Spring!

Well, we went from blizzards and 30s to sunny dry days with 60s and 70s for high temps. Last Saturday, I ran the National Half Marathon in Washington. Alisa and Phoebe made a couple stops on the course to see me. I stopped to give my ladies kisses, but then moved on quickly, only to hear Phoebe start crying for about a block of my run.

It was about 50 degrees at the start and I wrapped it up when it was approaching 70 and sunny! I felt bad for the full marathoners. I felt good and met my goal of running in less than 2hrs. My recovery has been great and it gives me hope that I can do a full marathon some day in the near future.

Below is Phoebe with her "clapper" she got from a Sun Trust station on the course.

Sunday afternoon at the park. We had a gorgeous weekend! Phoebe really enjoys playing on this one particular slide set up, crawling through the tube. This was the first day she sat on the rocking horse and grabbed the handles, rocking herself.

I'm assuming a dog was walking by at this time.

Eating Like a Big Girl

Our pediatrician reminded us that Phoebe should be eating with a spoon. Alisa had initiated this a while back, but I let it go. So we started again this weekend. She took to it no problem, but it's not very efficient (which is fine with us, but not with her). So sometimes when I set the bowl down, load the spoon, she looks at it for a bit, picks up the bowl and hands it to me.

Sorry we have no sound on our camera, but after her second bite, you can see her saying "mom mom mom mom mom mom," a common chant around here when Alisa's at work.

National Gallery of Art

Phoebe and I went to the National Gallery of Art, which I always forget is not a part of the Smithsonian. But it's also a free museum and it's amazing. Today we checked out the modern art building.









This underground walkway connects the two galleries. The lights flow and change in very cool ways. Not worth explaining. Gotta see it yourself.

Sol Lewitt is awesome. This wall is completely covered with colored pencil lines (see close up just below). The wall is probably about 20'x30' or a bit more.

One of Andy Goldsworthy's rock installations. It's on both sides of the window.

This is more typical of Sol Lewitt. My friend Ryan and I have had kids recreate some of his work in our Geometry classes. Ryan even had some students paint their final product on the wall in the hallway above his door, also incorporating the famous 4 color problem in mathematics.

Phoebe's second favorite was this Matisse display of large cloth cutouts.

Phoebe's favorite! She was super pumped about this Roy Lichtenstein of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Lots of yelling and rigid legs in her stroller.

Beautiful Spring Weather

We are thoroughly enjoying our warm weather the last few days. We spent the end of last week in Boston where Alisa had a conference. We got to see Alisa's entire family and Phoebe got to play with her cousins for a day. But I forgot the camera . . .

Phoebe and I got out for a run today in the warm sun. It's in the low 60s here today and the only signs of snow from our blizzards are massive piles in parking lots. No more obstructions on the sidewalks.

My running is going well as I'm only about 10 days out from the National Half Marathon. I ran over 13 miles Sunday so I already know I can do it. The races follows the mall and then up through NW DC. Phoebe and Alisa plan to try to see me along the way a couple of times. Should be a fun race.

Phoebe hasn't been very into swimming at lessons or last weekend at our hotel in Boston. But she does enjoy putting her suits on her head. And she really thinks it's funny when I put one on my head too.

Modern Art

Phoebe and I went for a visit to the Hirshhorn Museum of modern and contemporary art. There was an installation of an Elephant video taped over time. The screens allowed for a nearly life sized elephant. She went nuts. Another film was of old-fashioned wooden tops all being spun at once. They were huge with a very loud soundtrack of their rumble. She sat and stared mesmerized.

But Josef Albers' display Homage to Squares is why I was there. Amazing art--I'll need to go back alone to take the time to absorb it a bit better. Phoebe thought it was pretty cool, but ultimately enjoyed the leather benches and the tour guide's badge.

Phoebe likes to sit like a "big girl" on the bus when we go out.




I forgot to shut off my flash on this first one--I got scolded nicely. Having a cute little girl with helps when being shouted at by a security guard.


Behind Phoebe down the hallway, some of Albers' work is visible.

I don't know the artist of this red painting. It fit with the Albers' paintings, but was not his.

Standing and Reading

Days have been pretty low key around here. The stroller has been parked for 3 weeks and probably won't be pulled out any time soon. We've had a TON of melt off already and I would guess 2/3 of the ground cover is gone. It's supposed to rain Monday-Wednesday which should clean a lot of this away. That would be great!

So we spend a lot of time reading. Phoebe insists on sitting in our laps when we read to her, which is quite cute as you can see. She's standing and just starting to attempt traversing from furniture item to furniture item. Walking soon would be fine with me! I'm looking forward to running around the park with her this spring where she can finally keep up with the other kids her age.

Pretty much anything like a belt, scarf, string goes around her neck.

Reading the Invisible Man.

She insists on wearing this hat Arlene made for her, but she puts the scarf on herself.

Snow Days

We are officially a part of the nation's big news. It is an impressive amount of snow around here and they are predicting 5-10" more tomorrow night. I figure that's when the town will just throw their arms up in the air and quit trying. We'll see . . .

I managed to run about 8-9 miles through a commecial district that follows the Metro trains yesterday. It was snowy, but managable. They had cleaned most of the walks off and I saw plenty of people out with Macy's and Barnes and Noble shopping bags yesterday.

We enjoyed our family weekend though! Phoebe's working on standing up and has a LOT to say these days in her own language. We tried a second round of finger paints Sunday. She doesn't really know what to make of them, but does manage to get plenty of paint in her hair and on her clothes.

Phoebe more or less sprawled herself across Alisa. We're not sure why this was so fun.




After being confined, Phoebe was getting pretty silly. She not only plucks our glasses off, but also tries to wear them now that she understands what glasses are.

Cool FeeBee

Last weekend after our weekend snowfall wrapped up, we went for a walk. Alisa made a comment in the bright light that we should consider getting sunglasses for Phoebe.

Phoebe and I tried on a few pair and settled on these sporty models. They had some blockier, pink shades with blue flowers, but they were a bit too big for her.

I'm sure most of you have heard about the mid-Atlantic storm coming in. It is significant when DC goes many winters with no snow or a dusting here or there. This will put the yearly total well over 30". In the last decade, I can recall a couple winters in Minnesota with a lot less snow than this.

However, I hate snow when no one shovels, county crews plow sidewalks shut, they leave huge piles of plowed snow in the middle of lanes, and they only plow major streets, leaving the rest to melt away (which is does within hours in a sloppy, salty stew that destroys your shoes). I look forward to living somewhere where it snows, it gets cleaned up relatively well (I know it's not perfect in northern states either), and one can get out and enjoy the snow on skis, sleds, and snowshoes. Okay, I'm done ranting . . . for now.

Gardens and Pools

We started swimming lessons last week. Phoebe and I went alone and I learned very quickly that taking a one-year-old to swimming lessons in the winter is a two-parent outing. We did well until I realized that I had to change and there weren't too many clean, "play" zones in a men's locker room. I sat her in a puddle of disgusting floor water and watched her cry while I got dressed. But, we made it, and it was much more fun today with Alisa in the water and me on deck, ready to take Phoebe so Alisa could get changed on her own.

After just 2 sessions, Phoebe clearly likes being in the pool.

Yesterday, Phoebe and I visited the Botanical Gardens across the street from the Capitol. It was a chilly day, so we warmed up nicely in this humid, jungle climate. Phoebe really liked the yellow Orchids and the desert room.

Look, skylights!

Phoebe enjoying some time with mom on a Saturday morning. Alisa worked last weekend, so it's been a nice weekend hanging out around the house.