It's so hard to say goodbye

Our dear neighbors and friends, Danna and Sanjay and their kids, are moving back to Montana this week. After more than five years together, it is hard to know what to say or where to start, so we'll start at beginning (but keep it short!).

Back in 2004, Michael and I bought our first house in Warwick Village. As a long-time rental, it was the kind of house you had to see the "potential" in to buy. But, we were so proud of our little house that we couldn't wait to move in. Driving by one day before our closing date, we met our neighbor-to-be Danna. She saw us peeking in the windows of our soon-to-be house and let us walk around hers so we could envision where our furniture might go. She also gave us the scoop on the other neighbors, who would come to be our "urban family" over the next five years.

We spent the next two years fixing up 34 Kennedy Street. When we weren't at Home Depot, we were hanging out with our new neighbors and friends on the front porch (also a DIY project). For years now, many a summer evening after work has been spent drinking wine and eating cheese in good company on our porch. And while it is hard to remember now, before Jack and Sonja joined us on Kennedy Street, there was Zane and Erica.

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

We had great fun watching Zane and Erica grow over those first two years while we were still "nesting." By our third summer in the Village, Jack came along. Always a good neighbor, Danna had Sonja three months later, an instant playmate for Jack.

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

Over the years, its has been so special to watch our kids grow alongside each other here on Kennedy Street. From pool parties to birthday parties to just hanging out, there was always an impromptu playdate right out our front door.

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

From Zane, Sonja, and Jack

We can't believe we actually have to say goodbye this week, but we wish Danna, Sanjay, Zane and Sonja all the best on their new adventure in Montana. When can we visit?

Zane, Sonja, and Jack

When Jack Met Ellie...

From jack and ellie

Actually, it started when Michael met Jeff... in the alley while taking out the trash back in 2007. We had been living in Warwick Village for about two years, and it turns out, so had Jeff and his wife Kathleen. They had moved to the Village from Glover Park in DC, and as you know, so had we. We were expecting our first baby that summer, and it turns out, so were they. As excited (and nervous) new parents-to-be, we started hanging out and awaiting our bundles of joy together.

Although Kathleen was due earlier than me, Jack came first that summer. In fact, he and Ellie nearly swapped due dates. She was due on June 28th and Jack was due on July 7th. Although I really wanted Jack to be born on 7/7/07, I didn't complain when he came two weeks early on June 26th. Kathleen had to wait it out a few more (long) weeks, but Ellie finally arrived on the 7th!

From jack and ellie

It was a long hot summer, but it was great to have another couple to share the ups and downs of parenting newborns with. Ellie was a superstar from the start. Like many girls, Ellie was ahead of most boys - Jack included - on just about everything - eating, sleeping through the night, crawling, walking. When we weren't jealous, we were happy to have good friends to share the worries and triumphs of new parenthood with us.

From jack and ellie

Through the years, Jack and Ellie have grown into toddlers, and new babies have joined the block. We're sad to see Ellie and her family move this weekend, but we wish them all the best on their new adventure in Thailand!

From jack and ellie

jack and ellie

Snowmageddon!

From Snow!

When I moved to Washington DC almost twelve years ago, I actually donated my parka to Goodwill because it didn’t get nearly cold enough to use it. Well, I definitely could have used it this winter! Since December, we’ve had three major snowstorms, bringing us nearly 60 inches of snow total this winter. The last two came within a week of each other, snowing us in for days on end.

From Snow!

Luckily, we have great friends in the neighborhood who kept us warm with hospitality, not to mention great food and wine. The block also banded together to keep our sidewalks and service drive clear and our cars dug out of the snow. Here are some pics, mostly of the first major storm in December.

Snow!

"I WANT THE CHRISTMAS!"

This year, we unexpectedly found ourselves at home for Christmas instead of Ohio. But, Jack’s grandparents did their best to bring Christmas to DC. Grandma “Boop” came first bringing lots and lots of gifts and Grandpa Bill sent a big box too. The pile under the tree Christmas morning was huge; it took Jack almost two hours to open them all. He did draw it out by playing with each gift for about 15 minutes before opening the next one. We think this is probably the first and last year he’ll be so deliberate opening his gifts.

From Christmas 2009

About halfway through the gift-opening extravaganza, Jack sat on one of his presents and declared “I WANT THE CHRISTMAS!” Needless to say, he was ready for more. The next day, Jack said, “WANT MORE SANTA!” Luckily for him, Nonni and Grandpa were on their way with more presents for Jack.

From Christmas 2009

Enjoy these pics of Jack opening presents – and many thanks to all who sent gifts. Jack had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas 2009

Thanksgiving is a special time

This Thanksgiving, the Buening clan made a special trek to DC instead of our usual 20-hour round trip car ride to Ohio. Considering Jack's past performance on such trips, we were rather grateful! It was great to have everyone in town, but it was especially fun to see the cousins together, Ethan, Mike, and Jack. Although they are 9 months apart, Jack and Mike look like tow-headed twins right now causing all of us to do more than a few double-takes. Ethan was a patient big brother and cousin putting up with Mike and Jack's toddler antics.

From Thanksgiving 09

Thanksgiving day was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop Uncle Mike from running in the Del Ray 5 Mile Turkey Trot. We all walked down to see him start the race at the end of our street and then stopped by the Caboose coffee shop for hot cocoa and chocolate chocolate chip muffins - Jack's favorite - while we waited for him to make the turn back home.

That night we had a great feast at Aunt Lynne's house, and the next night a perfect party at a nearby restaurant to celebrate Aunt Pam's 60th birthday, also hosted by Aunt Lynne.

