News and Updates

Missed the fireworks

After the neighborhood lunch-time party and this dinner party at Caroline’s house, Robert was pretty exhausted and we didn’t/couldn’t wake him up to go look at the fireworks. It seemed like a fine day anyway, and we watched the recorded fireworks this morning. There are a couple more photos in Robert’s section.

Fourth of July

We walked over to Maury School for the Rosemont July 4th festivities and couldn’t help but notice the flags set up by the Rosemont Association. I expect there will be a few more photos to follow (maybe tomorrow).

Potomac River

It was a hot day so I decided to make a quick run to Little Falls not realizing that Sarah (and the rest of AARP) would be let out early in the afternoon to get a jump start on the holiday weekend. She got to hang out for a bit with Robert until he was ready to head for home while I had a quick run.

This is pretty much the middle of the Little Falls run at 3.12 feet. I didn’t get any photos of the Herons (which I like) or the vulture (which I’m less fond of having following me around). Nor did I take any photos of the main rapid, too busy having fun.

The trip in…

As we contemplate Robert moving from his current daycare to a school closer to home, I’m realizing this part of our normal day, the metro ride commute, will change radically.

Nice shot

Another carousel ride from June 14th, the day we took R and Robert to the airport and for a few other treats while R’s little brother was busy getting born.

Not a bad parent

(From Z) -So, we were looking for something fun to do as a family today and at the last moment I decided to grab some tickets to see the Backyardigans play at the Warner Theater. We went to the matin�e, Robert seemed psyched, and I thought he might like it since “Go Diego Go Live” was such a hit. But THIS show was LOUD. And the actors were frantic and fake (and yes I realize I’m talking about a live-action version of a cartoon show here) and soon scared the bejeezus out of Robert.

He lasted about 5 minutes in our seats, another two in the back row, then out we went. Talk about articulate. No screams or anything, just progressively louder “I really don’t want to be here!! Can we please leave here!!!” And tears.

He recovered his cool in minutes, didn’t want to go back in though so we left to find lunch.

Did I feel silly for blowing this week’s family play money for a five minute terror-fest? Yes. Did it dawn on me that it’s a good thing that we’re raising a kid who finds loud, obnoxious, poorly acted production numbers really really unpleasant? Yes, it did. He’s a good boo-bear and we went on to have an o.k. lunch, an o.k. walk through the folk festival (toooooo hot) and a really good ride on the carousel. Back home David read many episodes of “Frog and Toad” to him, blocks and beans were played (and I napped) and we had the lazy Sunday that I would call good.

Kicking back on the ride in

I liked the juxtaposition of Sarah and Robert looking at the paper and across the aisle, a younger kid and his dad looking at a more age appropriate book. Robert picked up the free Express paper on our way into the metro station this morning and happily reviewed it (with help from Sarah) before he passed us both a section of our own.

Back to the Farm

We went back to Butler’s Orchard for blueberries today. This time we brought along Romeo (reflected in Robert’s sunglasses) to give his mom a little time alone with Miles, his new brother. The weather was just about perfect and Robert and Romeo seemed to enjoy the outing. More photos in Robert’s Section

Birthday pool party

Robert was invited to his friend Melina’s birthday party today. They had a great set-up with a huge wading pool (I couldn’t get the idea of kid soup out of my head) and a water slide. All the kids had a great time. And Robert even got his head wet (a little bit). Maybe some peer pressure will do him good for being more comfortable getting his face wet. (That’s Paul on the right; he kept telling Robert that it was really cool to put your head under and open your eyes: “Then you can really SEE!!!”)

At any rate, he and the rest of the kids had a really good time. I think it’s great that Robert has such nice friends and that they have such nice parents.

Farmer’s Market

This was a very nice morning to walk down to the Farmer’s Market for breakfast. We started with ham rolls, then tea and lemonade and finished up with cranberry orange apple spice bread for desert in front of Itumiray playing Andean Folk music. We picked up one of their CDs along with some peaches, corn and string beans then walked back up King Street to the house. A very nice way to start the day.