Chinatown

This gate is the entrance to DC's Chinatown.  Hopefully we'll find something yummy...

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

The White House

Yep, we're in DC!!

It's cold, but not too cold for a stroll past the White House!  Didn't see Barack out raking leaves, so he must be traveling today.

Great meetings yesterday with the NRSC and today with the RGA.  Both offered to share ur info with their candidates, and that's exciting!

More as it happens...

Is this a nice hotel or what??

Don't know that I've ever seen a 'pillow menu' before!!  What should I order tonight??

Making the hotel into a home

Just before I left on Sunday, Gabriel presented me with a painting.  I've used it to decorate my workspace in the hotel.  Actually, I prefer it to the 'art' that already hangs in the room...

Train Travel!

I don't know when was the last time I rode Amtrak -- college??  We had a choice of taxi or train from BWI to DC, and I pushed for train.  I've been on the TGV in France and the bullet train in Japan since college, and...well...maybe it's just that I'm still in America, but it just ain't the same!!

OMG -- A Southwest flight that's not full!

I actually have an aisle seat -- with an empty one next to me!

Sunset at KCI

Gorgeous sight as we line up board our Southwest flight to Washington.  Must be a sign we're gonna have a great week!

Who does this look like?

We've made a triple mini-me. Looking at Gabe's baby pics I see the resemblance between Mikey and him.

Go Jump In The Lake!

No no, not really!

Gabe was "fishing" with a long piece of grass, when his head suddenly became heavier than his bottom and he topped headfirst into the lake! Freaked his Daddy out (made me spill my beer!), but he was 100% okay. He ended up sitting on the bottom of the lake with his chin above the water -- now we know how deep it is -- with a very surprised look on his face!



We also know how dirty the bottom is! (The bottom of the lake, I mean...well...and Gabriel's bottom too, I guess...)



Other than being completely drenched, he suffered no ill effects. I've worried about that lake during every visit since the kid was born, and Grandpa and Grandma both have reassured me that a spill in the lake wouldn't be a huge problem. Now I guess I believe them -- but I still watch him like a hawk when he's close to the edge!

Exhausted!

After all that fun today...a nap is definitely indicated!

Making Friends

The Heifer celebration includes a petting zoo with animals like those that Heifer places around the world. (The petting zoo is actually based in McPherson, Kansas!) Visitors can buy little cups of grain, and then feed the animals.



Gabe really got into it with the camel! Look at him demonstrating how to move his lips!




Gabe made such great friends with the camel that he managed to land a kiss or two on his nose!

More Heifer Partyin'

The Heifer celebration is going great guns -- huge turnout! The stage was taken over today by a series of performers geared toward children.



One of the neat things with the new center is a bunch of bricks in the walkway with the names of donors.



I recognize this one!

River Market

Little Rock has a neat area along the river where there are a bunch of little stands selling art and souveniers, and a farmer's market, on Saturday mornings. Gabriel discovered the mimes here. He found that dropping a quarter in their bucket made them move!





He also discovered some VERY delicious fruit...

Cooking Breakfast

Gabriel is expressing his creative side with Grandma in the kitchen.



It's a cat pancake!



The stool he's standing on has been around for a long time -- Grandma used to stand on it when she was a little girl helping her Grandma in the kitchen...



What a spread!

Funland!

We found a really great park in Little Rock this afternoon. It has tons of swingsets and climbing gyms, including this two-story monster shaped like a rocket:



Gabriel came down that tube slide sticking out to the right, and stumbled out the bottom looking like he'd been stuck in a shoe box and rattled by a giant. He didn't go back up again...

After that, we found a kid-sized amusement park called Funland. This was Gabe's first introduction to the wonders of carnival rides -- and he's hooked!



A roller coaster!! He told me at bedtime tonight that this was his favorite part of the day.



I'm not sure who had more fun on this ride -- Gabriel or Grandma!



Click here for more pix of the experience.

Southern Cooking

Gabe and Andy are in Arkansas this weekend, and we've been sampling the local cuisine. We hit the Dixie Cafe for lunch today, and I sampled a new non-favorite -- deep-fried corn-on-the-cob! Here's a fuzzy picture of it:


I don't often leave much on my plate, especially in the South, but I made an exception this time...

Gabe, however, was a big fan of his Corn Dog Bites, applesauce, and corn. (No, we didn't make a special attempt at a corn theme -- it just sort of happened this way.)



This evening, we hit the Whole Hog Cafe -- Grandpa's favorite! -- and we both managed to make the ribs disappear!



Easy there, Gabriel! Don't swallow the bone!!

Heifer Education Center Dedication

Some pix from the opening ceremony...