Presenting...Cocomacheche (The Beer)

If you have been following the home brew saga here at House of Donaldson, then you will be glad to know the first batch of beer has successfully been fermented, bottled and tasted. With great elation tonight, we opened the first ever bottle of home beer and tasted the labor of Daniel's work. The brew is an original recipe Daniel whipped up and tastes fabulous!

It was designed to be a brown ale but really is closer to an Irish Red. This batch is clear, has full body with the hint of cinnamon, no aftertaste and lots of carbonation (a victory among beginners), and alcohol content of 6-6.5%. On top of that, the batch was fermented with dry yeast that Daniel built from scratch. Strong work.

Considering that this is a family experience credit must be given to Michael and Matthew who helped bottle and cap this first batch. Matthew was allowed to name this batch and chose "Cocomacheche", which is one of his favorite words since he was little. It is a special place in his mind with love, peace, happiness, white flowers and everyone wears white. I think we all need a place like this.

So, stay tuned because the next batch will be due in 3 weeks and Michael will be naming this one. As you might imagine, we are looking forward to another successful brew.

Cheers!

Matthew awarded national scholar in North Carolina

We went to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for Matthew to receive his Pop Warner American 1st team academic award. Grandma with the boys.

This picture is a little fuzzy but you can see Matthew as he was called up on stage to get his plaque. He was also up on two big screen TVs as he was awarded. Strong work, Matt! The banquet room at the Embassy Suites

The boys before we head in

More D.C

In the IMAX theather at the National Air and Space Museum. Cameras are strictly prohibited. Dude on the basin

More dudes on the basin

At the Roosevelt memorial

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial

This entire structure is made of marble. Enjoy some of these shots taken by Michael.

Cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.

We went to the Cherry Blossom festival in DC to see the over 2000 Cherry Blossoms planted around the tidal basin. It was amazing!