Anna Grows

Anthony (left), Anna, & Thomas began at Ms. Be's together as babies. Last Thursday was Anna's friend Anthony's last day at Ms. Be's daycare. Anna and Anthony have been at Ms. Be's together for 3 years. Anthony, otherwise known as "Thomas"- his train ultra-ego, is moving to San Diego where his Dad will be stationed with the Navy. Anna and Anthony are good buddies and have spent their formative pre -school years together learning such things as eating with utensils, potty training, riding tricycles, reading, and counting. They were also the train leaders at Ms. Be's, assigning train names to the other kids. One of the things Anna is already learning is that Washington is a very transient area. With the departure of Anthony for California and Caitlyn for kindergarten , Anna is officially the "big kid" at Ms. Be's. Caitlyn attempted to provide some leadership training for Anna before she departed, but Anna has some additional lessons t...

July 4th weekend was an extra-long one, thanks to the bonus day of July 5 to "observe" the holiday weekend. There were many potential plans for the long weekend, including visits from out of town guests. On the visitor roster were Grandma and Grandpa, who were going to come babysitt for Anna the week prior to the holiday while Ms. Be was on vacation. As always, plans change. The first change was with Grandma and Grandpa's travel plans thanks to a torn ligament in the knee (Grandma) and a partially torn rotator cuff (Grandpa). Grandma's subsequent surgery and Grandpa's therapy grounded both of them (although they somehow managed to trim 20 bushes and haul several bags of mulch while still down a limb). Fortunately Kelly, the teenager next door, was able to babysit for the week. Joe and Theresa quickly discovered that Kelly was better qualified to take care of Anna than her parents after she provided a list of credentials t hat included babysitting certifications,...

Let the ballet begin! Today Anna started her first ballet class. To say she was excited would be an understatement. Since Mom didn't know exactly what attire was required of a 3 year old ballerina (and because she did not want to spend any more money than necessary on something Anna will outgrow in 3 months), Anna wore a dress to class. Anna kept telling her parents that she needed to go to the store to get a "beautiful tutu." Fortunately for this class, the instructor lent her a beautiful purple tutu. Anna had a great time with her instructor. She now knows how to do first position, the rainbow stretch and assorted other stretching moves which she will be happy to show anyone. She is already looking forward to the next class. Theresa resolved the tutu issue and picked up the purple attire and requisite ballet shoes later in the afternoon. Anna was so excited that she wore it the rest of the day and practiced her ballet moves. She is now referring to herself as "the ...

Happy Father's Day to Joe! What a day it was. First, Joe got to sleep in late (9 AM as opposed to the usual 6:30 AM Anna wake-up time). After a leisurely breakfast on the back patio, he opened his father's day gift -- a cordless leaf blower (as requested and available at the local Home Depot). The rest of the day was spent picnicking at Great Falls National Park, reading the Sunday paper, watching golf on TV, a visit to the swimming pool, and a roasted chicken dinner. Unfortunately Joe was required to grill the chicken for his dinner, but Theresa decided it was better for all involved (including the chicken) if Joe was the chef. Happy Father's Day!

June 13 is a big weekend if your name is Anthony. It was the weekend for the St. Anthony's festival and Joe, Theresa, and Anna received an invitation to join Robin and her family in Delaware to attend the St. Anthony Italian festival in Wilmington. Unfortunately, Robin's Dad was on jury duty the prior week for an attempted murder trial and was not particularly comfortable walking the streets of Wilmington, thus plans were changed. Fortunately St. Anthony is celebrated beyond Wilmington, so everyone was able to meet up for the St. Anthony festival in Baltimore's Little Italy. The first stop was the Baltimore Children's Museum where Robin and Anna had a great time playing. From there it was off to the St. Anthony festival where the main attraction was the food (Joe and Mike enjoyed the Italian sausages while the girls hit the cannoli stand). There was also a band singing Frank Sinatra music with dancers that could be seen wearing a significant amount of polyester. We mi...

Actually, we do...especially if you are vacationing in the South. After all, there is a reason there is a strong correlation between population growth in the South and the widespread use of air conditioning. Let's start from the beginning. We headed off to the beautiful (and oil-free) beaches of the Outer Banks for our annual Memorial Week vacation to lovely Duck, NC. Anna was extremely excited as we packed the car - chatting about building sand castles, flying her Dora kite, and going fishing. When we arrived, she saw the swimming pool and did not want to do any of the previously mentioned items. In fact, we could barely get her out of the swimming pool without some sort of bribery or small stand-off. She loves the water and was swimming by herself, with the aid of a life jacket. Anna had a great week. In addition to the pool, there were several kids her age there for her to play with. Unfortunately, she seemed to be mostly drawn to the boys - particularly 4-year old Mase. Mase wa...

It was a whirlwind trip to New York over the weekend with something for everyone. The reason for the trip was for Joe and Theresa to attend a wedding; however, the bonus was the time Anna was able to spend with her Aunt Loren, Aunt Mary, Cousin James, and Uncle Joe. Aunt Mary, assisted by Aunt Loren, volunteered to watch Anna while Joe and Theresa went into the city. Thanks to the long ride up to New York on Friday night, in which Anna was too excited to sleep in the car, she took almost a 4 hour nap right after Joe and Theresa left. This also provided the opportunity for Aunt Mary to take a nap. This was followed by a trip to the playground, a stop at the store where her aunts purchased Anna princess ball, pizza, and a movie. Apparently Aunt Mary let Anna eat dinner on the couch while watching television with a "special tray" for her food. Theresa reminded Anna that the special tray only exists at Aunt Mary's. Anna was also treated to ice cream and a bubble bath. Anna le...