Monday, April 28, 2008

Homecoming

After spending the week working in Anaheim, California, it was great to get back home. I flew into Dulles on Friday afternoon and Ali was right there with the kids to pick me up. And by "right there" I mean National airport. A good marriage is all about communication. So, I took a taxi and we met up at the house: same end result.

Anyway, it sounds like everyone had a great time down at the lake with Gram and Poppy. Jake practiced his swimming, tricycle pedaling, golf cart driving, and apparently also decided he was too big for his converted crib/toddler bed. Gram and Poppy (and Mimi and Grandpa) have a twin bed for him when he stays over, and I think after a week of that he decided he was ready for the next step. Friday night he said he wanted to sleep on the floor next to his bed. After doing the same thing Saturday night, we headed out Sunday morning for Ikea, land of inexpensive furniture and cheap breakfasts. Here's a picture of the finished product, with Sadie modeling. Jake was definitely excited about his big boy bed, but Sadie is still going bonkers about it. She squeals and jumps up on it whenever she goes in his room.
On Sunday afternoon we went to go see the Nationals take on the Cubs at their new ballpark. The seats were great (thanks Mom and Dad) - down low and right along the third baseline. We were enjoying our hot dogs and chili from Ben's Chili Bowl and between the two kids, we weren't really paying too much attention to the game, to be honest. Here we are before the "incident":

Then, all of a sudden, I hear our section let out a collective "whoa!". In slow motion, I see a low ball coming our way. At that instant, it looked like it was several yards away. Before I could turn my head to see where it landed, I saw it bounce down below the seat in front of me. I reached down and picked it up, and let a confused Jake hold it. About two seconds later, an EMT was in our row attending to the guy sitting RIGHT NEXT to Ali and Sadie, who had "caught" the ball with his face. He was bleeding quite a bit, so as they took him off I gave him the ball, since he'd clearly earned it. Several innings later, he came back, and we got this picture:

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Quick Photo Update

We've been busy down here at the lake! Here are some highlights from our trip so far:

Sadie dresses up as WonderWoman!

Wild games of Candyland

Jake got to "help" Gram make cupcakes

Go Speedracer!

Pop needed some extra mulch right here...

This was Sadie's favorite spot at D-D & Pop's

Getting golf tips from the pro

And we ended the day with a lovely picnic on the deck!

Monday, April 21, 2008

The Edelstein Three take on SML

So, while Ryan (Daddy) is away on an important business trip, we decided to head down to the lake to visit my folks (and D-D & Pop). It had been a while since they had seen the kids and I thought it'd be nice to visit. *Okay, fine. I was freaking out thinking about being by myself with these two little anklebiters (sweet angels that they are) for a whole week!!! So, we came down to get help! We had a nice dinner last night over at D-D & Pop's. Pop made a delicious feast for us, including potatoes cooked in beer, topped with bacon! Can't go wrong with that, right? D-D is convinced he is trying to keep up with gourmet chef's Ryan & Patrick. I think I might need some more samples from each of their signature dishes this summer to determine who is winning the competition. (Patrick, I'm thinking ribs!)

This morning we went over to the Booker T. Washington National Monument. It is the plantation where Booker T. grew up and they have kept it as a working farm. Some of the old buildings are still there and you can tour them and see how bacon was made in the olden days (not like I know how its made now). But it is educational and they have lots of wide open spaces where little legs can run and run and run!

Here are some pics:

Watch out ducks! Here comes Sadie!

"Hey! Get those cows off the road!"

Ry- how do you rotate a photo?

Jake's ready to eat!


Saturday, April 19, 2008

Go Ali! (aka Mommy)

Congratulations to Ali on running her 5K race this morning! We're all so proud of you!! They haven't posted the official results yet, but just from my observation, she was easily in the top 25 percent of finishers.


Here's Jake helping Mommy stretch before the race:

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

....and the travels of Jake


Well, he really isn't going anywhere yet, but he did get a new suitcase today! He is very excited about it. "Mommy! Can we go to the airport right now!?" He is really happy it has FIRE on it, in case any other kid tries to take it.

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Travels of the Piston Cup

Today was another installment of "Crazy Monday" where I had the kids and Ali went in to do some work at Sunrise. I told Jake we'd make it interesting and take pictures of the Piston Cup wherever we went today. First stop, the fish tank at my doctor's office...


Here we are driving. This shot was taken at a stoplight, with the camera facing backwards and me looking at the LCD viewfinder through the rearview mirror.


Here we are at McDonalds, eating breakfast, after we realized that REI wasn't open yet. Yes, Jake requested ketchup with his pancakes.
Even Sadie got into the Piston Cup game.
Here's Jake at REI, in front of his favorite bike, the "Mini Rod".
And here's Jake holding the Piston Cup high atop Test Hiking Shoe Mountain:
Our big activity for the day was "Toddler Time" at Gadsby's Tavern in Old Town(e) Alexandria. They open up the ballroom for Moms, or caregivers, or even Dads (yes I was the only Dad there) and their kids.

OK, no Piston Cup here, but I thought it was a cute pic of Jake and a friend playing in the best toy at Gadsby's Tavern: a cardboard box.
After playtime at Gadsby's Tavern, Jake insisted we go play in the rain at the big public square and fountain area. It was about 45 degrees and the kids got so soaked climbing and rolling around on the ground, I thought someone might call child protective services. But they (Sadie epsecially) did NOT want to leave this magically wet and cold place!
I finally convinced them to leave with the promise of lunch. Here's the Piston Cup at Chipotle, wtih able hands in the background making tacos. I was happy to prove that a family of three can in fact feast on one Chipotle Burrito. It was a fun morning, and the kids rewarded me with extra long naps. When Ali called at 4 to say she was ready to be picked up, I told her that Sadie had just woken up, and that Jake was still sleeping. And, I even got a nap in myself. She replied something like, "oh isn't that great for you because THAT'S CERTAINLY NOT THE NORM WHEN I'M THERE!"

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Long Time No Blog

Not only did our arch rival and notoriously infrequent bloggers, the Bowers' (Bowers's? Bowers?), have a more recent post than tripdub, but to top it off, they just put up a post about US! There's no motivation like competition.

We did have a great visit with Mike and Stacey and baby Lily last weekend at the kickoff of the Cherry Blossom Festival at the National Building Museum. They put on a great show with Japanese drummers and cooking demonstrations and all sorts of arts and crafts for the kids.

So these days Jake's really into figuring things out, and not just satisfied with short answers. We went out to REI to get a jogger attachment thing for our bike trailer. When we got home I realized it was missing some parts, so Jake and I made another trip the next night. I just told him we were going back to REI but he wanted to know why. "We already bought the wheel Daddy." "Yes, but I can't put it on because it's missing some parts." "It's got a flat tire Daddy? Can they fix it for us?" And then he remembered all the little kid bikes they have there: "Can I pick out a bike and we can take it home, Daddy?" Now, the way he asked it, I almost said "yes". When we got there, he ran right over to the red one with the flames that he'd ridden the night before (with Sadie running after him, screaming and smiling). It took all my willpower to leave the store without that bike. Maybe for his birthday. Or, if he finishes his dinner tomorrow night.

Sadie is a pro at walking now. She negotiates the hill on our driveway like, um, a driveway without a hill, I guess. Her favorite game (and Jake's too) is for Jake to roar like a tiger and then she squeals and runs away. She's saying "uh oh" all the time and "hey", but she pronounces it more like "haaaaay". For a while we thought her first words would be "No Sadie" since she hears that all the time from Jake.