gabriella & jd (and alex! and vincent!)

Chanukkah dinner at Toots and Poppie's Pictures from Shana's camera. And a visit to Longwood Gardens.

Christmas Day. Lunch with Grannie and Nagypapa, then down to Barb's house to visit with her family. Pictures. Natalie singing at church. Brunch at Carrie's afterwards and playing with all the great trains and toys. Second night of Hanukkah. Alex loves the Alabama tracksuit from Jackie & Jud and didn't want to take off the jacket! Dinner one night. Chilling with Lincoln on the couch. Oranges for a snack. Alex likes to put all of his toys in the chair and then sit with them. Snacks at Austin Grill. Watching Dad make dinner. Talking to Toots and Poppie on the webcam.

More pictures from last week. Talking to Dad on the webcam while he was in Paris. Helping with the waffles. Alex likes to answer the phone now. Reading his favorite truck book. Alex likes to gallop around the house in just his diaper. Lunch at King Street Blues. Lincoln. Pictures. Alex and Dad watching a Manchester United game on the computer. Legos in the corner. Alex and his globe. Tricycle outside last week when it was 70 degrees one day (yes it is 23 degrees now). Eating a big Rice Krispie treat. Grocery cart fun.

Recent pictures . Alex is really into his legos and building towers. Eating Vietnamese Pho. Helping make eggs for breakfast. Measuring Alex's height - he's 36.5" tall. Playground on a cold day. Playing at Grannie's with the cool truck ramp she made. The dinosaurs having "popcorn", Alex set them up this way. More towers. Alex is also really into his sweets now - including cake!

We've been a bit behind in posting. November 22 and previous. Zoo. Museum of the American Indian John McArdle visiting us. NYC. Philly. Toots. AEHS reunion. Including a limo and dinner at Armand's in Silver Spring. Martin and Shira's housewarming/engagement party NYC, November 21, 2008.

Thanksgiving pictures.

Happy Birthday..Bela..Dad...Nagypapa! A trip down memory lane. Some great pictures from my Dad's good friends Bob Neidert and Ken Wright. And I quote "If he does not laugh, you should take him immediately to the Emergency Room. If he does laugh, thank Ken and me for saving some of those old, old photos of our dear, dear friend."

Bela's Birthday dinner at Morton's. We had a nice dinner to celebrate Bela's upcoming "special" birthday on November 26th, and Peter and Anna joined us.

Brian's 3rd Birthday party. At Jump!Zone. A good time was had by all. Afterwards, Alex passed out in the car holding all his gifts from Toots.

Last week. Alex likes to ride his tricycle inside while wearing his pajamas. Vacuuming, sticker book, eating ice cream, and chilling out on the couch with Lincoln.

Sunday November 2. Barb generously included us in a trip to Cirque du Soleil "KOOZA" and dinner at McCormick and Schmick's at National Harbor. The show was amazing, and dinner was fabulous. Thanks Barb! We also celebrated Bert's 10th birthday.

Pictures from last Saturday. Playing outside, and a visit to Grannie and Nagypapa's where Alex vacuumed Nagypapa's slippers and helped Grannie water the tree and rake the leaves.

Pictures. Party at Childtime. Alex was a fireman. Check out those other costumes - Alan was Mr. T!

Pictures from last week and this weekend. Fish and chips (and Guinness) at the chippy . They even had mushy peas! Trying on Alex's Halloween costume. Pumpkins. Driving across the 14th St bridge on Sunday we saw Marine One, and the Marine Corps Marathon runners! Rose and Beth's Halloween party. Lots of food and fun and friends. Alex didn't want to wear his costume though. Later we went for a walk and played in the bamboo.

Pictures from last weekend. Playing with trains in the kitchen. Snacks outside, and pulling the wagon. Grannie and Aunt Andrea came over and we went for a walk. Alex is really into "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" now. He jumps up and down and says "hump of a wump of a gump"!

This video is from week before last - Dancing with David.

We're in Austin now visiting Rachel (JD's sister) and Jon. We enjoyed the flight to Houston, dinner with JD's friends Tom and Cheryl, breakfast with JD's dad and stepmother and lunch with Gabby's former colleague Jim. Just as we thought things couldn't get any better, we realized we needed to take Alex to the Urgent Care to get a shot and some antibiotics for his upper respiratory infection and ear infections. He's all better now though. :-) Click here for the pictures. We'll have more descriptions of the events soon, but Rachel has company now and they are forcing me to have a beer.

Pictures from last Sunday - more Eddy Lee! We went to visit Mace and Suzanne and Eddy Lee on Sunday. Suzanne's family was visiting and we had a great time - the boys, Eddy Lee, Matthew and Alex got along nicely, and really enjoyed Jimmy's golf cart.

