Tuesday Travels

The pools are closed, the tourists are gone and the humidity has headed south, which means we can find our entertainment in the District once again. Asher and I have a goal of getting into the District to see or do something every Tuesday this fall. It's our only free day, so we must take advantage.

Today, Asher and I did the National Zoo...round 2. He spent a lot of time watching the giant pandas play and the elephants eat and the hippos swim and seemed to have a great time, but when I asked him his favorite part of the day, he enthusiastically offered, "TRAIN RIDE!" He has also been feeding all of his Thomas trains since our trip, much like the zookeeper fed the animals.

Watching the animals, I couldn't get over how similar they are to us. The elephants had a huge living area, but the baby elephant was under his mother's feet the entire time. Meanwhile the papa elephant spent most of his time on the other side of the compound, checking out the other elephants. But if we were an elephant family, Ed would be the elephant in the corner reading the newspaper or taking a nap, not checking out the hot female elephants.

I think I'm going to like Tuesdays in the District with Asher. Time feels so fleeting with my little people right now. In a couple of years, both boys will be in school all day long and I will probably be back in the workforce fulltime.

Morning Mess

We woke up to a container of Nestle Quik dumped out onto the carpet in our office/guest room this morning.

We have narrowed our search down to two possible suspects.

It vaccumed up easily, but I feel like I am inhaling powdered chocolate milk particles every time I go in the room. It did leave behind a lovely sweet scent, however.

MUST WAKE UP EARLIER THAN THE CHILDREN....

Goodbye, Nina!!!

Tonight, we had our good friends, "Nina" and her mom over for dinner to say goodbye before they left for their state department post to a foreign land. They live next door and have become very good friends to us over the 1 1/2 years since we moved in. Asher and "Nina" are especially close.

When we first moved in, Asher couldn't pronounce Nina's real name, and the nickname stuck. They have a funny relationship: Nina gives the orders and Asher is the yes man. They have seen a lot of dirt, made a lot of messes and done a lot of laughing in their past 1 1/2 years together. They also share the bond of being half-Mexican. Neighbors have mistaken them as brother and sister.

Asher has been very curious and confused about the moving trucks parked in front of their house this past week. He looked out the window for a very long time after they left our house tonight. My heart breaks for his first little broken heart.

Congrats, Martha....

for paying back your entire KIVA loan on time! You accomplished what many of us rich gabachos up north can't seem to do these days....stay out of debt and pay our bills on time!

In fact, I have yet to make a bad loan on KIVA. Every single woman I have loaned money to has paid it back in full and on time. So I've never lost a penny of my own money (unless you factor interest into the equation, but really, money isn't earning much of anything sitting in a savings account these days). That's my kind of charitable giving.

Check it out: www.kiva.org

Life and Trains

Asher and I were hanging out one recent morning. We were in our office/guest room looking at family pictures I have arranged on a bookshelf.

He noticed this picture of his grandparents. It is taken just a couple of months before my dad's death and it is one of the few I have of my parents together. I asked him who was in the picture. He replied "Grandma and Grandpa" (he knows his grandfather from pictures). Then he said, "They hugging."

I am constantly asking Asher questions to increase his language and avoid more speech therapy bills in our home, so I asked, "Why do you think they are holding each other?"

Asher's reply: "Oh...well...Grandma wants to play trains, but Grandpa no want her to."

Of course, Asher. That makes perfect sense.....in your world.

First Day of Kindergarten

....and riding the big bus!

The Last Two Weeks in Numbers

The boys and I have had a lot of time together these past two weeks since my summer employment ended. Abuela went back to LA and Ed's "busy season" at work began in full force at that time as well. Here is a look at the last two weeks in numbers:

45 minutes..... length of time the boys lasted at the National Zoo. It took us 40 minutes to ride the metro and to walk up the Woodley Park hill to even GET to the zoo!!!

8 ... number of trips to the neighborhood pool.

6 ... number of McDonalds Happy Meals consumed.

85 degrees. The average temperature over the past two weeks (my approximation). The weather was amazingly mild for this time of year, but I'm still ready for fall.

18 ... number of books and videos checked out of our local library.

8:00am. My average morning wake-up.

7:00am. The boys' average morning wake-up.

42 ... number of juice boxes consumed on outings.

98 ... number of times Asher asked when his school starts.

1000 .... number of times I repeated the words "I can get through the next two weeks" to myself.