Newly engaged visitors

A sushi BBQ on the deck with Vanessa and Franck!  Matt cut one of my fir trees down to make room for our new lower tiered deck.  It looked great and the evening was spectacular, breezy cooler and not a mosquito to be found.  You DO know that DC's state bird is the mosquito!

A visit to the Airport

Here is my first Rich moment! It was so nice seeing Galina happy with Rich on their way to see the US PGA Open in NY.

Zaza and Stella visiting her new home

Super busy Sunday!  We got to see Katie and Galina in one day!

A day in the life of the ZaZa.

icecream, painting, swimming and you know the usual scooter shopping.

Reunions Galore!

Back to the Palm for a lovely lunch and seeing all my old friends! 

Chuckles took great care of us, and Tommy and Geoff were so much fun,

 i think Zaza was in love with Geoff!

I had a great visit with Leslie, my old freshman and sophomore roomie from Clark University!  I hadn't seen Angela since 1987, and that was a real treat.  Todd, women's hoop coach now, was scouting in Pennsylvania, so he drove down to meet us for Thai dinner. 

 It was a great end to a great day.  Earlier in the sweltering heat, we had been down on the mall checking out the Jefferson Memorial, so lunch at the Palm was really a must!  LOL

This morning at 6:06am a crack of thunder was so insanely loud and long and SO out of the blue (very atypical in DC to have thunderstorms in the morning let alone at sunrise!)  I was jolted awake ... heart was racing; staring out our open window at a yellowish sky- for the shortest of seconds-  I truly thought we had been bombed and 

I was seeing remnants of a massive explosion.  

I lay in bed for an hour marveling the torrent of rain and lighting bolts;

 it was one of those moments I won't soon forget. 

Zara had the pleasure of not moving a muscle til 930am!

I was fortunate enough to receive this pic from Chrissy- 

its a snap of Cherise, who used be work with me at the PALM.  A few weeks ago it was her birthday so i have been thinking of her but had no working email for her.   

Cherise is our guardian angel- she was the ONE who miraculously introduced Christina to us in January of 2007.  Here she is, in Norfolk, VA in her Navy uniform, 

presently she is out to sea for 7 months.

I love this family shot, Tommy is working for Matt and his Dad nowadays and so everyone happened to be in town for a quick visit to see Zaza- as she now calls herself!  School is out and LET the GAMES begin!

DC walking Tour

We took the metro downtown to meet Grandma Zarr and Ashley (my friend from Egypt and India/Pakistan)to do a fabulous walking tour of  the Dupont Circle/McPhearson area.  

Don't ask, some yoga/artists "working out" in the middle of the traffic circle / park!

Zara taking notes while the tourguide was talking, at least she heard some of it;  

i was having fun chatting with Ashley  in the back

You can see the pretty big group standing behind Zara that was on the tour!  

I was personally surprised at such a huge turnout.

Here's poor Ashley chasing the Munch munching strawberries

A day out in Hagerstown

Little Sitina's first birthday, Zara was in Heaven especially when she saw Sitina's m&m cake!

We had a perfect friday in Hagerstown, 

starting the afternoon off right with a meal at "Friendly's".   Well, Grandma Rock 

and I had a meal; Zara just went straight for an ice cream sundae!

Zara played with Mary in their back garden; what a beautiful green space!  

It is always so peaceful there...

laying on the hammock, eating chinese take-away, playing on snapfish!!

Zara went to her follow up visit at National Children's hospital this week, she looked strong and progressing very well walking!  Dr. Morozova said she can keep using her ankle braces until the end of the years but it's not necessary to wear them religiously. Good for us!  I did push the doctor when I asked, "I understand that hypotonia is a symptom of some other issue; is there something else, as a parent, I can do to find out more for Zara."  I did get a referral to a geneticist to be tested for Connective Tissue Disorder, due to her super flexibility in her joints...so i am very happy about that, and i hope we will learn more Zara soon!  Otherwise we have quite the little contortionist-acrobat on our hands! 

Either way- she certainly isn't slowing down in ANY way.   We are so impressed with her strength, she hangs on monkey bars and throws balls about the house!  She is in love with basketball bikes...she cant wait to be bigger i can tell!  She seems to know her colors already, already reads a few "sight words" and counts up to four with understanding.  

This week, her favorite character is Mr McGregor in Peter Rabbit, she even told me 

at the pool today, "No no Meester" and "watering can".  

Every day a new and funny statement comes out of her mouth.