Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Kingpins

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While Allen is on detail to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), he has made it his goal to take advantage of every possible perk associated with his proximity to the Executive office. However, because he is only on detail for six months, we've had to fit all of these activities into a very short span of time. They have ranged from the very cool (such as seeing Hair from the Presidential box at the Kennedy Center) to somewhat excessive (such as two tours of the White House in as many weeks).

My personal favorite, however, has to be bowling at the White House Bowling Alley (which is actually located in the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building). Not only was it kid friendly (we had the place to ourselves and so I actually didn't worry about the kids wandering into forbidden territory and requiring a Secret Service intervention), but we were able to invite a large crew to join us, and it was enough of a novelty that even those friends that spend a lot of time at White House meetings (specifically Nancy), were pretty excited to go.

Of course, Allen won (though I did manage a second place finish in shoes two sizes too large), but I had a good enough time that we might try to squeeze in one more trip before his service officially ends in March.

(Thanks to Katherine, Lee & Makayla, Mom mom and Grandpa Don, Aunt Jen and her friend Joanna, and Nancy, Danny & Christopher for making the night so great.)

(Click here to see all the pictures.)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas 2010


2010 was our year to have Christmas here in DC, and kept up some of our cherished DC Christmas traditions, like visiting the Botanic Gardens to see the trains (though the lines were too long the first time we went, so we held off on the train part of the gardens until after Christmas); hosting Christmas Eve dinner at our house (we even made our mole chicken enchiladas again); and having Christmas dinner at Mom Mom's house with friends and family. Grandpa Don hopefully started a new tradition with his delicious oysters on the half shell (which aunt Katherine had no trouble convincing the kids were disgusting); Aunt Katherine and I took up competitive napkin folding; and Mom Mom brought back an old favorite, prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, for Christmas dinner. Owen was most excited about his Razor scooter from Santa and his very on copy of the Lorax, and Nora was awfully fond of her Bitty Baby and her Mrs. Potato Head, not to mention the her Great Grandma Fawcett's restored wicker rocking chair at Mom Mom's house. Christmas 2010 also brought a few extra reasons to celebrate, as Aunt Katherine and I both received job offers on the day before Christmas Eve. All together it was a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends. As Owen insists we say now, Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

(click here for X-Mas Eve pictures)
(click here for X-Mas pictures)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Caroling

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One of the things we love about our house is our wonderful neighbors. There are a lot of kids on our block, and it's so nice for Owen to be able to go knock on the door of a friends house to go play (and Nora is starting to be old enough to join in the fun). In the summer time they get to go play superheroes, and in the winter they play in the snow. On Christmas Eve eve, the neighborhood kids and parents joined in song and went caroling on our block. We sang Jingle Bells, Rudolph, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Joy to the World bringing a little Christmas cheer and a healthy dose of cuteness to the neighbors. Then we all went back to Will and Katy's house for hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. Merry Christmas everyone!

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

White House Holiday Tour

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Setting up White House tours is one of the perks of working in the EOP. Ordinarily, when you set up an East Wing tour for people, you can flash your badge and be whisked to the front of the line. Once the White House is decked out for the Holidays though things change, the public line disappears and all of the EOP comes out for the tour. Well, I didn't want to miss out on my first chance to see the White House at Christmas, so I took the family and we braved the cold waiting in an hour and a half long line for the privilege. Elaine of course was a bit jaded about it all (she went on a White House Holiday tour during the Clinton administration, back when they had no security, no lines, and lots of cookies), but she put on a brave face and indulged me and the kids. Even with all the cold and the waiting, I'm glad we went. Owen loved the Red Room, Nora loved the singers, and I think we all still feel a little bit awed visiting the President's house for the Holidays.

(click here to see all the pictures)

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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Thanksgiving


Owen started school this year, which means our non-summer travel is suddenly constrained by truancy officers who require a conference after five unexcused absences. This is problematic, as Owen's break doesn't technically begin until the day before the holiday and every other year we head to Iowa for Thanksgiving, by car.

So despite being awarded a perfect attendance certificate the Thursday before, we let Owen play hookey Monday-Wednesday and left for Iowa over the weekend. We spent the night at Uncle L and Aunt Katherine's on Saturday and arrived in Iowa Sunday evening.

As we weren't the only offspring that were driving to Grandma & Grandpa Z's (and Steve & Becky are less inclined to encourage delinquency in their children), we spent Monday and Tuesday hanging out with Fawcetts until Dave & Kara arrived Wednesday night and Ellen, John & Caitlin as well as Steve, Becky & the kids showed up Thursday afternoon.

