Nationals game against the Mets 9/29

About a year ago we set a 'goal' to make sure and see a game for each of the DC teams. We got to Caps (hockey) game this past winter, and a United (soccer) game this summer. We were running out of time to make it to a Nationals game until Stu's good work friend, Mike, and his fiance, Amanda invited us to the last home game of the season. Seeing as the Nats didn't do the greatest this year AND they were playing the Mets, who had a sub-par season... there wasn't that great of turn out, but it was great to get to "Nats-town" none the less.

The Nats were down the whole game, but in true American fasion we enjoyed some beer & Nats-dogs which helped.

It was a bit rainy right when we got there which made us all happy we were up under the eve shelter. Good bird's eye view too. The new stadium is great, and has a nice view over DC/ Georgetown.

The Nats decided to end their season in a dramatic fashion.... Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, bases loaded, Justin Zimmerman hit a Grand-Slam to win it 7-4. Yaaaay! What a fun ending! Although a bit chilly, it was definitely a great game to catch!

Capitols Game: Check

United Game: Check

National Game: Check

Redskins Game: 10/4/09

Looks like we're just about ready to move back! ;)

"Good Bye" Q Party

Sadly one of our good friends Mike, better known as Q is moving to CT on October 2nd. This weekend he and his girlfriend hosted one last bash to celebrate him moving on to bigger and better things.

The night was like pretty indicitative of most nights spent with Q...., good food, video games, drinking, which eventually turned into taking shots.

DC Walk to Stop Child-Slavery

Our friends Trish & Dan coordinated us as a team for the Walk to End Modern Slavery. The McKenna fam made their way to our house bright and early. After a a big delicious breakfast of coffee, eggs, banana bread & pancakes w/ homemade fig compote we made our way in to the city for the walk.

This was the first year of the organized fundraiser walk and luckily a cold gray day didn't stop many of people from coming out. It is sad that this issue needs as much attention as it's getting, but it's great to see so many people & so many organizations at this event.

It wasn't a long walk but fun to see a new park in DC & be out for a good cause!

After watching some entertainment, hearing a few speakers & making our rounds, we headed back in just enough time to dodge some rain.

We spent the the rest of the afternoon in doors relaxing, sipping Sam Adams & snacking away.

9/3/09-9/7/09 Labor Day Weekend

For this Labor Day we had an extra fun and secretive schedule planned. In January 2009, Bill & Elaine, very close friends of Alan & Jolene's (Stu's parents), contacted us to present the idea of a surprise 35th Wedding Anniversary. After months of planning, secret phone conferences, and a few small lies, the plan finally came into action over Labor Day weekend. We flew to Minneapolis on Thursday and spent the night with Jimmy & Jen. As always we love catching up with them and feel right at home in their lovely place.

On Friday we nervously drove down to Rochester. We didn't take our eyes off the rear view mirror, as Alan was traveling home from CA for work and was on the road the same time as us. Luckily we had no encounters on 52S. We headed straight to Bill & Elaine's who are party-planning extraordinaries and did not miss a detail in pulling this celebration together. As an extra treat Alan & Jolene's British friends, (Caroline & Richard) who they met living in Germany in the early 1990's, flew to Minnesota to surprise them as well!! We had the joy of meeting up with them at Bill & Elaine's as we all frantically finished up all the last minute details. Seeing Caroline & Richard was extra special for Stuart as he had not seen them since the age of 12!!

Lindsey & Daryl (Lily & Lulu too) were in charge of getting Alan & Jolene to the Bill & Elaine's as they thought they were going for dinner.

The surprise went off with out a hitch, Alan & Jolene were more than surprised about the party in general, but also that we made the trip home, and even more so that Caroline & Richard were there (this was their 1st trip to the US).

Check out a video of the surprise here

The party was an excellent time! It was great catching up with family & friends as well as seeing Alan & Jolene enjoy the company of all those close to them.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing nothing but eating, drinking, having fun & just relaxing, something that always seems to come easy back in Rochester.

We ended up getting out for brunch in downtown Rochester's 'Peace Plaza.' Lily loved the fountain! It was another great chance to keep catching up & enjoy the great weather.

There was also time to show Caroline & Richard some of the Midwest's finest rescued animals at Oxbow Park. Another hay day for Lily, she loved watching all the critters & getting to pet a hee-hee (horsey).

A perfect last getaway for our summer!!!

Beach Weekend 8/21/09-8/23/09

This weekend our good friend's Trish and Dan invited us up to Trish's parent's beach house for a long weekend in Berlin, MD, just outside of Ocean City. Eight of us (Trish, Dan, Q, Jennifer, Betsy, Dusty and us) along with baby Joey and three dogs - Stone, Bear and Harvey - road tripped up to the perfect weekend get away. We had great weather all weekend so we made sure to get plenty of sand and surf in all 3 days. We went to the beach on Assateague Island which was a quick drive up the road, and offered a more quaint and relaxed atmosphere as compared to the close by Ocean City. It was fun to get back to Assateague as we had camped on bay side two times sine living in Virginia.

With Hurricane Bill moving up the east coast the waves were insane, which made playing in the ocean extra fun. Harvey even got to check out the ocean for his first time. He wasn't quite sure what to think... when the waves went out he tried to swim in the calm water, only to turn around and frantically run away from the waves when they rolled in. We got a bit over zealous and let him off leash, he went sprinting into the water just as a huge wave came. He came flying towards shore riding the wave, only to get flipped upside down and thrown all around. Needless to say he was a bit freaked after that, so we called it quits in the water time for Harvey and stuck to fetch in the sand.

Check out the huge waves rolling in behind.....

We also all took a trip into Ocean City which is more of a touristy beach (as compared to Assateague) with a board walk to boot. As expected it was packed, so we were glad we opted to just walk around and browse the endless boardwalk shopping.

- The whole crew, minus the three pups -

The remainder of our time was spent relaxing at the beach house, watching movies, cooking yummy food (fresh shrimp!), watching movies, and just some good relaxing. Overall it was the perfect weekend getaway! Thanks Trish & Dan for letting us enjoy the Navarro's little piece of paradise.