While everyone was in town, we spent some time touring the local sites. In school, Ethan recently learned about the Eternal Flame at JFK's grave, so we made a trip to Arlington Cemetery at his request. We also went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport, a giant airplane hanger with many planes and other aircraft to see, including an actual space shuttle (or "pace shubble" as Jack would call it).

From Thanksgiving 09

We finished the weekend with brunch at our house. The weather was unseasonably warm and the boys had a great time playing outside together before everyone headed home.

Thanksgiving 09

The Reader

We've mentioned in the past that Jack is a big fan of his books. In his 2+ years, he's had a steady diet of books read to him. From the beginning, he's been studious when reading. Turns out he was busy memorizing entire pages, which he recites back to us in his toddler way (meaning, only his parents have a clue what he's saying and everybody else thinks he is babbling.)

Jack also loves the anticipation of knowing what is coming on the next page. If he ever jumps ahead or back in a book, it is inevitably to the page just before the one he really wants to see and hear.

We only have a couple of pop-up/reveal books in the current repertoire. When Jack was really little, he pretty much tore these kinds of books apart. The reading of "Grandpa and Me" below is a fun little highlight reel of what it's like to read to our precocious boy.

Halloween Parade

This weekend was the 13th Annual Del Ray Halloween Parade. It was Jack's third. His first year, he was a Jack-o-lantern (pun intended).

From First Halloween

The second year he went as Curious George - still one of his favorite book characters - and Michael went as (or should I say went along with being) the Man with the Yellow Hat.

From Halloween and Election 08

This year, I wanted Jack to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are. But, he is against wearing footed pajamas and hats or hoods of any kind, so that was definitely out.

Instead, he was a UPS driver! As you all know, Jack is a big fan of the "Lou Pee Ess truck" as he would say and owns three mini-UPS trucks. (Short story: he had one, lost it, asked for it for weeks, we bought two replacements, and the original one showed up the next day!). We bought a costume online, but decided to make a homemade UPS truck for the Halloween parade.

Each year, there is a stroller decorating competition as part of the Halloween parade as well as a costume competition - people and pets. We've never entered the competition before, but we were motivated by Jack's truck love. We recently bought him a train table, so we had a giant cardboard box. And, we used his big plastic red pushcar for the base. We constructed the truck during nap time on Saturday, painted it brown Saturday night, and painted the logos and other details on Sunday morning.

From Fall Fun

We were feeling good about our odds in the competition walking down to the parade where early parade goers staking out their spots were cheering us on as we made our way to the starting line. Once there, we soon remembered that some families go all out for the stroller competition, and took our place in the middle of the pack so to speak. There were some great entries, including a multi-wagon and stroller Hogwarts Express! We didn't win, but we were definitely a crowd favorite. All along the parade route we heard "Hey UPS man!" and "What can Brown do for you?" and more than a few people came up to take pictures.

From Fall Fun

A great time was had by all!

Fall Fun

Summer's End

It's been awhile since our last post! Fall is officially here now, but we're still thinking of summer. We had a great time running around with Jack this summer - and so did our family members who came to visit. Nonni and Grandpa came out a few times. As always, they had a project or two to do while they were here. They'll be back in a few weeks, just in time for the Halloween parade.

From End of Summer Fun

Grandma and Poppy came out too. Grandma pitched in for three days when the babysitter was on vacation. She and Jack had great fun together, although the visit ended with a summer cold. Poppy drove in for the weekend, and we checked out the Air and Space museum before they headed home.

Aunt Pam made a quick visit to see Aunt Lynne over Labor Day weekend and Jack dropped by to say hello. We didn't take nearly enough pictures when folks were in town, but we've got a few to share:

End of Summer Fun

Beach Babe

After three years, we finally made it back to the ocean this summer! We drove out to Dewey Beach on the Delaware Shore, a 3-4 hour drive from DC. It was actually the 10th anniversary of our first trip to Dewey Beach back in 1999. Back then, it was my second summer in DC and we didn't know the area at all. We stayed in a house more than 3 blocks from the beach, which is far when you're carrying your beach chairs and umbrellas. It was the height of jellyfish season and only the boys - Michael, Matt, and Ben - were brave/crazy enough to go in the water. But we had a great time, and we've made it out about a half dozen times since then with some formation of the beach crew. (Check out some pics from the second year and the last year here).

Dewey Back in the Day

Our last trip to Dewey was three years ago in 2006. We had a full house with 12 people, the whole crew and then some. We were all PWOK (people without kids) that summer, although Shannon and Steve were expecting the twins. (Shannon, by the way, taught us how to really do the beach right our second year out, and we still set up camp early each morning at the beach, just like she told us.) We all must have gotten baby fever that summer because Jack, Austin, and Alex were all born the next year. Since then, we've been too busy changing diapers and chasing toddlers to get back to the beach, but this year we made it back and took Jack out for his first beach vacation.

Jack was a beach babe from the start. He ran right into the ocean the first day and we chased him up and down the beach the whole week (except for a few days out for a summer cold that Jack took home as a souvenir). We're pretty sure we're going to need to check into top surfer colleges in about 16 years! Jack loved the sand as much as the surf and we can't wait to get him back next year. Even now, Jack will ask to "go to the ocean" even though we're back home.

A great time was had by all. Enjoy these pics of our beach baby and the rest of this year's crew.

dewey beach 09

Let's go to the beach!

We have piles of photos to post, but in the meantime, here's a quick video from our recent trip to the beach. Jack loved the "big water" and loved to yell "CRASH!" when the waves hit him. The boy was fearless!