The cousins had an amazing time and we adults enjoyed ourselves. Owen reported that his favorite part of the meal was eating the rolls he helped me make and Nora discovered that she inherited her father's love of pies. Come Friday morning, though, we quickly bid Grandma & Grandpa Z a fond farewell and headed back to DC.

Where three disgruntled messages from DCPS discussing Owen's absences awaited us.

(Click here to see all of the Thanksgiving pictures)

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Monday before Thanksgiving...

Despite attending both of our children's Thanksgiving celebrations at their respective school/daycare, I have no pictures/videos to illustrate their adorableness due to a camera malfunction at one, and a dearth of photo ops at the other. And so instead, we offer in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, Owen assisting in the dismantling of the Fawcett tipi for Winter. Surely there's some sort of harvest message there...


Owen taking down the Tipi

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Three (little) Men and a (sick) Baby


We've been hosting playdates for Owen for about a year and during that time have instituted a serial monogamy approach to them, much to Owen's chagrin. It's not that we didn't understand the allure of having multiple friends over at the same time, it's that the idea of having more than 2 three to four year olds under our care induced panic attacks in us.

But a couple of months ago we had a brief visit from our neighbor Will during one of Owen and Leo's playdates which made me think that a more expansive definition of playdates might be feasible. Allen grudgingly agreed and so we invited both Leo and Brady over to our house last weekend for an afternoon of structured play. They seemed excited, their parent's were thrilled and the forecast was ideal to facilitate outdoor play.

And then Nora got a sinus infection.

We didn't want to cancel at the last minute lest we disappoint 3 little boys (and 4 parents) so we forged ahead. Shockingly, Nora wasn't too keen to watch Owen and his friends play baseball in the park with 102 degree fever (my theory that fresh air would bring it down didn't pan out) which meant abandoning Allen and the boys. They managed fairly well, with only one minor dispute before they returned back to our house for a snack and some fort/cave play. In the end, we survived and the boys enjoyed themselves, though Owen may have to wait until spring to play host again.

(click here to see all the pictures)

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Monday, November 08, 2010

Let the Sunshine In

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One of the perks of being the President is that you have your own box at the Kennedy Center, perfect for hosting the Kennedy Center Honors or for a night out with the First Family. But of course you're not going to be able to go to every performance, so one of the perks of working for the President is, if you're lucky, you get to use the President's tickets. On Sunday night, Elaine and I left the kids at home with Mom Mom and Grandpa Don, and went out for our own little date night. We took in the revival of Hair at the Kennedy Center from the Presidential Box. The show was great, though it was a bit odd seeing such an irreverent musical while you're representing the President. Truly an amazing experience, but I'm afraid we've spoiled ourselves and all our future trips to the Kennedy Center will be a little bit of a let down.

Hair Tickets - Presidential Box

(click here to see all the pictures)

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Halloween

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This isn't the blog post we originally planned -- that one involved pictures from DOL's Halloween parade as well as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (FYI: Nora was pro-sanity; Owen was all about the fear). But my civic duty (and a very split jury) coupled with Allen's previous commitment to a White House tour with his dad (due to his new position as Deputy Associate Director of Environmental stuff at CEQ) meant that neither of us could attend Owen and Nora's (aka Woody and an elephant) costume march; and we only attended the sanity rally long enough to discern that attempting to attend might be construed as a lapse in ours.

But then came Sunday. Owen was so excited for trick-or-treat night that he insisted on wearing his Ryan Zimmerman costume (no relation, he's the third baseman for the Nationals) the entire day. Nora, having refused to wear the head piece of her elephant costume during the parade on Friday (if only the rest of the country had echoed her sentiment on Tuesday...) was dressed in the less obtrusive alien butterfly costume we inherited from Brad and Marlo.

Owen had practiced the art of begging for candy earlier in the day, but suffered a bit of stage fright when we started out trick-or-treating. Eventually he warmed up to it, but he was much more excited when he retired to Grandpa Fawcett's porch to hand out treats to the thousands of revelers gathered on East Capitol Street. Nora watched in amazement as Owen enforced a strict "one candy" rule and directed traffic along the walkway, at one point informing the crowd, "I don't see a line, I see a group."

By the time Grandpa Fawcett ran out of candy, it was well past the kids' bedtime (as Owen repeatedly informed us), so we headed home so the kids could finally get to sleep... and we could sneak some of Owen's bounty.

