Photo of the described remembrance

A couple days ago I mentioned that my mom talked me out of a long term relationship with a turtle. She said something about if you love it let it go; if it was meant to be it'll come back.

The turtle never came back.

Street hockey

Our temporary place, a furished apartment, had more floor than furniture. Without all our stuff with us there was plenty of room for Finn to run and play. The apartment also had cable which meant that I could watch the Capitals play hockey.

That is a big difference from Cincinnati where the "local" team was 2 hours away and would rarely win. The Caps are doing great and are leading their division. Finn has gotten charged up from the hockey on TV and begun to revisit his old hockey stick.


Finn has some technique improvements to make, but is pretty good with stick handling and has a wicked slap shot. Sometime soon we'll get Finn back out on the ice.

Embassy Suite Fish

The Embassy Suites where we stayed when we first got into town was nice which we knew since we had stayed there before. They have a giant fish pool in the breakfast area that Finn liked, but now goes crazy for.

This is probably a preview of all the fish tanks, terrariums, turtles, hamsters, and the like that we'll have to have with him. I know I had (and still have to some varying degree) those things.

A smart move was when my mom convinced me that in late summer we needed to return to the pond the painted turtle I caught and brought home earlier in the year. She said that she didn't know what would happen when winter came and it couldn't hibernate in the cage. At the time it seemed completely reasonable, but in hindsight I know she saw it as the last opportunity to get rid of it without tears and trauma. It was a brilliant manipulation of the situation and I hope I can pull something like that off too one day.

Until then, I set myself up by showing him how cool big fish ponds are.

Alexandria's Scottish Christmas

Own new town has deep Scottish roots and celebrates them each year with a parade of the various clans through the city streets. The procession is filled with baggers from tip to tail and has a massed bagpipe concert at the end.

In addition to the bagpipes, there were Scottish terriers and wolfhounds in the parade. It was quite a sight for Finn and gave him a touch of his Scottish ancestry

Fixed link

The for the Thanksgiving pictures wasn't working. I think I fixed it in the original post and will try again here. Can someone let me know if it works now? thanks.

Nomadic life

We lived in four places in three weeks so Finn became very used to moving everything we had from one place to another. Here was many of the may trip son the luggage cart that Finn was able to take.


We've finally settled on one place. It sure is nice to not move around, haul things in your car, or pack every few days.

Last Good-byes

As we packed up the car, Elena came down to say good-bye. Finn misses her as much as we knew he would. We got their Christmas card in the mail and hung it on the refrigerator. Every time he sees it, Finn says "Elena".

Hopefully it won't be too much longer until we see them again, but whenever it is, it'll have been too long.

Christmas or Thanksgiving?

It's Thanx-mas of course. Since we're here in DC on Christmas day, we combined both holidays into one during our trip to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.

Finn got to play in the snow, which is fortunate since we're missing the snow that is giving the rest of the country a white Christmas.

The food was great as always. Finn got to eat his meal first and was quite impressed by the holiday spread in from of him. See all the pictures here.


While we can't be back for Christmas, we were able to see everyone and have the same cheer a few weeks ago. I am sure the food was as good yesterday and it sounded like everyone had a good time. Enjoy your Christmas Day too.

Chatting on the phone

Finn really likes talking to the grandparents on the phone. I can only imagine how boring it is for them, though they say it's great. I figure they have to. I can't figure out what he's saying most of the time, so I know they don't know a word of it.

However, Finn clearly understands what he's saying and thinks he is hilarious.

He's getting better at pronunciation, so the calls may get more interesting. Until then I admire their patience as these calls go on for half an hour. He would say "thank you" if he could. Until then he'll just say "tank ou".

Saying goodbye to Mr. Michael and Ms. Toni

In addition to saying good-bye to Elena and her family, Finn had to say good-bye to Mr. Michael and Ms. Toni. Ms. Toni would watch him from time to time giving us nice nights out. When we wold be out back grilling or relaxing, Finn would see Toni on her balcony and run over to say hi.


Mr. Michael always said he didn't liked kids, but watching him, Finn and Elena you would never guess it. He even taught Finn how to use a Blackberry.

Although the Christmas tree got as much attention as the people, Finn was able to stop by late one night and say goodbye. I think that Toni had plans to come out for the inauguration, so we should get another chance to see them again soon.

