Saturday in Falls Church

We started the day off with a trip out to the Falls Church farmer's market. With summer over, there weren't many tomatoes, but we saw at least a dozen varieties of apples and pears, tot soi greens (look it up, I had to), and these beautiful squash blossoms. For dinner, I stuffed them with homemade ricotta and some leftover pulled pork, then dipped them in a light batter and fried them. Jake didn't like them, but Ali and I fought over his leave-behinds. They were awesome.

After the farmer's market, we played on the playground and went on a "spooky adventure" in the woods (Jake is already in Halloween mode), and then went over to the Father & Son Barbershop for Jake's haircut. It's still one of my favorite images of Jake. He takes it very seriously and sits very still, but every once in a while sends a little smile your way to let you know he's ok.

It wasn't quite naptime, and everybody was hungry, so we went over to Elevation Burger for lunch. We hadn't been there in a long time. It's a really bright, cheery counter-service restaurant, but last time we went the burgers just weren't that great. They used to advertise that they used some kind of "kobe" beef, but now they just say it's beef from "grass-fed free range" cows and they tasted much better. Plus, they have three different kinds of root beer so Jake loves it. This may be a new regular spot for us.

On our way to Elevation Burger, we saw signs for the Falls Church Obama/Biden headquarters. I pulled in and picked up a lawn sign. We aren't lawn sign people, but our neighbors recently put up a big McCain/Palin sign that stares at us every day. I couldn't let them claim the whole cul-de-sac for McCain and the hockey mom. But the funny thing is, when we got home from lunch we saw that our other cul-de-sac neighbors had put up an Obama sign. So now the cul-de-sac is 67 percent Obama.

Racecars

Jake and Grandpa in their racecars. Hey, who's cool minivan is that in the background??

I Heart Fall

This weekend was pretty much the perfect weather for a weekend. Sunny, cool, and the sky looked like the opening scene of the Simpsons.

I love fall, but I still don't get why you're not supposed to capitalize the seasons. With words like fall and spring, they could easily be mistaken for their verb cousins without a capital letter starting them off right. Even "winter" can be a verb. Oh well, I suppose there are bigger fish...

Anyway, first things first. I was going through the camera's memory card, which is finally full, and making sure I had copies of all the pictures before I deleted everything. I came across a few pictures that Ali had taken for Patrick's birthday a few months back of the kids dressed in their Majestic chef's whites. Majestic is capitalized, of course, because it's the famous restaurant recently voted best restaurant in Memphis, TN (full disclosure: at least 23 votes were cast from this household). So, happy belated birthday, Patrick! How's that ukulele?


We started the weekend off with a trip out to Burke nursery with Stacey and Mike and baby Lily. Here we are showing Sadie how smiling works:


And here are Sadie and Lily about to walk through the Great Pumpkin Tunnel:
This picture cracks me up. Yes, Stacey is taller than Ali in real life, but for some reason, Ali looks like she's four feet tall here:
Does Jake have a future career as a professional model? You be the judge (but there's only one correct answer, judges).

Jake at the Dentist

Jake had his first visit to the Dentist last week and he did great! No cavities!

Wine festival at Smith Mountain Lake

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

My little giraffe

Sadie went in for her 18 month checkup this week. I think it was the first checkup appointment of either kid that I've missed so far. But Ali took notes so I felt like I was there. Here are the stats:

Weight: 22 lbs, 10 oz (30th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (99th percentile)

Sadie is tall. She's taller than 99 percent of other girl babies her age. She's almost two inches taller than I was at her age, and an inch and a half taller than Jake was. She's my little giraffe.

Here she is eating ice cream at Union Station, in yet another dress that is too short for her:


We were a little concerned about her vocabulary, but Dr. Halpin assured us that she was actually right about where she should be, and that Jake was very talkative for his age. And Dr. Halpin was so impressed when Sadie put on her shoes all by herself! Sadie seems very coordinated for her height. She's a menace on the jungle gym, and no slide is too tall for her.

Happy Birthday Ali!

With two kids of my own now, I can imagine how happy Mike and Pat Carr were 30 years ago, when Ali was born. I've only known her for eight years, but I've known since the day I met her that she loves life. At first I didn't believe that anyone could be so friendly and happy and eager to get to know people. When my good friends Heidi and Jamie met her, they thought she was being sarcastic and was poking fun at them. But as it turns out, Ali is that happy and genuine and nice. She just is. And she means it. But, she's human and has her limits (I'm looking at you Ms. Alaska Congeniality runner-up!). I love her empathy and I love her conviction. I love that her excitement for life is contagious with the kids, and that she also reminds them that others aren't always as fortunate as we are. I'm lucky to know her and to have her as my partner. Happy Birthday, Ali!

Here's Ali in 2002 when we flew out to California to visit her aunt and uncle Kate and Bob, and my grandparents:

This is one of my favorite picture of Ali, giving me a goofy look, in our old house downtown:


Here we are downtown, celebrating Ali's 25th birthday:


Celebrating our first anniversary in October 2003 in Shenandoah National Park:


Coy Ali in early 2004:


In Venice, Italy, 2004:

Capri Italy, 2004:

Rome, Italy, 2004:


Here we are in Califoria again, in 2006: Ali looking radiant as a new mom:

Here we are early this year en route to California to see my grandparents and visit Disneyland:


In Bermuda on a scooter exploring the island:


And here's Ali, just a few weeks ago, as the kids got ready for their first day of school and her first day back at work. I'm so proud of you, Ali!