I'm going to be the best man in our friends' wedding! I'm so excited that Beaver asked me to be his best man. Unfortunately Legs won't be able to make the trip to Hawaii with Thumper and I. She would absolutely love to be there for Beaver and Nurse. We are very happy for them. I'm a bit nervous to be on a flight that long with Thumper alone :-/ He'll be flying as a lap-baby, so he won't even have his own seat. Yikes!
Things are feeling more and more like home here, as we become more comfortable with the DC area. Legs and I had another date night, and luckily there was no fire alarm to disturb us this time around. We went to a local jazz club called the Bohemian Caverns. The music was so-so, but we had a wonderful time just being out together. We're very excited for all of our visitors coming in the next few months, so that maybe we'll get a few more date nights! :-P
Thumper basically went from taking 4-5 steps at a time to running at an all-out sprint, and he is quickly stockpiling the bumps, scrapes, and bruises. He's fearless and has an unbelievably happy personality. He's constantly exploring, playing, and pointing at things, which keeps Bambi and me extremely busy! He loves to play with Bambi and laughs hysterically when they take toys from one other.
Legs and I are still running and going to the gym. I think Legs is really excited to participate in her Warrior Dash in September, and I'm hopeful that the Marine Corps Marathon (or the Monster Mash Marathon) will go much better than my last.
Happy Travels!
Pancho
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
We've Caught a Fitness Bug
For some reason Legs and I have both gotten the urge to exercise. I'm planning to run another marathon, either the Monster Mash Marathon in Dover, DE or the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, in October, and Legs has registered for a Warrior Dash in VA. She, and two of her colleagues, will run a 5K race stacked full of obstacles which include crawling under barbwire, a river crossing, jumping through fire, and many more! We also joined a gym that has childcare, and it's like we get a workout-date-night every night of the week!
Thumper is getting more active and mobile every day. Perhaps we both decided to start exercising because we know it won't be long before we won't be able to keep up with Thumper. Something clicked the other night for him and he went from taking 5 or 6 steps at a time to running laps around the living room. He's also getting better at riding his Stryder bicycle. He still needs one of us to stabilize the handle bars for him, but he starts moving those little feet like there's no tomorrow! Maybe by the time we get to India he'll be riding by himself.
We're looking forward to seeing all who are coming to visit us in the coming months!
Happy Travels!
Pancho
Thumper is getting more active and mobile every day. Perhaps we both decided to start exercising because we know it won't be long before we won't be able to keep up with Thumper. Something clicked the other night for him and he went from taking 5 or 6 steps at a time to running laps around the living room. He's also getting better at riding his Stryder bicycle. He still needs one of us to stabilize the handle bars for him, but he starts moving those little feet like there's no tomorrow! Maybe by the time we get to India he'll be riding by himself.
We're looking forward to seeing all who are coming to visit us in the coming months!
Happy Travels!
Pancho
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
We Survived the Teenager
It was sure sad to take Mop Top to the airport last night. The past two weeks was a whirlwind, but I had a great time showing him DC and New York City. I think he even had a little fun when he wasn't sleeping or melting in the sun! It's kind of funny that he just so happened to show up for our record-setting heat wave of more consecutive 100+ degree days than ever recorded and the day after he leaves it drops to the mid 80's.
Mop Top is turning in to such a great young man, and he has such a kind heart. He's just got the personality that draws people in. I thought about it as we took the metro to the airport and an older lady started talking to him like a grandmother would talk to her grandchild. Asking him where he was going and about his time in DC. Then again in the airport while he was in line to board the plane he quickly made friends with the lady behind him. Earlier in the week he informed me that he had a great time talking to the lady next to him on the flight out here from Seattle. She even bought him a cookie on the plane! Little did she know that his grandmother sent him on his way with roughly 8 pounds of food for the 6 hour flight, including a bag of over 2 dozen cookies!
