednesday morning expecting only an office birthday card, but found a little more than that. I like to tease Tommy about his geekiness, which he still fights. These little victories help to convince him I'm right!

March came quickly after the holidays, but the celebration didn't stop. If you're looking for a great party venue in the heart of Arlington, check out "Restaurant 3," who gave us a VIP room for our "3 Party," which toasted three generations of large, good looking, vikingesque Bentsons

Another recommendation for those dining/drinking in the Washington D.C. area... if you haven't already, check out the Columbia Room, which is a reservation-only bar located downtown in Mt. Vernon Square, and has been given five stars by a few of the big dogs, including GQ magazine's 25 Best Cocktail Bars in America list and Bon Apetit's Top 10 New Cocktail Bars. Also, it's only entrance is through the back of another bar, The Passenger, making it ultra cool. Our party of six arrived eagerly at the Passenger for our 5pm reservation. After waiting inside The Passenger for about ten minutes, we were greeted by owner and bartender Derek Brown, who led us through what looked to be a dimly lit coat room, and then into The Columbia Room, where we were served the first of four extremely well made cocktails (understatement).

The Bentson clan came for a nice visit in April....Charlie's first trip to The Burg! Warm enough for a walk to the Avenue, but still cold enough for the fleece. You know, Biggin weather.



Last fall we were sitting in Mangia during happy hour with a friend, when Anner received a phone call from a board member at Riverviews Artspace, telling her that she'd won a trip to Paris through their annual raffle. Screams of joy and amazement ensued, we ordered another round and Pattie and Anna spent the rest of our evening discussing the appropriate wardrobe for Paris in the spring. On April 12th, the McAlpine girls boarded an international flight from Charlotte and took Paris by force for seven days. By the way, I think this whole thing was fixed.

The MacMonster had a pretty exciting spring. In March, Anner learned that our downtown revitalization organization, Lynch's Landing, was looking for an Executive Director. Perfect match! They offered her the position in April, which she happily accepted.

We joined the A-Town crew in May for some fun in Corolla, NC. Poor MacMonster could only stay for a few days before heading back to continue her adventures with the new job, but Biggins stuck it out.

PARTY BALL.

Chautauqua 2011! We made the trip to Wytheville in June for their annual Chautauqua festival, where we feasted on jumbo corn dogs, home-brewed Root beer and toont-sized funnel cakes. Gathered for one heck of a Smith Inn porch shot. One day, we hope to put all of these porch pictures together chronologically, there must be 40 of them.

We spent July 4th with Pam at the Inlet, kicking it with the Judge at his cottage on the creek. The Judge laid a rib challenge down, which Anna's godfather, Phil, and Flynnsky proudly accepted. After the ribs finished, Jimmy asked Biggins to lead the group in a blind-folded taste test to "set the record straight." Jimmy won.

Not really sure what to say about this picture.

September rolled around, and Megan, Jamie, and little Harper stopped through Lynchburg on their way home from a trip to New York. They brought the perfect weather with them, so we hit downtown and made our way to Percivals Island for a nice walk, which Harper enjoyed thoroughly (see the smile)...

We headed back to Corolla for a mini fall vacation with Pete, Jill and The Chas. Journeyed north of Corolla in the Wrangler for some off-road beach action. We got about five to ten miles up, where we found a perfect spot for picnic.

Oh...one more AWESOME fall arrival! The one, the only...Hank Smith to proud parents, Rob & Kelly. We love this shot. OH, HENRY!

We're looking forward to the rest of fall! Leaves are changing nicely and Halloween is a favorite for the Monsteri on Woodland Ave...not only do we see lots of trick-or-treaters at our doorstep, but come October 31st, it will be exactly two years to the day that we moved in.

Loving our little K-9/feline family, our homer, and our stomping grounds!