The Key Goodbye

A few weeks ago, Nona found an old key to the Takoma Park house. She stashed it in her purse, and mostly forgot about it, until today when we were at the beach. We decided to say thank you the the Cockerille Ave house, and send the key out into the Pacific. Clara helped. It was surprisingly satisfying!

it's out there somewhere...

Cockerille Ave

Tonight Nona & Opa are spending their last night in the house Nouri & I grew up in (and Mary & Dieter lived in since the 1970's). Tomorrow they will board a train to California.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and help them pack up the house and say goodbye. Fortunately, Nouri has been able to go down for the past three weekends and will help take them to the train station tomorrow, with our wonderful family friends Warren and Ann.

It's hard letting go of a childhood home that held so many memories. It's hard also to capture the uniqueness of this home. Suffice it to say that the real estate agent is excited to stage it in a "whimsical" manner.

I'm sad to say goodbye to that crazy, beautiful house, but excited about the adventures to come.

Sofi & Clara go to Maryland

Opa & Clara

enjoying some water play in the warm afternoon.

Takoma Park 2009 - Mall + Mud + Museum

I'm not sure why this is the first trip that we've made it down to The Mall and the Smithsonian. Maybe because we've found endless other things to do? Or because the last couple visits have either been in really cold weather, or during the mad tourist season. Either way, we went down to the Natural History Museum, which was a hit with Molly. And the mud puddles are always present and always popular - with the kids.

As a geeky landscape architect I'm curious about what they've tried to make that Mall drain. It must be tough: nearly flat surfaces, constant foot traffic, and I'm sure the soil is terrible.

Takoma Park 2009 - Sunday Market

Takoma Park 2009 - Around the House

Takoma Park 2009 - Riding Gallagher

Another highlight of the trip was riding Gallagher. The girls spent nearly an hour and a half taking turns walking around on Rhea's incredibly patient horse. Molly got to trot a bit, Clara wanted to "I-do-it-myself!" Even mama got to ride a little.

Takoma Park 2009 - Autumn Fun

We just don't get this quantity of leaves in Berkeley...

Takoma Park 2009 - Spring Park

We spent some good quality time at the park down the street...

Takoma Park 2009 - with Stacy & Charlie

One of the most amazing parts of this trip was having Stacy and Charlie come visit - all the way from New York!! Wow! It was so nice to see them, and to see how much Charlie has grown (and how funny and sweet he is!). Clara, especially, still talks about visiting with Charlie.

Takoma Park 2009 - Molly's Art/Work

Opa must have intuitively known that Molly would need an "office" while visiting. He set up this sweet space that was just the right size for her (with lots of space to overflow). It got tons of use.

One of her creations was the noses: I forget the whole story, probably it started with us joking about eating Clara & Opa's nose. So Molly offered to make them new noses. She colored and cut out the little noses, but quickly realized that the nose wouldn't stay in place, so fashioned the custom fit nose holders seen here.

Takoma Park 2009 - with Mary P & friends

We had a lovely walk in Rock Creek Park with Mary P and her dogs Henry and Tobey. Molly is still terrified of dogs, but it was nice to spend time with some dogs that are so well behaved that the most out of line thing that happens is Tobey licks, sometimes. And I think it was nice for Molly to see dogs being really gentle, and calm, and the dog's person being gentle and calm, too.

We took the walk after checking on Mary's horse at the barn there. This was the first time that Molly realized that you can have a horse that doesn't live at your house. The next time I tried to use the "we can't have a horse because we don't have any room for one at our house" line, she told me maybe we could find a stall for it at a stable in Berkeley?

Takoma Park 2009 - Thanksgiving Dinner in Lucketts

Thank you Anne for a lovely Thanksgiving feast! As usual, the food and company were amazing (particularly that delicious granddaughter of yours).

Takoma Park 2009 - Dinner at Woomi's

Another lovely dinner at the Korean restaurant. Yum! and Thank you!

Takoma Park 2009 - At Nona's Office

We were lucky enough to be able to go to Nona's office for their special Thanksgiving lunch. We ate yummy foods (and pie). And splashed in the puddles. But it was really nice to see all the lovely folks at her office! Hi everyone!!! The food was great!

Takoma Park 2009 - Dress Up

Nona's friend very thoughtfully lent us a whole bundle of lovely dress-up clothes. The girls loved them. Much of the week was spent with a revolving cast of characters. The witch, the fairy, and the mermaid had the most prominent rolls, but there were many others, including mix-ups and combos of several costumes. Thank you!

Thanks-travelling

We just got back from a lovely trip to Takoma Park (or "Koma Park!" as Clara calls it, and Molly says: "It's TA-koma Park, Clara! TA-koma!", to which Clara repeats "Koma Park!" with a grin.)

Thanks to everyone who made this an extra special trip.

Loads of pictures to come.

Fireflies, Fireworks, & More

Molly & I had a fantastic trip to Maryland at the beginning of the month. It was a special time for us, and her grandparents! We studied fireflies, recycling, and butterflies, watched fireworks & pandas, rode a horse, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

(note, there's a lot of pictures in this slide show! Click on the photo to jump to the picture website where you can browse the pictures.)

Happy 2009!

From Happy 2009!

We have had a fantastic adventure out here in Takoma Park this past week(+), and have tons of photos to share. In the interest of posting them quickly, I'm posting lots of pictures now (click on photo above), and I'll sort through them later. In the mean time, some highlights from the trip include: our trip to the Recycling Center (really!), riding Gallagher (a horse!), playing with all the toys at Nona & Opa's house (including Automoblox!), making felt slippers (really!), Clara's new attitude (ehhhh!), Molly growing up (and being reasonable?), and so much more...

Happy new year to everyone, and we're so glad to have you all in our life.