Last week. Playing with the truck pillow. Watching airplanes. Reading. Playground. Picnic outside. Reading "Red News". Birthday party at Carrie's! (Thanks for a great meal and all those steaks and sausages from Nicks of Calvert ).

Last weekend. When we went over to Grannie's, Alex was very dissappointed that summer is over so he just sat in the pool and played with his toys. On Sunday we went over to see Sara, Bryan, Jeffrey and Heather at Val's Mom's house.

Reading the Freight Train book. Alex loves the "Freight Train" book Toots brought him.

Hmm, someone was in Paris last week!

Pictures from last weekend. Toots came to visit and we had a great time - the weather was beautiful. Second picture is Alex on Friday, it was "wear your pajamas to daycare" day. On Saturday we picked up Toots at the train, then went and had lunch on the DC Waterfront at Cantina Marina. When we got home, Dad was trying to take a nap and Alex sat on him and read his train book. Later, Alex played with his bubble machine, and took off his clothes and only wanted to wear his Elmo Jacket. Poppie came over since he was at Tyson's for a tent sale. On Sunday, we took the Trolley to the Alexandria waterfront, and the new water taxi over to National Harbor. The boat goes under the new Wilson Bridge - best views around. The Freedom Schooner Amistad was docked there also.

Guess who what where? Name these people, location, and food/drink being consumed!

The week before last. Watching airplanes with Aunt Andrea after work - including the Duck Boats that launch from Gravelly Point. Alex's new shoes. Construction we see everyday that Alex loves! Haircut - first time Alex sat by himself for a haircut.

Pictures from Friday and Saturday. Eddy Lee has arrived! We went to Mace & Suzanne's on Saturday to meet him. He is a sweet little boy (16 months old) and so happy and friendly and loves to eat and socialize. Alex is very excited to get to know his new cousin.

Sunday. What a nice day after Tropical Storm Hanna. We went to check out National Harbor , this montrosity built on the other side of the Wilson Bridge in Maryland. It actually is really cool, with great views of the water, planes approaching DCA, pedestrian space, "The Awakening" sculpture that was moved from Hanes Point, and an interior garden and atrium at the Gaylord hotel. Then it was time for bubbles in the front yard. Bubble movie.

Last Weekend. Hurricane, what Hurricane? We only got rain from Hanna last Saturday, and enjoyed Spencer and Mr. Kurtz's birthday party at Barb's house.

boat in the water movie

Holding on to summer, as long as we can.... Talking to Dad on the webcam when he was in NY. Alex seems to enjoy vacuuming lately. That vacuum is heavy! Sitting in the Bilibo. Lunch out. Washing feet in Grannie's sink. Frying Pan park and the animal babies - goats, pigs, cows. Natalie working her Edie Sedgwick look, love the hat and bucket as purse. Crabs - keeping with Carrie's summer theme of seafood. Alex likes to sit in our bed in the morning and read "Happy Town".

My Food Vacation. In case you didn't notice from the pictures, we ate like Kings and Queens on vacation. The bacon wrapped scallops, Beth's awesome lasagna, homemade waffles, meat night, the cobbler showdown (Carrie and Kathleen), proscuitto wrapped melons, Gary's rockin' sangria, cookout night, steamed shrimp and fried oysters from Awful Arthur's, quesadillas, and pizza from Cosmo's Pizzeria. And did we mention they have Brew Thru's in North Carolina? We were all set. Other good meals we didn't get pictures of: Rose's french toast casserole Kathleen's breakfast casserole with (gasp) goat cheese Gary's cheese dip Gary's fried green tomatoes

We're packing up now and getting ready to come home. It's been a great week. Highlights in this batch of photos include a trip to the fishing pier, pizza, Awful Arthur's, and some more good times with friends. Click here to see the third batch of pics.

Here's the second batch of pics from Kitty Hawk. Also, make sure you check out the first batch again if you caught it shortly after we posted as about 1/3 of the pics got cut off somehow. Finally, check out the YouTube video that's taking the world by storm - the Big Beach Dance Party ft. Alex, Natalie, and Kathleen !

We're off to Kitty Hawk with friends for a week's vacation. Alex did well getting us there in good time and displayed none of his father's lead-footed tendencies. Sockmonkey was an able navigator and got us to a great little seafood place just outside of Newport News. Click here for all the pictures from the trip down and the first full day.

Pictures from the weekend. We went to visit Toots for the weekend after her foot surgery. Alex had a great time with all the toys and trains. We stopped by Grannie's on the way home and Alex played in the sink. Playing in the sink with hairbrushes movie.

