Dad would be proud!!

I used to think that car camping was a total "red neck" thing to do. I was taught that real camping consisted of strapping everything you will need on your back (the less the better) and backpacking deep into the forest where no one could possibly find you. Us Etherington girls were lucky to grow up with a Dad who took us on these little adventures quite frequently and I have fond memories of singing silly songs, looking at the vibrant starry nights and getting lost bushwhacking with Dad leading the way(sort of). I have always wanted to carry on this tradition with my own children but often when we were asked to go camping in San Diego we couldn't imagine taking Sadie out and sleeping in a tent. I just didn't want to be the one with the screaming kid all night that wouldn't go to sleep. So we always said no in hopes that one day we would feel Sadie (and we) were up for the challenge.

Well the day finally came. Our buds the Gardners asked us to go with them and we decided that Sadie is finally ready to sleep in a tent. I do laugh now that I think about taking her backpacking because to me this seems utterly impossible. I don't think we could have carried a fourth of what we brought in our car on our backs. I have become quite accustomed to sleeping with not one, but two body pillows. They of course were in attendance along with Sadie's noise maker (equipped with batteries of course), a pack and play, a bazillion blankets, three layers of pajamas, three more pillows, and not to mention all the food we tugged along. At this point I'm thinking that a backpacking trip will be a few, if not several years down the road.

Sadie was a champ. Although she didn't fall asleep right away, she serenaded us with beautiful music while us adults talked around the camp fire. It was fun hanging out with the Gardners as we talked politics with some splashes of sports (can you imagine anything less with Chase and John in the picture). The next morning we were awakened by gun shots from the nearby shooting range and heavy bladders from not wanting to get out of our sleeping bags all night. Car camping is hilarious. I love that the kids just ran around the camp site getting filthy, picking up sticks, throwing rocks, and eating whatever was left in the bag I packed the night before. So I guess we are red necks but probably not as red as the people next to us with their trailers and rifles shooting bullets into the air. I'm glad Sadie made the trek from the car to the tent. I guess Hogan Fork, the Narrows, Wind Rivers, and the West Rim trail will have to wait. Until then, we'll just keep being red.

Cox Farms Again!!

One of the many reasons I was excited to return to D.C. this fall was for Cox Farms. I took Sadie there last year and she had so much fun going down all the slides, petting the animals and picking out her very own pumpkin. We went again this year with a larger crowd and Sadie had a great time again. However, after her first incident going down the slide by herself, she decided to refrain from these "extreme" sports for the rest of the afternoon. I put my camera on continuous and got this funny little film strip. She was very upset once she got to the bottom and I feel bad giggling at her expense, but the pictures are just too funny.



She did have a lot of fun on the hay ride with her little buddies Moriah and Mei li, watching the farmer milk the cow with Lizzie (they look either totally disgusted or just completely perplexed), and picking out her own little pumpkin at the end of the day. I love this place. I hope I can go again this year with Chase before they close down for the winter.

An Old Friend Returns

Many of you have had the privilege of taking our scooter out for a test drive. Those of you who have know the power and thrill of rolling the throttle back and feeling the engine roar, as you try and hang on as the scooter hits 10 MPH in under four seconds. The adrenaline kicks in as you round the corner and accelerate up to 15 MPH. The jealous spectators line the streets and ask questions when you stop.

Q: How fast does that thing go?
A: 35 MPH.
Q: Does that thing have a kickstand?
A: Yes. And a helmet storage bin underneath the seat.
Q: Do you ever feel like a wuss when you pull into the parking lot at IN-N-OUT?
A: Occasionally.

The scooter has been a big part of our lives for the past two years. It has boosted my manhood and at the same time put me in touch with my sensitive side. Abby loves joyriding to and fro and running short errands to Trader Joes and the yarn shop. And best of all: 100 miles to the gallon, baby!

That is why I felt empty inside when I returned to the Vienna Metro stop here in Virginia from a long day of work and school in DC to find...well, nothing. Emptiness and void. The scooter was gone. Was it stolen? Was it towed (it did have Washington state plates because we had such trouble registering it in California)? Did Abby come and borrow it? Was Gardener or Mecham playing a mean trick? It was like coming home to a house and having your front door gone. Very strange.

It had definitely been stolen. Police reports were filed. The search commenced as we scoured craigslist for sale listings in every east coast city. Abby searched Ebay and newspaper listings far and wide.

After three weeks, and after many wished us "good luck in finding that", we found a replacement! It was the same color, year, and about the same miles. We thought for sure it was going to be ours when we showed up to have a look. And.....drumroll, please..... it wasn't!!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH. I bet you thought it was! But it was way cheap, and looked exactly like ours, and it was way cheap, and it looked exactly like ours! So we bought it.

So we replaced our old friend with a new friend, slightly beat up. Our old friend didn't return....

Until two hours after we bought the replacement, when Officer Verna from the DC police department called and said our scooter had been recovered! It was found in Southeast DC when a police officer pulled over two guys riding a scooter, which two guys promptly hopped off the scooter and fled. As Curtis (my bro) aptly put it: You can't spell "HARDCORE" without "DC"!!

In the end, we are glad to have our old friend home.