Movers came and took our stuff

The overs came and went in two days. The condo we picked out and watched through the old lawyers' offices being demolished to becoming the perfect place for us is now a part of our past.

It' always sad to close a chapter, but the new one is promising.

Final Play-date with Elena

Finn and Elena had a last big day together. They spent all evening playing together and when we went up to get him, we started talking and ran out of time for the baths. To save some time, Sarah and Eliza decided to bathe the kids together.

There was a lot of splashing and laughing. Toys were flying. Afterward we got the kids ready for bed together and the kept playing up until the point when we had to leave.


I'm sure that the two will get together again before too long. They always get so excited each time they saw each other. I know that Finn will miss Elena as much as we'll miss Elena's whole family. Hopefully it will be soon that we'll all get together again.

Wer liest?

Finn and I went to the Cincinnati Pubic Library one morning to have some fun. We noticed a great book for me to learn some more German. It was a big boook full of nice pictures and Finn liked a couple in particular.


His favorite was "guitar". He would put the book down and dance whenever we got to that page. His other favorite was "train". That was a hint of things to come. His goes crazy for the Metro here in DC and always points out the train that drives by our temporary apartment.

Although he can't really read the book, he has begun picking up letters very well and names about half of them when we play with letters or draw them for him. It sure is awesome to see the kid learn.

Hiding and Seeking Again

Everyone knows Finn loves hidng in the cabinet. He even tried to get Elena to play too, but she was more interested in his toy cell phone. Soon after this movie was taken, Finn lost his hiding spot and became sad and started to search for a new one.

At the Cininnati Museum Center, where the Children's Museum is, we put our coats in a locker so we'd be unencumbered for our visit. He spent a while exploring the lockers, deemed it a suitable replacement and started the game.

To answers all the grandparents' worries, I did check to make sure it couldn't lock, that I could open it, that it was empty, and that nothing dangerous could happen.

Cincinnati Children's Museum

The Cincinnati Children's Museu is a great place for kids. They have a giant ball room, a sand pit, and a water table along with many more cool things to see. Finn enjoyed a long morning there exploring what they had to offer.


The water table has waterproof smocks for the kids to wear. There is a miniature town along the banks of a river that you can flood by building a dam. There are sailboats to make and float across the surface. Most fun is the pipe system where you can make your own giant system for the water, not that I palyed with that much.


The big sand box was also a good time. The dump trucks could be dumped and the rakes raked. We even leared that the dump trucks dump outside the sandbox too.

Packing EVERYTHING

Packing up our house was a wild adventure. We had to separate things into three piles. One pile was of things that would be packed by the movers and not be seen again until we found a permanent place (by the way, we have a better picture of the new place in the post below). The second pile was for things that we needed to have with us before then. The final pile was for the items we needed with us for our thanksgiving trip to Wisconsin.

Finn was trying to find out in which pile he belonged. He saw all the packing and also thought it would be helpful to put himself in a box.



We decided that he would be more comfortable in the car seat and not in the box. We did appreciate his creativity and effort to help.

New Look

We're switching the look of the blog since "Cincinnati Finn" seems a little old now that we don't live there. I'm sure there will be another change after the second babe comes and we need to split the spotlight.

The move slowed me off the usual pace, so despite all the complaints I had last time I made post of the past, I will be doing that again until e catch back up. It shouldn't take too long since we didn't have much time to document things while we were moving.

We have a hose! err, house

After searching all of Northern Virginia and DC we have selected a place to live and have an accepted lease application.

It is a townhouse with a kitchen, living and dining room on the first floor with two bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. It has indoor parking with a direct entrance from the parking garage, extra storage, 2 work-out facilities, 2 pools, and a tot lot for Finn.

We've caught our breath again.

Reunited

We have moved into a furnished apartment for the next couple weeks until we can find a permanent place. Moreover, Mr. Pibb is back with us after a short but memorable stay at Chuck and Andi's house. It was well-documented here and here.


This pic shows the two frolicking and merry-making. It is courtesy of cousin Chuck.

Now Mr. Pibb is back with us and happy. He is on our lap purring and happy to be chased by Finn. Things are beginning to feel a little more normal again.

Better, closer, warmer...

