DC Part 3: Grandpa Bob's 94th Birthday Weekend

To celebrate Grandpa Bob's 94th birthday, Grasshopper Abby, Uncle Ron, and Aunt Suza came down to DC as well as Daddy's Aunt Caroline and Uncle Richard and cousins, Anna, David and Andrew. Abby and Ron gave Noah some beautiful books - here Abby reading one of the books to Noah and Noah pointing something out.

Funnny.....

Confusing or upsetting?

That evening, everyone came over for aperitif and Noah decided it was his job to serve the food. So he went around the room asking people if they wanted tortilla chips and if so with guacamole or salsa. If the answer was yes, he would go get a chip, dip it in the right sauce and bring it over to the person with a big smile. I wonder where/why he got the idea. It was very sweet and it was great seeing him talk and interact with all these grown-ups he did not know. The only slight problem with his plan was that the Persian rug sometimes received some guacamole or salsa it had not ordered... and, of course, Noah got to eat the chips that broke in the dipping process. After aperitif and a yummy dinner, the cake was brought out. As Noah's grandparents will not be there for Noah's actual birthday, Noah got to help grandpa Bob blow out the candles and share a little bit of birthday fun. 

Almost there... a few more to go.

Noah dressed up for the Sunday celebration brunch. These days when you ask him to smile for the camera, this is what you get...

Luckily he smiles a lot on his own so it's not too hard capturing him with a smile on his face. Here with Abby and Ron brunching outside.

And with GG and Grandpa Bob.

The whole crew... It was great seeing everyone. See you all again for Grandpa Bob's 95th birthday celebration (or before in Singapore??).

After Noah's nap, we went to the corner block party where Noah jumped around in the castle and got an arm painting (he prefers that to a face painting because he can see the painting on his arm but not his face... makes sense to me).

One of our last nights in DC - enjoying wine and cheese in the backyard - soooo nice. 

The wine was just not any wine... a St Julien 1970.. yuuuuummmmyyyy. Although he is still quite young - Noah has already tasted some amazing wines (see visiting Mamie and Papy July 2011 when he tasted a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1976)- Here Noah getting his "canard" - just in case you were wondering, he asked for more...

 Noah got to sing a final happy birthday to his Grandpa Bob before we headed back to Singapore.

Bye bye GG and Grandpa and all of you friends and family in the US - hope to see you all soon somewhere.

DC Part 2: Old Friends and New Friends

Back in DC, we met up with our friends Amy and Charles... and their little daughter Julia. Last time we were in DC, Julia was about to be born... Here Noah and Julia on the front lawn of Amy and Charles's home.

A flower for you... ooops...

Walking in the sunset....

to Kushi Sushi mmmmmm....

They were very cute together.

Ok - this time Daddy is taking them to the restaurant as opposed to up and down the sidewalk. Noah's paternal instincts kicked in and he pet Julia and shelled edamame and fed them to Julia - though his shelling and feeding pace was a bit rapid... 

To old friends and new friends!

Bethany Beach: Family, Food and Fun (part 3)

Over the next few days at Bethany beach, Noah became more and more comfortable playing in the waves.  He and GG had a great time jumping around in the waves.

Remember that the water was COLD.... doesn't seem like it from looking at these two... 

Looks like loads of fun...

Noah even cautiously went in the very shallow part on his own (with close by supervision of course).

And also continued to work on the pool project...

And played in the sand. 

The last day before heading back to DC, he played one last game of put put with GG and Daddy.

It was fun being at a beach where the sun is not soooo strong that you don't actually want to sit out. Noah really got to play in the sand and water and with his grandparents. A fun family trip.

Bethany Beach: Family, Food and Fun (part 2)

On Saturday, Aunt Renee, Uncle Tom and cousins, Monica, Glenn and Sarah joined us at the beach. Here Noah watching Glenn fill the bucket with water and sand for the big pool project and Grandpa supervising. 

Noah - helping out. 

Another trip to fill up the bucket..

Victorious return with a full bucket.

Working on the pool project with Aunt Suza, Glenn and Grandpa.

Back from another bucket-filling trip.

This time Grandpa went with Noah to fill up the bucket... 

After a morning of filling up the bucket and digging, we headed back to the house for lunch and... to celebrate Monica's birthday...

After a reinvigorating nap, we headed to the put put course a block away from the house. Here Sarah teaching Noah how to play.

Noah's job was to pick up the ball in the hole...

And hand it over to its owner.

Noah attempting a shot himself.

And with some help from Daddy...

On his own again - this time very concentrated. Although he liked putting and picking up balls, his favorite aspect of this course was probably the pirate (it was a pirate-themed course) who sprang up every so often and spouted something. Noah kept trying different things to see if he could make the pirate come out. Sometimes he jumped and just then the pirate would come out so he thought maybe jumping made the pirate come out... Finally, I think he realized that the pirate was on its own schedule and that he would come out no matter what Noah did or did not do... but lots and lots of fun figuring that out. 

That evening we went to Crabber's cove for dinner - the cousins (minus Seth).

The cousins with spouses and significant others.

With Aunt Suza, Tom and Renee.

Mmmmm crab.

Bethany Beach: Suza Series

I think this series speaks for itself - they have such a connection and Seth completely captured it here. 

We can't wait to see you out in Singapore in a little over a month Suza :)