By the way, is anyone interested in a scooter? We now have two!!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

So we finally arrived in D.C. The Todds were great again and let us stay with them until we found a place to live. Each day consisted of us getting in the car and driving around from appointment to appointment meeting real estate agents and home owners only to find they were charging $2000 a month for a total dump that often smelled like mildew...whew..run on sentence. I broke down a few times and said "I don't understand how people can charge so much to live here when all they have to offer are humid, mosquito infesting weather, no beach, serious traffic and a nasty home." The $2000 just didn't seam reasonable especially because we were paying a lot less in San Diego which had no bugs, perfect weather, year round pool and hot tub, tennis courts, trail, and beach. It's still hard for me to understand the housing market out here. However, after a long search and many sleepy car rides for Sadie we found our place. It's in Oakton and is totally updated with a new kitchen and hardwood floors. And we are still close to our buds the Gardners and the Mechams.

So you're probably thinking "what's so unfortunate about that." Well our troubles came and hit us like a ton of bricks. A few days before we moved out of the Todd's, our car was broken into and out of it was stolen our Ipod, Ipod radio converter, Portable DVD player, all of our DVD's (that were in a case), and Chase's brand new Ray Ban sunglasses. It added up to about $1000 of goods taken from us. We were upset but realized that other than the Disney dvd's (that are all in vaults...so silly), everything can eventually be replaced. The dumbest part is that I left the car unlocked. I practically invited the thief into our car!!

Our next event was having to move in which is never fun. This is what welcomed us when the pod arrived. Mechams, Gardners and Todds helped us move in which was so nice. So at this point we were feeling a little bruised recovering from the move and being robbed. Then.....

It wasn't until three days later that Chase got off the Metro Stop at Vienna and as he walked to the motorcycles to put in his key, he realized that our beloved Tootsie wasn't there. She was stolen!!! The same week!!! Chase called me and I ran to our car where I could scream all I wanted with out anyone hearing me. I screamed and screamed until I lost my voice. I kept looking up and shrieking "why"? So our running total of stolen goods is now up to $2400. Definitely a blow.

Amongst all these horrific "unfortunate events" I found that even though my body is itching like crazy from mosquito bites, Chase, Sadie and I are all safe and healthy. We live in a beautiful home and got a great price (we talked our landlord down hooray!!)

(More interior shots to come. We're still moving things around in here). We get to spent more time together because I take and pick Chase up from the Metro every day now. Fall is approaching and D.C. has never looked more beautiful. So although there's a big dent in our pocketbooks, we're happy we're together and that we're still completely head over heels for one another. We have wonderful friends here and have already met some amazing new people in our new ward. I truly am a very blessed woman. I have no right to complain but sometimes a little cry and a big scream in the car is in order on a dreary, scooter stealing, rainy day.

First days!!

While staying with the Todds in Leesburge, Chase had to make his way into D.C. for his first day of work as a Judicial Law Clerk for Judge Swift. I thought he looked so handsome that I made him pose for me before he got on the bus for his hour commute to work. He has a busy schedule this year. Not only will he be working full time but he is also taking 6 hours each semester at Georgetown to finish up his Tax LLM. Anytime I feel overwhelmed I'll think of him and stop complaining. Hooray for Chase and his first day of work and hooray for us because it's his first "real job" in three years.
Likewise Sadie and I made the 30 minute trek into Oakton for her first day of Co-op preschool. We decided to join two groups. Our old Vienna ward out here had one organized so we joined that one not knowing where we were going to end up living. Then once we found out we'd be residing in Oakton we joined the Oakton Ward preschool as well. Sadie LOVES preschool. She always comes home knowing something new and singing new songs. It is so good for her to be away from me for a few hours twice a week being the "mama's girl" that she is. She always greets me with a big smile and runs into my arms when I come to pick her up. She isn't one bit upset when I leave her and has so much fun with all of her new friends. My little Sadie is growing up and doesn't need her "mama" as much anymore.

Tri to Stop Her

I have been trying for a long time, with little success, to get Abby to do a triathlon. Finally, with the persuasian of her good friend Brandi, she signed up for the Jordanelle Triathlon, held at Jordanelle Reservoir during August.



Abby trained in San Diego, doing her running along our sweet canyon trail, and her swimming at the clubhouse pool. She did some stationary biking at the gym, but had not even taken a ride on a real bike until the week of the triathlon. We taught her how to clip in and out of her pedals on the bike two days before the race. Luckily, she is a lot smarter than I am, because I fell over frequently learning how to do this simple act...she didn't fall once.



On race day, Abby headed to Jordanelle early. Sadie and I arrived, thanks to the Race Directors who gave us a three-mile walk to the transition area, just as Abby was getting out of the water and onto the bike. Sadie and I hung out and threw rocks into Jordanelle until Abby returned from the bike.



Abby quickly made the transition from bike to run, and was soon high-fiving spectators as she headed out on the 5k run. Unfortunately, this was right about the time the temperature was rising, and fast. (I don't understand why they started the race at 10:00 am, why not six or seven, and get it in before the heat...?)



Anyway, the next time we saw Abby was as she was rounding the corner to the finish line. She looked FANTASTIC as she crossed and put her arms up in relief!!
Just when I was thinking that Abby and I were going to be triathletes together for the rest of our lives, Abby crashed into my arms in exhaustion and said, "I am NEVER EVER EVER going to do that again!"



Despite Abby's angst and exhaustion, Sadie and I were proud that she endured to the end and is now officially a TRIATHLETE!!!




That's right....just Tri and stop her!!