Pictures from last week. Ice cream. Reading books - favorites this week are "Go Dog Go" and "Peter Rabbit". Clifford the Big Red Dog. Airplanes. George Washington's Grist Mill for the Whiskey Rebellion. Celebrating Andrea's birthday, Mace and Suzanne came over for brunch.

Pictures from the weekend. Eating couscous (what a mess that is!). Bike and motorcycle helmets. Alexandria Friendship Firehouse Festival. Playing with water at Grannie's. Being nice to the new kitty.

Piano playing. Aunt Adele would be so proud! Now we just need to get the piano tuned.

Z and GG visit. Z and GG came to visit and we had a really nice time - we went to the Museum of Natural History where Alex touched a hissing cockroach. We also went to the Newseum where they have a piece of the Berlin Wall, a hanging helicopter, and other media exhibits including a piece of the antenna from the World Trade Center in the Sept 11th exhibit. Unfortunately a huge thunderstorm blew through when we were on the observation deck, so we couldn't go outside on the balcony. Shana hung out also, and we had yummy steaks for dinner Sunday night. Alex continues to love airplanes so we have been having dinner picnics at Gravelly point. Check out the pollution on that old MD-80, ugh. Alex also likes to take off all his clothes but his diaper, put on his bike helmet and water shoes, and ride his tricycle indoors. (his legs almost reach the peddles). "sentences" this past week have been exploding, including: "Alex's blue car...up the hill...past Metro train t

Fun trip to Boston with Carrie. Carrie and I went to Boston last week and had a great time. It did rain the first day and a half, but Friday dawned clear and hot without humidity. We had a nice visit with Kathleen and her friends, and tasted some of the local fare - lobster roll, chowder, and beer. I met a friend I work with for lunch one day, and Carrie caught up with her former co-worker Craig. We also hit some of the Freedom trail sites, the waterfront, and the North End (Italian neighborhood).

Weekend at Grannie's. Lots of pool time - and eating of course. Then we went to pick up Dad at the airport.

Donna Summer last week in Baltimore! A fun concert at Pier 6 with the Kurtz women and friends. Gary's sangria rocked, and when Donna sang "MacArthur Park" , we all loved it! Lincoln in the Amazon box.

Pictures from the weekend. Pool time in the front yard. Peter and Anna's for dinner on Saturday night. Haircut on Sunday.

We just can't get enough of Gravelly Point. From last week... McDonald's and watching the airplanes, it doesn't get any better than that. Well, maybe - riding the tricycle indoors, and watching "Lots and Lots of Trucks", or maybe trying on shoes and playing with the vacuum cleaner.

Butner and Creedmoor, NC trip. Of course Alex has been to the country before, but this trip was really fun! We went with Carrie, David, Spencer, Mitchell and Natalie to visit Butner and Creedmoor, NC, where David's parents live. We all had a really nice time relaxing which included: Eating at road trip restaurants in the South (Aunt Sarah's Pancake House..Sonic Burger). Swimming in the hotel pool. July 4th at NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh and hanging out in a vintage (1968) trailer. Blueberry and blackberry picking. More fun at Mark and Bridget's house. Driving the jeep movie.

The Farnham Resort. (The first two pictures are from DC on Thurs night) We just spent a fabulous weekend with the Kurtz family at Margaret and Nick's home on the water in the Northern Neck of Virginia. The pictures speak for themselves - sun, fun, boating, good food, good times, great friends. Spencer knee boarding movie.

Week of June 23. Walking around Old Town. Watching the planes approach DCA.

June 21-22, 2008. Toots came to visit. We watched the planes at Gravelly Point. Alex also liked pulling Toots's suitcase around the train station.

Last Friday. Alex was better and we went out to Jaleo in Crystal City. Alex enjoyed the airplane sculpture exhibit.

Week of sick. Sleeping on the couch. Eating pretzels - the only bland thing besides waffles Alex could eat since his mouth hurt. Watching the garbage and recycling trucks out the window. Wagon time. Feeling better and eating chips and dip. The house as a chalkboard. Making nice to Lincoln.

Piano playing . Alex and Dad sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Fun in the pool last weekend. In the pool movie. Grannie babysat for us, and Alex enjoyed the kiddie pool. Andrea came over too, and Yolanda stopped by for a visit. When we got home Sunday night, Alex had a fever and came down with Coxsackie's virus. He's all better now.

Pictures from the week. Thai food in Old Town last Sunday, walking around Old Town - it was hot! Being nice to Lincoln. New shoes. Helping with groceries. Reading the truck book. Creatively playing with the Bilibo. Obsession this week was track excavators "tra eh da".

Lindsey's 1st Birthday party. It was hot so there was some pool time. Alex enjoyed playing with cousin Brian's lawnmower and trucks and trains.