Claire is getting ready to Crawl!

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week Chris, Claire and I spent time relaxing and reacclimating from our travels.  We also stayed inside to hide from all the rain!  Luckily there was no flooding on Turkey Point Island. By Friday, the rain stopped and we eagerly agreed to meet some of our fellow Old Stein Inn patrons to see the restaurant since the tragic fire on New Year's Eve.  

Chris and Claire out front - new facade and sign

 The inside of the restaurant is quite different.  The restaurant used to have a home style feel. Since they had to gut the house from the fire, they designed the inside to feel more like a German beer hall. Here's a video (as usual, turn down your volume!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16yLRI-GfJQ

We had a fun time having beers together in the new restaurant!  Claire even tried to steal mine:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7F6W_aKz7Y  Also, everyone thought Claire looked adorable in her dirndl dress that my mom made for her!

On Saturday, I donated platelets at the Red Cross.  It felt good to do something like that on the 10th anniversary weekend of 9/11.  I think I'll make that a new tradition. I was really impressed by the number of people who were out giving blood!  If you are a blood donor, you could make a point to donate this month in honor of the victims of 9/11 and I think it would still be a wonderful thing!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, watching sports, and watching Claire trying to crawl! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ianq8e6l1Kk

Claire snuggles with Daddy!

 Since the weather was still so nice on Monday, Claire and I took a walk down to the pier!

What a beautiful day!

Claire: "Wait, did you already take it?  Uh..I don't think I smiled..."
She's getting so big - riding in the stroller without the baby carrier!

 On Monday, I put Claire in her Wildcat outfit in celebration of UK's first football win of the season!  Here's Claire playing in one of her favorite toys!

And here's a cute video of us playing Claire's new favorite game:  Peek-a-boo!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QuIwcMalIM

 Yesterday, we headed down to D.C. to visit some friends!  We went to DHS, Commerce, Capitol Hill and Georgetown!  Whew - it was a busy day, but Claire handled it very well.  Lunch was with Nan at Commerce.

Sitting at the table in her travel chair next to Nan! 
Nan was so impressed by how well Claire behaved and how well she ate her food!

Nan holding Claire! 
Nan is such a good friend and loves Claire very much!

Unfortunately, I forgot to carry my camera with me when I visited my friend Catherine on the Hill.  Not only because I love to get pictures of Claire with my friends, but also because Claire got to have her first meeting with an acting Congressman!  Congressman Bob Gibbs of Ohio's 16 Congressional District came out to say hello and Claire even added a few of her coo's to our conversation. I thought it was sweet how the Congressman stopped to listen and took her comments very seriously!

We wrapped up our day in D.C. by meeting my cousin Joe for dinner in Georgetown.  I was so excited to see him and welcome him to the area.  We had dinner at the Tombs restaurant. I was elated when the restaurant staff said they had high chairs!  The last time I ate there was when I was having beers with my other interning/grad student friends, so I almost couldn't believe that this college bar was also a family restaurant!  Joe and I spent the meal talking about work on the Hill, interning, and conspiring towards getting more family to move to this area.  Claire spent the meal throwing sugar packets on the floor.  I think she was trying to impress the waiter! (Ha!)

That's all for this week!  I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday.

Love,
Bethie

As a Post Script, I'm adding a few more pictures from our trip to New York that I did not download in time for last week's post.

Big Smiles - Claire plays with Grandpa!

Chris watching Claire play - so sweet!

Claire - exhausted at the reunion!

Cousin Kate plays with Claire!

This year's reunion banner!
I love that they do this - it makes it feel so official!

'Sup Dog?  That's right!  Also the name of my Fantasy Football team this year!
We saw this hotdog stand at the Rochester Red Wings Baseball game, and I had to snap a picture!