A Much Needed Vacation

DJ and I headed out to Cali to spend some time at our family retreat, our
Bed & Breakfast in Long Beach, (see the link to Beachrunners Inn on this blog). We spent 10 days enjoying the fun and sun... Unfortunately, Barry had to work so off we flew without him...I must say, DJ was the perfect traveling companion. He made fast friends on the plane, slept, ate and played without incidence on both flights. Here are some highlights from our trip...

My mother did me the greatest favor by renting a running stroller for us so that I wouldn't have to check our super-sized running stroller through the airlines. That allowed me to indulge my desire to try to try to get some running in on the beach some mornings.

We also got some good family time in, Aunt Ruth was in town to join in the celebration for Donovan's 3rd b-day so we all hung out and enjoyed the nice weather and time to be together. As you'll see from the photos below, Donavan and DJ shared plenty of quality time!











I took the "self photo" we stood on the bluffs above long beach, watching the dolphin swim by. It was pretty cool. As the photos show, my mom had
her hands full, quite literally, with both her grandsons!

Below my son shows off one of his favorite new tricks, hanging around with his foot in his hands!

I got adventurous and took both boys on a beach stroll one morning....
Needless to say, a good (and restful) time was had the entire trip!

The Nectarine

We have graduated from rice cereal to all kinds of great puree'd foods...yams, pears, peas, asparagus, even chicken and rice...but the other night Doyle reached for my nectarine - and I gave it to him.... these photos tell the rest of the story pretty well!

The Massingas

The Massinga's came over and we had a wonderful time eating brunch and relaxing together. Here DJ and his Grand-Nannan Ruth share a moment...


















Miss Madeline struck the quintessential "girly girl" pose...






The cousins had a nice visit sharing DJ's glider.


















The Johnson's and Massinga's - family portrait.













The cousins gliding again..

The Claverie's Visit 1235D!

My sister Courtney, brother-in-law Tracey, and Godson-Nephew (God-Neph) Donovan came to visit in early August. We had a wonderful visit with the two youngest cousins getting familiar with one another... Here DJ eyes his older cousin's shirt...."Hmmm, so He's the Cookie Monster!"
Tracey is a true baseball fanatic so we took in a Nationals game with our cousin Ervin and his children. Here you see Dono and Benjamin chatting it up.
Dono was asking for Maddie from day 1 of their visit..he finally got the chance to cuddle with his one girl cousin! My little one enjoyed the baseball excitement...

Maddie finally got her chance to hold the baby... Having my sister around was a great help, as usual, I invited them all to put down roots in DC...California is so far!
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Donovan is thinking, "I'm going to bridge this height gap sooner or later!"

On the last full day of their trip, we went to the National Arboreteum and enjoyed a "private tour" of the bonsai and herb gardens...



A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, Barry's work schedule prevented him from "playing" most days...

DJ's First Swim - Sunday August 13, 2006

As soon as my friend and collegue Jessica told me that her complex has a pool - I asked for an invitation. DJ seemed to enjoy bath-time so much, I knew he would enjoy the pool as well. Jessica (a charter member of the Doyle Johnson,II fan club) was happy to oblige us. Not only was Jess a wonderful hostess, she was also a great photographer as well...enjoy the photos!

The Book Club

On August 5th my dear friend Esther hosted the second meeting of our "official" book club...it's just the kind of book club that I would join: we meet once every 5-6 months; eat fabulous food lovingly prepared by Esther - who's house rules state that noone brings food and noone helps! - served on exquisite china, drinking from the best crystal goblets; we catch up on the lives of all participants, single, married, divorced, remarried...everyone has something to share, a new perspective to ponder; then we discuss the book (Hunger, by Rod Stanford started us out!). It is a wonderful gathering of people and ideas and I love the experience...Barry worked through the last meeting but DJ joined us and has been officially accepted as our youngest member.

Here is the hostess, properly adorned with her festive B-Day hat in celebration of Camille's 29th (again?!) birthday.
Here Ms. Roxane holds court...regaling us all with another of her stories!

Rod and John provided the male insights that we girls are always looking for. So wonderful to have well read brothers who are able to share their thoughts and feelings on a wide variety of subjects...

Master Doyle worked hard getting his "Auntie Es's" attention...

Group photos with the birthday girl! DJ got a little tired toward the end...book discussions can be taxing to a tiny tike!