Martin Luther King Jr Day

As I write, I'm enjoying the 57 degree fresh air coming through our open living room/bedroom/office window.

Phoebe and I were going to celebrate with Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic church, a Baptist church, and a Unitarian congregation at a rally in Arlington, but without a car, we opted to visit the Washington Mall to see what was going on.

I figured the MLK celebration part was more for me so I thought I would treat her to the Natural History Museum first. She screamed, kicked, yelled, and shook with excitement for 30 minutes straight. She particularly loved the caribou, zebra, and whatever this thing behind us was.

This is halfway up the steps of the Lincoln memorial. The National Park service ranger in the center of the photo at left stood where MLK said his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. He had a recording to play, but it malfunctioned. The crowd was supportive as this young guy tried to read it with the same energy, but admited that "I'm no Martin Luther King Jr." with a laugh. He did a wonderful job under the circumstances. It was a beautiful day yesterday as you can see.

Phoebe enjoyed cheese cubes and water while I listened. At left, the Washington Monument is almost visible, but it was a bright day.

National Zoo

We enjoyed another 50 degree day here in DC by wandering around the zoo. Phoebe was quite quiet and contemplative, but enjoyed seeing the Pandas.

Going to the zoo was particularly appropriate as Phoebe works on her first word: Bear. While looking at one of her many books of animals, I said bear, and Phoebe repeated Bay-ah. Maybe she picked up the accent the one week we were in Maine last fall?

After a long day at the zoo, Phoebe crashed for a nice 2 hour nap. We often catch her slumbering like an old man watching TV on the couch. She's also taken to unbuttoning her overalls' snaps at some point during naps. I'm not sure what that's all about. Sorry they're blurry; it was dark and I didn't want to use a flash.

A Great Weekend

This weekend, I had a little surprise. Watch the video, then read below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DObLWNv9sWc




If you look at the following pictures you'll get a spoiler of what happens in the video.

































Matthew, John and me at the National Building Museum





Matthew's snoring attracted Phoebe, but her grabbing his rumbling nose did not phase him one bit.

So on Friday night, I was home with Phoebe waiting for Alisa to arrive from work. Phoebe and I were playing on the floor and I got the surprise you see in the youtube video. I must say, that I have never had any sort of surprise thrown my way in my life and this was a great one. To have two of my closest buddies walk in unexpectedly for the weekend was brilliant. Alisa was in on it and never once let on that something was going on. I had no clue John and Matthew were coming to DC. It was a very meaningful surprise for me. Alisa was able to spend Saturday with her friend Sarah and Phoebe while we went and toured around DC.

Thanks again John and Matthew (and Alisa for helping set this up AND being willing to have us three together in our 1 bedroom apt for 3+ days!). This one goes down in the books as one of the more meaningful things others have ever done for me, and even more, one of the best surprises.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We ended up getting pretty wild last night! Alisa worked until 10pm while I drank wine, made ravioli, and chatted with my parents. When she got home, we ate, I went to bed at 11:55 and Alisa worked until 4am.

We spent the first day of 2010 at the White House checking out the National Christmas Tree. They had many trains running around the tree, with Amtrak circling around the base. I wonder if Dubya left it out of his set up since he wanted to cut funding to Amtrak? Hmm.

If you're wondering about the gingerbread man, he's visiting from Phoebe's cousin Jack in Portland, OR. He arrived a few days ago, so we thought we'd show him the White House first thing. Phoebe and I may show him a couple more sights before he travels back to Portland in a week or so.

Each state has a small Christmas tree surrounding the large National Tree. NoDak's was decorated by Minot Public School students as you can see. The ornaments were hard to make out in their foggy globes as it was a humid day here.

Happy Festivus!

Our white Christmas has become a flood. Literally. We had 20" last Saturday. Today, we have 50 degrees and pouring rain and a couple of random piles of snow on the corners.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? I've become fairly irritated this year by the overwhelming need for some politicians to go out of there way to defend the need to say "Merry Christmas" as if we've just gone too far with being politically correct. God forbid, we actually include all Americans in a loving greeting during this season!

I like the New Year Holiday--in fact, it maybe one of my favorites. It's the quiet gathering holiday that brings people together to appreciate good beer, wine, and great finger foods without all the materialism that goes with Christmas. It's like a Thanksgiving reprise without the bland potatoes and turkey--an opportunity to make spicy appetizers to go with a nice stout ale!

