Da Flu

Sarah has the flu. It came on really strong and she had a high fever and achy joints. She went from fine in the morning to needing to be carried around that afternoon. Nicholas also had a fever, but he tested negative. He also had a rash on his skin, so we're thinking it was either he was just bundled up too much on the warm Friday afternoon, or he had a reaction to a new food. We can't think of anything new he's eaten, and the rash is gone now. Unfortunately, both Sarah and Nicholas have decided the last two nights to wake up in the middle of the night - at different times, of course. Nicholas, in particular, has been difficult to get to fall back asleep. He's even slept between us for a couple of hours. We're pretty wiped overall, but will be very thankful if we don't also get the flu.

In better news, David got to go downtown to the Tidal Basin on Saturday and see the cherry blossoms. He took some great pictures, but it sure was crowded down there. After that, he met his friends Rob and Ellen, went out to dinner (yummy Salvadoran chicken and vegetables), and then went to see U2 in 3D. This morning, Alison went out to [br,l]unch with her friends, including Damaris who was in town just to see cherry blossoms this weekend.

Happy Birthdays

Nicholas turned one year old on Monday! We had a party the Saturday before Easter. He had a pretty fun time, but was spooked when we turned off the lights and starting to sing. :( Then he started to scream after being put in his high chair and given birthday cake. But we took him out of his chair and fed him some whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, and he was quite happy about it! Nico got lots of great clothes and toys and bibs and books - and also a little red wagon big enough for he and Sarah to ride in.

We also celebrated Alison's birthday. Instead of birthday cake, we had a birthday pie! It was a blackberry pie and surprisingly lasted more than one day. During the party, we also had a mini Easter egg hunt for the kids. On Easter day, we made a roast and potatoes. It was great to see everyone over the weekend, but we missed Bryan and Anne who couldn't make it out from Chicago, mostly because of a big snowstorm they had out there.

Judging; Scalpel; etc.

This Thursday, the 13th, was a very busy day. Alison cut herself with a scalpel right after a surgery, and needed to go to the urgent care clinic. They didn't stitch up the cut because the scalpel was not "clean" and they didn't want to trap in any possible infection. She left the clinic with a big bandage on her middle finger and orders for some antibiotics. It's only been a day, and the wound is much much improved.

That afternoon, David went to The Mitchellville School to serve as a science fair judge. The school is very close to our house (just a couple small blocks away); in fact, the building was formerly the public elementary school for the neighborhood. David judged the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade projects, and was very impressed with the level of scientific knowledge and presentation at such a young age. It took longer than expected (he really didn't need the kids to read off every line of data on their poster), but the kids were very happy to show what they'd done. The school itself is small - only 41 kids between pre-K and 8th grade - and expensive, so we didn't consider it for Sarah.

Speaking of which, we've decided to send Sarah to our public school - Whitehall Elementary. We were very torn between sending her there or to St. Pius. We liked St. Pius because Sarah can go there up until grade 8, they start school at 8:15am (instead of 9:15am at Whitehall), and because the school is SO close to our house. But we decided to send her to Whitehall, which is also a very good school, and save some money in the process. Now we'll need to figure out a new daily schedule for the kids and for David to work - but we will just have to make it work.

Hockey and Skating

The big event in February was that the four of us went to see a hockey game - the Devils at the Capitals down in DC. Alison, Sarah, and Nicholas wore Capitals gear, while David wore his Devils jersey. "Aunt" Marisa also joined us. We bought the family pack of tickets, so in addition to the ticket, we got hot dog/chips/drink and a Capitals hat. Nicholas liked watching the game; he only flinched when the horn went off. Sarah liked the game too (especially cheering "Let's Go Caps!") - but did say her favorite part was eating cotton candy. The Devils won 2 to 1 in overtime!!

Sarah took ice skating lessons this winter at the Bowie Ice Arena. She enjoyed it and didn't mind falling, as long as she wore vinyl-covered pants to keep her dry. David took her a couple times to open skating as well. At times, she would skate behind a "walker" that slides in the ice and you hold in front of you - but then usually gave it up to a smaller kid still learning how to stand up. Their favorite game on the ice is to pick a letter under the ice and skate to it and stop.

We joined a gym- Bowie Sport Fit. Mostly, it's because we need to get in better shape, but a big bonus is that they have an indoor heated pool, so the kids will be able to keep swimming all fall and winter until the community pool opens again in the summer. They also have free babysitting, so now Ali and David have no excuse to not go several times a week.

Over Presidents' Day weekend, we went back to Madison to celebrate Jake's 4th birthday. Yesterday, we hosted a 40th birthday party for Alison's brother Andrew. There was heavy rain in the morning, and then it was very windy in the afternoon - it was so strong it knocked down a couple panels of a neighbor's wood fence in the backyard. Finally, David and Ali celebrated Valentine's Day a weekend early at the Old Stein Inn. The German food and beer were delicious - but the desserts were awesome.