(click here to see all the pictures)

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks

We posted about Nora's first steps a while ago, but in the last month or so she has really taken off. An update seemed in order so everyone can see how fast our little baby is growing up.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

White House and Pumpkins

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We knew this was going to be a busy weekend. Saturday was booked up with a birthday party for Owen's friend Daryl, and volunteering for the latest Peabody fundraiser, the Capitol Hill Renovator's Home Tour, and Sunday we had plans for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch at Butler's Orchard, and dinner at Mom Mom's house. Then we found out that White House Fall Gardens and Grounds tour was open for Executive Office of the President staff, but it looked like we would be too booked up to make it until Peabody called to move my time volunteering for the fundraiser from Saturday morning to the afternoon. With our morning cleared up, we decided to visit the White House. The kids had fun touring the grounds, although there were a few times they were ready to run off somewhere the Secret Service agents probably didn't want them exploring. Owen particularly liked seeing the White House Kitchen Garden with its bee hive that has produced 170 pounds of honey this year, and Nora was just excited to walk wherever we would let her go.

Sunday morning we drove up to Butler's orchard, where we've picked pumpkins the last few years, with the Brown's and the Stiver's. This year we decided to partake in the Orchard's Fall Festival. The kids had a great time on the giant hillside slides, playing in the hay barn, exploring the corn maze, and taking the hayride to the pumpkin patch. And of course all the boys thought the giant pumpkin cannon was really cool.

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Mountains and Caves

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Columbus day weekend greeted us with spectacular weather, sunny skies and late summer temperatures with just a hint of fall as the leaves started to take on their autumn colors. We decided to take advantage of the long weekend with a Sunday family outing to the Shenandoahs. I've been reading the Hobbit to Owen, and he wanted to see the Misty Mountains, and the cave where Gollum lived, so a trip to Skyline Drive and the Luray Caverns seemed to be perfect. The whole family had a great time enjoying the views in the mountains, and Owen had a particularly good time not eating his picnic lunch and convincing a little girl that she should play football with him. Then Mommy was quite the trooper descending into the cave with us to see some beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, and an underground lake that might just be where Gollum lived...

(click here for all the pictures)

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Mothers and Child(ren) Reunion

Every couple of years, my former college roommate, Tracey, makes the trek from whatever exotic locale she currently calls home (it's been Koh Tao, Thailand for the past few years) back to Michigan to visit her family. During her stay, the former residents of apartment J1 descend upon the Wolverine state to reminisce about our days at Northwestern and drink a fair amount of wine.

It's become a little more complicated the past few years as we've had to accommodate both work and nap schedules, but last weekend Audra, Cecily, Tracey and I along with the majority of our progeny reunited to take in the sights and sounds of the greater Brighton area. Turning adjoining suites into our own version of romper room, we actually managed to entertain (or at least occupy) six kids between the ages of 5 months and 8 years and still enjoy ourselves. (It helped that Kailash and Satya have mad baby whispering skills, Colin didn't come until after soccer practice on Saturday, and Cecily and I opted to leave Dylan and Owen home with their respective dads.)

In less than 48 hours we hit a petting zoo, took a hayride, and went swimming twice. But the highlight of the visit had to be leaving the kids with Tracey's mom and aunts in order to have dinner and drinks with just the four of us. And a horse.


It was over far too soon, though not as quickly as initially intended. Nora and I caught a ride to the airport from Audra and Keegan on Sunday morning and Audra and I chatted right past our exit resulting in an extra long nap for Nora, and a mad dash to the gate for me (we made it with 5 minutes to spare). The extra rest was beneficial though as Nora, who was very vocal in her disdain for air travel on her inaugural flight on Friday (my apologies to the passengers and crew of Delta flight #DL1745), happily chatted up our seatmate for the flight back to an awaiting Allen and Owen.



Monday, September 20, 2010

We were on a break...

We generally try and update our blog about once a week, but due to the tremendous number of life changing events that occurred between July 3oth and September 7th, we wrote/edited/uploaded video for 12 posts in a scant 6 weeks. We were tired. Sure it would have been nice to record Allen reading Owen "The Hobbit" for the first time or when Owen and Nora dressed up as a tiger and elephant respectively. We could have narrated our first back-to-school open house or our new neighborhood watch program. We even could have waxed extensively about our decision to stop tracking Owen. Instead, we watched Top Chef and cleaned out our hall closet.

But after a pretty amazing long weekend which included Owen's return to daycare (for a day), soccer, Sofia's birthday party, the H street festival and Nora's inaugural sail, we thought we should at least post something. And so with no further ado, here is our little girl winching away.

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(To see the rest of the sailing pictures click here.)

