:::Molly Videos:::

I forgot that I had these two videos to post of Molly from my trip. The first video is Molly and I greeting the morning. The second is of Molly reprimanding Bruno, their new dog. It's her new favorite past time.

:::Bounce House:::

On Friday night we all went to a bounce house that was nothing more than a warehouse with a few giant inflatables inside. It may not seem like a place with much fun potential for adults, but man, we all had such a good time.

We were the only ones in the whole place, so we adults could do whatever we wanted without worrying about public shame. Plus, we didn't have to worry about the kids interacting with other hopped up and insane children. It was like living out that dream of running around a mall after closing time with your friends.



The huge slide was by far the most popular attraction. All of us went down it many, many times.

The kids were really excited that we were playing with them. I had to keep reminding them not to follow me too closely up the stairs just in case I lost my footing and took them all down with me.

On one run I decided to take my camera up with me and video my view as I went down the slide.



I lost my stomach every single time I went down.

Molly proved to be as fearless as ever. With no help or encouragement whatsoever she ran to the slide and climbed easily up the stairs.

Watching her go down the slide was hilarious. Sometimes she'd stand up there and waive, but most of the time she got right down to business and threw herself down the slide.

My mom is going to get so anxious looking at these pictures, so I'll include some more.


She flew down that slide, usually flipping onto her tummy somewhere near the middle. So little, so fast. She's not even two years old yet.


Regardless of the fun we had, I wasn't feeling so hot after we left. Maybe it was all the running, screaming, climbing, sliding and bouncing I did. Maybe it was the ten minutes I spent trying to heave myself out of the inflatable obstacle course while trying to keep my shorts from falling off.

Maybe. Who knows.

On our way out the solitary bounce house worker told us that there was a tornado warning, so we made our way home via Pei Wei and the riveting entertainment of Air Buddies.

I was hoping we'd see some action, but nary a twister touched down. I guess that's for the better since the children are afraid of storms and Sarah and Don's fence and rain gutters have been ripped off their house more than once.


Isn't this picture gorgeous? Those clouds are beautiful.

:::Snapshots -- Friday, September 11, 2009:::

1. Earlier in the week we went to eat at a Mexican place here called Chuy's. I was excited because there aren't that many, if any, Tex-Mex places in DC and I love this kind of food.


I really could eat thin, oily, salted chips and salsa each day of my life and never get sick of them.

Sarah got a salad that came with a creamy jalapeno dressing that people also dip their chips in. It's pretty good, and it's got a nice kick to it.


Molly really liked it, but this is what her face looked like after every bite. She kept going back for more though.


2. Last night we had a slow cooker lasagna that I made. Well, Sarah cooked and I put it together. I saw the recipe before I left in Kraft Food & Family Magazine (did anyone else get a notice that they were going to have to start paying for it?) and wanted to try it out.


We added our own spices and made a few modifications, but it was really good for a basic American lasagna. In fact, I wouldn't see the point in making lasagna in a pan anymore.


3. Yesterday and today it's been raining fairly steadily. I love long rain storms. Back in DC rainstorms are really intense, but they come and go quickly. I prefer it so much more when it rains all day long.

The rain temporarily stopped during dinner so we opened the sliding glass door to enjoy the after-rain air. I wish we could have this type of weather on demand.



4. Scott in my sunglasses at Sprouts.


I will steal him one day.



5. Today I went to Sophie's school for some kind of eat-lunch-with-your-grandparent-or-other-special-person day.


Some kids, like young Harrison here, didn't have anyone come. So sad. He was actually really, really talkative and just started talking to me out of the blue in a stream of consciousness kind of way.

"My mom said she could probably come next Tuesday. Next Tuesday."

"I always get cheese pizza. We have pepperoni, and we have cheese. I get cheese."

Harrison has pwobwems with his awrs, which made him even cuter. I thought his name was Hailson for a bit until he spelled it for me.


I took this picture on the sly since Sarah told me I had to stop photographing other people's children or else I'd get arrested.


After we finished our Chick-fil-A kid's meals with fruit not fries Sophie started rooting around in the bags looking for 'the rest of her food.' Umm...It's not in my dna to let anyone go hungry, so I went and bought her a hot lunch for $2.75 so she could have a slice of pizza. I ate the corn and kept the pink milk for her for later.


6. While I was in the school, Sarah was in the car with the kids who were eating their Sonic kid's meals. This is Scott posing with his helicopter. Eyes closed, why?


This is Molly throwing her ambulance at me.


Love you too, you stinking little...