OK. Today things are looking even better for finding a house. We left early this morning and looked all around Alexandria today having deemed the District proper as too old, small, and expensive.

We looked around near the Metro stops starting out and working our way inward. The ones further out seemed cheap and strip mall-y. They were still too far from the metro and a place a mile from the pentagon seemed like the best choice.

Then we stumbled to the area on the outskirts of Old Town. Now things are looking better. For the same price we found a few options hat are close to the metro for my ease of commute and close to the parks and strolling through the town for Sarah and the kids.

Tomorrow we look through Alexandria and move from a hotel to the furnished apartment.

Finn didn't get to nap until 5 tonight and is still asleep. We need to wake him up so he doesn't wake up at 4am. He sure needs to get out and run around. Maybe if we can settle on a place tomorrow he can begin to enjoy a touch of normalcy that he's missed for the last couple weeks.

We're so relieved that we found a place that will meet our commute, location, and price needs. One more hurdle crossed one this process.

House Hunting

We've been on a mad dash around the greater DC area looking at places to live and in-processing at work. Finn has been so tired he has slept in to 9 the last two days. More he is a hyper crazy kid for the last 3 hours of the day. He is also refusing to eat almost everything.

A notable exception was cousins Chuck and Andi's dinner which we were invited over for. Finn ate a bunch of carrots and red peppers and even tried a pita with hummus which came back out after a little chewing. He grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and ate part of it and hid half in the cushions of the chair. We were a little bit embarrassed by that.

Pibb is staying over at Chuck and Andi's until Wednesday. He and their cat Gato are not best friends. Their relationship involves hissing and stalking. It's great that they are still willing to watching him until our temporary place that accepts cats opens up on Wednesday.

We'll try and give more updates, but with shaky Internet access and little free time it may be tough.

We made it.

Poop adventure, Number 2

We've had a couple poop adventures that rivaled the misery of the McDonald's incident. The first is a tale of a visit to Carter's to shop for some clothes and then a trip to Gymboree for some bopping and hopping.

Finn had been acting a little shy all morning. I attributed it to shopping for clothes, which can drive any guy into his shell. Hoping to soothe his down spirits we moved into the line to check out of the store.

Apparently irritated that we didn't shove the lady ahead of us out of the way and check ourselves out, the lady behind us in line stood right on top of Finn and me, literally.

I heard a strange noise and looked down at Finn. He was in turn staring at a little puddle on the floor. I thought he had thrown up and began to get out the wipes to clean up. Then I noticed the horrible sight; it wasn't vomit.

I grabbed Finn and ran outside to clean him up. Of course we didn't have an extra set of clothes, but being at Carter's, we bought a new emergency set for him. His shoes, socks, pants, and undershirt were all ruined.

As I went back in with a naked baby to get the new clothes, I saw a peculiar sight. Sarah was hunched down over the woman's shoes who was behind us in line. She had been so close to us that Finn's poo ended up on the toe of her shoe. So in addition to cleaning the floor, Sarah had to wipe off a stranger's shoe.

Of course there was too much commotion to take a picture of the actual event, so I made this rendering of the incident.



Please keep this in mind next time you crowd someone or stand in their personal space. Karma has a way of balancing out these trespasses. People can do anything in their space and respecting it is good for both you and them.

Going away party: Part two

The second going away party held for us was my work. We went to City Barbecue for a buffet which was awesome. I'll miss that place.

Finn made a new fried. Lt. Steve and Finn hung out the whole time. I think they really had some good times together.

I got a couple nice gifts and some kind words. The gifts were a class picture of everyone I worked with over the last 9+ years. The second gift was a nice piece of costume jewelry.

The small scale model engine is usually given mounted on a plaque and often referred to as the golden colon for its undulating shape. My version is diamond encrusted and comes hanging on a nice gold chain. It seems that my affinity for hip-hop music hasn't gone unnoticed in the office. It was a funny, homemade and well-appreciated gift.


After lunch the party continued at the bowling alley. Finn was impressed by the loud noises, flashing lights, and throwing balls at things. He even gave it a shot himself after I left two standing on the first ball.