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Walking, Climbing, Riding

Nora's mobility has greatly increased recently. The week before her birthday she took her first steps. Just a few at first, and generally they were more of a controlled fall into Mommy or Daddy's arms, but she quickly gained her footing and started stringing enough steps together that "walking" really is the only suitable word to describe what she is doing.



She has also extended her range vertically by finally deciding to take on the task of climbing the stairs. While Owen started climbing the stairs soon after he started crawling, Nora was so uninterested in the stairs that we haven't needed to bother with the gate at the bottom of the stairs. Now she's discovered that when all the fun is upstairs, she doesn't need to ask to be carried up to join in, but can simply climb up herself. I guess it's time we finally start using that gate.



For her first birthday present, we pulled Owen's first birthday present out of Mom Mom's attic and gave it to Nora. She loved the scooter, and had no complaints about the hand me down present (although Owen had to be convinced that he's too big for it now). It's faster than crawling, easier than walking, and is all together the perfect mode of transport for our little one year old.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

A year in the life

Nora turned one today, and I've celebrated by alternating staring at her meaningfully and crying. I know parents always marvel at how fast time passes, but it really does seem like this first year went a lot faster with Nora than it did with Owen. Allen argues it's because Nora was a much better sleeper than Owen and so we were unconscious for a larger share of her first year of life. While not completely without merit, I instead attribute it to our attention being more divided with Nora than Owen, and so feeling like I've missed more stuff with her.

But a year has passed and as Owen keeps pointing out, "Nora is almost a toddler." Happy first year of life, baby girl, you've taught us a lot.


  1. Orthodontia is a small price to pay for sleep.
  2. Hostas are not a baby food.
  3. If you build it, they will knock it over.
  4. A watched child takes forever to roll over.
  5. Mmmmm...paper.
  6. Bubbling brooks are far more subtle than shooting fountains, but no less messy.
  7. You don't need actual toys if you have a big brother.
  8. All bananas and no fiber make Nora a very constipated girl.
  9. Always get the non-mobile child out of the car first.
  10. Thank heaven, for little girls.


Friday, August 27, 2010

"I'm freaking out a little bit..."

Tuesday, August 24th was Owen's first official day of school. It was an odd culmination to the months of preparation for Owen enrolling in DC Public Schools, since we'd spent most of the summer convincing Owen (and ourselves) that it was ok he wasn't going to Peabody only to find out at the 11th hour that he was.

After finally meeting his teacher, Mrs. Murdock, for 15 minutes the day before and re-doing all the paperwork we'd done for Ludlow-Taylor back in July, Owen started at Peabody Early Childhood Campus the next morning. We got there a bit early in order for Owen to enjoy the playground and for us to get the lay of the land. Once the bell rang, Owen dutifully lined up with the rest of the first half of the alphabet of (the second half would attend Wednesday before they were all united on Thursday) and we escorted him up to classroom 5, where he dropped off his backpack in the closet and grabbed his yellow folder before heading into the room to find his name on the circle-time rug. We stuck around for a few more minutes before we were politely asked to leave. And while Owen looked a little taken aback, he didn't cry at all (nor amazingly enough, did his parents, at least not until much later).

We're not completely sure what transpired during the day. When I met Owen at 3:15 for dismissal, Mrs. Murdock commented that he'd slept under his mat rather than on it and all we could get out of Owen was that he'd had chicken and a peach for lunch and played bear on the playground, which apparently involved him chasing various children (wittingly or not) who'd happened upon his lair.

We're all still adjusting. When Allen took Owen early on Friday so he could have breakfast in the cafeteria, Owen informed him of his current mental state -- the title of this blog entry. Allen told him it was ok as he was freaking out a bit too. We still haven't completely worked the kinks out of drop-off and we're still trying to resolve aftercare, but overall we're feeling pretty good about this school year. Provided Owen willingly goes back.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Owen's Birthday Party...



It's been an overwhelming whirlwind of a birthday weekend for our family. Friday was Owen's fourth birthday, and his last day at the DOL daycare. Owen of course seemed fine with it all, but for us parents it was quite emotional, since he's been at the DOL daycare with the same core group of friends since they were all infants. Elaine is particularly sad that her little boy won't be right downstairs from her office anymore, and when she's down nursing or visiting Nora, she'll miss the excited voices of Owen's friends in the hallway yelling for Owen to come quick and see his Mommy and baby sister.

To make the day extra special (insert sarcasm) for Owen, he had to go to the doctor's office the morning of his birthday for a checkup and three shots. The unfortunate timing was dictated by having to be four years old to get his next round of vaccinations, and DCPS requiring he have his vaccinations before school started on Monday. After plenty of screaming at the doctor's office, he seemed to be fine for the rest of the day at DOL, enjoyed his party, and cheerfully said his goodbyes to all of his teachers and friends. That night though, he had a bit of a fever and was even too tired for ice cream cake.

