More Pictures Of Our Trip To New Haven

Listening to his songs on the train

On the Jungle Bars @ the Park

Maddy

Aunty Lu and Maddy @ the Lookout

BBQ'ing with Uncle Steve

Serving Lunch for Aunty Lu

Up, up and away in a hot air balloon

On the merry-go-round

Driving A Car

Behind Bars

Aunty Lu sitting in a wheel barrow chair @ the Children's Museum

New Haven Was So Much Fun!

What a fun time we had visiting with Aunty Lou and Uncle Steve :). We took the Amtrak train to New Haven, which was over 5 hours long. To my amazement, we had no trouble finding our way to Union Station in Washington DC. I made sure Maddy had a lot of things to do to keep him occupied throughout the trip. He had books to read, puzzles to do and color in, cards to play with and children's music and rhymes to listen to on our shuffle ipod.

We did everything we could that a 4 1/2 year old would enjoy doing. We visited The Peabody Museum which had an awesome Dinosaur Collection on display and where Maddy spent most of his pocket money on the souvenirs in the shop (his favorite thing of all).

We visited the Children's Museum which allows kids to interact and learn about music, mathematics, linguistics, space, city connections i.e firehouse, post office, a small town, a green grocer etc, reflections in mirrors, a video and puppet stage place where kids can dress up and put on a show (maddy was a pirate), natural surroundings through magnifying glass, and a few more other activities. We were there for three whole hours and of course had to stop off at the souvenir shop to buy a few books and stickers. Each room had a special theme, with colorful and bright murals on the walls created by local artists - it was absolutely amazing and fun at the same time!!



We were fortunate enough to visit the Mystic Aquarium where we saw for the first time, several Baluga Whales - they were beautiful :) Other animals we saw were seals, turtles, frogs, toads, fish, stingrays, sharks, and pretty much everything else you can find in the sea.

We played at the local park, went to the Lookout where we could see all of New Haven, played at the beach and ate at a fish diner called Libby's. The fried fish was absolutely wonderful and reminded me of the fish n'chips we use to eat in NZ. We ate the local pizza which was also great, went for walks in the evenings to buy ice cream and also spent a day in New York with Uncle Steve's family. As soon as we arrived, it didn't take long for Maddy to make two new friends. He was off playing the whole time and I only saw him when he was hungry (takes after mommy I think!).


Overall, we had a fabulous time there and want to thank Aunty and Uncle for having us, and we look forward to returning one day soon.

In Tanzania

I arrived safely in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania yesterday evening. Only 2 more weeks to go before I fly home to Rachel and Maddy. Woohoo! This was posted via email.

Maddy Dances to American Idol

Maddy's Dino Dance Move

Go Diego Go

Last night we went to the Warner Theater to catch the Go Diego Go Live show for Madison. He absolutely loved it, dancing in the aisles with all of the other kids, singing along to all the song he knew so well. It was a nice night out on the town for the whole family, the show was quite enjoyable!

I'll be traveling to Zambia and Tanzania in 2 weeks time for work. It'll be interesting to see that part of the world and I'm looking forward to the trip. I'll be gone for 5 and a half weeks so while I'm in Africa, Rach and Maddy are planning to visit her aunty Lu in Connecticut for awhile. There's a train that goes from central D.C. straight to New Haven so it should be easy enough for them to get there and back.

Lucky Maddy

Maddy is such a lucky boy. Yesterday he received an All Blacks jacket, matching socks and a dinosaur jigsaw puzzle from BatGran in the mail. He also got some stamps so he can write Nanna letters. He was so happy with his new stuff that he put on the jacket and socks immediately and wore them all day. Now that he has one of the puzzles in the dinosaur collection, he wants the rest of them too. That's my boy :)

Dose of Reality

You know how the saying goes, "No news is good news" and in our case it definitely rings true. The past few weeks have been largely uneventful, with the crazy weather being the most noteworthy thing. We've had a week of snow followed by an ice storm which covered everything with ice for over a week, followed by a week of warm weather that everyone talking about an early spring and now it's snowing again.

I think Madison has had enough of the cold weather and all it brings because he used to run excitedly to the window to look at the snow when I told him it was snowing; now it barely warrants a raised eyebrow.