I'd love to rattle off all of the things that we did while Mop Top was here, but the most enjoyable for me was simply getting to spend time with him. Things like wrestling on the living room floor, playing video games on our phones and showing one another the replays of cool or funny tricks, explaining to him how to meditate, teaching him how to read a metro map, watching him with Thumper, hearing about longboards and mountain bikes, and getting to reconnect with him after feeling so far away for so long. This was an absolutely wonderful experience for me, and I can only hope that he had a fraction of the fun.
Happy Travels!
Pancho
Mop Top is turning in to such a great young man, and he has such a kind heart. He's just got the personality that draws people in. I thought about it as we took the metro to the airport and an older lady started talking to him like a grandmother would talk to her grandchild. Asking him where he was going and about his time in DC. Then again in the airport while he was in line to board the plane he quickly made friends with the lady behind him. Earlier in the week he informed me that he had a great time talking to the lady next to him on the flight out here from Seattle. She even bought him a cookie on the plane! Little did she know that his grandmother sent him on his way with roughly 8 pounds of food for the 6 hour flight, including a bag of over 2 dozen cookies!
I'd love to rattle off all of the things that we did while Mop Top was here, but the most enjoyable for me was simply getting to spend time with him. Things like wrestling on the living room floor, playing video games on our phones and showing one another the replays of cool or funny tricks, explaining to him how to meditate, teaching him how to read a metro map, watching him with Thumper, hearing about longboards and mountain bikes, and getting to reconnect with him after feeling so far away for so long. This was an absolutely wonderful experience for me, and I can only hope that he had a fraction of the fun.
Happy Travels!
Pancho
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
New York, New York
Mop Top and I jumped aboard a bus headed for New York last Saturday morning and landed ourselves just outside of Madison Square Garden around 11:30am. The weather was awesome, for me but not so much for Mop Top, and Manhattan was amazing! We dropped our bags at our hotel and jumped on the subway to the World Trade Center site. I was surprised at how moving the WTC Memorial Museum was. It was surreal to stand in Manhattan near the site and try to imagine those two giant towers falling down. To read the stories of survivors, see pieces of actual debris from the towers, hear firefighter transmissions moments before they perished in the collapse of the towers, and see the thousands of "missing" posters put up by family members searching for their loved ones was absolutely humbling. I felt utter sadness for humanity reliving such a violent and hateful event; however, it warmed my heart to see the resounding theme of peace, rather than vengeance or hatred, surrounding the 9/11 Memorial site.
After a little emotional recovery time we got some pizza-by-the-slice in Time Square and tried to get some "cheap" last-minute tickets to a Broadway show. Unfortunately cheap is $90 per person so we settled for a movie in Time Square instead.
In the morning we took the subway down to Battery Park to catch a glimpse of the "real" Statue of Liberty and she was much more beautiful than the Time Square version. Afterwards we took the subway back up to Central Park for a quick stroll before lunch and catching the bus home.
That was 28 hours in New York City for you! It was a whirlwind trip, but every bit worth it. I had an absolutely wonderful time there and would love to go back when I have a little more time to explore.
Happy Travels!
Pancho
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| A piece of steel from one of the WTC towers |
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| A torn and melted fireman's jacket and helmet |
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| Some rescue tools used at the site along with a tattered US flag |
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| A mixture of things pulled from the rubble |
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| One of the new towers still under construction |
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| One of the waterfalls at the WTC site |
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| Time Square |
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| The Naked Cowboy posing with the ladies |
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| All of the people and lights can even wear out Lady Liberty |
In the morning we took the subway down to Battery Park to catch a glimpse of the "real" Statue of Liberty and she was much more beautiful than the Time Square version. Afterwards we took the subway back up to Central Park for a quick stroll before lunch and catching the bus home.
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| The Statue of Liberty from Battery Park in Manhattan |
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| One entrance to Central Park |
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| An amazing place for lunch |
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| A glimpse in to how big New York is |
That was 28 hours in New York City for you! It was a whirlwind trip, but every bit worth it. I had an absolutely wonderful time there and would love to go back when I have a little more time to explore.
Happy Travels!
Pancho
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