By Saturday morning our little boy had rallied, and he was ready for his real birthday party. We drove up to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's house after lunch, and Owen showed off his favorite birthday presents from Mommy and Daddy, a Washington Nationals batting helmet and a Josh Willingham t-shirt, perfect for playing backyard baseball in.

As if a weekend filled with Owen's birthday, his last day at DOL, and getting ready for his first day of school wasn't packed enough, while we were at Mom Mom's we got a call from Peabody Elementary School telling us they had a spot for Owen. Peabody was one of our top choices (it's part of the Capitol Hill Cluster School, we have many friends and neighbors who have sent their kids there and given the school glowing reviews, and it's right by Stanton Park on Elaine's walk to work), but we were so far down on the waiting list that we had written off our chances of getting in and enrolled Owen in Ludlow Taylor instead. Owen was really excited about Ludlow Taylor (they have a baseball field on campus), we'd been doing a regular Sunday evening playdate with other Ludlow Taylor families, and Elaine had already been to a few PTA meetings, so we weren't ready to say yes to Peabody immediately and instead asked to be able to sleep on it and get back to them in the morning. The upshot of course was that we'd spend Owen's birthday party agonizing over the decision.

With our minds racing about what school to send Owen to on Monday, we drove over to the Little Gym for his birthday party. Owen was a bit overwhelmed by everything and was feeling a bit shy at first (hard to blame him really with everything going on), but he eventually warmed up to everything and had a great time at his party. As much fun as he had running around in the gym, his favorite part of the party was showing off his Washington Nationals cake. Baseball really is the best in the eyes of our four year old.

After the party we went back to Mom Mom's for bison burgers and more cake (this time Mom Mom's delicious banana cake). He also opened his present from Mom Mom and Grandpa Don, a new pair of bright yellow boots, and a yellow raincoat to go with them.

We agonized over the school decision all night, but after sleeping on it we were leaning heavily toward Peabody, even if that meant breaking up with Ludlow Taylor. The last thing to do was to convince Owen that this was a good thing. Sunday morning was gray and rainy, so Owen donned his new yellow boots and raincoat and we went over to Peabody to check out the playground. By the time we got there the rain had let up and Owen started to get excited about the beautiful playground. Some other parents were there working in the gardens, and Owen helped out raking some mulch, then he joined the other kids playing "Haiti Firefighter Earthquake Rescue Squad." With Owen seeming more at ease with the idea of Peabody, we called and officially accepted the spot for Owen. Then the assistant principal came out to the playground to welcome us to the school and give us all the forms we needed.

Exhausted from everything about the weekend, we went home so Nora could have a nice long nap, then took Brad and Marlo up on the offer to join them for a lovely evening at the pool. Just what we needed to relax on our last real day of summer.

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(click here to see all the birthday pictures)
(click here to see all the Peabody pictures)

Friday, August 20, 2010

Four!

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Wow. I'm not sure which is more amazing to us: the fact that Owen has now been in our lives for four years, or that four years and one day ago, we didn't know the kid.

It's kind of a big birthday for us, because Owen's birthday is also his last day at the daycare he's attended since he was 3 1/2 months old. Come Monday morning, Owen will be at Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School, which means we'll no longer be commuting together and I won't be able to check in on him at a moment's notice. I'm coping as best I can.

In preparation for his first day, DC Public Schools interviewed me to assess whether Owen had any developmental delays. The last question they asked was "What is your favorite thing about Owen?" I rambled on for a while, but in essence said that it was his capacity for joy. When I asked Allen the same question, he replied that it was his adventurous nature. We both agree, though, that it's hard to narrow it down to one thing, because we have a sweet, silly, smart, loving, dramatic, curious, happy, adventurous little boy and our favorite thing about Owen is that he's Owen.

Happy fourth birthday, little man.
  1. Playdates involve more tears than their name would suggest.
  2. Banjo-Sneaker-Rockstar-Pajamas are the coolest.
  3. Hide-and-Go-Seek is a much more efficient game if you tell the seeker where you're hiding.
  4. You don't need to pace yourself when it comes to stickers.
  5. The high-dive isn't at all scary. Cookie Monster, however, is a whole other story.
  6. Winter is the best season...except for maybe summer.
  7. Peeing while standing is overrated.
  8. Baseball isn't everything. There's also softball, the Nationals, playing catch, batting practice...
  9. It's nice to be worshiped.
  10. Three is a magic number.

