Harry Potter Weekend

Last Friday my friend Ashley came over to babysit and mommy and daddy snuck out to go to a party in Coolidge Corner. They filled me in on the details though. Apparently some big book came out last weekend called Harry Potter 7, and lots of people were excited about it. Mommy and daddy too apparently, as the party was called Potterpalooza.

First they had butterbeer ice cream at JP Licks then went off on a magical quest/scavenger hunt/putting stickers on paper. I'm not quite sure which one sounds the most exciting. I think stickers.

One stop they went to was this place called Party Favors. Mommy and Daddy had to choose cupcakes corresponding to the houses in the book.


Hufflepuff, Ravensclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor cupcakes.

Mommy took Gryffindor and daddy chose Slytherin. He claims the Gryffindor had run out, but I think there's something he's not telling me.

Later mommy got a pair of glasses from the cupcake place and a tattoo on her forehead from a salon.


I don't know who this is

On Saturday when we were out, a special package came in the mail. It was brought by an owl.


Hmm, what could this be?


Mommy said it was "Harry Potter 7". I can't read but I'm pretty sure that's what it says.

Daddy was so excited that he started reading it when he got home from work. He just finished it yesterday. Now it's mommy's turn. When is it going to be my turn?

Sunday was not a very Harry Potter day, but it was fun anyway. In the morning we went for a walk around a pond.


Pretty flowers by the lake


I took a snooze in the Ergo carrier

After the walk, I drove us to lunch at Margaritas.


Don't worry. I didn't have a margarita before I drove.

Margarita's is right on the water so afterwards we took our leftover tortilla chips and fed the ducks and geese.


Mommy and me feeding the geese. Somehow the rest of the chips magically disappeared after we fed a few to the birds.

Then we went across the street to the most amazing toy store I've ever been to. It's called the Construction Site, and they have all kinds of trains and building stuff.


This is a "ferris wheel" built out of something called K'nex. I'm way too young for it, but it looked really cool anyway.


Ooh... trains! What does it say on the top?

I played on their train tables for a long time, and finally mommy and daddy had to drag me from the store. Oh well. I know where it is, and I can drive now!

DC Day 4

On our last day in DC, daddy work up super early to go for a long run around the Mall and the National Monuments. He's training for a 10K. He took this picture of the sunrise during his run.


Sunrise over the Tidal Basin.

After he got back, I was up and ready for the day. Since it was Sunday, nothing was open around the apartment so we ended up having breakfast at McDonald's around the corner. After breakfast, daddy thought he would let mommy go back to rest and pack, so he took me back to the monuments to run around for a couple of hours.


Back at the monument again? Yay!

When daddy and I got back to the apartment, Aunty Linda and Uncle Dan were up, so we headed out to dim sum at Silver Fountain Restaurant in Silver Springs, Maryland. It was a bit of a drive, and I took a little nap in the car. Boy, it was worth the drive for the dim sum though. I had fun watching the ladies pushing the dim sum cart around while the adults stuffed their faces.

After lunch, we went out to the Arlington Cemetery. It was a hot day, so we decided to take the Tourmobile bus. We visited the burial site of JFK, RFK, Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr. and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.


Oooh. Cool breeze from daddy's blowing on me.

Afterward, we went back to the apartment to rest for a couple of hours before heading out to dinner at Five Guys and Thomas Sweet Ice Cream for their famous bittersweet chocolate ice cream. I couldn't resist the urge to try some.


Hmm... bittersweet.

With our bellies full, Uncle Dan and Aunty Linda dropped us off at the airport. We had such a fun visit and we hope we'll see them again soon. Next time, I'll get to play with Emma!


Clouds over the Potomac


I love Uncle Dan and Aunty Linda!

DC Day 3

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. My blog assistants have been busy. Mommy's been studying for a series of test to get her Hawaii State Teaching Credential. And daddy's been busy with his work while helping mommy take care of me.

Back to our third day in DC. I woke mommy and daddy up bright an early as usual. And after breakfast at Starbucks, we took the metro to the National Zoo. It was a great place for early birds like me since the Zoo opens at 6am! By the time we actually got there, it was 8am, but we still had the whole zoo to ourselves. And the best part is that it was free! We walked around for a few hours checking out the animals that were awake.


Panda bear.


Yum. Breakfast time.


Me hug panda.


Meerkat on patrol.


Tiny baby meerkats nestled between the adults.

We met Aunty Linda and Uncle Dan for lunch at 2Amys where we had yummy donuts and pizzas. Afterwards, it was back to the Zoo for gelato and more animal watching. It was good that we went back since we got to see the orangutans cross the O line to get from the Think Tank to the Great Ape House. Too bad daddy was too busy watching the orangutans that he forgot to take a picture.

After going back to the apartment for some rest and relaxation, Uncle Dan and Aunty Linda took us out for Thai food at Neisha for dinner. The waitresses there loved me. They called me "Oun" which means "fatty" in Thai since they couldn't say "Owen". I really liked the yummy food too. My favorite was the tod mun goong.

As if we didn't have enough to eat, we went out for dessert at the Dairy Godmother where the adults had frozen custard. Mommy and daddy wish there was a place like this in Boston! So after the big meal and big dessert, we took a walk to the playground so I can burn some energy.


I'm steering the boat after yummy frozen custard.

DC Day 2

On our second day in DC, mommy and daddy said we were going to go to the mall. I've been to the mall before, but this wasn't like any mall I've been to. There were lots of museums and places for me to play, but no playground equipment, sadly enough.

First stop was the Air and Space Museum.


Here I am learning about turbulence or something. I liked spinning the wheel.


