500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up

I saw this book at the library the other day and figured it would be easier to flip through it at home than standing amongst the shelves, so home it came. It's not an in-depth guidebook so much as a series of somewhat brief descriptions of all kinds of places around the world, complete with suggested age ranges and why your kids will thank you for taking them there.
I was curious about how many of the places I've been (or activities I've done; some of the things are pretty specific, such as walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, not just seeing it). The tally: 53. Laura's been to 18, and she was pretty irked when she realized there are a lot of places (mostly in Europe) I've been that she hasn't. But hey, maybe our two years in Milan will fix that. (The Last Supper, which I didn't see when in Milan on Study Abroad, is one of the places we'll definitely be going. Possibly sans baby, unless he/she is particularly interested in Leonardo da Vinci.)

Not that I don't enjoy watching sports as much as the next person, but ...

Last night, I told Laura she could watch a little TV before bed. I expected Disney Channel or Nickolodeon or Animal Planet. But no, she wanted to watch hockey. Yes, the one "major" sport I've never had a desire to watch. I don't know whether she even understands the rules, but later she was telling me about the game (it was the Capitals vs. the Rangers). And no, I still don't care.

Pretty food I'll probably never make -- or eat

One of my favorite things about the Falls Church library is the constant arrival of new books. Sometimes when I go there I don't even look for books on my list of things I want to read; I just browse the new book section.
Friday, on our first visit to the library since our re-entry, I came across this book and decided to check it out. I did flip through it over the weekend and wasn't surprised to learn that of the 50 recipes in it, there only were two I'd ever make. And although there were a few more I'd eat if someone made them for me, what are the chances of that?
So back to the library it went, although having it around for the photography was fun while it lasted.

This may be my last post about birds of Trinidad

Unfortunately, I never did get a photo of the bird in my back yard that sounds like a laughing bullfrog. But Laura and I did see what we think was a yellow oriole between the deputy chief of mission's residence (where we attended a pool party) and St. Clair Medical Center (50 yards away, where we walked afterward to pick up the results of Laura's tuberculosis test) on our last day in Port of Spain. It was on an overhead power line, so I can't be positive, but I think this is what it looked like (although obviously I didn't take this photo).

New country. New apartment. New school.

OK, so the country always has been ours, we just haven't seen much of it the past couple of years.
As mentioned previously, Laura and I departed Trinidad for the U.S. -- specifically Washington, D.C., and its environs -- on April 15. We're living in the same corporate apartment complex we did when we were here in 2007, so we're seeing a lot of our church friends again (although no old Foreign Service friends so far).
Laura is going to finish out second grade at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, and she'll go to third grade there next year, too. The biggest change, at least on the surface, for her will be that she no longer has to wear a uniform. So this was her attire yesterday, her first day:
Thank goodness for clearance racks since she didn't have a single pair of jeans, and the only pair of long pants she owned apparently got left behind in Port of Spain. Plus, it's still a little on the cold side here, which we're not used to after having been in the tropics for a couple of winters.

Yes, I'm missing Obama's visit. No, he won't know the difference.

This week -- tomorrow through Sunday -- the Summit of the Americas is in Port of Spain. President Obama, Secretary Clinton and a variety of other American political and diplomic types are coming to town.
Of course, I left town Wednesday. Being 33.5 weeks pregnant gets one a ticket back to the States. So no, no one you've ever heard of will be coming to my house for dinner. (I know the people who have asked this have been joking, but I still felt like mentioning it.)
It is too bad Laura and I are missing the opportunity to shake hands with the president (probably the best we could have hoped for), but I think I'll survive somehow.

Happy Easter! and assorted random thoughts

Somehow I went all day today without taking a single photo. Laura's Easter basket, what she wore (not that it was a new dress), our last Sunday at church here. Nope, no photos.
Easter is a glorious holiday. I'm very thankful for my beliefs and faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement and resurrection, but it's also great for the family togetherness aspect of it. We had steak and blue cheese au gratin potatoes for dinner.
Friday was our 10th anniversary. We had grand plans for dinner -- the Waterfront Restaurant at the (still somewhat new) Hyatt -- but our babysitter fell through. We still went, but Laura came with us. Not that it wasn't fun and all. (My specifically requested gift was an apron from this site, which I saw in an article in the BYU alumni magazine awhile back.)
The Summit of the Americas is here in Port of Spain this week. Preparations began months ago, and there are advance teams and temporarily assigned employees and such arriving every day now. I've met some of them, but overall I'm out of the loop -- which isn't a bad thing given that Laura and I are leaving before the summit even starts.
Our flight out is Wednesday morning, and we should be back in Washington, D.C., by late that afternoon. Am I ready? Heck no, and I doubt I will be when the time comes. But I'm pretty ready to leave. And to have a baby in about seven weeks. And not just because there really should be a limit to how much horrendous foot swelling a person should have to deal with.

I don't care what kind of cookies Joseph Biden likes ...

but I was looking for an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe yesterday and came across this one. They're very good.

Embassy baby shower

Somehow I've gotten my events out of order, but Friday my embassy womenfriends threw me a baby shower. (I guess we didn't actually exclude men, but Kevin was swamped with consular duties, and he's the only one I thought might come.)
So, here's yet another photo of the very pregnant me. The Baby Mama nametag was Claudia's idea, and I thought it was hilarious.

There were more people than this along the way, but only Judy, Ann, Claudia and Reese were around when we finally decided to take photos.

Gumbo and Wii fest 2009

We had a bunch of friends over Saturday for gumbo (and various other delicious foods) and Wii playing. I think the Wii part was the most fun for everyone.
I asked our friend Reese to bring over her Carnival headpiece so I could get a photo of Laura wearing it.

The highlight of the Wii'ing was Len Kusnitz, our deputy chief of mission, doing the ski jump on Wii Fit. I wish I would have gotten a shot of him imitating the way the Mii waves to the crowd afterward.

Farewell, ISPS

Friday was Laura's last day at the International School of Port of Spain. I visited her class Thursday to take photos and to have her friends sign the T-shirt she'd made as a keepsake.
They were working in their phonics workbooks when I arrived.

Laura's teacher, Ms. Johnson, tried hard to arrange everyone in such a way they'd be visible in the photo. Alas, it didn't really work out that way.