Sunday, March 29, 2009

Tajen

That is what I made for dinner last night.
It is one of Faris’ favorite Mediterranean meals.
Tajen = meatballs and vegetables in tahineh sauce.
I rocked the Tajen.
It was delicious.

Tajen Pre-Oven














Tajen Post Oven


A Museum, A Carousel, and Batman

We had a wonderful Saturday.
Despite the rain
and an incident on a carousel.
For weeks I’ve been planning our visit to the
Smithsonian’s annual Kite Festival.
In the drizzle, fog, and general dampness
the kite festival went on but we opted for the Museum of Natural History.








































































Commit this little gem to memory and then ever so casually mention it during your next trip to the zoo or at play group when there is a giraffe in a book. Everyone will think you are a brilliant

































When I was little girl my parents would take me to the Smithsonian and I would get to ride the carousel. I couldn’t pronounce Smithsonian so I called it Mr. Odeo. Specifically, I called the carousel Mr. Odeo. I loved to ride Mr. Odeo. There was joy leaping from my heart on Saturday when we decided to take Luke on his first carousel ride. My son was going to enjoy the same carousel ride I did. It was a sweet moment.






















*Note the height of the fence.
























































It was sweet until a little girl fell off and her lower half got caught under the carousel and was dragged screaming one and a half times around.
R I G H T I N F R O N T O F U S.
Her dad jumped off.
We started screaming S T O P.
Her dad grabbed her but she was being pulled
and his motion from jumping made him fall backwards.
He started running after her.
We are still screaming stop.
My husband jumped the fence (are you remembering the height of the fence?)
and pulled her free just as the dad got there.
The carousel stopped.
A few notes about the incident:
The little girl appeared to be ok physically. Scrapes, cuts and bruises as you would expect. She was taken via ambulance to the hospital to be sure.
I have been calling Faris Batman since yesterday.
We will not be riding carousels or any of those traveling fair rides e v e r.
The two grandmas standing next to Faris (who kindly watched our belongings when Faris turned into Batman) told me it was amazing how he leapt over the fence.
Batman has a bruised knee, a few scrapes and cuts, a knot over his left eye, and a minor hole in his jeans.

We ended our afternoon with a quiet walk on the boardwalk.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Camille Came to Visit Camille

My super fabulous friend Camille came for a visit last week.
It was wonderful to have her company.
It was warmth for the soul kind of visit.
I regaled her with stories of wild beasts and my car, I romanced her spirit with the view of the Chesapeake Bay, and I startled myself by how easily I talked about Luke potty stories.
I almost burst into tears when I realized we have been friends for sixteen years!
It was a sweet visit and it started here…

Luke and I picked Camille up in our chariot and dashed to Annapolis for lunch at
Chick and Ruth’s Delly. We sat next to a man who has a sandwich named after him; I think he is a member of the State Legislature.















We made a trip to Washington, DC to visit the Smithsonian’s Portrait Gallery, only to find it opened at 11am.
So we improvised and went to the Museum of American History.

Camille and Luke, waiting for the doors to open.
Did you know they play the National Anthem before they open the doors?














Can you spot my car?
My parking karma was in full force all weekend.














I think it will be ok if I say the museum was a bit disappointing.
Camille and I both remember it being so much more interesting!
It was fun to see Julia Child’s kitchen.














And this Spark Lab for kids was a lifesaver.
You should have seen the stuff for older kids…amazing.












Post-museum lunch at Baja Fresh.








We took a stroll in our back yard.
Me coaxing small child away from the rocks.













Important work.












































We went back to Annapolis for
a Segway Tour of Annapolis.
Linda came too!
It was out of this world fun.
I had SO much fun zipping around.









































After church on Sunday we were scheduled to
meet my mom, dad, and brother at the Cheese Cake Factorybut a 30-40 minute wait required a change of plans so we found ourselves once again at Baja Fresh.














A little outside in the sun time before we made our way to the airport to send our dear sweet friend home.