The ball was pushed with great effort and low speed. At first it looked as if the aim was true, but them the ball started to drift to the left. However, without visible cause the ball straighten course and then came back to the right. Meanwhile the lane two our left had thrown two balls of their own. Then the seemingly impossible happened. The ball struck the lead pin from the left and drove it into the pin on its right. Finn picked up my spare on his first-ever ball.


Subsequent balls proved that event to have been a freakishly unlikely occurrence. He got more gutters than pins his other attempts. We all enjoyed the whole day and he got to text his lady friends on Emilee's cell phone. It hardly gets better than that.

More chores

Finn has begun doing more chores around the house. Now he can help water the plants. He likes it because he can go up in the window sills and also gets to pour water.

Normally he only pours water on the floor and that ends up poorly. But now he gets praise for dumping water on something. Everyone is happier.

New game

One day when Sarah was getting new glasses Finn became bored with the mall. Mostly it was because we weren't sure how long it would take and we just hung out near the shop. That meant we couldn't go to his favorite stores like Lids, Cardboard Hero, and other sports memorabilia stores. Instead we were confined to LensCrafters and the couch in the middle of the mall.

That's where the new game was invented. It's called "Ohh no!". I throw his stuffed globe up in the air and let it bounce off my head while saying "ohh no!". Now it's a classic. It's not just for the mall, we also play at home too. Here's a video sowing the play. I've gotten to the point where I can head the ball directly back to Finn like a world cup champion.



As you can see, he finds the game hilarious. An interesting part of the video is watching Mr. Pibb way in the background waiting patiently for his evening treats. Despite the commotion, he just sits there waiting for 5 bits of food.

So we each have our own way of having fun at night: Pibb sits in the corner, I hit myself in the head, Finn watches me bounce things off my head, and Sarah sits back and laughs.

Going away party: Part one

As the day we'll move approaches (it's still not definite), the going away parties have begun. The fist one was from the hockey team. It was a very special night for me and meant a lot. Players that I had for one year five years ago came to wish me well. Players who hadn't even played hockey in a couple years came by to say good-bye.



There were a lot of nice things said and I had a lot of nice things to say about the players, parents and association. I'll really miss the whole experience, including the early morning practices. I wish the best luck to the teams, from bantam to varsity on their seasons. They are filled with talent and people are expecting big things this year.

Sarah and Finn were there with me and Finn had a great time. In fact, he was the life of the party and crawled up on the pool table and became the literal center of attention. He was fantastic the whole time, even when he got away and almost made it into the kitchen before I caught him.


Thanks again to the team for their constant support. I'll stay in contact and watch the season from afar.

Trick or Trick

Halloween was a big night for the Finn and Elena. They got to go out trick or treating for the first time. Of course, last year they were in costume, but this year they knocked on a door and got treats.

Finn went as a Finn, as we showed before. Elena went as a Dutch girl, which she is. Her costume was super cute and even had fake wooden clogs. Together they had a united-nations or Disney's small world feel.


The two went through our building knocking on doors for treats and found that our neighbors upstairs had a good stash. Knowing that we aren't big on candy for Finn, they had Teddy Grahams and Animal Crackers.


The kids aren't great with patience and figured a bird in the hand was pretty good so they immediately sat down and ate their cookies. It was the cutest thing.

All the walking and eating eventually wore the two out and they decided to change into their pajamas and watch a movie. It was a good ending to a nice day filled with costumes and cookies.

Moustache?

I've decided to join the latest craze sweeping the nation, growing lip hair. You may ask a couple questions. First why would I put fur under my nose? A group called Movember (think moustache and November combined) is encouraging people to go a 'stache for the month and use all the attention as a way of asking people to donate a couple bucks to prostate cancer research. If you'd like to donate, click here and follow the directions. If that link doesn't work, just go to movember.com and click 'donate' and search on my name. The money goes to three research teams trying to find better treatment methods.



The second question that immediately jumps to mind is "why so big?". Well, that gets more attention and hopefully more donations. I'll continue to grow it as long as it is working. Otherwise, frankly, the attention and strange looks really aren't worth it.

Thanks in advance to everyone. I know that the economy isn't the greatest right now, but a couple bucks times 1,000,000 moustaches will make a difference.

Presidential Election: 2042

Finn was looking out the window the other day which seemed to me like the classic president-staring-out-the-window-of-Air-Force-One look. So I put the pictures together to see what it would look like. Plus with all this election stuff going on, presidents have been on my mind.