Yesterday afternoon at work we all had to evacuate the building when the fire alarm sounded. Most of us thought it was another fire drill until the fire department, police and homeland security arrived and started cordoning off the entire block. Apparently our operator received a bomb threat by phone. Let me tell you one thing; the emergency response time in Washington, D.C. to a bomb threat is super quick. By the time I made my way outside from the 3rd floor there were already 2 fire trucks and 2 homeland security cars in front of the building. It was a stark reminder of the nature of the world we live in right now. But hey, at least I got to go home early!

Happy Anniversary Sachi & Mark

If memory serves correctly, Sachi and Mark have been married for a year now. Congratulations you two! I hope your first year of marriage has been enjoyable and fun. This time next year Lagi and Tolly will have joined the club. Many happy returns Sachi and Mark!

Go Wizards!

We went to our first NBA game last night where the local team, the Washington Wizards lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a rout. We didn't care! We were too busy enjoying the spectacle of the whole thing. Americans sure do know how to hype an event and make it entertaining.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Madison and I took Rachel out for lunch at the Silver Diner for her birthday last weekend. It was a nice outing, even if the weather wasn't cooperating (it was -10C outside). Madison and Rach loved the Silver Diner; which is an old style diner complete with juke boxes and 1920s decor.

Winter Wonderland

Madison has an affinity to the cold which makes him and snow best of friends.

It's the simple things in life that make our boy happy.

Playing in the snow is fun.

Madison's First Snow

We were all over the moon to see it snow all day for the first time yesterday. It didn't take Madison long to convince his mommy to let him out so he could see what snow felt like.

2007 Already?

I can't believe it's January the 4th already, time just zooms by when you're on annual leave. While it's nice to be back at work (well not really), spending almost 2 weeks at home with the family was great. Madison and I have re-bonded and he and I had a blast doing everything together, including baking chocolate chip cookies. He's real good at licking the bowl, stirring the flour all over the floor and eating all the chocolate chips before they go into the mix.

Christmas turned out nice even though we couldn't afford to buy Madison any presents. Lucky for us God provided in the form of grandparents, aunties and a couple of my work colleagues who surprised us with 6 or 7 presents (and a miniature xmas tree to boot) for Maddy to go under the tree. Maddy even left a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa on Christmas eve.

Now that 2007 is officially here it's only right that we kick off 2007 with some new year resolutions so here goes.

1. Quit smoking.

2. Pay off debts.

3. Lose weight.

4. Establish some savings.

5. Gain Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) accreditation.

It'll be a very good year if I could get all of that done in 2007. What are your NY resolutions for 2007?

More From Fatilua's Visit

We went downtown for a quick visit to the memorials

Vai and Fatilua by the Korean War Memorial

Having fun overlooking the Reflecting Pool

Taking a rest from sightseeing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Maddy feeding the ducks with his lunch

Look Who's in Town

One of my oldest friends Fatilua and his partner Vai came to town on Tuesday night from Albany, NY to visit with us for 3 days. I've known Fatilua for almost 25 years (I must be getting old) since our days in Samoa College. It's been real good catching up with them. I'll see what I can do to convince them to stay for the weekend!

Madison took to his uncle Fati and aunty Vai immediately.

The old guy and the other old guy

Fati in DC doing some kind of ballerina move for the camera

Winter is Here

I think winter is finally upon us here in the northern hemisphere. I had to walk through ice on the street on my way to work this morning. Yeah you heard me right. There was ICE on the street today! The cold weather has been on and off lately but I when there's ice on the roads you can pretty much say that winter is here; bring on the snow!

I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas this year? Wouldn't that be nice? I don't remember having a white Christmas since we lived in Alaska over 20+ years ago.

Almost Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner and while most families have the lights up and trees in the living room, we're a little behind on getting all of those things. Americans really start thinking about xmas right after Thanksgiving so we've been inundated with the holiday season hype for awhile now. Madison is very much looking forward to Christmas.

Madison would like to thank his Nanna in NZ for all of the mail he has been getting in the mailbox. He's even got mail from his Aunty Carlta, Aunty Susie, Aunty Patsy and Uncle Kenbo. You should see his eyes light up when his Mommy tells him he's got mail!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday season.

Hi Nanna!

Doing a Superman

Last night Maddy brought the step ladder into the room and did

Superman jumps onto his bed.

He is always finding new ways to have fun around the house.

It's good to see him growing and gaining weight.

Look at my wings Daddy!