Trailer

Watch out world. Here comes our biker babe!

Snow Snow Snow

Here are some fun photos of our latest snow fall.  We got about 5 inches of beauty!

Ski Day

Yesterday, Saturday, we had a wonderful ski day.  But I've got nothing to show for it!  Can you believe it?  I even remembered my camera.  We were too busy skiing or playing with our little friend Maddie to stop and take photos.  Unfortunately we were 2 days early--should have gone skiing tomorrow.  Not yesterday.  

Museum Monday: The Building Museum

Watch out, Building Museum, here comes Eloise!  

These are from a few nights ago:

Eloise always gets in the most playful moods right before bed.  She loves dressing up.  She walked around all night with her sun glasses on...we laughed hard!

Eloise stays in character--we need a name for this alter ego of hers--and take a photo with an adoring fan.  Notice she poses by putting her arm around Alex.  We couldn't stop laughing at her.  Hilarious!

Eloise turns Two

Our princess is 2!  Hooray!  She knew yesterday was her "birday" loved all the cards, gifts, and attention she received.  

We all loved having Gigi and Grandad here this weekend.  They came in Saturday night, and we took them to the Bethesda Crab House.  It was a new experience for all of us.  We cracked tons of crabs and worked our way through some delicious meat.  Sunday we all went to church, then the zoo, and Alex and I went out for the night.  Unfortunately Eloise got sick Sunday night so we had to cancel our monument Monday visits.  Instead on Monday we opened gifts, went to the park, and played, played, played.

We had a quaint party for Eloise.  It was an "Elmer and Friends" themed night.  Do you know Elmer?  'Everybody's favorite patch work Elephant?"  

A few of our neighbors came over for cake and ice cream after dinner.  Eloise loves her neighborhood friends and went crazy when they arrived.

And here we are at the end of a wonderful day.  Thanks Gigi and Grandad for coming to help Eloise turn 2! We love you both very much!

Pea in Pod

Pea in the Pod from Aunt Mary and Uncle George!

Note Eloise's nurturing nature.

Frog!

Princess Eloise receives (and kisses) a frog on her birthday.  Care of Aunt Forest and Uncle Brent.

Sledding

Winkle Winkle

Great song Eloise.  I especially like the xylophone flip and the quick Elmo grab.  All seamless and very fitting.

Alex

Skiing in the wilderness

This is our fox friend.  He and the deer think they own this place!    This guys been hanging around here all day.

Eloise loves her skis!  She straps them on and walks all over the yard.  One of our neighbors calls her the "gross motor queen."  Stay posted.  Alex has some great video coming soon.  One features Eloise singing "Winkle Winle wiwle shtar..."  Something along those lines.

Eloise Lately

We've had a winter paradise lately.  DC has practically shut down.  This town never works--among the federal holidays and these snow days recently, everyone's "working from home."  Eloise and I went sledding in our drive way yesterday and had a great time. 

We all know how much Eloise loves to run.  Man, that girl has energy to burn.  Alex has lately been playing the Wii with Eloise with our new Wii Fit from Tim and Maggie.  They just run and run and run in circles.  It's the best activity while I'm making dinner.  On occasion, when it's warm enough outside, I let her loose outside.  We have these little trails between our house and Peggy's.  And while they're small, they must seem huge to her.

Eloise is speaking and understanding so much more.  George has become a new best friend in her life.  She feeds him, dresses him, and calls for him: "George, where are you?"  And, "George, I love you!"  It's really very adorable.

Thank you President Obama!

Living in DC for the past few months has been terribly exciting.  We arrived as the campaigns were really heating up and our neighborhood was buzzing.  Our first day here we met one of our very nice neighbors who offered to sign us up to vote right on the spot.  She was definitely eager but never rude about it, and we kindly told her that we had in fact already voted in Colorado.  She liked us from that minute on.  (-:  We're so responsible.

Election night was of course exciting and the city was out all night.  We, on the other hand, called it quits around 10 and fell asleep.  It was a working day.  We were tired.

Excitement built as Tuesday approached.  Really everyone in this town was soaring--Republican and Democrats alike.  Sure everyone had a 4 day weekend and who doesn't like that, but also everyone was genuinely excited at this historic event.  Cashiers at the grocery stores were much perkier and again, our neighbors extra friendly.  It kind of felt like living in Vail.  Everyone is on vacation and continuously happy.  The tourists rubbed off on everybody and it was a good day.

We went to a lovely party in this fabulously historic house on Monday night.  President Truman had spent some time at the house due to his Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, living there.  There was history all around us, the food was great, and Eloise happily played with the other children until 10pm!  Who can believe it?  She loved singing patriotic hymns around the piano, and Alex loved that they came out of a 1982 Episcopal hymnal.  It was lovely.

We stayed home on Tuesday and watch the coverage all morning.  Right after President Obama was sworn in, Eloise went to nap, and I made a quick and spontaneous decision.  I headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register our car.  I knew it was risky.  I knew the traffic would potentially be wretched or that they could be closed.  I ventured out thinking everyone else was on the mall, how could be in the streets?  Boy was I right!  Woohoo!  It took a mere 30 minutes to complete my task!  Dare I say record breaking?  Nobody was there but me!

So thank President for being so incredibly popular that you did the impossible-you cleared out the DMV.  And, thank you Dad for working tirelessly to get us all the paperwork we needed.  Thank you also to the Japanese men at the auto station for not charging us a second time on the $450 inspection.  The only soreness I still feel is for the state of Maryland.  Do you really have to gouge your new residents of $780 to transfer our registration?  Seems a little high for me.  Welcome the Republic of Maryland.  We're here to stay for a while.

Cute pic

Eloise is so cute, isn't she?   :-)  Can't believe she's approaching 2!

Mountain Monday

We took an overnight trip to Wisp Ski Resort in Deep Creek Lake, MD.  The snow started falling as we drove in Sunday night and knew that even though we weren't in Vail, our conditions would be wonderful on Monday.  We got about 4-6 inches fresh powder and absolutely no crowds.  Alex and I took turns skiing while Eloise ran crazy around the base cafeteria, sledded, and played in the snow.  We were amazed that she never got cold--she had a great time.  I can't wait until next year when she can ski with us.  The trip was rejuvenating for all of us and hope we can go again before the end of winter.

New Feature-Coming atcha

Alex bought me a camera for my birthday.  It's wonderful and we are still learning a lot about it.  Check out my new favorite feature.  Its the rapid fire setting.  It is fast!  Check it out: