Washington DC

Today is finally a day for blogging, it appears.  I have been trying to get the Atlanta post up since we got home, and I think I clicked publish prematurely.

It should be noted and I want it to be said in this public forum that I married into the nicest and most welcoming and loving family I could imagine outside of my own.  The kids and I were so pampered and loved in both Atlanta and DC and today at lunch with my friend Lynn, I told her how lucky I felt to be able to go visit each of them (for long visits! without Eli!) and have everyone seem so genuinely glad to have us there.

The highlight of our DC trip was meeting our new cousin, Ranesa.  She is adorable, and her English is amazing and we just think she's a little love.  You will see her below.

The lowlight of our trip was Tommy's bout of gastroenteritis which was horrible but somehow the rest of us escaped.  We didn't do as many things as I had hoped to do because of the illness, and Brett and Chinka need about fifty percent of their belongings dry cleaned because there is vomit on them but otherwise, it feels like it could have been a whole lot worse.

We used to take Tommy to the Building Museum all the time ...

The maze in the middle of the Building Museum atrium.  We had a good time.

This is Tommy's new favorite shirt.  It felt very appropriate to wear around DC.

Tommy loved seeing the Hope Diamond.

A box of princess bandaids is a good activity.

In front of our old apartment!  They are so huge now.

Lizzie and Tess meet for the first time they can remember it.  Lizzie would very much like Tess to come to her birthday party.
I had such a nice time visiting with Tess' mom.  It made me want to move to DC!

It's weird, but little kids actually really like Brett.

The carousel of our dreams:  with a golden eagle and a bald eagle.

Atlanta

Hello, Patient Friends.  The kids and I visited Andy and Katherine and Co, and Brett and Chinka and Ranesa over the past couple of weeks and I only had my iPad which is just irritating to write and post from.  I apologize for my absence; luckily you're all used to it.

I must start this post by noting that going on this trip sans Eli was not ideal.  For example, it's not that fun to drag two hot kids through Georgetown and then eat lunch with them and talk about things such as nice table manners and which foods they don't like.  Mostly, while it's a huge benefit that the kids and I can spend long summers at home, I really miss Eli and not just because I need a co-parent.

GUESS WHAT?  ONLY TWO DAYS TO GO!  He arrives on Friday at lunchtime.

Now, on to Atlanta.

It would be a mistake to not start this blog post at the beginning, which is on the airplane ride.  Given the travel I do with my kids regularly, a five hour flight doesn't make me anxious even a little bit.  But this one was somehow hard - we sat between two cranky men who scolded Tommy for moving (and that's all, moving) within the first 30 minutes we were in the air.  I loudly explained to Tommy that "the people sitting around us don't understand kids very well" and then reminded him every five minutes to sit still.  It totally sucked and I wish those two men many flights filled with wailing babies.

But!  Then Aunt Katherine picked us up in Atlanta and took us to paradise:  a house full of children, iPads and a swimming pool.  I don't think my children will ever stop talking about how wonderful it is in Atlanta...

SOMEHOW, I did not take lots of photos of Adeline!  So there's only one of her at the spray ground.  Adeline, I'm sorry and I promise that you will be the star of the Newman Lake post!

Fourth of July at the Lake!

We went to Jane and John's cabin at Lake Roesiger (we go most years, I think) and the kids had a great time other than the chilly water temps and the bit of rain...

The dog makes any water-related activity pretty silly.  He swam around after dad while dad tried out the paddle board.  The cabin to the right is Jane and John's cabin, but the cabin to the left is Jane's family's cabin - where I spent lots of summer days as a kid.

The view from the dinner table.  

Picking a huckleberry while wearing a sweater Eli's mom knit for him when he was a toddler.

Lizzie spent a lot of time singing (as loud as she could) on the dock.

Paddleboarding with Jane.  He was good!

He went off on his own on the paddle board (after putting on a lifejacket), and here he is chatting up a neighbor.

Chopping wood.  (Tommy really loved the lake.)

Canoeing with Grandpa.  They also did some kayaking.

The trip

Better late than never:  here are photos of our trip here.  

The current Muscat airport; a new one will be nice.

Somehow we didn't eat before we left, so we had our last shawarma in the airport before we left.

We spent the night in the airport hotel, and in the Emirates lounge the next morning, the waiter brought the kids ice cream.
At eight am, right before boarding a 14 hour flight.  

What are we doing?

This is what one calls 'stating the obvious', but I certainly haven't been blogging.

The kids have been in zoo camp this week.  They are mostly loving it except for a girl called Taylor who referred to Tommy as "Mr Brag Face" on the first day and has been since the only person in his class he doesn't like.  (I copy my friend Kathy's "you don't have to be friends with everyone, but you need to be friendly to everyone" rule, so hopefully things are better now.)  As we all know, Tommy definitely can be a know-it-all (it's all in the tone, and we are working hard on that).  Lizzie seems to like zoo camp okay, but claims not to see any animals during her seven hours at the zoo each day.  The nicest part of zoo camp is that Tommy is in a group with my friend Sarah's daughter Molly and they really get along.  On the way home yesterday, Tommy said to her, "you're definitely one my best friends" and she agreed.  (She couldn't be number one best because of Luke, of course.)

My big news is that all week I've been helping a partner I used to work for on an appellate brief!  It's been very fun, but makes me realize my brain is not functioning at a high level.  I know you blog readers are shocked.

Here are some photos - we've been having lots of fun here!

We went to the Science Center and saw naked mole rats which was interesting because Uncle Andy gave us a
great book (by Mo Willems) about naked mole rats.  They are super gross in real life.

Hanging out at home petting Lakota, with ear protection.

More ear protection - but in this picture it makes more sense as she's obviously trying to pop the balloon with her teeth.

Lots of bike riding.  We are now working without training wheels - but she hasn't got it yet.

Look who else is bike riding!

He fell off while climbing down.  He's okay.  

Zola and Elise.  Zola's going to college, but I babysat for her when she was a baby.  So that's a bit of a strange feeling.

Lynn (Zola and Elise's mom) and my old backyard!!

Somebody had two immunizations and she didn't cry AT ALL.  

Fun day at the Museum of Flight (except for Tommy learning about the Challenger explosion, speaking of which you should all listen to the TED radio hour that talks about that, it's so interesting)

Museum of flight (and socks with sandals)

Tommy holding a really pretty orange sea snail which I did not photograph well at all.

Dad opening up the bee hive and adding a box for more honey!  It was really fun to watch from the guest room window.