Monday, August 16, 2010

MoCo Fair

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On Saturday we joined the Brown's for our third annual trip to the Montogmery County Fair. As always, we had a great time seeing all the animals, visited the fire fighters and their moon bounce, rode the ponies, checked out the tractors and the combine slide, and had dinner and ice cream. The new addition this year for Owen and Mia (and the daddies) was a ride on the Ferris Wheel. The hour was late and the line was long, but the view was amazing, and Owen and Mia had a great time checking out the fair from on high.



(click here for all the pictures)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Iowa- Part VI - Hooverfest and Homeward Bound

Our Iowa trip culminated with a celebration of our 31st President. We thought there would be more Pre-K appropriate activities at Hooverfest -- Allen promise us a Big Wheels race -- but the weather and the planning committee didn't cooperate. Instead we avoided the rain and watched Hooverball from the safety of Aunt Martha's balcony, had more sweetcorn back at the Pond with the Hoover Family and Trustees (and got a few last jumps in as well), and stayed up until 10 pm to eat ice cream and watch the fireworks (which Owen found scary but Nora loved).

The next morning we headed to Aunt Katherine's and Uncle L's a couple hours after Grandpa Fawcett. Makayla was also visiting and so she and Owen got to play baseball with the neighborhood kids and camp out in their own fort (though Owen didn't last the night) while Nora celebrated Mardi Gras a bit too early and enthusiastically.

We finally headed home on Monday, much to the disappointment of Owen who couldn't bear to leave Makayla ("She's the best... I love her."). Construction was crazy and so we took an alternate, scenic route through Pennsylvania before finally making it home in time for dinner.

And so ends our Iowa journey...until Thanksgiving.

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(click here for all the Iowa pictures)

Friday, August 06, 2010

Iowa - Part V - Camping in the Tipi

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Last night Owen and I camped out in the tipi with Thomas and Ethan. We started out with everyone at the Pond for some swimming and a dinner of grilled pizzas. As the sun started to set we lit a campfire and roasted marshmallows for some delicious s'mores. Grandpa Fawcett and Uncle Ken told some campfire stories for Owen and Ethan, and when the hour was late we grabbed our sleeping bags and hiked back through the woods west of the Pond to the tipi. For Owen and Ethan, excitement and exhaustion dueled in the night, and exhaustion quickly won as the boys drifted off to sleep.

Despite predictions from Mommy and Grandma Z that Owen would be scared and want to come home in the middle of the night, he slept soundly and woke up at 6:30 excitedly proclaiming, "Hey guys, it's morning time!" After waking up the whole tent, Owen decided to, "sleep a little more longer," and Thomas and I went about cooking pancakes in the tipi.

Owen had such a wonderful time camping, that he didn't want to change clothes when he got home, because if he took of his dirty camping clothes, then the camping trip would really be over. To help him out we set up his sleeping bag for nap time, and talked all about one day going on a camping trip to the Boundary Waters with Thomas and Ethan.


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(click here to see the tipi pictures)

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Iowa - Part IV - High Dive

High Dive

Owen has always been a big fan of jumping into the pool, so when we were driving out to Iowa, I tried to convince him that it would be fun to jump off of the dock. It's a bigger jump than he's tried before, but I thought that with his life jacket on he might be up for it. Well the first day out at the Pond we tried to jump off the dock to get in, but he decided it was a bit too scary, so we waded in at the beach instead. Once he was used to the water though, Owen decided it was time to jump off of the dock. He did it without hesitation, and after a few jumps I had him watch me jump off of the high dive. Well, he certainly thought that was exciting and immediately asked to go off himself. I wasn't sure about that plan, but he was halfway up the ladder before I could try to talk him out of it. I climbed up with him, and he wanted me to pick him up so we could jump off together. After one more chance to back out, we jumped, and Owen came up with the biggest grin on his face.

We jumped a few more times with me holding Owen, and eventually we graduated to jumping off together while holding hands. Then finally after a few days of jumping, we would climb up to the top of the high dive together and do a "one-two jump" where Owen would jump in all by himself, and then I would follow afterward.

With Owen setting the record for the youngest person to go off of the high dive, his grandparents became inspired to express their youthful vigor. Mom mom was first to claim she would jump off of the high dive. Bets were placed, and sure enough on the day of the Sweet Corn Festival, Mom mom made the leap setting the record for the oldest person to do the jump. That record wouldn't last for long though. Once Grandpa Z got wind of it, he decided the record was his for the taking, and the next day he jumped of not once, not twice but three times (to ensure adequate video coverage). Grandpa Fawcett couldn't break the record, but he didn't want to be showed up by Owen's other grandparents, so later in the week he decided it was high time he jumped off of the high dive as well. Owen thought Grandpa Fawcett might be scared, so he insisted on jumping with him, and directed the jump to a successful conclusion. With three grandparents having jumped off the high dive, one might think that Grandma Z would be next, but she claims to have not yet lost her sanity.