I know he's not eligible until he's 35. Even then, really you have to be a bit crazy to run. Maybe this picture is as close as it needs to come.

Fall finally comes

Cooler weather has moved into the area after a late arrival. That means that the parks are now empty since temperatures under 60 degrees are far too cold to let your children out in for the folks around here. Ault Park usually has a ton of kids there every day, but now without competition for the swings, Finn had a ride on my lap on the big swing.

Double the fun

We figure that Finn has been so much fun that it would be twice as nice if we have another baby. We're on our way now with number two due in early May. Finn was so excited and proud that he got a shirt made to commemorate the event.

We've had an ultrasound and saw a lounging little baby in there, fully reclined and taking it easy. Everything is progressing well so far and Sarah's moving out of the feeling sick portion of pregnancy.



Finn was with us on the ultrasound trip. He didn't really know what was going on, but found that flipping the light switch was great fun.



We're so excited and glad that our move will be done way before Sarah gets too far along to be able to set up the new place. No word yet on a boy or girl, but well know more near Christmas.

Can't stand this much fun

Finn and Elena have been spending a lot of time together in anticipation of our move to DC. Although they mostly parallel play when they are around other kids, they actually play together. Besides pushing each other around on wagons giving each other toys, they copy the other kid. Here's a picture of them copying me when I was laying on the floor. They think it's pretty funny.


They're going to miss one another so much after we go. Finn runs over to their door when we go to their floor and Elena does the same when she comes over to ours. I'm sure they'll meet up again as they grow up, but it won't be the same from far away.

Caught with his hand on the apple chair

Finn snacks a lot. I figure it's because his stomach can't hold a ton of food despite the size of his belly. Like a true American, what he really enjoys is food on the go. He doesn't like to sit down for a big meal-like snack, but wants to keep playing.

Sarah's solution was to put his snack on a chair and let him grab and go. He loves it and will sometimes run to the chair to see if there is anything there. It is somewhat reminiscent of Mr. Pibb sitting all night long at his snack bowl. That's right, our cat has both a food dish and a snack bowl. The significant difference is that while Mr. Pibb just meows loudly, Finn can say the word "snack".

Big boy

It's been busy again and I've fallen behind in my posting. Hopefully I can load a few in the hopper to catch back up pretty quick.


Here's a short message to start the process and whet your appetite. Finn looks much older now than he did a while ago. Here's sing two-word phrases and counting. When he counts, there are 2 of everything. For example, he says "1, 2 bus!" no matter how man buses are in view. One day he shocked us by saying "three" but that was a one time event.

A Message from Finn

"Hello, Happy Halloween!"

Laplander Finn

My mom made Finn his Halloween costume this year. He's celebrating his 1/8 Finnish heritage and going out as a Laplander. Once we got the costume and he tried it on, he immediately ran out in the snow with our herd of reindeer and tried moving them out to the winter pasture grounds. Here's our picture of it.

Once he came back inside we gave him a cookie and took more pictures. Here's a close up for those who want to see the detail in the costume.


He looks fabulous and thanks again mom for making such a sweet costume!

Vaudeville training

Finn has begun singing and dancing to his player piano. Both his singing and dancing skills seem to come from mimicking me and contains little of the grace or mastery that Sarah displays when dancing.

The singing is a clear copy of my favorite method to sing along to a song. During the musical portion, I repeat the word "doo" as in "doo doo doo doo". I take this as another warning of watching what I do in front of Finn to make sure he doesn't copy all of my mannerisms.

The dancing contains every element of rhythm that I have, mainly none. What he lacks in being on-beat, he makes up in over-enthusiasm. Much like me.

This is maybe our favorite video yet.

Hide-and-Seek versus Hide-and-Go-Seek

I've heard the game named both ways, but I prefer Hide and Seek. Maybe it's because I'd prefer not to "go" anywhere or let Finn "go" hide somewhere.

He likes the hiding no matter the name. I don't mind him hiding in front of me. Maybe it is more like peek-a-boo, but I think there is no true hiding in that game.

Hiding in the shelves *is* fun. I would like to play that game too.

Things we won't miss about Cincinnati

Cincinnati is mired in a problem that the citizens refuse to admit to themselves: there is a significant racial problem. It affects almost every aspect of life from the hiring of Dusty Baker as the Reds' manager to urban renewal plans.

