East Coast, USA

Thursday morning, 7:25 AM EDT

In Annapolis, Maryland with the family. Arrived here a week ago and really enjoying being here with the beautiful June surroundings. Normally we are only here in December where it is bitter cold. Picture to the right is downtown Annapolis with the view of the State House in the background. Would love to post some recent pictures of the family but I have lost control of the camera and the computer a bit as I'm not in my own house. But I'll try to get some of the shots off of Tania's camera since she got some good shots of the entire extended family. Check back later in the week.

Arrived last Thursday. I flew in from London and Tania flew in from California. Wouldn't have been able to pull it off were it not for the HUGE assistance from my cousin Sophia who traveled with Tania and the family and then flew back on Saturday - what a superstar. I worked Friday as my personal holiday doesn't begin until this Saturday (24th June). Went into Washington, DC on Saturday evening with Tania to attend Ali Shapiro's (her friend from Wharton) wedding. The event itself was lovely and was held in Union Station. If you haven't ever visited it is a grandiose station that is well kept and befitting of a train station of the nation's capital - the picture to the left barely does it justice but should give you an idea. We stayed over night at the Hotel Monaco in downtown DC. Was the first time since Jacob was born that we both spent the night away from the kids together. The joys of living out of town with no family network! It really was relaxing (especially for Tania) to be able to wake up in the morning with no kids to take care of. Big thank you to Papa/Kay for holding down the fort.

Sunday morning Tania and I had to go our separate ways for a few hours - she to a post-wedding brunch and I to meet David Lapter for a work preparation meeting (yuck). But we had the afternoon to explore a small bit of the nation's capital, which was great for me. First time I have had a few hours to just tool around DC in 15 years or so. Normally I am there in the Winter where I barely want to get out of the car or I am there for work where I only see the inside of a hotel meeting room. Sunday we had the chance to walk around Georgetown with Meredith and Matt (T's friends from Wharton) and then visit some of the tourist sites. Most impressive for me is always the Lincoln memorial. We then walked around the famous reflecting pool - site of the Civil Rights movement and opposite the Washington Memorial. Then we headed over to the Jefferson Memorial before we were exhausted and ready to return home to save Papa/Kay.

Monday I had to go into DC for work. What an easy commute from Annapolis. Tania drove me to New Carrollton station (22 minutes) and I took the Metro into the central Metro station, which was only 27 minutes. The Metro is air conditioned and everybody had a seat. What a difference from the London Underground!

Arrived home on Tuesday evening. Tom (one of Tania's older brothers), Moni and Rowan were visiting. It was so nice to see Jacob playing with his big cuz, Rowan (7.5 years old). It was also sweet for me because I still remember Rowan from when she was a 2.5 year old girl when I first met her. She was the center of attention of our Christmas gathering that year as she has all these silly and sweet little kid sayings and gestures, which of course is now the stage that Jacob is at. They were "thick as thieves" and at the end of the day even decided to sleep next to each other on Papa/Kay's floor. I laid down with both of them and read stories (the Gruffalo, of course!) and talked. Rowan recently visited the San Diego zoo and told me all about the animals that she saw. Amazing how a 7 year old child can know about 50 more species than I have even heard of. I did catch her out, though, when she tried to tell me about the "skank," which clearly can't exist at the zoo. I told her to ask her daddy about the skank, who I can only assume was related to his college days? Anyway, when I left Rowan took over the reading duties and read to Jacob about Ponies. I heard them giggling as I headed out to catch up with the family. I hope to be able to get some photos of the Maine Kandra family's visit up soon.