Anna Grows

This weekend was President's Day, thus a long weekend (at least for government workers and bank employees). Anna got to enjoy Sunday night at a sleepover hosted by Aunt Gayle's. As Anna said, "I get a vacation." Anna took her kitty pillow on her "vacation" from Mom and Dad and had a great time at Aunt Gayle's. There was drawing, and games, and chocolate dipped strawberries....what more could a kid want? Anna has her own room at Aunt Gayle's, which she is very excited about. Mom and Dad were excited too and used the opportunity for a belated Valentine's Day celebration with dinner and a movie. They decided to splurge and go to a trendy restaurant in Alexandria. At the end of the dinner they concluded: 1) they are not trendy; 2) trendy places are snooty: 3) you need to spend $1,000 to leave full. After dinner, they headed down the street to Murphy's Irish pub to get some nachos (and beer for Joe) because they were still hungry. They

Anna's Great-Grandpa Kohler (or "Old Herbie" as he referred to himself) passed away January 24 at age 98. Anna and her parents traveled to Ohio to attend the funeral. Death is a difficult concept for adults to grasp let alone children - leaving Joe and Theresa pondering ways to explain it to Anna without frightening her. In the end, they opted for the direct approach which often works best with Anna. Anna studied the casket and great-grandpa very closely and asked several questions about sleeping and heaven. The questions are likely to continue for a while, but really - who ever stops questioning these topics? The side benefit of a funeral is the chance to see a lot of family members - many of whom have not been together since the last funeral. Anna had a great time with with her cousin Aidyn. Well, she had a great time with cousin Aidyn's train set while staying at Uncle Tim's house. When cousin Aidyn came onto the scene it was more like brother and sister rather