On Thursday, we flew to Washington, DC to visit Auntie Elyssa and our good friends Ryan and Diana. We’re here for a week and have lots of fun planned – but first, we had some business to attend to. Unfortunately, due to the sequestration, White House tours have been canceled. Uncle Ryan works in the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building and he decided he needed to have a “meeting” with Maile – perhaps due to her budding knowledge of China. We, of course, obliged … and once Maile took care of her business, decided to snap a few pictures as we went along…
Maile and Daddy out front of The White House
The whole family - yes, this could be anywhere, but we swear The White House is right in back 🙂
Maile Girl, patiently waiting for her appointment with Uncle Ryan...
Checking out the library with Uncle Ryan - Maile says the books weren't nearly as cool as the one in San Francisco...
Inside the Old Executive Office Building - e.g., the OEOB if you are down with the lingo or a fan of the West Wing...
Uncle Ryan, Matt and Lauren in the Indian Treaty Room.
On the way out, we stopped in front of the West Wing for a picture. I could lie and say that Maile was just intently focused behind us because Obama walked by - but really she was just tired of taking photos 😉
... these glasses help you read!
(Hat tip to Mommy for the picture AND the caption 😉
Last year, I taught Maile Roadhouse Blues in honor of a good friend of mine that passed away. Saturday was his birthday and as I do every year, I spent the day with Maile. (Next year we’ll get Lauren involved too.) We had a lot of fun and I decided to teach her another of his favorites, Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne…
(Click here for the video.)
We had a fun Easter Weekend with Grandma and Papa in town visiting. Even though it rained later in the day, Sunday started out beautiful and we were able to take some family pictures before we headed out to brunch.
Our Family - Easter 2013 (Maile - 3.5, Lauren - 12 weeks)
Mommy and her girls...
Daddy and his girls...
And one more with Grandma Gail and Papa Cal!
We had a nice little Passover tonight on the homefront. Mommy made delicious matzah ball soup and Maile helped with the charoset (no nuts in ours, but still pretty tasty). We checked out the very cool Seder plate that Grandma and Papa Boston got for us in Israel last year and thanks to the PJ Library we had plenty of Passover stories to tell.
As for the entertainment, I think it’s safe to say we’re one holiday behind – I think you’ll agree that our after dinner fun was decidedly Purim in nature…
I wasn't 100% clear on the rules of this particular game - I think I was a king, but it was definitely a matriarchal society we were living in if that was the case...
I have a lot of this in store for me, don't I?
On Sunday, we headed over to Oakland with some of Maile’s classmates for the Oakland Fun Run. Christine and I definitely questioned why we were heading all the way to Oakland for a 150 yard run, but we had a blast – it was definitely worth the trip! Maile Girl and her friends loved the whole thing – the numbers they got, the stretching, the race itself, the snacks afterwards (2 bananas and a bag of Cheetos to help Maile recover) and, of course, the medals.
Stretching while we wait for the BART...
Daddy, I'm going to need you to carry me to the start line, I really need to save my legs.
Maile Girl and Daddy - ready to rock!
Mommy did a fantastic job running ahead (and often backwards) to catch some action shots of Maile Girl - keep in mind this race was only 150 yards, so not much room to work...
The homestretch...
Oh thank you, Daddy, I really thought I wasn't going to make it around yard 75...
For me???
For me!!!
Maile is an old pro at March Madness brackets – she’s already filled out 3 of them (2010, 2011 and 2012). Tonight she filled out her 2013 bracket and for the first time, she wrote in her picks all by herself! She can’t ready yet, so I read each team name and then she picked who she wanted and wrote in the first letter or two of that team’s name. We had a blast doing it.
I was most happy that she recognized Duke without prompting and took them all the way to the Championship. Her Final Four is: Duke, Belmont, Michigan (that will make Papa Mike happy!) and Davidson. She went on an “M” run in the South and East regions taking Michigan, Minnesota and Montana to all make the Elite Eight.
Here’s her completed bracket:
Maile's 2013 Bracket
BTW – It really is incredible to see how much progress Maile has made with her writing in just a year. If you didn’t click above already, definitely click over to see her 2012 bracket. Pretty cool to see that she actually writes letters now. Time flies…
(PS – Don’t worry, we’ll get Lauren involved next year. Maile was already 8 months old for her first March Madness. At 10 weeks, the best Lauren could do today is spit up on the bracket. Hmm, maybe we’ll try that tomorrow 😉
(Click here for the video…)
This is my super busy time of year, so I’ve been some extra hours in at the office – which, unfortunately, takes me away from my girls. Christine sends me pictures and videos – not the same as being there, but how can you not look at these faces and not smile!?
Lauren and Maile (10 weeks and 3.5 respectively)... ultimate love!
These two are already goofing around...
Maile Girl here! This weekend was pretty cool – it was St. Patty’s Day which is a holiday where you eat green food! (Daddy said when I’m older I’ll do other things too – but I can’t imagine what could be cooler than green food!) And I’m not talking about vegetables like broccoli…
Mommy made me green eggs!
And then we got a green bagel!
So cool!
Mommy has a tradition with her good friend Jo – every March they head to McDonald’s and get a Shamrock Shake. Mommy loves the Shamrock Shake. This weekend she got together with Jo and Maile tagged along as well. And yes, they got a Shamrock Shake. (Resulting in a picture that Daddy absolutely loves…)
Maile enjoying her very first Shamrock Shake...
