sam and august

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Originally uploaded by smalldognet

Sam and August are having a great time together.

Inauguration 2009

Arla, Chris & Kate attended the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama (Sam stayed with his Orcas grandparents, Carol & Ed Sutton--thank you)! It was a spectacular trip, and I've detailed it below for those who are interested in reading on.

Our photos are on flickr site here: http://flickr.com/photos/79586203@N00/sets/72157612971349654/

An amazing zoom-able photo of event is on David Bergman's Gigapan: http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374

Here's the story of our trip:
On Sunday, January 18 we rose early and headed for the red-eye boat off of Orcas; our flight from SeaTac was at 2pm. We traveled through Denver to Baltimore and met Grama Margy at an airport hotel, arriving Baltimore at 1 am. (Margy was smart enough to get a second room when she discovered there was just one king bed in the room I reserved.)

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. day and we started the day with a shuttle bus from the hotel to the MARC train, where we boarded a train to DC. The train was PACKED with happy tourists and in our car was a college group scheduled to be in the Inaugural parade; they were a mariachi band. Another tourist was randomly video taping her seatmates on the bus, asking where they were from, etc. The spirit was of excitement.

We arrived at DC's Union Station and walked in front (in back?) of the US Capitol to the Cannon Office Building, where we found long lines getting past security into the office buildings. We were there to pick up two tickets from Representative Rick Larson's Office. Once inside, Margy sought out her Representative's office optimistic that she would get two more tickest; Arla found a pink doughnut at the Congressman's reception; and we picked up our tickets and a few photos.

Next we headed out onto the National Mall to check out the scene. Much was still being done to set up, and there were people everywhere! We found were our two seats would be in the "grey section" and learned that it was a standing area (no seats) and quite a ways back. I think it was at this point that we decided we probably would not use our tickets (and split up) but instead join the crowds further back on the Mall and watch on the jumboton monitors.

We walked the Mall and phoned friends Erika, Clayton and Miles, who were visiting from Brooklyn NY and met them at the carousel. I had forgotten about the carousel on the Mall, but it was a welcome site for Miles & Arla! Next we made a lunch plan and headed to the National American History Museum and visited their cafe.

After a nice lunch with our friends, we said goodbye in hopes for seeing them again on Inauguration Day, should it be logistically feasible.

Arla had been most interested in visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall when we told her about our trip to DC. I was impressed that she even knew about the Wall; a book that she read in kindergarten made a great impression. We headed to the Wall and walked the memorial with many others who were visiting. Arla tried the paper and pencil-brushing technique she had learned about and we talked about what all the names represented.

Tired, we headed to the Metro and out to Grama Margy's friends' house in Chevy Chase for some much needed rest. Thank you to Margie Ewing for the great hospitality!

Tuesday morning we drove into DC with another friend of Margie's staying with us in Chevy Chase! Bill said he was going to brave the roads and offered us a ride if we wanted one. We left the house at 8am and found less traffic than could have ever been imagined! We zoomed past Embassy Row and the Obama's new school, Sidwell Friends, before Bill dropped us off in his black Mercedes Benz about four blocks from the Mall! Wow, what a treat.

We headed down the Mall looking for a spot to park ourselves. We were very close to the Washington Monument, and tried to work our way closer but was turned away when they closed off the area just in front of us. So we stayed put at 9:00am about 30 feet in front of the Washington Monument, center of the Mall. It was cold, and Arla and Margy did a good job entertaining each other. We chatted with those around us, and swapped hand-warmers for inside our mittens. We were there for about three hours, until just after Obama's speech. I was moved and proud and happy to witness it all, and even more excited to have Arla and mom with us. I was also glad that we were together and had decided to forgo our tickets up front.

After the inaugural address, we said goodbye to Grama and Arla, Chris and I followed the masses to the south, heading for the L'enfant Plaza Metro station. This was the only time I felt the crowd was pushing and things might get dicey. But people were friendly, helping each other to stay together with their family or hop over a short wall, etc. It was impressive to see so many people be nice to each other! This was the time, too, when I was happy for Arla's "tatoo" on her arm--our cell number written in sharpie pen.

After waiting in a line (which was more like a mob of people) without any movement, we left. Arla was cold and hungry and starting to melt down, so we ducked into a fire station where all of the firefighters were outside giving directions, advice, etc. We warmed Arla's feet and gave her something to eat and felt rejuvenated to find an alternative. We thought about trying to get to Union Station, but instead decided to head further south to the Waterfront, SEU Metro station. It was wild that the streets were still packed with people, many of them looking for their charter bus (unsuccessfully) but even more heading to the same Metro station. Options were limited because many streets were closed off for the parade and we learned later some Metro stations had to be closed for over-crowding.

We arrived at the Waterfrong Metro station to find the line snaked around a Safeway grocery store parking lot. Chris sat in line while Arla and I went inside the store for snacks. There were people everywhere in the grocery store, many sitting in the isles eating, or reading. The store was trashed, but again people were in fairly good humor and polite. After 45 min. in the check-out line we left the store and found the Metro line was moving! But yet Chris was in nearly the same place we left him--because he was in the line waiting for the elevator not the escalator! We grabbed Chris and went down the escalator to wait for the green line.

We rode the Metro to the end of the line, then found yet another line for our Number 30 bus to BWI Airport and our shuttle to our hotel. All in all it took six hours to get to our destination. We were exhausted but happy to have had the experience and to have so many good stories to tell about it.

Wednesday we started our day at 5am with a shuttle to BWI airport for our three flights home: BWI to Charlotte, NC to San Francisco to SeaTac. Chris and Arla fetched the car while I registered for our lost luggage (!) and we made a run for the Anacortes ferry, arriving home around 10 pm west coast time. Arla was a star traveler through it all.

merry christmas!

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Originally uploaded by smalldognet

Here Arla & Sam are wearing their new crowns made by friends Stacey & August. Sam is also wearing new mittens made by Grama Margy. Grandpa Ed & Carol braved our steep, snow-packed road to open presents and eat brunch with us. We had a great day despite all the crazy winter weather here!

snowman

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Originally uploaded by smalldognet

Chris, Arla, and Sam made this beautiful snowman about a week ago. I don't recall a snowman sticking around for more than 2-3 days in the 15 years I have lived in the Pacific Northwest, but we certainly have the cold weather to sustain this frosty snowman! It was 7 degrees when we went to bed last night and the bathroom pipes are frozen. (Chris seems not to be so worried about this, however, because of the type of piping used...I hope he is right!).

6-8 inches are predicted over the next 24 hours. Stay tuned...you may see more snow people here!

no teeth

Alra lost another tooth this morning. That's number six with only two big ones coming in to replace. The poor girl eats soup and pudding!

We are considering a trip with Arla to the inauguration of president-elect Barack Obama. As Grandpa Ed suggests, logistics will be the key. But I think it is an experience of a lifetime and one that Arla (and Chris and I) will always remember. We'll see if the stars are in alignment....

snow geese returned

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Originally uploaded by smalldognet

It must be winter; the snow geese have returned to Skagit Valley.

We had a fun Halloween with our pumpkin (Sam) and kitty wearing a tutu (Arla). The evening was fun, but I need help since I've been gobbling up the candy ever since!

Ask me how the new nordic track is helping with this....

uncle ted, sam, grama margy

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Originally uploaded by smalldognet

A fun time was had by all in Hessel, Michigan for a week's vacation.