Aunt Crazy

Skipped a year!

2012-01-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

Do you remember in Dallas when - GASP! - Bobby was hit by a hit & run driver and the entire show spent an entire season grieving him and then in the first episode of the subsequent season, Pam wakes up, hears the shower running, enters the bathroom and lo & behold, it's Bobby?

Well that's Aunt Crazy folks.

We're just going to skip the 2011 season and come right to 2012. Let me just say ... life is almost the same!! I memorized most Lonely Island songs since you last heard from me, and I'm also about 15 pounds heavier than my last blog post. Does it show?

I tried to adopt. It didn't happen. I'm now an approved Foster Parent with the city of Richmond. I also got a new job. I start in February.

Hope to write more soon!! I missed you!! Have a great weekend!!

I'm in the Press!

2010-12-02T20:55:00.001-05:00

OK, so occasionally I Google Aunt Crazy to see what appears, and it SEEMS that my new best friend margarito11roble (whom I have never met) has posted me. Here's the "article", which is really just a reference to my original post. And by "reference" I mean that she posted an article that had "Aunt Crazy,", a colon, and the name of my blogpost. I'm even on Zimbio for the same thing, whatever that is!

Problem is she must have posted it REALLY soon because it was the "cached" version of my original post, which spell's Jon Stewart's name "Jon Steward." DANG that Google!!

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

2010-11-21T22:45:00.001-05:00

On October 30th, 2010, hundreds of thousands of us moderates gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC to join Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. It was phenomenal. No one knows the exact numbers in attendance, but the Washington Metro had its highest - HIGHEST - ridership in a single day EVER. I believe it, too! Mostly, it was just a lot of fun.

Coming up out of the L'Enfant Metro.

Padma's Sane Sign

My Sane Sign (and shout out to our college buddies)

One of the coolest things we saw - just some Muslims offering double dutch.

And a cute man struggling with the jump rope! He was such a great sport.

My favorite picture of the day.

Aunt Crazy's attire

The crowds

Pad-baby

So true!

Love it.

They must be from Austin. :)

No service - BIG surprise.

The Countdown!!

Crowds all the way up the steps of the Art Museum.

A picture taken by the Park Police - which we'll probably never see.

Celebrating moments of temporary insanity in 2010 - our boy Steven the crazy flight attendant.

Another good sign.

More of the crowd was probably liberal, but honestly most of the signs were really neutral or really funny.

Having a blast!

Visiting the Powderly family on Halloween the next day!

Katie is a WIZ with the computer ... her hand isn't even as big as the mouse!

Dave enjoying his Sunday

Katie and Chris showing me around their new digs. The house was beautiful!

Kerry in the Playroom before we headed out to lunch. They even have a secret hiding place for presents - such a cool house!

What Beautiful Looks Like

2010-11-02T17:54:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry for the delay! It looks like Google has started charging. That's fine - I don't mind paying $5 for 20g, but I don't like being told in the middle of an upload AND having to wait until the payment gets through before I can upload again. We'll see how long this lasts. I may have to get off my bum and figure out how to post this blog to my www.auntcrazy.com domain after all.

ANYWAY...

5 years ago I met the Lual family. The first homework assignment I ever worked on with the Luals was an Oceanography assignment for an ambitious young lady named Awut. She barely spoke English, she had never received ANY schooling of ANY kind, and here she was, in the 5th grade of Holiday Elementary School, Richmond, VA ... United States of America.

And she wanted me to teach her what the Continental Shelf is.

Well cut to the next scene! Here is Awooda today. She is now the confident, beautiful young lady you see below, headed to her first Homecoming Dance!

I was happy to tell her "sorry, too bad, lots of kids can't go to homecoming" - I've had to disappoint these kids hundreds of times - but I made the mistake of mentioning it to Mo. Next thing you know, Awooda and I were at the mall shopping for dresses with the promise that Mo will reimburse us. Apparently Mo never went to Homecoming and REALLY wanted Awut to go!

Awooda sprung for her own hairdo (she also hit up an equally sentimental Uncle for $20 of it.... this girl is no fool.)

She was very nervous but her hair came out beautifully!

Awooda and her friend Reem.

This is how I NORMALLY see Awooda... and apparently her teachers do too because...

... when THIS Awooda arrived at the dance, her own teachers and friends didn't even recognize her!

Reem helps with the shoes.

Nephew Malu looks on...

Final touches...

Janeen waiting anxiously...

The result! Isn't she gorgeous? We were all so excited for her. From lower left to right, Adeng, Anger, Awooda, Malu, Reem and Janeen.

Malu kept trying to escape. Poor kid wasn't feeling well anyway, then we throw him into the middle of a bunch of girls!

Awut and I over the years ... why am I always wearing a baseball hat? (Picture above from Halloween 2006, below from this Fall.)

Awooda and Aunt Crazy

Congratulations Awooda! I'm so glad you had the best night of your life! 

Meanwhile... Aunt Crazy returns to Virginia Beach for her 20th High School Reunion. (Insert Grosse Point Blank reference of choice here.)

First sign of home - Pollard's Chicken!

Had to at least do a driveby.

I helped Silver and the team set up on Saturday afternoon.

That's me on the right - I am seriously considering walking around like that all the time in the hopes that I always look that long and lean. I'm also considering stealing Silver's camera.

Scene of the crime - Hooks at Rudee Inlet.

Enjoying a visit with Jenni's Mom Mrs. Roberts and her kids, Carly and Nick!

Jenni and Matt ... maybe a little too close?

With Brandon

"Barney" and his wife Janine, Mike and Alicia

Us back at graduation ... Now I remember why I stopped highlighting my hair!

Jenni now ... on the side of the Morning Wave truck!

Todd and Mike in High School.

Mike and Todd now ... ah, some things never change. :)

My loveley abode at the Geyer house!

The office formerly known as Leah's room.

The famous renovated bathroom! I took a soak in that tub and it was LOVELY LOVELY!!

Mr. and Mrs. Geyer: Extreme Makeover professionals.

Noah and Adam ... Sunday brunch at Rockafellers.

Noah, Mrs. G, Shannon, Jake and Mr. Geyer

Thanks Geyers! You made it a WONDERFUL weekend!

I'd like to take one final moment to brag about my cousin Katy. It seems like just yesterday I was attending this beautiful baby's 2nd birthday party. Now look at her! Ice Princess! Congratulations, Katy! We're so proud of you!

Katy

Katy again. :)

I can't believe how much work they have done. The house looks AWESOME! Only the kitchen is left.

The newly updated room over the garage.

The other side of the office ... full of treasures from when Mr. Geyer was at sea.

Well, if KRISTEN can do it!!

2010-10-08T13:49:00.003-04:00

So today on People.com I saw that Kristen Chenoweth, an adoptee, is not only a big adoption philanthropist, but may also be considering adopting!

