Washington Monument, Dana rocking his Springbok Rugby birthday t-shirt, love it!
The new Martin Luther King Jr. monument, "Stone of Hope"
Jefferson Memorial
Keeping Nana and Papa busy touring Washington DC!
Capital Building
Obama's residence! The White House, wow!
Pool Time with Papa and Daddy
Needless to say, Sophiya was kept very busy (just how I like it!) and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. We went to an amazing restaurant that evening called the Founding Farmers, had a lovely dinner with delicious local ingredients and impressive architecture. "The Founding Farmers name represents a combination of ideas: it is a celebration of the land and the American family farmer; it is a nod to the founding fathers of our country, many of whom owned and farmed land that surrounds Washington, D.C.; and it is a place where true, sustainably-farmed, grown, and harvested American foods are brought to our guests."
After being overseas for so long, spending the weekend in Washington DC was so appropriate for our re-introduction to American way of life. We felt the energy of being at the heart of our nation's capital, everywhere you look there are people from all over the world, a "Rainbow Nation" (if I can be allowed to steal from South Africa's nickname), a place of rich history, culture, pride and power. It is here where the decisions of our country's future are determined and the leaders of our great nation are debating (heatedly these days) issues that will affect generations to come. We reflected on our country's history and contemplated the path of our country for our posterity. All this while simultaneously chasing after a one and a half year old, luckily it was four against one toddler, so adults won (most of the time).
After our weekend in Washington DC, we headed down to Williamsburg, Virginia for a week. Williamsburg is a special place in America as it represents one of the first founding settlements of the original colonists, where the idea of "America" was born. The town has preserved its rich cultural history by restoring the original town center and turning it into a "living museum". Townspeople dress in traditional colonial garments, speaking in character as members of the 18th century Williamsburg and embodying their role as the town shoemaker, doctor, tavern owner or African American slave.
Besides touring colonial Williamsburg, we spent lots of time at the pool, took a trip to the Virginia seaside and visited the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Sophiya had a blast swimming and playing all day with Nana and Papa, enjoying every moment with them.
Virginia Beach, where the ocean water is warm enough to swim! yay!
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Nana and Sophiya
It feels so good to be home, especially after being spoiled with all of our family time. Sophiya is certainly loving being closer to her grandparents and so are we! It was tough saying goodbye to Nana and Papa, but luckily this time we know we are only a 5 hour flight away, not 25+!!
Sliding and learning to rock climb at Centennial Park
We are settling into Columbia nicely, everything is going very well. Dana is enjoying his new job with Cultural Vistas and will be going to China on a work trip in mid-October. He'll be doing presentations at universities, recruiting Chinese students to join the internship programs Cultural Vistas offers. I'm so proud of him to have this exciting upcoming opportunity and to have found such a great job! Sophiya and I will be visiting Seattle during the time he'll be away (15-28 October) to see Nana and Papa again, and attend my sister-in-law's baby shower. We are really looking forward to this!
I'm doing well, 22 weeks pregnant now with our second little one, feeling healthy and enjoying the second trimester much more than the first. Columbia is such a great place to live with kids, there are endless parks to visit, trails to take walks, libraries and the schools are the best in the country. We've got a membership to the local Lifetime Fitness, so I've found some great yoga classes to attend. We have still yet to visit downtown Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay area, but we will be doing lots of exploring!
Sophiya is growing with leaps and bounds. She is 21 months now, I still find it hard to believe she is going to be two soon. These first couple years have really flown by, note to self to remember with the second one! Sophiya's vocabulary and ability to communicate is increasing everyday, it's amazing to see the way she tries to say new words, attach meaning to different phrases and starting generally get her point across with the few words she's got (intermittently with frustrated cries and shouts of course when I don't understand!) She has really gotten into coloring, which keeps her occupied for ages, it's fantastic. I know there is going to be a day that crayon will end up on the wall because she is such an art enthusiastic, but so far so good! The other activity she is intrigued with is cooking, so I try to get her involved as much as possible with meal making, hoping it will result in her eating well, which has been helpful on a few occasions. I'm not a big baker normally, but I think I will give this a try in the next few weeks as I'm sure she'll love it.
Reading with Daddy, notice the new hairdo from Nana??
That is about all for now. Fall is upon us in Maryland, so I'm enjoying seeing the tree leaves turning colors and the crisp autumn air. Looking forward to an official Halloween next month, we'll finally be able to carve a pumpkin again and dress Sophiya up in a ridiculously cute costume, yay!