7. Another new Texas food experience -- Braum's ice cream. I got a chocolate marshmallow sundae. Not bad, not bad at all.


We never did make it to Whataburger. Maybe next time, maybe next time.

:::Nothing to Something:::

Tomorrow is my last full day here in Texas. I am sad, I don't want to go back. People know me here, people love me here. There are people here for me to talk to and joke with who get me. There is a place for me to fit here.

But, my life is someplace else, and I don't even know if this is where I'd be if I had more control over my circumstances. I've got a life taking me one place, and my sister's family has their own life taking them another. When each of us sisters turned 18 we all flew out the door and hit the ground running in our own different directions. We'll always have our different paths, so we'll always have to say goodbye.

:::Dallas Arboretum:::

On Saturday I got on a plane and flew to Texas for a one week vacation. The flight was smooth sailing the whole way. I got an aisle seat, sat next to a woman who slept the entire time, and bought a cheese and cracker tray. I am easy to please.

As a point of interest, many aisle seats on planes have arm rests that can be raised. Did you know that? There's a little silver button on the inside of the arm towards that back that unlocks the arm and allows you to push it up. Very useful information that I figured out through observation and trial and error.

As soon as Sarah and Don and the kids picked me up from the airport we went to Taco Bell (oh, how I miss it), then drove to the Dallas Arboretum.


It is a beautiful and well thought out space filled with flowers, trees and a lot of greenery. The kids had fun looking at all of the storybook houses that were on display, but the main attractions were anything that had to do with water.


This giant frog was a favorite of everyone.


And so was this little pond, as well as these cool waterfalls.


It turns out Scott can take some pretty decent pictures. Sarah is going to print out the photos he took there and display them as part of their primary talent show.


I had to photograph my Keens in the first outdoor/rugged environment I've ever worn them in.


They're as ugly as original sin, but truly are the best shoes ever.


I had the brilliant idea to rent a wagon for $5 so the kids could sit down if they got tired. I thought it was funny that most of the time they didn't want to be in the wagon, but would rather be walking around. Kids. Towards the end though when their little feet started dragging we were glad that we got it.


We followed a few paths and wound around the grounds for awhile just looking at different plants and watching the kids play in every water feature they could get to.


This koi pond wasn't my favorite. Do these fish scare anyone else? I don't know what it is about them, but they have frightened me since I was a little girl.


Unfoooortunately, I didn't get to take all the pictures I wanted. Turns out that when you're watching three wandering and active children (even with three adults) you don't have much time to contemplate and set up photos. Who knew?


We also saw four or five brides there taking wedding photos. Sophie loved looking at them, and I couldn't help wondering how incredibly hot they must have been in their heavy satin dresses, thick makeup, and petticoats on.

When we couldn't take the heat anymore we finally left and went to Sonic (yes!), then headed home. I'm really happy to be here, but I'm dreading going back to DC because I think I've finally reached my limit. I just feel done. This is going to be the hardest return I've ever made.

:::mom's visit, part 2:::

as i started putting this post together i realized how completely disjointed the chronology was in the previous post. to avoid any further confusion, i'm going to do part 2 as a numbered list of the things that we did that isn't tied down to any sort of timeline.


1. the american history musuem currently has an excellent exhibit about abraham lincoln. after experiencing it for myself, i would recommend it as a must see to anyone in the area. included in the exhibit were two facial casts of lincoln's head made at different points in his life, campaign signs and banners from his presidential campaign, his famous stove pipe top hat, the last cup he was purported to have drunk from before he went to ford's theatre, and the blood stained cuffs of one of the actresses who rushed to the president's aid after he was shot.


i took a lot of photos, but the lighting was so low that many of them didn't turn out well enough to post.


this quote from mary todd lincoln made me feel so sad. as you read it you can almost feel their weariness --

"During the drive he was so gay, that I said to him, laughingly, "Dear husband, you almost startled me by your great cheerfulness," he replied, "and well I may feel so, Mary, I consider this day, the war, has come to a close" -- and then added "We must both, be more cheerful in the future -- between the war and the loss of our darling Willie -- we have both, been very miserable."


from their we moved to an exhibit showcasing the dresses of the first ladies. they even had a dress of martha washington's from 1780 (not pictued).