I mean seriously, could we have ANY MORE in common? Aside from our phenomenal resemblance, we have exactly the same singing voice, natural acting talent, and charming personality. Now this? Dang girl, could you please GET OFF MY COATTAILS? This "Single White Female" act is SOOO last century. Sheesh.

Kristen Chenoweth - Adoptee? Yes. Adoptive Parent? Who knows!

Fare the well, Canon 30D!

Aunt Crazy and her 30D ... it's a good picture of the camera, anyway.

My camera of many years died recently... or so I thought. So I sold it at a discount to a coworker and bought a new camera, only to discover that it was my LENS that was broken. So then I also had to buy a new lens (although Canon repair is pretty good so I'll probably have this one repaired.) In addition to the unexpected extra expense of the new lens, I also justified the purchase of my new camera by taking part in a rebate, whereby if I purchased a printer for $339 with the new camera body, I would get a $400 rebate. No brainer, right? Not only do I get $60 off the camera from the start, I could simply Craigslist the printer for some additional cash. Yeah, well, that hasn't worked. I haven't had a single nibble on this printer. If you all get framed photos for Christmas this year, you'll know I ended up keeping the printer! Ayayay. Did I mention I was an Econ major in college? Yeah, I know.

Del Ray Arts Festival

My beautiful college friends, Jenna, Mo and Pad

Katy won a rose contest! The Park/Kennedy rose thing is definitely taking off in our family. Maybe someday!

Then after leaving the girls, I had lunch with Sabrina and her twins at our favorite chinese restaurant, followed by a trip to Target for winter coats!!

Sabrina, Andre and Aliya

Aliya and Andre, who still has his chopsticks from lunch!

The fishies were a big hit with Aliya!

Stuck in Traffic on 95 South ... this was unusual!

I crashed a birthday party with Nicole (who was invited!) and ran into Lisa from Mary Washington ... a very MWC weekend!

This last photo is just BECAUSE.

Oh, Snooki. Sometimes the words "train wreck" don't begin to cover it.

From Aunt Crazy to Mom Crazy

2010-10-01T17:38:00.096-04:00

So I got to catch up with two, wonderful friends today. I hadn't talked to Bill in quite a while. In fact, he indicated that there was a moment not so long ago when his wife Jill turned to him and said "Is Anne dead?" That's what I get for my blogging hiatus! Rumors of my demise!!

One fairly important element of our catchup (after we got through all the camera talk!) was telling Bill that I'm in the process of adopting some kids. After the fact sharing and excited talk, Bill wanted to know why, after making such a huge decision in April, have I not blogged about said huge decision?? I told him it was because I didn't think there was much to tell yet! It seems to me there will be a LOT to talk about if and when children are placed with me, but until then, who wants to hear about the boring administrative details of the build up? He said HE DID. And he thought you guys would to, so here I am and here it is!

Blog Post #1 by Mom Crazy

Now, historically, I have been quite proud to be Aunt Crazy. I still am! And I forever will be! When you Google Aunt Crazy, you get me. You get me and my friends and my family. Out of the entire Interweb, Dr. Google seeks me out personally! I have my Brother-in-Law, Matt, to thank for the name, and I love it to this day.

Of course, the Internet is the Internet (profound, eh?), and if you dig a little deeper, some of the world's other famous Crazies start to come out. For the most part, these fellow Crazies are pretty cool, I think!

Crazy Horse! The Wild and Crazy Guys from classic SNL!

And one of my favorites! Crazy Harry from the Muppets!

But see, my life is about to change.

I am adopting kids. I've always wanted to be a parent. I don't have any kids. There are kids out there with no parents. Bingo! Well, it's not quite that simple, but that's the gist of it. Two negatives making a positive. I am reading everything I can get my hands on, talking to any adoptive parent who will sit still, finishing up my Home Study and re-furnishing my house. I cannot WAIT.

So what does that mean for you Aunt Crazy Blog readers?

Well, here's what I found out. When you Google "Mom Crazy", you get much more specific results. Considerably less cool, specific results. The images retrieved range from Lindsey Lohan's Mom to Will Farrell's gutteral cry for more meatloaf.

Here are some of my Mom Crazy query results Google was generous enough to share ...

So, in conclusion, I remain Aunt Crazy. An Aunt Crazy who is truly excited to be a future parent to a sibling pair who are currently in the foster care system. Oh sibling pair, I hope you think it's OK that your adoptive Mom is a little bit crazy. And I hope to meet you very soon!

The New Florida

2010-09-10T17:19:00.001-04:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Aunt Crazy's nieces (the real ones - not the multitudes of anklebiters who now call me Aunt Crazy!) have moved to Florida. Last weekend I went to visit. Ladies and Gents, this is a NEW Florida! I never knew a Florida without palmetto wallpaper and rattan existed, but lo and behold ... voila!

On Saturday, we headed to Busch Gardens with the Rawls, who were also in town.

The Swartzs get ready to trek. Pipsqueak couldn't WAIT to get to ride the Scorpion!

Elephants!

Baby Skylar was SUCH a great sport.

Poor Squirt was tired from the beginning... and we haven't even found a ride yet!

Nancy and Skylar

A rhino!

Matt and Rich lift Skylar so she can see the rhino too!

Finally - The Scorpion!

I was holding Kyla when Lauren started out (with Mom, Dad, and Nancy in tow!) ... she was able to put into words what I could not: "Aunt Crazy, I don't think I'm going to like this." Pretty good for a 3 year old!

See Nancy, Christie, and Matt in the second to last car!

What a drop! Pipsqueak, I can't BELIEVE you wanted to ride this!

Then a LOOP? Are you kidding me!

This is a zoomed in picture of them upside down. You can see Nancy's arm around Lauren and Matt and Christie in front of them.

Coming up around another bend ...

This is a good view of all 4 ... you can even see Lauren smiling.

Kyla, meanwhile, chose a more easy-breezy airplane ride. In front of here is a little girl named Kayla - just one letter off!

Lauren on the motorcycle ride.

Skylar and Kyla on the choo choo train. I love how every time the attendant told Kyla to keep her hands inside the car, she did this pose throughout the entire ride! So cute.

Their conductor was hilarious. This little girl was VERY enthusiastic. Her Mom told us - in way of an explanation? - "She's never met a stranger."

The Rawls greet Skylar after her first EVER amusement park ride! They weren't sure she's care too much about it, but she loved it!

The munchkins on the motorcycles.

Pipsqueak

Squirt

Rich bravely took both Kyla AND Skylar on the carousel ... they loved it!

Aunt Crazy in the eyes of a munchkin ... Lauren got a hold of my camera while we were waiting for lunch.