While it has always existed in the background, the other night it became a front burner issue to me when I saw this news story on the evening news. Since then, the story has gotten national attention, meaning that Cincinnati is now known nationally for the so-called "race riots" of 2001, the opening of the Creation museum, local radio personality Bill Cunningham calling Barak Obama "Hussein" at a local McCain rally, and now the hanging of a presidential candidate in effigy. It will be a breath of fresh air to get in a more progressive part of the country after our move to DC.

The most disappointing aspect of the situation here is that the public doesn't acknowledge that there is a problem. I feel that there is more clear and open hostility here than in Atlanta. Without a constant change of population old ideas beome ingrained rather than changed. While there is a constant influx of outsiders to Atlanta, there aren't many people from other parts of the country choosing to relocate themselves and their views to Cincinnati.

Demonstrating its percieved importance, the original news story was stuck right between the weather report and a report on a more life-like CPR doll. Even in this web story, they seem surprised that national news stories would pick up on it. That is how out of touch even the news department is with the significance of the story and the larger problem.

We moved downtown with the hope that the city would recognize the great potential that exists here. While it has happened to some degree, it seems that the potential of the cornfield 25 miles out from the city is seen to have more value. Perhaps the percieved safety of being far from people who live in the city is part of the value. While there is much we'll miss about Cincinnati, that is not one of them.

The most sincere pumpkin patch

Last weekend, we went out to Blooms and Berries Farm to their pumpkin patch. It was much better than I expected. I thought that I'd see only a patch of pumpkins and maybe some gourds. They had slides, goats, donkeys, chickens, bells, a corn pit, plus the expected pumpkins and gourds.


His favorite activity was the corn pool. They filled a large tub with dried corn kernels and let the kids play around in it. He liked it as much as a sandbox, but I liked it better because the corn doesn't stick to everything like sand does.

Finn was also intrigued by the animal displays. He stared eye-to-eye with the donkey, mocked the chickens, but perfectly impersonated the goat:


Eventually we got around to the pumpkins, which Finn calls pah-pie'. He ran from the giant ones, to the little ones, but kept returning to the bumpy one. He eventually got a couple small pumpkins that he could carry, which he played with for the rest of the day.


The one downside is that the weather was hot last week (mid-80's) so the pumpkin patch seemed a little mistimed. This weekend is a bit more crisp and autumnal so our fall festivities feel more appropriate.

Cooking Muffins

Finn "helped" Sarah make apple muffins Last weekend. He looked nice in the apron and concentrated very hard on stirring and measuring. Only a little of the mix ended up on the table and floor. Actually, a lot less than when I bake.



I remember learning to cook from mom and dad, and look forward to Finn learning to cook too. That will be one less thing for us to do. Maybe we'll work on "cereal au lait" next. It's a classic.

Aquarium with Papa

While Sarah was resting her foot from aches induced by her regained bi-pedality, I took Finn across the river to the aquarium for a visit.

It was a typically enjoyable experience without much to comment on, except that I haven'tbeen there when they have all the scuba guys in the tanks. They were cleaning the glass and feeding the fish, but more impressively, there were doing tricks for the visitors.


They would blow air rings or spell things out in sign language. An interesting sidenote, I don't know any of the letters for sign language yet since Finn hasn't gotten to letters yet, so I couldn't talk to them.

It was an entertaining visit and I liked seeing the divers, but I think that Finn likes the fish, turtles, and frogs more than the people.

Leaving things too near the crib

When Finn doesn't want to take his nap, he finds something to do. It use to be reading a book, playing with the crib toys, or cooing softly. At worst he would cry for a few minutes until drifting off to sleep.

Recently, it was quiet and I assumed things were fine. Then he started to say "uhh-oh" and cried. When I went in I was surprised to see that a ticker tape parade had come through.


We made the mistake of leaving the box of tissues close enough so that he could climb up and grab it off of his changing pad. He must have spent his nap time shredding the tissues and when he ran out, he got made.

Our lesson we learned is that nothing can be left within reach of the crib. We haven't followed that lesson well. A couple days ago we found all of his laundry in his crib with him.

