Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo-oo!

Erik had a birthday since the last time I wrote. No candles...only matches! He turned 62.

We've had quite the adventurous week. Erik had a transportation conference in Washington D.C. and since he didn't have a roommate, I got to go with him! We left in the wee-est wee hours of Monday morning and rode the MARC train  to Washington D.C. Erik saw us to the Smithsonian metro station and left us to explore. We went to the Smithsonian Castle where we stayed until 11 AM (even though the museums were supposed to open at 10 AM) because of the "icey and snowy conditions." Yeah...different, but ok.

Notice the "snowy" conditions....

On Monday we saw the American History Museum. Unfortunately they are in the process of moving Julia (Child)'s kitchen, so we couldn't see it. The African American exhibit is also moving. We did see the First Ladies' dresses, which was quite interesting as well as lots of other history. We also went the Museum of Natural History. I think the best exhibit there is the taxidermy animals.

On Tuesday we went to the zoo! I loved it! If you haven't been there, then when you come to visit me, I will take you there. It's free! And the animals are awesome. There are 7 lion cubs (soon to be split up) which makes a great pride. That is something I have not seen before. Alyssa liked the noisy animals or the noisy tourists speaking not English.

Who's cuter? The ugly bird or Alyssa in a pig hat?

Wednesday was our final journey. We went to the Holocaust memorial and the Art Gallery. African Americans LOVE Alyssa's hair. One of the security officers at the Gallery offered her a job! She did so well the entire week...just cruisin' in her stroller. It was nice to come home, though. Erik and Alyssa were a little tired on the train ride home.

I think I'm finally caught up on life and ready to have a birthday. (Happy birthday to me...happy birthday to me...happy birthday, dear Emily, happy birthday to me!)

Merry Christmas, darling. Happy New Year's, too!

Christmas is nigh unto nigh. We are hangin' out in TEXAS where everything is BIGGER than life! It's disappointingly cold here. I was hoping it would be oh so warm, but I guess that just because it is 108 F in the summer does not mean that the winters can be delightful (you think I would have figured that out with Utah).

We've done a few things of note this Christmas season. We visited Longwood Gaaarrrdens (say that with an elegant drawl). It is a superb Du Pont garden in Pennsylvania where they decorate Christmas trees with flowers. There were lights, too and a lovely organ. It was a splendid time.

Alyssa likes being at Grandma and Scooter's house. There is Newton the cat that is fun to chase, many uncles and an aunt to play with, and lots of other great things too, like refried beans and rice. We went on a limo ride and to a hockey game. All had a great time! It was sad to leave but, alas, all good things must come to an end.

(Written a few weeks later.)

After thinking about writing all that we did, I got overwhelmed sooooo we'll do a picture blog. Mostly the pictures can tell the tales. We miss being in Texas and Utah. It's hard to come back to real life (especially when a mouse has moved into your apartment) but we can't evade it forever! Alyssa grew and developed a lot while we were on vacation! She is having aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa withdrawals.



(I do have to put in a few more words) Rice Krispy treat houses work best if not soft (use stale RKT).

For Christmas, we got a sketching (sorry Curtis if that's not the right term) of Alyssa. Pictured above is Curtis, the ar-tiste, with his wife Tiffanie and our family. It is beautifully done. Now we will have to have one made for all of the children!

Alyssa also enjoyed her first In-N-Out experience. She loved the fries and the hamburgers and the shake (the kid is a sugar addict). We said some good-byes to Uncle Ben (among many different good byes his was the one that included pictures). I'm not doing a very good job of letting the pictures tell the stories.

We saw my grandparents. It took three pictures to get us all looking but I feel like the succession is what makes it so great. 

Now we're home. Alyssa is eating everything. She even has her way of telling us that she'd like to get out of the high chair. Time is flying by but I love every minute of it!