Lauren's view of the ceiling

The munchkins and Christie

This is an adorable picture of beautiful Skylar, but you haven't seen ANYTHING until you've seen her - on demand! - Stinky Face. (Patent Pending.)

Kyla on the hippo ride ... hands inside the hippo in the same pose!

The hippo goes over the hump ...

... and the hands are out of position!! They were back in position shortly thereafter! So cute. Like the Scorption, Kyla talked about the hippo ride for days.

Sunday morning. The girls slept in Aunt Crazy's clothes.

Off for a swim in the pool!

Kyla's view of Aunt Crazy with her video camera.

Making brownies while Mom and Dad took the Rawls to the airport.

While the brownies are baking, we - once again - review the Busch Gardens map to see the Scorpion and the Hippo ride.

Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner! Lauren wearing my pashmina.

Munchkins in the pool on Labor Day.

Munchkin cousins, Amelia and Dylan, came over.

Kyla, the cutie.

Ah, the popsicles have kicked in. DANCE PARTY!

Lauren went to Kindergarten on Tuesday morning so I hung out with Ky-boo until it was time to go to the airport.

Thanks Swartz family! I had a great time. You have a beautiful home!!

Labady Lap Pool of Luxury

2010-09-01T12:47:00.001-04:00

I had a wonderful visit from Padma this weekend. We hit Ipanema cafe, numerous thrift and consignment stores, lunch with Mo, a movie and a local coffee shop. She reminded me how fun it is to have nothing to do in your own hometown!

On Sunday I drove up to Arlington to Dearne and Andrew's for a pool party. It was a blast! Here are some pictures of the day. Thanks for a wonderful visit guys!!

The backyard of Nellie ... Dearne tossing a ball with the boys. It was so fun to see Keegan, Shane, Jack and Cooper playing together!

Mere and Emerson ... she was such a good sport!

Liz and Mimi

Jack

Cooper and Dearne

Liz, Art, Mimi, Meredith, Alex and Lori

Andrew making pizza in the pizza oven! SO delicious.

Liz and Art

Our hosts!

Andrew and his new nightly visitor, the raccoon.

He looked at me like I was annoying him.

The Peanut Gallery - Dearne, Liz, Bill and Art

FAST FORWARD

2010-08-27T16:42:00.011-04:00

OK, maybe we can just skip forward a year? I recognize that my most recent posts are from trips I took in August of last year, so I've decided to just DUMP various events from the last 12 months into one blog entry and pretend I've been blogging all year! What do you think? It's been a WONDERFUL year, including but not limited to ...

San Diego with Bill!

Bill's neighborhood, Pacific Beach

Trestle Beach with Kelly Slater

Sushi with the bro

Materiel with the Reyes'

England to see the Caseys!

Justin & Jemma

Simon and Samantha

Aunt Crazy with her Godson Ryan Lion

Out to dinner with Sophie and the Richmond girls

Torturing my poor Godson at Royal Trust sites

Ryan and Nana

Liz, Ryan, Sophie and Bob

Rewiring my 100 year old house! Repainting my 100 year old house!

The front hall

The inevitable HOLES from replacing knob & tube wiring

The bedroom being painted

Halloween in Cary, NC!

Lauren and Mema (with mask!)

Christie's pumpkin

My costume as Nancy Botwin ... which no one got.

Kyla as the Little Mermaid

Matt and Christie in Basketball gear (too bad you can't see his shoes, they were so funny)

Lauren as Cinderella

Post Halloween sugar rush with Garret and Ashley

Veterans Day in Virginia Beach!

Lunchin' with the Lundgrens

Hanging at Bubba's waiting for dinner with Brad ... what a storm!

Back to Cary, NC for Thanksgiving!

Aunt Crazy and Kyla

My Dancing Deer Lauren

Squirt

My first glimpse of Susan's digs in North Raleigh ... GORGEOUS.

Christmas in Cary!

Mom took us to dinner at the Carolina Inn

Back to England for my Godson's Christening!

Justin matching his decor

Jem, Justin, Mrs. and Mr. Crane

Night out in Cambridge with Justin and Jemma

Jemma's hamster Bruiser

A VERY icy day for a Christening on Whitestile Road

Jo and Mike Casey, Sir Ryan Benjamin Hugh Lion Peanut Casey, Liz and Bob Crane

Proud parents Sophie and Rupert

International Night at Maud Trevvett Elementary School!

Nyabol and Aunt Crazy

Los Angeles, CA to check in on Baby B!

Besanceneys, Rob, Nicole and Janeen at the Besanceney house in South Pasadena

Madeleine, Hannah and Brian

Hannah, Madeleine, Minnie, and Janeen (Madeleine's godmother!) on the way to Santa Monica

Mommy's little helper

Aunt Crazy and J9

Brian enjoying his margarita

Bill came up from San Diego to meet us!

The car ride home ... no, Madeleine didn't also have the margarita.

Buckeyes

Babysitting the nieces in Richmond!

Dollhouse creativity

Dollhouse dining room

The creators, Pipsqueak and Squirt

Lauren, playing in the snow in Aunt Crazy's backyard

Kyla the cutie

Lively Lauren at bathtime

Centennial Weekend in Florida!!

I know you won't believe it, but within a month this year, Gita turned 40 and Mary turned 60. Andrea and I thought it was a great excuse to plan a trip to Florida! (Of course, when ISN'T it a good time to plan a trip to Florida for February?)

A fun (but expensive!) trip to Clearwater Beach. Can you tell these girls are from the Northeast? Florida has probably not seen this much black leather since the Hells Angels were in town.

We saw this on our way to dinner on Saturday night. It was even funnier on our way back, especially after Mary hit the sake.

Wicked Weekend with the Girls!

Kerry, Jennifer, Jenna, Mo, and Padma in Richmond! We saw Wicked as a sort of celebration for knowing each other for 20 years. I am so lucky!

Liz and Tom Cruise (I wasn't even there, but it's a hilarious picture!)

Church Hill Irish Festival!

Nicole, Katherine and Janeen

Several bad attempts at making a passport shot for Nicole (which she wasn't allowed to use anyway)

For Love of Molly (FLOM) benefit at Joe's Inn!

The Belks

Adam H and friends

Cary, NC for Pipsqueak's 5th birthday!

As my last days visiting the munchkins in Cary, NC were ebbing (they moved to Florida!), I have to look back and remember some wonderful times. I'll miss you 915 Alden Bridge!

Mema

Birthday Girl Pipsqueak

Kyla, Lauren and Ashley after the party

I just can't believe my eldest niece is 5. It seems like just yesterday we were at her 3rd birthday and she was born the day before that!!

Altamont, NY for Easter with the Stauffers!

First visit back since the family reunion in 2007!