Laundry Montster

Finn is still a fan of the laundry basket. He will crawl in them, run around with them, fil them and empty them. Simple toys are the best toys.


He started being the landry monster the other day. It's a good game, but he falls down sometimes. We just make sure that he doesn't play too close to tables or other furniture corners. We just want him to move on to doing the laundry...especially his diapers.

Big Moves Ahead

There will be some big changes in our life soon. I received official notification of a job offer last Friday and accepted it. The position is for a statistical analyst at the Pentagon. Obviously it means that we'll be moving to DC.

We're going to miss everyone here in Ohio, including the hockey team I coach. I gave my notice as the hockey coach last week which was a difficult first step in the move. I had coached the seniors on this year's team back when I first started as a middle school coach and had hoped to see them do big things this year. I'm sure that they will still do great, but I won't be there to see it.

I'll also miss the guys at work. I came into that job right out of school and have learned everything there. I'm sure that they have prepared me well for the next job. I'll miss all the characters and the drama of the workplace, though I can bet there will be plenty there as well.

We'll miss our friends the most. Getting to know people enough to become truly comfortable with them takes a long time. Just about the time we got there, we are moving away.

A difference between DC and Cincinnati is that I bet we get more visitors in DC. Most people we have told are excited about coming to visit, while visitors to Ohio can be counted on a single hand. The more the merrier and everyone is welcome.

So now that Sarah's back walking again, we have now the daunting task of selling our house in the worst housing market ever. We just have to take it all one step at a time. Anyone need a house in Cincinnati?

Walking again!

A week and a half ago, Sarah had another appointment for her foot. We were expecting that the doc would say that she could once again put light weight on the foot, but never thought that he wold say "go as hard as you can take the pain".

She walked out without a wheeled cart or crutch. The pain was pretty significant as first, but is getting better. Using the walking boot helps, but he wants her out of that in a couple weeks.

She says that it isn't the bone that hurts, but the rest of the foot, especially the bottom. I think it may be like when I haven't skated in a while. Those stability muscles have atrophied and need time to build their strength back up. Of course, skating and not walking for 3 months are very different things.

She gone farther each day and now spends much of her time out of the boot. A few days ago, we walked down to Fountain Square and back which is about 10 blocks.

All signs are pointing towards a quicker recovery from this point on. Last Suday we even went on a bike ride again. Dancing, running or other impact activity is still months away, but having mobility again must be awesome.

Outer Banks

Three weeks ago we went to the Outer Banks for a week with our friends Jill, Rich, their son Ben and their dog Fast Rachel. Here's a big group photo of us all. I hope you appreciate the difficulty of getting all six of us together in a picture looking acceptable. Getting the kids to look at the camera may have been asking too much.


The weather didn't cooperate much, but we had a few days on the beach. The rest of the time we either hung out in the house or founf inside activities like the nature museum or the aqurium.


We did get onto the beach few days and Finn had as much fun as we expected. The sand, shells, and rocks provided endless amounts of entertainment. There plenty of beach toys in the rental house Finn (and me) to play with, incluidng shovels, pails, kites, and trucks.


It was a good time spent with friends and we'll look forward to going back next year. More pictures of the fun are linked here.

Mural growth

By our house, the ArtWorks project recently painted a mural. When it started we were excited by the close location and the fantastic other murals that dot Cincinnati (click on the names under "In the Community"). Watching the scaffolding rise and the wall repair take place was exciting. We'd guess at what the picture would be when it finally came.


Here's the final result:


It's nice and better than a big brown wall, but all of our guessing and hoping may have created overly high expectations. I suuppose we expected on of the complete wall paintings that we saw everywhere else. Still, the technique is great and the colors are vibrant.

ArtWorks and MuralWorks are a great boon to the city andd have done a fantastic job of encouraging art in the city and improving the city's look.

Thanks Nana!

Sarah's Grandma came to town to help watch Finn before Sarah was back up and walking about. That's right! Just 3 months after breaking her foot, she is allowed to put weight back on the foot. It's painful and a crutch helps, but she can hobble about the house again.

Back on subject, We all wanted to thank Nana for coming down and helping out. It really helped to have her around during the hectic week. When we were back on our own, it was even more apparent how nice it was to have people here to lend a hand.

Things are definitely not back to normal, but they are getting closer.