We're all quite impressed with Owen's bravery jumping off of the high dive, but Mommy at least is a little afraid of where this will lead. If he's jumping off the high dive at three, what will be doing in a few years? Owen was very impressed with his cousin Andy's backflips off the the high dive, but thankfully he realized he was too young to try one, for now...

Monday, August 02, 2010

Iowa - Part III - Sweet Corn Festival & Open Pond

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The weekend brought plenty more activity with the Fawcett family Sweet Corn Festival on Saturday, and the Open Pond party celebrating 25 years since we started construction on the dam for Cold Spring Pond. After my grandparents Floyd and Mary Helen, and my great uncle Alfred and great aunt Helen all passed away, the Fawcett family decided we needed an annual event to bring the family together, and thus the Sweet Corn Festival was born. Because when the sweet corn is plentiful, there's no better time for a party at the Pond.

Saturday morning was spent picking, husking, cooking, cutting, packing, and freezing sweet corn (though truth be told, with our kids and Steve & Becky's kids to wrangle in the morning, plus various Grady departures after the Baptism, we only made it for the tail end of the actual work, and then Owen mainly spent his time eating sweet corn). The morning work was followed by a lunch (with lots of corn on the cob of course), and an afternoon of playing and relaxing at the Pond.

Owen had an absolute blast playing with his cousins Olivia, Maura and Sam. There was plenty of playing on the beach, paddle boating, paddle boarding, baseball playing, frolicking on "Hollywood", and jumping off the dock (more on this in a later post). Owen really was thrilled to show off the Pond to his cousins, and has clearly adopted the Pond as his favorite place in the world.

That afternoon we had a special treat when Joe, Cate and Gigi arrived from St. Louis. We hadn't seen them since we dug out from the blizzard of '10, so it was great to see them in a more temperate environment. Owen and Gigi had a wonderful time playing together, and we all had a lovely dinner at the Pond (with more sweet corn of course).

After two days of big events at the Pond, we weren't quite done. August of 1985 (back when I was living in Iowa), was when the bulldozers first started work on the damn for Cold Spring Pond, and on Sunday we celebrated the Pond's 25th birthday party with an Open Pond event. The whole community was invited, and over 200 people came to tour the Pond and enjoy ice cream and cookies. The whole weekend was an exhausting whirlwind of fun, and it was nice to end it with a little ice cream.

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(click here to see all the pictures)

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Iowa - Part II - Nora's Baptism

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We planned Nora's baptism to dovetail with the Fawcett Sweet Corn Festival in order to maximize Fawcett attendance (to maximize Grady/Zimmerman attendance, we simply made them godparents or officiants). It was pretty effective. We had Fawcetts coming all the way from Alaska for Nora's big day and all but the oldest and youngest of the Grady siblings managed to make the event resulting in a total of 50 revelers our own mini Loaves and Fishes miracle moment.

Nora was a little apprehensive about it all. Still recovering from the long drive and a bit overwhelmed by the crowds, she wasn't too pleased when Uncle Bernie started anointing her with oil (he responded by telling her, "It gets worse"), but seemed to rally when he poised her over the baptismal bath and "assumed the position." By the time Uncle Bernie had her stand (or rather be held) behind the alter with her Godparents -- Uncle Dave and Cousin Caitlin -- her parents and big brother to announce her membership into the Christian community she was positively aglow.

After which we headed to the pond (which Owen informed us he prefers to church) for another sort of baptism...

(click here to see all the pictures)

Friday, July 30, 2010

Iowa - Part I

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For our big summer vacation this year, we're spending almost two weeks in Iowa for Nora's Baptism, the Fawcett Sweet Corn Festival, the 25th birthday party for Cold Spring Pond, and Hoover Days. We packed up our bags and left DC after lunch on Tuesday to drive to Aunt Katherine and Uncle L's house in Cleveland for the first leg of our journey, and the next morning, all of us left in a caravan for Iowa. The drive went reasonably well, Owen of course was endlessly entertained by the DVD player in the minivan, but Nora is still stuck in a rear facing carseat for another month, so she had a few stretches of inconsolable crying, but at least managed several good naps in the car.