While I say "Happy Holidays" I still appreciate more than any other holiday Frank Costanza's creation, fighting the materialistic craziness Americans get sucked into every year. With that, check out the loot Phoebe came away with this year! Happy Festivus!



This is a bus from Holland that goes back to Alisa's childhood. Thank you Oma and Grandpa!



Phoebe got a percussion set from Mat, Laura, and her cousins Ava and Jack. She likes the bells a lot, but will hopefully gain coordination and be able to play the drum and other instruments soon.

Some great stacking disks from both sets of Grandparents

Phoebe has discovered fridge magnets so we got her the alphabet. It is intended for children 3 and up due to choking hazard. Uh, I don't know if I could get that Z down if I tried!

Santa brought a sticky "Gertie" ball for Phoebe.
Christmas Eve: we were able to pick mom up from work and make it to the children's Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace last night. Phoebe did very well, even though it went well past her bedtime.

Alisa had to work today and this weekend, but was able to go in to work a bit later this morning so we could have breakfast and open gifts as a family. Phoebe and I are going to deliever some treats to mom over lunch.

SNOW!

We got 20.5" in Arlington in about 26hrs. Having lived in Maine, NoDak, and Minnesota, we both felt that this would have been a crippling snowfall anywhere. The problem here is that the city only has plows about as nice as those the Twin Cities probably used in the 80s. Plus, they only have a few. Alisa only has to walk a few blocks to work tomorrow and Phoebe and I have no where we need to be, so no worries for us!

You know that guy you see in New York City shoveling his car out with a Big Gulp cup from 7-Eleven on the news? Well, I was that guy. But I was smart enough to use the small garbage bin from our apt. We didn't think we'd need shovels and boots here. Oh well. It'll only be for a day or two.

We've been enjoying cooking split pea soup with ham from Ben and Leslie's pigs and tonight we plan to cook up one of their chickens. Thanks for the cold weather food! It's supposed to be in the 30s all week and then the 40s with rain on Christmas, so we should have a nice flood and no snow by the end of this week.

Phoebe enjoyed swinging with her feet grazing the snow.

The slide was a little slower today with a wet bum.

It was a sunny day today!

Cold, cold, cold weather in Minot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Again . . . Phoebe got another birthday cake (this one got tasted) at Grandma and Grandpa's in Minot.

We miss you mom-mom and can't wait to see you Thursday night when we get back to Arlington!

ANIMALS, ANIMALS, and more ANIMALS

Grandpa has plenty of furs he's traded over the years, so we clearly did not need to bring any stuffed animals with on this trip. Phoebe enjoyed the fox fur and petting the antelope, but was a bit bothered by the beaver pelts. After seeing pheasants, deer, dogs, and plenty of birds on this visit, a trip to the National Zoo is in store when we get back to D.C.

I guess our daughter wants a fur coat for Christmas. This fox fur became a favorite of hers on these cold winter days (it has not been above zero degrees since Saturday). Someone may use this picture against her some day when she becomes a vegan/anti-fur activist.

Phoebe enjoyed opening and shutting the large hardwood doors in the house.

Every afternoon a doe and her two fawns came to feed on the sunflowers my dad leaves out for the birds. Pheasants came by from time to time as well. Phoebe thoroughly enjoyed the wildlife from the kitchen breakfast counter.

Deer!

The fur is not as soft (as the fox) on grandpa's antelope, but every time we passed by this mount (which was about 20 times per day as it's at the bottom of the stairs) she giggled and had to touch it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Well, one year ago, we were sleep deprived and falling in love with our newborn little girl. Today, she's on the go. Literally. Phoebe decided to crawl about 8 hours shy of her birth hour. Today, I can't keep up with her. The video below is from today. She crawled for the first time last night. I took her diaper off, she flopped over and bolted across the room. I didn't quite know what was happening it was so sudden. Every parent has warned us that these things don't happen gradually, but rather suddenly. But I didn't quite believe it would be like a switch being flipped. So maybe a video of her walking later today?

A book of dogs will hopefully be a hit on a flight to North Dakota next week. Mom picked this one out for Phoebe.

A little help from an older cousin who understands the concept of unwrapping gifts.

A favorite Mem Fox book from her cousins, Aunt Leslie, and Uncle Ben.

A knit sweater from Oma.