Aunt Morag, Andy, Uncle Don and Isabel

Making fresh scones (pronounced SCAHNS)

Uncle Don

Caiphirinas, cheese and crackers.... all my favorite Cs.

Chris doing a Harry Potter imitation with napkin rings

Margaret

Yummy Metis tea, compliments of Isabel from Paris!

Andy has been scanning in family shots... this one cracked us up. if you knew my Dad, then you probably aren't suprised at this picture of me, Maragaret, and Christie, kneeling proudly in a pool of fish blood.

Billy at my Grandma Gerry's house for Thanksgiving dinner

1981 Kennedy family (partial) in Altamont: from left starting with the bench, Christie, Aunt Crazy, Uncle Bob, Aunt Morag, Doug, Uncle Dave, Alison, Andy, Don, Mom, Dad, Billy, Danny and Margaret.

Building a garden with the Luals and Bollywood at Cous Cous!

Adam tilling the land

Clearing the dirt

Filling the beds

The final plots!

Bollywood!

Virginia Beach for Jenni's birthday!

Nick and I played with his planes during Carly's game

Carly

Nick, Matt and Jenni

Getting that hair out of her eyes so she can get back in and kick some butt!

Lunch with Jenni at Rudee's

Leslie's 40th Surprise Party at Legend Brewery!

It worked - she was surprised!

A happy hubby

KKidd and C-Dawg

Well done, Ed!

Leslie is incapable of an angry face.

Leslie, Mike, Nicole and Janeen ... nice night.

Raleigh, NC for the MS Walk and some flea market shopping with the Richmond girls!

Team Rector at the MS Walk in Raleigh

Starting line

Leslie, Susan and Kristen taking a walk in Susan's neighborhood.

The INCREDIBLE hand-knitted market bag Susan gave me! I LOVE this thing. I take it EVERYWHERE.

Susan and Leslie at the flea market.

Bee Ben (who had just safely disposed of the copperhead I had almost just stepped on) ... my hero!

Susan, Kristen, Leslie and Aunt Crazy saying farewell

The Caseys visit the colonies!

My gorgeous Godson at his first Richmond bar, Curbside.

Ryan and Daddy

Jamestown .... we were watching the introduction movie - honest! - but it was more fun to watch Ryan try to touch the projections on the floor!

Rupert, Sophie and Ryan Lion

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Jamestown silliness. All in a day's cultural visit from Sophie!

During Ryan's nap, Rupert helped me construct my dining-room-table-from-a-door project! I love it.

Mom and Ryan opening presents from Mrs. Kennedy and Christie ... I love the look on his face!

He liked the clapping when he opened a package successfully as much as he liked the adorable presents!

Happy Pre-Birthday Siry Ryan! (With a cupcake Mummy got him from Carytown Cupcakes!)

Touring the State Capitol building

The Caseys, the Windors, and The SHOE

Janeen's 40th Birthday!

Sophie, Mo, Mary, Janeen and Aunt Crazy at Can Can for Janeen's 40th Birthday

(followed by Sex & The City II!)

The Shaffers

Sophie and Ryan

Aunt Crazee (alternate spelling compliments of Rupert! Sometimes abreviated to Crazee) and Ryan in the Labady's pool

Sweet Sixteen!

Awooda's 16th birthday!

Fishing at Shields Lake in Byrd Park with the Luals!

Duk thought the hat I wore to Simon & Samantha's wedding was awesome.

Wake up! It's time to fish!

Deng (the Honoree, since he memorized all of his vocabulary words all by himself) with his rod

Ayak

The guys from the James River Fishing Association were fantastic! They were so helpful, so enthusiastic, and so patient!

Nyabol wanted to bait her own hook

She caught a fish ... no, wait. A SNAPPING TURTLE! You never saw guys run as fast as the JRFA guys did to cut that line! The last thing they needed was a city kid losing a toe.

Resting at my house after a long morning.

Visting Scott in Baltimore, MD!

Scott's apartment in Fell's Point

The cabin of Scott's boat ... it had EVERYTHING.

Cathy and Scott in the Chesapeake Bay

Drinking Prosecco on the bow at sunset *sigh*

HEY! MICHAEL PHELPS FINALLY LEFT HIS HOUSE! Michael Phelps lives in Scott's complex, and his house is about 4 boats away from Scott's slip. Yes, I stalked him all weekend. Scott wouldn't let me take a picture when he was facing us but you can bet I took one as soon as he turned around! He was at the restaurant where we had dinner, too.

The view of the harbor from Scott's apartment.

The other view of the harbor from Scott's apartment.

Amy and me at Jimmy's for breakfast on Sunday morning.

Scott, such a tremendous friend.

Lake Savani in Pasadena, MD!!!!

This is a backyard pool. I kid you not! This is why we return year after year, and each time is as wonderful as the last!

The Moggios :)

Small's birthday!

Lovely Lindsey with her cake.

And lovely twin sister Samantha with hers... ah, ladies after my own heart.

Lindsey and I fooling around with Faces Wild on my phone.

Off for the traditional Karaoke! The Savanis, Mike and Dori in the back on the left. Spies and Sotak (up special for the night!) in the foreground.

Kennedy (Aunt Crazy)

Kennedy, Flip, Moge, Small, and Spies

My favorite picture from the night... we laughed this hard the WHOLE EVENING.

Power Duo Alison and Sloppy Joe

Dinner with Darnell on the ride home

Car Pool Happy Hour!

The Delta Three: Kennedy, Spies & Moge

United Way Duck Race with Coolio!

Deng, Conor, Duk and Brandon

The Ducks fall into the canal

Conor and his Dad, my buddy Coolio

(Chris Olio to those who did not work with himduring an era of first-initial-last-name header pages that came out on every print job... ah, the good ol' days. Although Coolio had a great on, Stephanie Chitty really won that contest.)

Ayak

The kids feeding the geese

Riding the elevator in the Dominion building to see the United Way event from the sky. Brandon was cracking me up when he struck a yoga pose, which was soon imitated!

Kings Dominion with Suburban Family!

(Half of them, anyway!)

Aunt Crazy and her life partner, Meredith, plus Thing One and Thing Two

(OK, she's not really my life partner, I'm sad to say, but this picture cracked us up!! Meredith had to buy it.)

Shane and Keegan outside Three Monkeys

Meredith playing melodies with her feet at the Children's Museum

Shane on the xylophone

Keegan's sunny disposition

Shane in the echo chamber

OK, I'm not sure, but the MIGHT be getting tired of me telling them to smile. Or Mere, Master Maternal Manipulator that she is, might have said something magical like "I wonder who can give Aunt Crazy the biggest smile?" I'm telling ya, she's a genius.

Keegan at the orb in front of the Science Museum.