And some planes. Daddy said they are very important airplanes, but they're not flying now, so I wasn't that interested.


Here is mommy with a mini McDonalds truck. Or maybe we all grew bigger overnight and the truck just seems smaller?

At one part of the mall there were all these police officers riding their motorcycles around. Daddy said it was some kind of motorcycle competition, but they were sure riding really slowly.


Vroomy vroom vroom

Afterwards it was time for lunch. We went to the National Gallery of Art for lunch and then we stopped in the bookstore. I got a new book! I like the National Gallery!


While mommy and daddy look at the pictures on the wall, I can see the pictures in my book!


Or maybe there's something interesting on the ceiling!

This is in between the two buildings of the National Gallery. Mommy said someone famous designed these. He's called I'm Pay?


Mommy is looking down on where we ate lunch

After the National Gallery we went to see some animals at the Natural History museum.


These are mini elephants

I was getting tired since I didn't have any nap yet, so I fell asleep on the way home. We stopped in the park across from the big white house so I could sleep.


Boy Scouts on patrol

DC is such a neat city. They have big buses all over the place. Here is one bus that daddy wanted to take a picture of.


Something just isn't right about this sign

Then we went back to Uncle Dan and Aunty Linda's place, but instead of going into their apartment, we went up to the roof.


I had no idea they have a secret rock collection too!

Back at the apartment, Uncle Dan read me another new book I got from the Gallery.


That's a big bunny!


Eating churros and gelato at the Argentinean gelato place. I like DC!

Tomorrow, more animals and a playground!

And... we're back

Last weekend we went to see Uncle Dan and Aunty Linda in a place called Washington, DC. I haven't seen them since my first birthday party, so it was good to catch up. DC was cool too.

We took the airplane down to DC, which was pretty exciting since one of my new loves is pointing up into the sky and saying "Pay!" which translates into "Plane!"

We took the bus and the train into town, and Aunty Linda met us and brought us up to their pad. There was all kinds of cool stuff to see.


I'm not sure what this slot is for. It looks like a good place to store my goldfish.

Since Aunty Linda has to take a nap in the afternoon, we went out to explore the city. First stop was this big white house.


Here's the back door


We couldn't get very close to the front, but it looked like someone important lived there.

Then we went to go see this rocket ship. Daddy said you have to wake up early to get tickets so you can go to the top of the rocket. I wake up early, but the whole time we still didn't get those tickets.


Yay rockets!

After looking at the rocket, we walked down the hill and went to this big pool with all kinds of columns around it. Mommy said it's called the World War II Memorial.


One of the important posts

Then we went to the Korean War Memorial. I don't remember it because I decided that it was time for a nap before we got there.


Here I am napping in my new carrier


The soldiers looked like they were leading the tourists up the hill

I was still sleeping when we got to the Lincoln Memorial.


This little boy was studying Lincoln's speeches


I was still sleeping


Mommy wishes someone could carry her while she naps

I woke up by the time we got back to Aunty Linda and Uncle Dan's place.


I checked out their new car seat to make sure it was safe for baby Emma

Then we went to dinner, bath, and sleepytime-- just like at home, except mommy and daddy got to fall asleep in the same room as me! I knew then I was going to like the trip. Day 2 tomorrow, where we go to the mall!

More fun with friends

On Sunday, Aunty Sarita and mommy went away for the afternoon to take a card-making class without Ronak and me.


Aunty Sarita and mommy at their card-making class.

Daddy stayed home to put me down for my nap, and ended up napping too. When mommy got home, she found the whole house super dark since daddy closed all the blinds. And both daddy and I were still asleep! We had been asleep for over 3 hours by the time mommy came home to wake us up to go to Ronak's house.

It's always so much fun playing at Ronak's house. It was especially nice this time because Ronak's grandparents were visiting from Texas. Ronak's grandma (Ajji) made a huge Indian feast. I really loved the paneer and paratha she made. They even got me a present! Ajji and Tata are so nice, I hope to see them again soon.


I wonder what they could be.


Ronak and I got matching school buses from Ajji and Tata.

On Monday, I had my 18-month appointment with my doctor. She's now reassured that I'm growing well since I'm now back on the growth curve. A funny thing happened when the nurse wanted to check my weight. Normally, the nurse would wheel in a big cart with a baby scale on it for me to sit on. But on Monday, the nurse told my mom to strip me to my diaper and walk me over to the big kid's scale that I have to stand up on to get the measurement. I was so surprised, I just stood there. Then the adults clapped and make a big commotion about how much weight I gained and how well I did on the scale. Weird! If you're curious, I'm now 32 inches, and 21 lbs 6 oz. According to daddy, I'm still on the thin side, but at least I'm making progress.

Later that day, Aunty Karna, Uncle Carl, and Aunty Joy came over for dinner. I was told that Uncle Carl and Aunty Joy are going to have a little baby in a couple of weeks. Yay, another playmate for me! After dinner, I showed Uncle Carl my set of wheels. Then Uncle Carl gave me an airplane ride. It was so awesome since I was high enough to touch the ceiling! I also got to chase him around the house, but he's too fast for me since his legs are much much longer than mine.


Uncle Carl playing cars with me

Yesterday, daddy had the day off so we took a long drive up to Kittery, Maine to meet Gina, a math teacher mommy used to work with in LA before I was born. Gina taught mommy how to use the sewing machine and how to make quilts. The first time I met Gina, I was only 6 weeks old! She said I am much bigger now.


Meeting Gina at the Kittery Outlet. Sorry for not smiling, I saw some flowers I wanted to play with.