Kite Flying On the Mall

This weekend we were tourists in our own city. Our friends the Murrays invited us to go kite-flying on the mall. It was a glorious, sunny day and we really enjoyed ourselves.

"I likes me this outdoor stuff."

I thought we were going to fly a little ol' Charlie Brown kite. It turns out Chris is a super-kite enthusiast and knows what he's doing with serious, big bad kites.

Women and children (somewhat) safely out of the way of the kite.

German Sneak Attack

So there I was, minding my own business (and my kids) this past Saturday, when Todd calls on the phone from the hardware store. "Get ready," he says. "I'm sending a surprise visitor over."

With Todd you never know what you're going to get, but this surprise really was a wonderful one. And I screamed when I saw it, er, him.

Fabian Becker, our German intern from last summer (who lives in Germany) randomly showed up at the hardware store this weekend to visit and mostly to scare the living bejeesus out of us. (that he did)

He's in the States on a business trip and took a detour to DC to visit old friends. Wait, we're not old. I mean, 'dear' friends. Anyway, he's a great guy and we're so glad we got to see him.

Evening Ritual

Papa holding court.


Loretta: "Ahh, these silly little men with their silly little picture books. Where did my copy of Proust get to?"

A Red Letter Day For the DiPfeiffers

On Thursday March 15th-Friday March 16, in the year 2007 A.D., our family experienced something it had never experienced before or since...

WE ALL SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. Every stinkin' last one of us.

Why is this remarkable? For so many reasons.

Henry = has not regularly slept through the night since his sister was born, his fragile psyche now seems to need comforting in the middle of the night. So at some point in the night, he runs (at full clip) into our room until we soothe him and bring him back.

Adri = I haven't slept a full night since my last trimester, but on this night, I didn't even wake up out of habit or worry to see why no one else was waking up. Remarkable.

Todd = was fighting the last of his Bronchitis, so he hadn't slept well in weeks.

and Little Miss Loretta = well, NO ONE expected her to sleep through the night. MY GOODNESS!

And so, we awoke well-rested and completely shocked. Shocked, I say!

Dueling Leprechauns

Tackled leprechaun...

"Mami, these photo shoots are boring."

He's Got The Whole World

In His Hands...

Loretta held aloft by our friend Scott.

Mud Flops

Here's a pic of Henry and his best buds the Orvetti lads playing in a mud puddle. In the time it took me to snap this picture and take the camera away from my eye and back down to my side, Henry had belly-flopped into this puddle. The boy is fast. Peter and I quickly descended to stop Miles and Porter from doing the same thing. Thankfully, it was a 70 degree day (?) in DC, so I just stripped him down to his diapers. Covered in mud, sporting only diapers, he looked like a true hillbilly kid.

She's An Oldie But A Goodie

Papa and baby seemed shocked to learn that Loretta is 2 months old!
(adorable knit hat courtesy of the ultra-talented Gabriella de Ocampo)

"I'm two months old now. Can I please finally get my own phone line?"

Mama admiring baby.

Our friend Kenny visiting from Florida gets in some practice
baby-holding time. His own baby daughter is due this May.

Fun With The Little Man

A slippery slope...

(click on picture to enlarge)

Weeeee!
King of the jungle (gym).

Walking home from the playground we ran into a complete stranger (now friend) named Angela who let Henry help her with her garden. He stood transfixed as she showed him dirt and worms and rocks in soil. He watched her use a shovel and she patiently explained what she was doing in a way he could understand. As we left she said, "Bring him back next weekend! I'm always outside!" That is one of about 137 neat things a day that happens living in the city. Yes, it has its drawbacks too, to be sure, but I really appreciate and treasure living on a real-life Sesame Street.

(no talking frogs or furry monsters spotted just yet)

But we do have tickle monsters!!!

Todd and Henry regroup after a tickle monster sighting.

HALLELUJAH!

Little Miss Baby slept FIVE hours in a row last night!! Woo hoo!

Doesn't she look well-rested??

Hanging upside down (or so it would appear).

[click on any picture to make it bigger]

Really ready to grab that dangling octopus

and make it calamari.

Morning Serenade

Cleveland: City of Brotherly Love

The Pfeiffer Brothers took a sibs trip last weekend to my hometown of Cleveland. While Cleveland in March isn't exactly everyone's idea of a good time, they wound up having a ball. It was picked as a sort of equidistant point between Detroit, DC, and Louisville.

This is where they stayed. It's a brand new hotel in the Old Arcade downtown, and judging from Todd's NONSTOP rapturous recounting of it, a wonderful place to stay. Todd said it was very quirky, old-world-style, totally not cookie-cutter, and had great views and excellent service. It was also steps away from many downtown attractions such as...

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That's Kurt Pfeiffer posing alongside it, and a frozen Lake Erie.

Anyone recognize this house?

Okay, well, anyone recognize this lamp?? Yes, it's the house and lamp from A Christmas Story. This past year the house from the movie (it was filmed in Cleveland) was made into a museum, and the Pfeiffer Boys made it one of their stops.

Todd and Brett in front of that famous lamp.

[Mr. Parker reads a side of the box with the prize that he won]

Mr. Parker: Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian.

Mrs. Parker: Uh, I think that says FRAGILE, dear.

Mr. Parker: Oh, yeah.

Whatchu' talking about Willis?

Sampling the local fare at The Westside Market...

...and at Dino's Place Ristorante. (my folks' place)

How Lilliputian do my parents look?

Freak Mini-Blizzard

So there we were last Sunday waiting for Estela and Tim to arrive, when out of nowhere (although I suspect Saskatoon) a bunch of snow started falling really fast. In three hours the streets went from zero snow on the ground to this.

It was so weird and really really beautiful.

The boys biding their time until they can

get out in it.

Here's Ben helping Henry and a friend take the plunge.

It hardly snows much in DC, so who knew we lived a block from a really good sledding hill?!

Ben, Tim, Nico, Henry and Todd (taking the picture) made a snow pirate! Yaarg, me frosty mateys!

And they weren't the only ones sculpting with snow. Here's our neighbors Royce and Gabriella with their creations.