KINGS DOMINION! Shane LOVED this ride ... after his first time, he said "THIS IS THE BEST RIDE IN ALL OF KINGS DOMINION!" He went on again with his Mom, and Keegan took this picture with my camera when they came down.

Shane Earnhardt

Keegan Cole Trickle

Bumper cars!

Waiting for Joe Cool's Driving School

They did GREAT!

The Eiffel Tower

View from above

Mommy was NOT jazzed about this altitude. Neither was Aunt Crazy.

We were getting a little punchy at the end of the day!

Haha ... I love how these turned out!

FANTASTIC Staycation Haglers!

Cincinnati for the Porter Wedding!

Cousins Sarah, Doug, and Kalee

Newlyweds David and Megan

The Piper!

Mom pointing out that there was a Deeks that ran this Country Club! We're classier than we thought!

Mom, Jim (FoB), Jack, Christie (MoB)

The new couple with Ann and John Stuart, Grandmother and Grandfather of the bride

I never get the first dance shot; it's a major photographic weakness for me, but this picture I really like.

Don't know what Mom was saying to Christie but she looks excited!

Parents of the Bride, Christie and Jim

Newly engaged David and Jen with brother Chris, my cousins.

The Dancing Stuarts!

Our table - we had some great neighbors!

The 15 person van can only mean one thing...
Virginia Beach with the Lundgrens and Luals!

15 person van rented... let's go!

I could never document the day as well as Jenni, so I'll just link to her post here. We had SUCH a great time!

36th Street, Virginia Beach

Reng and (some of) the Lual Family

Some had been to Virginia Beach before, but for most this was the first time at any beach!

Duk

Aunt Crazy and Jenni

Deng

Aunt Crazy, Awut Chan, Jenni and her incredible kids Carly and Nick

Talking to Carly

Jellyfish

A little rough, but a beautiful day!

Hanging with the Luals in the surf!

A hard earned nap for Matt

Awut Chan's first time at the beach

Duk got the hang of jumping the waves

Rinsing off

Ready to go ... Ayak, Nyabol, Achan, Anger, Duk, Deng and Awut

Stopping at the Dairy Queen for ice cream ... I had offered them hats and I think maybe they felt obligated to borrow them, but perhaps they weren't really needed after all.

At the DQ with "my other family"

Reng

Aunt Crazy and Deng .... fueled by ice cream

Reng took pictures out of the car as we drove home ... these are the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel

And a final picture of brunch at Janeen's weekend!

That's it!! What a year!

I needed this Saturday

2010-08-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

I took the Luals to Virginia Beach on Saturday in a 15-passenger van that I rented.

Maybe I should have just borrowed this?

I can post from my phone!

2010-02-04T21:39:00.002-05:00

Will this allow me to keep up with the blog better? I hope so!

Landing in a snowy England for Godson Ryan Lion's baptism...

'Wouldn't be England if you didn't see castles from the airplane ...

More of the castle ...

View from the train to Cambridge ...

Papers on the lap of who could only be a college professor... Calculus in French! I swear!

Save the Portland Arms Tavern!!

Jemma and Justin

Kyla and Lauren at Christmas

Bagels and Lox at Lamplighter Roasting Co. in my hood - my new coffee shop!

At the Luals with Deng and Duk before International Night at the Elementary School. I promised them I'd wear one if my Sudanese outfits ... Which confused many of the teachers!

Nyabol and Deng

Little girl from Pakistan and Momma Awut

Nyabol and me

SAG Awards night with the girls.

Shane the lion

Keegan the clown

Aunt Crazy the squirrel

Dearne with a pearl earrings

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame poster in the Cleveland airport. Dang, I would have loved this concert!! Check out the fine print.

- Posted from my phone

Aunt Crazy and The Hendersons

2009-12-17T16:39:00.002-05:00

Where have I been?

I don't have an answer for you, unfortunately. I got FACEBOOKTIZED. I became obsessed with reading Facebook updates for a year rather than updating the blog. I'm really planning to get back to it - honest!

Meanwhile this was a draft post .... from DECEMBER. The actual vacation was in August of last year, but here goes! Greeting the Hendersons!

Jen, Dave and Anna on Sullivans

I love the happy, healthy, pudgy little girl displayed above!

Jen and The Banana

Anna Banan

We had a great time .... thanks for the visit, my Charlestonian friends!!!

Wedding and Vacation in Colorado

2009-11-03T16:30:00.035-05:00

Derek, this one's for you!!! Sorry it took so long!!

OK, Colorado! July was a great month, as you can tell, but it all came to a peak at, well, a peak! The peak of Keystone Mountain, to be exact. Our best family friends had a wedding, and the entire Kennedy clan was invited! On top of that, I was asked to be wedding photographer. In the immortal words of Shaggy from Scooby Doo, ZOIKS!

Jenny Fundingsland-Geyer and Seth Geyer, moments after their nuptuals!

We arrived on Thursday, which was the evening of the Rehearsal Dinner. Seth's family rented a gorgeous house near the Keystone Resort and - Zoiks again! - agreed to make the food! It was an enormous spread and it felt so casual and homey to hang out with all the wedding people in a house. It was also SOOOO Seth and Jenny!

It was a nice house, so shoes were left in the foyer! This made it more casual.... and not even a little bit stinky, which was great!

Mrs. Geyer and Leah playing hostesses

Kane and Heather Geyer

Jenny's Mom and Christie (my sister, "Mom Crazy" to you blog readers)

The groom, Shannon with her eyes closed, and Leah

Caleb checking out the yard (and the really cool earth moving equipment across the street!)

Mom, Mrs. Geyer and Mr. Geyer (my Dad's best friend from the US Merchant Marine Academy)

Billy and Noah hiding upstairs

Julia, Ellie (cousin and maternal Aunt of the Groom, as you can probably tell!) and my Mom

Leah, 3-week old Henry, and Mom

Aunt Crazy with Lauren (with my iPhone!) and Kyla on Friday morning

The Groom and my brother Bill... who is delivering the shirt and jacket that the groom forgot! Ooops! Oh well, if that is the only glitch, we'll be FINE.

Shannon - Sister-in-law of the Groom and Matron of ceremonies - and I going up the gondola from the resort (which takes you from the lowly Keystone Resort altitude of 9,000+ feet to the top of Dercum, which is 11,444 feet above sea level!)

NOTE TO READER: We are Virginia Beach people! A typical question we ask each other is "how far BELOW sea level is your house?" This is definitely a new adventure!

View downmountain from the gondola

Jenny getting ready

The "missing shirt and jacket" episode put us a bit behind schedule, so when it was time to shoot the bride & bridesmaids, there wasn't a lot of private locations away from the groom. So the brave little bride went - where else? - up!

