This past weekend, we threw a birthday party for Nicholas. He turned 2. It was held at Chuck-E-Cheeze in Herndon, and we invited close friends and family. I’m experimenting with various photo sharing options, so check out the following:
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Nicholas’ 2nd Birthday Party
October 28, 2008
Independence Day Weekend
July 6, 2008Another Fourth of July has come and gone… how did we do?
Well our community had their annual fireworks display. It’s always held on the 3rd of July so as not to compete with the other fireworks displays in the area (Washington DC, etc.). (I appreciate that thoughtfulness, btw.)
Lauren and Thomas are very afraid of loud noises… especially fire alarms and fireworks. I’ll cover that in a separate entry. Anyways, we’ve been trying to lessen their fear of fireworks by encouraging them to go and see them… if only from a distance. At first they protested, saying they don’t want to go see fireworks. Then a few hours before it was time for the show, Lauren changed her tune and said she now wanted to go see the fireworks. So we packed a cooler full of snacks, had grandpa join us and off we went to the golf course.
However, once the fireworks started Lauren got scared and wanted to leave. Seeing this, Thomas got a bit scared too and started complaining as well… so Alice held him. In complete contrast, Nicholas was just fine… and he watched the entire show.
So Lauren covered her ears and started heading back towards the car — we parked about 100 yards away — covering her ears as she went. I followed her, asking her to come back. She wouldn’t have it. I tried telling her I didn’t have keys to the car, that mommy had the keys, but she kept going – saying she wants to wait in the car… I continued following her. I tried picking her up, but if I took one step back towards the fireworks, she would throw a fit. We finally got back to the car and she realized we can’t get in, so she went to the far side of the car to try and hide from the fireworks… even asking me to make a “tent” for her to hide in.
Finally, I was able to convince her that if she wanted to get into the car, we were going to have to go back to where mommy was and get the key – and that was back towards the fireworks. So, she sucked it up, I picked her up, and we headed back towards mommy and the fireworks. She covered her ears, closed her eyes, and made me promise I wouldn’t let her see the fireworks.
By the time we got back, the show had entered the grand finale. It was all I could do to insist that the show was about to end, but she continued to say she wanted to get out of there.
Oh well, there’s always next year.
What makes my daughter look this sad?
November 27, 2007
Did I take away her favorite toy? Did I verbally abuse her? Did I do mean things to her? — No, no, no
We went to dinner the other night for grandma’s birthday — we went to Sakura, our favorite Japanese teppan-yaki steakhouse. As part of the chef’s cooking routine, they spray alcohol onto the oiled surface and then light it up. This results in a big wall of fire just inches from your face, much to the delight of the audience — unless you’re a 3 year old, scared of fire…
She (and her brother Thomas too) did not want any part of the fire. They would not go anywhere near the cooking table, without kicking and screaming. They were scared of it from a previous experience, and although we seldom go to Sakura – they remembered. They kept saying they had to go “poo-poo” so that they could leave the table area and go to the safety of a bathroom stall (where this photo was taken). They didn’t use the potty once as I recall.
We ended up ordering at our table, but then got sat in the back of the restaurant (which was mostly empty on this Wed night) at a table without a chef. We sat there and ate our meal, secluded from the other customers, and abandoning the others at our table.
Like Sister Like Brother
April 9, 2007Lauren recently got in BIG trouble with Po-Po. Po-Po was trying to put Lauren down for the night, and Lauren, being her usual self, was not ready for bed yet. She apparently didn’t like what Po-Po had to say to her, so in her childish voice she said: “Po-Po, go home,…this is MY house,…I buy house.”A few days later, after dinner while the family gathered in the basement watching TV, Thomas was laying on top of Snoopy and preventing Lauren from putting on Snoopy’s diaper. Nien-Nien asked Thomas to get up, and in response, he muttered, “get off MY couch”.
Goodness. At least they don’t play favoritism… they managed to offend both grandmas in one week!
My Traveller Profile…
January 12, 2007 |
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Your travel type: Culture Buff
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The culture buff needs to see a museum, an art gallery, a 16-th century church every day during his holiday. When he travels he is always well prepared. He has read history books, speaks a few words of the lingo, knows about the strange habits the locals have.
The Departed – Great movie!
October 26, 2006Alice and I went to go spend our last day as parents of 2 kids (oh, and my birthday too) with a nice lunch and a afternoon movie. We saw The Departed, which stars several big name actors including: Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Walberg. It was directed by Martin Scorscese (sp?).
They all did a great job acting — Leonardo in particular gets no respect as an actor, but personally I think he’s actually quite talented as an actor. The story was great — “lots of twists and turns” says Alice.
Although there was quite a bit of graphic killing by bullet to the head, I’d highly recommend it. Oh, and “Sleepy Alice” gives it a no Z’s rating (the highest possible, meaning she didn’t sleep at all in the movie).
Toot-toot!
September 27, 2006I recently finished a tour of the Novell Southeast Area, visiting 5 cities in 2 weeks and being the primary presenter for Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 “Your Linux Is Ready” Tour.
The cities I presented in were:
- Memphis, TN
- Atlanta, GA
- Miami, FL
- Charlotte, NC
- Bethesda, MD
- http://www.novell.com/yourlinuxnow
I thought the event went very well. Turnout was great (very high) and excitement generated by the event was terrific. Apparently that’s not just my biased opinion…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wow, I’m almost famous! Generally, I’m not a big fan of tooting-my-own-horn — but how often do I get a mention by name in the press? 
A member of the press was apparently at the SLE 10 Tour event in Charlotte… Big THANK YOU to everyone who supported the event – it was definitely a team effort!!
Last night I took a cab…
September 15, 2006Last night I returned from a business trip and took a cab back from the airport — Washington Flyer cabs from Dulles Airport. Usually they’re very reliable and fine. After last night’s ride home, I felt compelled to fill out the comment card and mail it in…
“Cab No. 469
This cab driver should NOT EVER be allowed to drive at night!! It was a scary ride! 11:30pm @ 9/14/2006.
45 mph on Rt 28 (a 55 mph road) — WTF?!?! On Herndon Avenue, high beam headlights AND he was straddling the line AND going 25 mph in a 35 mph road. CLEARLY he cannot SEE at night!!!
Kevin, South Riding VA”
Don’t believe everything you see in print…
August 16, 2006Check out these photos that have been doctored digitally… What’s really amazing is that most of them have been published in the press as if they were fact. Scary!
Runway Trash
August 9, 2006Hmmmm… I flew from Atlanta to DC today. As we were taxi-ing to the runway in Atlanta, I saw a guy picking up trash in the grassy areas between the runways. I just thought that was odd… I mean, how does the the trash get there in the first place? It’s not like someone on the plane opened their window and threw out a bag of fast food.
So how exactly did that trash get there in the first place??