On Thursday Leanna and Grace came over for a visit, and the family began to trickle in. We started preparations for Nora's baptism on Thursday (e.g. Owen, Grandpa Z, and I picked up the keg and brought it to the Pond, so we could start working on the CO2 levels in the kegerator ;) We did some exploring around the Pond, and Owen was very excited to see the Uncle Ken's new teepee back in the woods on the West side of the Pond.

That evening the Fawcetts and Zimmermans gathered for dinner at Agave in West Branch, and with over twenty of us, we pretty much took over the restaurant. After a huge dinner, we headed back to Iowa City to rest up for Nora's big day.

(click here to see all the pictures)

Monday, July 19, 2010

Pre-School

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Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer haven't been too lazy in the Fawcett household, as preparations for Owen's transition to the DC Public School System have begun in earnest. List serves have been joined. PTA meetings have been attended (ok, one meeting was attended; a subsequent committee meeting was skipped but I found out about it the day before and Allen didn't get home until 7 pm that night...). Fundraising ideas have been shared. And for the last two Sundays, we've attended a Ludlow-Taylor Early Education Playdate so that Owen can at least meet his new classmates before his first day.

We've had mixed experience with the playdates -- they've been primarily attended by children that will be in the three year old program. While Owen has enjoyed the actual activities (a splash day, chalk drawings), he hasn't interacted that much with the other kids. We have a few more playdates before school starts, so hopefully Owen will find a friend or two to ease the transition.

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Monday, July 12, 2010

All about the Cute

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Fireworks and Other Fun

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We had a very full Independence Day and the three day weekend this year. We started out the holiday weekend with Tadashi's 4th birthday party on Saturday. Owen had a great time with the trombone band that played the party, and Nora played contentedly with the other babies.

That was just the beginning of Owen's excitement for the day, because after coming home for a quick dinner Mom Mom and Grandpa Don came over to take Owen to the Kennedy Center to see Mary Poppins. The original plan was for Owen to spend the night at Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's house after the show, but the poor little guy was so exhausted by the end of the day that he broke down when he got to Silver Spring and desperately wanted to be in his own bed. Mom Mom kindly drove him back home, and by midnight he was back in his own bed sound asleep. After a good night's sleep and a 4th of July breakfast of chocolate pancakes Owen recounted how much he loved seeing Mary Poppins, especially Bert walking on the ceiling during Step in Time. Then he called Mom Mom to thank her for taking him to the show, and told her that he'd like to sleep over at her house another time when he hadn't had "such a big day" and when he wouldn't miss out on Daddy's chocolate pancakes;-)

On Sunday we tried to take it easy for most of the day to prepare for braving the crowds to see the fireworks on the Mall. Elaine was anticipating an unmitigated disaster, but we managed to find parking in our old neighborhood, and it was just a short walk to a lovely spot in the grass by the Botanic Gardens where we spread out our blanket to watch the fireworks. Owen wasn't overly fond of all the noise, particularly the cannons near us that went off during the 1812 Overture, but he enjoyed seeing the fireworks, and Nora wasn't phased by any of it. Certainly not an unmitigated disaster, and we might even try it again sometime.

On Monday we finally relaxed with an afternoon at Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's and a swim in Rose's pool. Katherine was in town, and Jen came over, and several people from the neighborhood joined us for a little 5th of July cookout. A nice way to end the long weekend.

(click here for all the pictures)

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Field Trip

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On Friday I managed to take a morning off of work and chaperon for Owen's field trip to the building museum. It was quite a treat to tag along with Owen's class, and it was great to see how excited Owen was to have his Daddy with him. It was a bit of a hike for the kids to get to the museum, but once we were there Owen had a great time playing with all the blocks, and I even got in on the fun building an arch with one of the other dads. Owen has several more field trips scheduled this summer before he starts at his new school, so hopefully we'll be able to do this again soon.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Better Than the Old Pornographers

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I have a soft spot for the New Pornographers -- they're one of my favorite bands in general and they performed the first concert Owen attended in utero. So when Allen heard they'd be in town around our anniversary (despite the fact he wasn't sure if he'd be), he went ahead and got tickets. Allen's Sweden trip was nixed and Grandpa Fawcett graciously agreed to watch the kids, so we finally got to see the complete band perform at the 9:30 Club, including the always elusive, Neko Case. The show was a bit surreal, particularly when they performed Electric Version accompanied by their "Rock Band" counterparts (which A.C. Newman only scored an 85 on for vocals) and broke out an impromptu (and ironic) tribute to Starship's "We Built This City," but it was a great way to celebrate our seventh year of marriage and how much my musical tastes have improved under Allen's influence.

If you want to enjoy the show yourself, NPR is streaming it here.