Jenny on the EXTREMELY windy crows nest of the Summit House

If you're going to agree to be a wedding photographer, make sure all of your brides are as beautiful as Jenny. That's my advice. You can't mess up a picture of this girl - especially when she was so laid back and HAPPY!

Jenny and her girls

Meanwhile, Bill was hanging with the guys. I LOVE this picture that he took of Seth and Jenny's friends preparing the Honeymoon suite!

George Geyer and Seth Geyer (a la Bill too, another excellent shot

Seth gave all the guys Vans as groomsmen presents. Noah (second from the left) was probably the most grateful - he thought that was the coolest thing! We all did.

The Location ... I believe this overlooks Dillon Lake.

Another pre-wedding shot

Hold your horses!

No wedding just yet ... there's a storm brewing. Everyone back up the mountain to the Summit House!

Hail? Seriously? Hail?? Colorado weather is WACKY!

No reason to let a perfectly good cocktail reception wait until AFTER the wedding vows!

Seth and Jenny were pretty good about mingling in separate parts of the Summit House, although - as you can see - Seth was always near a window to check the progression of the storm. I think he was ready to get on with the show! Here he is with his Aunt Jeannie, Matt, and Christie. Unfortunately, this is where Jeannie later witnessed the wedding. I don't think you can over-estimate the effect of this altitude on people, even tough Ohio farmers like the Geyers!

Cocktail hour with the girls before the ceremony

Christie and Matt

Father of the Groom ... or "Grandpa" to Caleb

OK, back out again! Christie, Matt, Bill, Leah and Caleb are ready for the ceremony

The "Roger & Mary Geyer" contingent! Heather, Kane, Rog, and Rory

George and Anne Geyer

Jake, Seth, Noah, and Steve (left to right)

The Vows

The settingBilly took this shot of the Bride and Groom while I BOOKED IT up the hill and up 5 flights of stairs to the Crow's Nest. Did I mention we're 11,000+ feet above sea level and I have asthma?

This shot was worth it ... the entire wedding party cheering as Jenny and Seth kiss in front. The photo was Seth's idea, and I'm so glad he requested it!

The "George and Anne" Geyers - George, Caleb, Noah, Leah, Shannon, Jenny, Seth, Jake, Anne and Adam

(unfortunately Dave had to stay down-mountain with Henry, who was too young to come to the wedding at this altitude)

Photographer and Bride

A quiet, post-ceremony moment for Jenny and Seth

The Ohio Geyer siblings (3 of the 5 of them, anyway!) - Roger, Jeannie, and George

I miss Kelsey!

Mom and Aunt Crazy

Wedding complete! Now let's relax and enjoy the beer and bluegrass!

Saturday was a gorgeous, Colorado Summer day in Keystone! Music and beverages abound.

The Kennedys - Anne, Nancy, Kyla, Bill, Christie, Matt and Lauren

I love this picture of Lauren and Uncle Bill.

Kyla became a rock collecting expert. Collecting rocks and throwing them in the stream was top-shelf entertainment.

Why my nieces found it so fun to try on everything in my suitcase I'll never know, but they looked cute!

Relaxing at the lodge.

Feeding the chipmunks at Lake Dillon

Another Kennedy shot.

Kyla and Uncle Bill

Farewell Kennedys and Geyers ... I'm off to Boulder! Vacation Part Deux!

Hanging with Kramer downtown (on Pearl Street)

Taking the Celestial Seasonings tour ....

... with hairnets.

The Sleepytime Tea bear

My illegal photo of the teabagging sign. Snicker snicker...

Taking a "short" one hour, twice-a-day walk with the dog. Sheesh we East Coasters have a lot to learn about a healthy lifestyle!

Kramer and her dogwalking buddies, Frank and Kip

Visiting Caroline! Caroline's oldest daughter, Gabi.

Caroline making pizza for lunch with her son, Evan.

Evan giggling.

Gabi grinning

The pizza she just threw together ... how delicious does that look???

ONLY in Boulder could you buy Hemp Ice Cream.

The Boulder County Fair!! Woo hoo! Kramer with some crazy Scottish cow.

Me and the Boulder County Queen ... no, it was NOT actually that hot. I didn't ask.

Fairgrounds

Pigs passed out so fast he is wearing his bowl for a hat. Funny.

Some crazy goat-walking-around contest ... ??????

Barrel Racing!! A "Must See."

Last night - dinner at Kitchen with Caroline and Kramer.

Am I that tall or is she that short? Who knows?

FUN FUN FUN!!

Green Smoothies, Shakespeare, and Porch Sales

2009-10-08T16:14:00.011-04:00

So I have been trying to eat more greens ... which I hate. I could never willfully buy them in the store, but once in a while I receive them in my weekly CSA. So in an effort to digest these healthy, leafy plants, I asked Dr. Google what I should do.

He replied that I should process my greens into a smoothie. What's that? A SMOOTHIE? What a wonderful idea! Combine the nasty stuff with bananas! Peaches! Honey! YES!!

But one little problem: my blender was purchased in my college days and primarily used for bad margaritas and more recently, gazpacho. When I made my first green smoothie with that old thing, I almost gagged on little chunks of beet leaves that were stuck in the back of my throat after a large sip.

So...

Yes, you guessed it. The old blender sold for $5 in a yard sale, and my $300 CSA suddenly turned into a $700 investment, because it cost me an additional $400 in a blender. Ladies & Gentlemen, meet the Vita Mix Turboblend 4500. This blender ROCKS! I couldn't be happier!

And it still makes a GREAT margarita. :)

My new blender

This particular photo shows me attempting an Apple Pie Martini ...

... which actually looks better than it tastes, especially when I add the "bling" of cactus stirrers, little umbrellas, and flourescent plastic mermaids lounging on the rim.

So I am sorry, but we are still in July. I guess it was a busy month! This particular weekend, Nicole, Janeen and I went to see Hamlet at Agecroft Hall, which is an amazing house on the James River that was actually shipped here - piece by piece! - from merry ol' England.

Nicole and Janeen in front of the gardens

Agecroft Hall - it doesn't get much more Shakespearean than this!

Hamlet!

And the sale. I actually ended up having two Porch Sales this year, and although I got rid of quite a lot of unnecessary stuff from around my house, I can hardly say the hours of cleaning, hours of planning, advertising and pricing, lost sleep in the early Saturday mornings, delicate discussions with the rude folks who come an hour early, and subsequent trips to Goodwill anyway after it's all over make it very worthwhile. Still, it's an American tradition!

This was the crazy yard sale cat that I don't remember seeing before and haven't seen since, who made himself totally at home amongst our wares.

Sale at its peak

Shopper ... and cat. Actually, this is the lady who purchased said blender as referenced above! Blender is displayed next to the bizarre kokopelli candlestick holder that was left in my house by the last tenants.

