Marathon

Aunt Katherine was in town this past weekend, and we had a marathon weekend of marathon activities. Every year the National Marathon runs past our block, and we try to make it out with the kids to cheer on some of the runners. After Aunt Katherine ran her second marathon, and started thinking about where to run her third, we started lobbying for her to run the National Marathon. Despite some worries about training during the Cleveland winter, she signed up and set a goal for herself of finishing in under four hours.

With Katherine doing all the hard work of actually running, the rest of us started planning all of our activities for the weekend. Owen and Nora helped with a little art project to make signs to cheer Katherine on. Katherine came into town in the middle of the week for some work, and on Thursday we all went up to Mom Mom's to carbo-load with a delicious pasta dinner. Then on Friday night Adrienne came into town, and we all went out to Smith Commons for dinner on H Street. Katherine and Adrienne stayed with us on Friday night, and we woke up at the crack of dawn to get Katherine over to the starting line.

Katherine had a lot of support the first half of the race. Adrienne cheered her on at the start, and she ran by Dad's at mile 1. Mom Mom and Grandpa Don came over to our house, and I biked over to pick up some fresh bagels for a little breakfast before marathoners ran by our place at mile 12. Owen's friends from the block Gavin and Chloe's dad Conrad was running in the marathon too, and our street was closed off, so all the kids were out cheering. After watching all the leaders run by, Katherine zoomed past our place on a great pace. Adrienne and I then hurried over to Dad's to cheer her on as she ran by 813 at mile 15. Then we had some time to kill while Katherine ran the grueling second half of the race on the other side of the Anacostia. Dad and Claudine were getting ready for brunch, the kids played, and Don, Adrienne and I walked over to RFK for the finish. Katherine came in with a smile on her face and finished in 3 hours 53 minutes, well ahead of her goal and just shy of qualifying for Boston!

Since Katherine had worked so hard, we all deserved a delicious feast of a brunch over at 813. And since one really builds up an appetite watching a marathon, we went up to Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's for a big bbq brisket dinner. It was such a fun weekend that we all decided we should do the marathon every year, so long as Katherine is the only one actually running;-)



(click here for all the pictures)

Elephant March II (Electric Boogaloo)

Let me begin by admitting that I am not a circus fan. I've always found clowns kind of creepy, "Geek Love" ruined freak shows for me, and while I'm aware that Disney films are rife with inaccuracies (as if any primates existed when dinosaurs did), Dumbo and Pinochio made fairly convincing anti-circus life arguments.

However, every spring, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus descends upon the Capitol, and in order to tranfer their pachyderms to the Verizon Center, the elephants are marched right in front of the Department of Labor. Last year, Nora and I missed the excitment (though Allen and Owen went). This year the proximity, a beautiful spring day, a light work load, and the parade conveniently taking place just after Nora's nap, all motivated Nora and I to join the many elephant gawkers.

Nora wasn't terribly into it, but the march did provide us with an excuse to play hookey for the rest of the afternoon and get some extra playground time in that she loved.

(click here for the pictures)

Star Wars

This weekend we finally let Owen watch Star Wars. We'd been holding out, knowing that as soon as he saw it we'd be in for months of obsession with light sabers and blasters, but when he started coming home with stories from the playground about how Luke Skywalker turned into Darth Vader, we decided it was time. Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw, so of course I was excited to watch it with Owen. It was pretty special watching it together, but then I couldn't help but be a little jealous when after seeing Star Wars the first time, Owen got to see The Empire Strikes Back the very next day, and he can now watch them again and again at home. I had to wait three years for Empire, and we never did get our own copy of Star Wars for the Betamax. Kids sure are lucky these days...

Marine One

I took Elaine and Dad to the White House to see the President depart in Marine One on Friday. Not as momentous an occasion as when we saw what used to be Marine One depart with George W. Bush and family after President Obama's Inauguration, but it's pretty cool to see the President off from the South Lawn.



(click here for all the pictures)