2. on friday night we planned to meet my sister and brother-in-law at the natural history museum to watch night at the museum 2 at the imax theater. while we were waiting for them we popped upstairs to see the hope diamond and the rest of the jewelery on the second floor.


i generally forget in my day-to-day life that there are such stunning things in existence, and that at one point someone actually owned and wore such things. yeesh.


it was fun to seeing night at the musuem 2 in situ. for us, the best part of the movie was seeing so many familiar museum pieces come to life, especially degas's little dancer. we thought the movie had some funny parts, but we weren't blown away by it.


2. we had a great lunch at tenh penh, a thai restaurant on ten pennsylvania avenue. get it? ten penn...tenh penh.


we enjoyed the complimentary edamame that reminded me of a time that my mom and i bought a tray of edamame at a japanese market in costa mesa, ate them all on the way home, and got really sick afterwards. fiber!


these spring rolls were so good. i'd definitely go back there one day.


3. i could tell that my mom wanted to stop by the national gallery of art to see the beautiful painting. on the day we decided to go we needed a place to eat lunch, so i started looking for somewhere to go on washingtonian.

through an article on their website i learned that garden cafe in national gallery had recently been transformed into the garden café españa in conjunction with two exhibits of spanish art that have recently opened. the menu was created by a spanish chef who has many restaurants in the dc area, and gives diners the option between ordering off the menu or selecting from the buffet. after looking at the menu online, we decided before we left that we could not pass up the buffet.


the food was excellent in every way. it was fresh, simple, elegant, flavorful and beautifully presented. i wish that i could eat that way every single day.


i'm going to make you look at this menu --

Rustic bread

Boquerones
Spanish white anchovies in olive oil

Gazpacho al estilo de Algeciras
Classic chilled Spanish soup made with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and bread,
sharpened with sherry vinegar


Quesos surtidos con picos y membrillo
Selection of Spanish cheeses with crispy mini breadsticks and quince paste

Pasamontes Manchego, D.O. Manchego
Sheep’s milk cheese, sweet and tangy

Idiazábal, D.O. Idiazábal
Sheep’s milk cheese, smoked, nutty flavor

Garrotxa, Catalonia
Semisoft goat’s milk cheese, delicate, with a hint of nuttiness

Picón, D.O. Picón
Blue cheese of sheep, cow, and goat’s milk


Embutidos
Selection of Spanish cured meats

Jamón Serrano
18-month salt-cured Serrano ham

Chorizo “Palacios”
A slightly cured pork sausage, seasoned with pimentón and garlic

Lomo embuchado “Palacios”
Cured pork loin with a smoky flavor and seasoned with herbs


Empanadas de pollos ensapados
Chicken and bacon empanada with caramelized onion, raisins, and lemon

Ensalada de endibias con queso de cabra, almendras, y naranjas
Endive salad with goat cheese, almonds, and oranges

Ensalada de lentejas con queso Picón
Lentil salad with Picón cheese and aged sherry vinegar

Albóndigas con ciruelas
Meatballs with plums

Pisto Manchego con flores de calabacín
Castilian-style zucchini and its flowers, with peppers, eggplant, and tomato


Flan al estilo de mi madre
Spanish flan in my mother’s style with seasonal berries

everything was excellent. we loved that the buffet wasn't set up to overwhelm you with quauntity, but to highlight each selection in a way that made you respect the food that you were eating. we had a wonderful lunch and were excited to receive our complimentary recipe cards, which can you download by clicking on the link.


4. after brunch we wandered around admiring the architecture and details of the museum...



and the lovely artwork, which i think speaks for itself...

The Alba Madonna, c. 1510, raphael

Geese; Girls in Bonnets, Geese [recto], 1884-1888, gauguin
(these were sketches he had done)

Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, 1888, seurat
{a zoomed in look}

Girl With a Hoop, 1885, renoir

Miss Mary Ellison, c. 1880, cassatt

The Railway, 1873, eduoard manet

Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight, 1894, monet

The Peppermint Bottle , 1893/1895, Cézanne

The Japanese Footbridge, 1899, monet

Cape Cod Evening, 1939, hopper

Allies Day, May 1917, 1917, childe hassam

George Washington, c. 1821, gilbert stuart

Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, 1862, whistler

A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776, jean-honoré fragonard

Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875, monet

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait,1889, van gogh

i don't think i realized before that so many of these iconic pieces of art were in america, let alone in dc. they also have the only da vinci in the western hemisphere, but it was...ugly, so i'm not posting a picture of it. and yes, you were allowed to take pictures here. i heard someone ask a guard.

phew. this post took me over two hours to put together. if anyone thinks bloggers are lazy, they clearly don't know what they're talking about.

stay tuned for a final wrap-up post sometime next week. i just don't have it in me right now.