This really was a funny cat.

Summer Day of Cooking and Laundry... but Fun!

2009-09-17T11:28:00.016-04:00

I'm still catching up on weekends from JULY, but this weekend, I go visit Sophie!! I was lucky to see her twice last year, once for her brother Simon's wedding in May and once when she visited Richmond in October, but THIS YEAR is different. This year I will be visiting a Casey family of THREE! I can't wait.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from a fun Saturday in July where I hung out with the older Lual girls for the day. The goal was to talk about healthy shopping and cooking and to get a few loads of laundry done. I think - when it was all said and done - they just wanted a day out of the house. Oh well! We had a great time!

Achan and Awut

The fresh pasta guy at the Farmers' Market.

Aunt Crazy at the Farmers' Market, coffee and wallet in hand. (Both necessities, I'm sure you'll agree.)

Running into Molly's friend "B" on the farm bus. I used to babysit for Molly when she was 6, and as she grew up with this great group of friends in Fredericksburg. Lo and behold, one of them lived a few doors down from me. And if that's not enough, we run into each other on an old school bus that sells farm veggies at the Farmers' Market!

Hitting the Asian Market (Tan-A for you Richmonders) for a few more ingredients.

The fish looked awesome, but alas, it wasn't one of the 4 recipes the girls had picked out for the day.

The twins, Achan and Anger.

Ayak

Anger

Achan

A typical Saturday's worth of laundry at the Lual house ... there ARE 10 people living there, you know. It took about 8 loads.

The Sausage ... mmmmm, meat makes EVERYTHING better.

OK, so maybe I haven't learned the secret of making pizza dough with wheat flour. It was REALLY wrong. I think I downloaded a bad recipe from The Interweb, because instead of encouraging the girls to make this at home, they were TOTALLY turned off by the make-your-own-pizza thing and decided ordering pizza is way better any time. Oy.

Achan holding a ceramic ornament she made me a few years ago, which I keep on my kitchen wall.

The pizza ... don't worry! We still ate it. Again, did I MENTION how meat makes everything OK? Particularly when cheese is also involved.

Anger on the back porch

We got a little punchy towards the end of the day. Time to comment on one of Awut's treasured wrestling shirts - Shawn Michaels. I am still waiting for her obsession with wrestling to END (particularly this John Cena person she adores), but I think I just have to accept that it is one of her passions and it will never end. *SIGH*

So after pasta, pizza, and something else I forgot we made, the brownies. They were actually all right.

Even with wheat flour. :)

Charlottesville Winery tour with the SAP boys

2009-09-02T17:40:00.012-04:00

Look at me - BLOGGING like crazy! Two posts in two days - can you believe it?? Of course, they're from July, but anyway ....

On Saturday, July 11th, I met Matt and Geoff in Charlottesville to tour a few wineries that Matt had researched. He now lives in Myrtle Beach, SC, so Virginia Wine must be earning quite a good reputation to justify this investment of time and energy.

Oh, all right ... it was probably mostly for fun. And yes, we drank half of our "finds" that day anyway!! I might have a FEW bottles left...

First stop: Barboursville. Beautiful location, delicious wine, great wine tasting "system"!

Grounds of Barboursville .... windmills and all!

Bottles anxious to be filled...

Herb garden, presumably to supply the famous local Italian restaurant also located here.

Onions

More vines...

Lavender, I think?

Bee.

The old Governor's mansion.

Next stop: Horton - there was a pig roast going on here that day which looked like fun.

Horton: cool castle, crap wine.

Next stop: Lunch at Smokin' Eddie's BBQ ... Matt and Geoff walking in ...

Matt really needs to not zoom in that close with my camera just because he can.

OK, there's a REASON I'm usually the one TAKING the pictures!!

I think that's enough!!

Condiments at Fast Eddies.

Turnabout is fair play, Matthew!!

Geoff looks good, of course. It's a shame. It would be fun to blackmail him.

Deep fried mushrooms ... just because. (They actually weren't as good as they looked!)

Last stop: Veritas ... DEFINITELY our favorite!!

The Veritas Tasting room.

More of the Veritas Tasting Room ... they actually bring the wine to YOU!

Matt, Aunt Crazy, and Geoff .... with empty glasses!!

Buying our loot. We all regretted not buying more of the Veritas Claret - that was so yummy.

More views of the Veritas Tasting Room...

Matt and Geoff laughing at me because I left the windows and the sunroof down at Barboursville while Matt toured us around. Meanwhile, there was apparently a DELUGE - but ONLY over Barboursville! We never saw rain! It took days to dry out the car.

Geoff in what we HOPE will eventually be his Facebook picture, if he ever bothers to get an account!

Matt's Facebook picture. :)

Geoff teasing me ... we actually SAW the woman who drives this car, and she looks remarkably normal. It's still a mystery to me.

Before heading home, we got a cheeseplate, opened a newly-purchased bottle, and walked over to the ruins of the Barboursville Governor's mansion.

The columns at the front entrance.

A view of an interior fireplace through a window.

The back columns from the outside.

Geoff, me and Matt, taken by a nice mother and daughter who also chose to trespass on the grounds after hours. Safety in numbers!

View from the back of the mansion toward the ... backyard, I guess? Some nice backyard!

This is the front of the mansion with the famous Octagon room. Thomas Jefferson designed this home, and I guess octagon rooms were his thing! Personally, I think it would be hard to furnish.

Time to go, I guess. I have to be at Bollywood Night at Cous Cous in Richmond by 10:30.

Farewell Charlottesville! Thanks for a beautiful day!

4th of July in Ocean City, MD!

2009-08-26T14:19:00.020-04:00

Yes, I know it's September, but here are the pictures from a VERY fun weekend with friends in Ocean City, MD over the July 4th holiday ... enjoy!

Ted on his vespa on the way to Dance class. Yes, I'm serious. But it gets better....

Billy on Michaela's vespa on his way to Dance class too ... with a pink helmut.

Taking the girls to the Minit Mart for breakfast.

Spies at a great fish taco place that I can't remember because it was 2 months ago! Sheesh.

Martha and Tim at said fish taco joint.

Hanging out with Tim, Spies and Martha at Coconuts.

Mary Paula cracking up the girls, as usual ... Erin, Michaela and Spies.

Tim and Billy

Taking a break for burgers

Back on the boat and headed to M.R. Ducks ... Billy dances, Marthat pouts over spilled beer, Tim lends a sympathetic hand. Of course, it was probably his beer that spilled on her.

Martha and Spies

Captain Teddy

Amy and Samantha with sparklers ... they did a much better job than Tommy Lee, don't you think? But like Jenni says, how hard ARE sparklers, anyway???

Samantha with her gangsta attire.