A few notes about our visit:
1. We always catch-up over a bag of Doritos. I swear they taste better with Camille around.

2. One of our Segway tour guides asked if we were sisters, after knowing our names were Camille! This is not the first or second time we have been asked that question.

3. Luke liked Camille a lot. Kisses for her came quickly.

4. My camera missed our Saturday crab cake lunch and a boardwalk walk. Oops.

5. I got carded and couldn’t purchase a bottle of wine for our dinner. Because clearly I look like I might be under 21 years of age, right? No, because apparently there are stings in our area and I was not familiar. Camille had to go in a make the purchase. Why? Because under the watchful eye of Camille and Camille, Luke threw my driver’s license in the trash. I would not have believed it until I saw him put something else in the trash two days ago.


Storage

Confession: I’ve let the clothes Luke has outgrown pile up on his dresser. Since summer.

I procured the container and handed each item of clothing to Luke. He placed them in the container, can you tell? What do I care if they are folded? Who says clothes need to be folded to be stored?


Friday, March 13, 2009

Bubbles

I felt so bad.
Really, I did.
I ran out of Luke’s bubble bath last night
and the sweet child kept asking for bubbles.
This morning I almost bought the entire stock of our
beloved Rainbow Sweet Dreams Relaxing bubble bath.
There will be lots of bubbles tonight.


P.S. This smells unbelievably good that it makes me want to take a bubble bath.

Monday, March 9, 2009

California, Leg 3

Our final destination was San Francisco.
It was a wonderful time for me.
I spent my days walking* around the city.
It was urban nectar for my soul.
*I’m thinking I should modify walking to pushing Luke around hilly San Francisco.

I practically forgot that I had a camera so my pictures won’t do our visit justice.

Things that I missed:
1. Dinner with Faris’ family.
Great food with good people.
Actually, Faris managed to find the camera and take these.






























2. Friday lunch with Faris’ cousin Omar.
Omar was kind to invite Luke and me to lunch on Friday while Faris was occupied with work stuff.
I think I might have found myself lonely on Friday without that lovely lunch.

Things I did not miss:
1. One of our many strolls to Union Square.















2. Our afternoon stroll to the Ferry Building.
L o v e d i t.
Must go back when the Farmer’s Market is there.



































I admired this store from afar.
I was a scaredy cat and didn’t go in because I was sure I would leave with their T-shirt.














3. Our awesome hotel selected and booked by a husband that clearly loves me more that I deserve.

Because all extra toilet tissue should be wrapped with a fabric ribbon.
I just might start doing this in my own home.
At least in the guest bathroom.














Cookies and milk for Master Luke each night.














Hotel bottle of water on the right is $6.50.
Three bottles of water and one bag of Doritos on the left that I picked up, $6.00.
In the background is the little backpack Luke got when we check in.
Full of fun things like a kaleidoscope and a kazoo.














Can you imagine my glee when I answered our hotel door one afternoon to find complimentary champagne, truffles and chocolate covered strawberries?
Don’t worry, they sent cookies for Luke too.
I want to move in. Do you think they would have me?











California, Leg 2

We took a jaunt to visit with Faris’ family during the week.
Hamburgers for lunch and seriously good enchiladas for dinner.
I didn’t know enchiladas made at home could be so good.






























































California, Leg 1

We spent last week in warm and sunny California.
What a blessing to visit our families throughout the Golden State.


Luke was asked to visit the cockpit on more than one occasion.



















Visiting my Grandmother and Luke’s Great-Grandmother.
Peek-a-boo
















A yummy Mexican lunch…do you spy my clean plate?















I thought this drawer in the kitchen was neat.














It was crazy warm in California so we did a lot of walking and playing outside. Luke even went outside in the morning to play in his pajamas.



















Putting up one of the many hummingbird feeders with Uncle Michael.














Aunt Chris was kind to let Luke play with her electronic equipment.
I should mention that Uncle Michael also let Luke explore his locked blackberry. Luke managed to unlock it and call Chris!