Aunt Crazy and Lindsey

CC at the Spies' house on Sunday morning.

Lindsey after Pepsi for breakfast.

Some of the modelling shots ... I think Samantha took this of CC.

I think Amy took this one of Samantha.

Back to the Lizas house ... Big Ted arrives.

Big Ted and his fan base ... the girls LOVE Papu.

Spies, Sloan and Billy at Seacrets.

Seacrets - one of the biggest restaurants I've ever seen! Something like 17 stages? It's insane. Good though!!

Sloan and Samantha

Tim, Ted, Karl and Billy

Lindsey and Spies

On the boat to M.R. Ducks

Ted and Spies back at the Lizas' house

View of the Lizas' deck from the dock. Ted and Michaela's house was like Bernie's place at Weekend at Bernies (1:45 seconds in, specifically - "...everybody parties from house to house, but they always end up here sooner or later!").

More Coconuts fun...

Amy took a picture of this for me ... it makes me laugh: an outdoor shower in the middle of a restaurant marked "Private."

Tim and Martha Spadafore

Aunt Crazy, Tim, Spies, Martha and Karl, back at M.R. Ducks for more fun.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM... nothing says "holiday weekend" like a bucket of Miller Lite.

Having a duck with Karl ... yes, we realize these probably aren't sanitary. Still, no swine flu, so we consider ourselves lucky!

Karl and Krista bid farewell. :(

On the drive back to Richmond, I stopped in Cape Charles (on the Eastern Shore) to check out the town. It was adorable! This museum had a lot of cool information from the time when the train used to travel all the way down the Eastern Shore and terminate in Cape Charles, before the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

Fisherman's Island, shot out the sunroof of the car over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. I have a lot of memories of crossing this bridge to go to my grandparents' house outside of Philadelphia every Thanksgiving.

I wasn't far from the Princess Anne Memorial Park, so I stopped to see Dad. Very nice weekend!! But was I TIRED the following week!!

Bursting with Beautiful Babies!

2009-08-10T11:32:00.020-04:00

Baby Casey!

First, let me introduce the long-awaited Ryan Benjamin Hugh Casey! A very dignified name for a VERY lucky little boy. He was born 10 days late and three days short of Aunt Crazy's birthday on June 22nd. Apparently this little English gentleman has actually already visited the States! What a well traveled newborn. :) Mummy and baby are doing great. I cannot WAIT to meet him in September!!

Sir Ryan

Looks like a mini-me of Rupert!

One lucky little boy!

Baby Anna's Open house!

On the weekend of June 27th, the Mary Washington College crowd reunited to officially meet Anna Jane Henderson at her Grandparent's house in Arlington, VA. We have been watching her grow from afar for many months now, and it was so great to actually kiss those adorable cheeks in person!

Some of us arrived at the Ballston Holiday Inn on Friday night. This was quite a road trip for Jenna's girls, Eliza and Eloise, so it was a great excuse to get gussied up. Here they are in their matching owl nighties and sleep masks. Such CLASS!

Eliza and Ellie

Here are the girls at the pool on Saturday morning. It was cold, but they were undeterred!

Jenna, Eliza and Ellie

The open house! Here is Miss Anna with her Grandma Rice.

Padma and Jennifer

Eliza and Anna

Anna and Ellie

The college crowd, counter-clockwise from the front: Eliza, Eloise, Anna, Jenna, Mo's sleeves, Jennifer, Padma, Mo's mom Eileen, and Kerry.

The birthday girls! Ellie and Aunt Crazy have the same birthday, which I think is so cool.

Eliza taking a picture of Padma and Jenna

Jennifer and her mother-in-law Eleanor

Eliza

Padma with her new flower

Eliza-eye-view of Kerry and Aunt Crazy

Guest of honor and her Mom... I think it is a cute mirror-image shot.

Eliza, Jennifer's Goddaughter, feeding Anna, Jennifer's daughter. Sweet moment.

Jennifer, Anna, and Ellie

Anna Jane in all her chubby glory!

Beautiful Anna

Ellie, Anna and Eliza

Jenna and Anna

Grandma Rice went ALL OUT - delicious food and cute little cookie favors

Padma and Anna ... Anna, dear, it's rude to eat your fist in front of a vegetarian. Save that move for your carnivorous Aunt Crazy. :)

Jennifer telling everyone the CRAZY story of Anna's adoption.

Walking from our hotel to the Metro to go to Cafe Asia for dinner.

Eliza with her Kung Fu chopstick moves.

Aunt Crazy and Ellie posing for Eliza the photographer. (The Leche-tini is mine, not Eloise's ... yet!! Just 19 more years!)

Aunt Crazy and her signature red-wine-in-a-plastic-Holiday-Inn-cup position.

Eliza the Photographer: Self Portrait.

Sunday with the Hultman Five!

After leaving the college girls, I had a great time hanging out with my High School girlfriend, Erin, and her family, Chip, Finn, Cait, and Ryan. (Ryan the girl, this time!)

Finn and Cait waiting for Pizza Dough

Finn, Cait, and Chip

The entire clan: Ryan, Erin, Finn, Cait and Chip

Finn, Chip, Ryan, Erin and Cait ... what a brood!

Cait and her pizza dough bracelet ... I hadn't seen Cait since she was 9 months old! Bad Aunt Crazy.

Finn and his painting for Mommy ... methinks there are many paintings and many Starbucks in Mommy's future. :)

A sleepy Ryan and her Mom

Cait paints a masterpiece

Miss Ryan pretending to be a carpet ... I was stepping on her belly. Little did I know this would turn into an aerobic exercise, because Monkey See, Monkey Do.....

Next thing you know I have three carpets to step on!! I guess this is why Chip has the trampoline over there ... anything to wear out these little balls of energy!

Very fun visit. It was also exciting to see the house where Chip and Erin are going to build their dream home, as well as the final blueprints! Hopefully it will all be done this year. I can't wait to see the result!

Giddy-Up!

2009-07-23T20:08:00.004-04:00

As you can probably tell, I'm still catching up on the past few weeks' activities. This one is from Monday, June 22nd, when I took the Luals horsebackriding!

Nyabol has been looking forward to this since FEBRUARY, when it was both her birthday AND she got to the "top of the behavior tree" 20 times for the school year. She went on to get to the top a total of 40 times by the end of the year! Pretty good for a little Chatty Cathy like her.

So she picked 3 siblings and off we went to Tall Cedars Farm. Here are a few photos from the afternoon!

Bottle Holder

2009-07-21T11:45:00.005-04:00

Hahaha ... I was chosen! I submitted this photo to There, I Fixed It, and they posted it! This is me in my high chair, with my bottle holder, compliments of JK. So far there are 26 "thumbs up" and no "thumbs down" - pretty impressive, although I'm sure it will change.