Thanksgiving/R&R at Grandma and Grandpa Machak's

This is a mega-post because it's been a busy couple of weeks! We went to Niles to visit David's parents for our "R&R" or "Rest and Recuperation". While it was a fun and productive trip, we kept pretty busy! After celebrating David's mom's birthday on Monday, David and his dad went hunting for pheasant on Tuesday. We did a lot of shopping, both for Christmas and our regular "stock up" at Target and Baby's R Us, and the Saturday after Thanksgiving Christy attended her Denison friend Heidi's baby shower while Nicholas took his first trip to Chucky Cheese for cousin Siena's birthday party. The second week we drove down to DC for some work meetings and met up with old friends, including friends from Berlin! We also got to see some snow before heading back to warm and sunny T&T. Nicholas did really well on the plane coming back. All and all a great trip! Unfortunately we didn't take and pictures in DC but here are all the Ohio pictures:

David ordered a special centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner.

perfect snack to go along with some football watching on Thanksgiving day

better than the magazine picture! yummy blueberry pie

Thanksgiving bottle of Riesling

Thanksgiving picture

a Thanksgiving feast!

Nicholas enjoyed his Thanksgiving dinner

We took a trip to the Christmas store, Kraynaks, to see the displays.

the dinosaur tree!

Elmo!

Last year Nicholas slept through the whole thing.....

http://lifeofadiplocat.blogspot.com/2009/12/ohio-week-1-getting-in-christmas-spirit.html

Denison friends at Heidi's baby shower

Dinner with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Andy and cousins Shawn and Wendy and their daughter Siena

hugs!

bedtime story with grandma

long car ride to DC.... but tupperware saves the day!

hanging out with Dominic, David's friend Chris's son

At Westside Market in Cleveland

coffee and hug break!

my shoes squeak!

Christmas market in Cleveland

family Christmas photo

love the Christmas dog (he sings and dances, so Nicholas does too)

Veteran's Day on the Beach

We want to say a big thank you to all of our Veteran's! We enjoyed the day off at the beach. The relaxing seems a distance memory though after a crazy week. Both David and Christy were very busy at work trying to get a number of things done before vacation. Christy isn't quite done yet.... she organized a workshop that the Embassy and the local Rotary Club are sponsoring for young professionals, but tomorrow afternoon she will finally be able to take a deep breath... and start packing!


our little man out for a stroll

Nicholas playing in the sand with our nanny.

beach bum family!

Well in the next set of pics we post we'll be bundled up for an Ohio Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see everyone!

Happy 235th Birthday, Marines!

David and I enjoyed a romantic weekend at the Hyatt for the Marine Ball. It was a 3 day weekend --the Hindu celebration Divali was on Friday-- and the Ball was Friday night. Friday morning David and I snuck away for an hour of kayaking before packing up and heading to the Hyatt to relax and get ready for the ball. We took advantage of our room and spent about 25 hours at the Hyatt, then relaxed and straightened up the house on Saturday evening and Sunday. Christy made a roasted root vegetable medley that she is very proud of to go with David's delicious lamb chops for dinner.

In other news, I think we can officially declare that Nicholas can walk. He took his first steps right around his first birthday, and has been getting better and better. Now he takes up to 12 steps in a row, but the difference is he can start and stop and takes more deliberate steps, instead of just moving his legs as fast as he can and seeing how far his momentum can take him.

Saturday morning we got late check out then went home to get Nicholas to take him for a dip at the Hyatt pool.

The jacuzzi was the same temperature as the pool, but Nicholas loved it because the bench was the perfect height for him to walk around and around and around.....

view from our room's balcony

infinity pool at the Hyatt on Friday afternoon-- there were some dark clouds over the ocean but the rain held off

what kind of blog post would this be without a cute pic of the diplocat?

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is the Burger King advertisement on the bus stop on the street right outside the embassy. Unfortunately it's a narrow sidewalk and a busy street so I couldn't really back up to get a full shot, but you get the idea....

The Mischevious Monkey goes Trick or Treating

Well the storm never hit. But it did result in the embassy shutting down Friday afternoon, and a free half day off work. Unfortunately that meant no Embassy Halloween party. Until Tuesday. Not sure if we'll be able to take Nicholas to it or not.

Anyway, Friday night we had an impromptu hurricane party. With no hurricane. But lots of friends.

Saturday David went kayaking in the morning. In the afternoon, Christy had to work at the College Fair, discussing visas this time instead of Denison. Next year, we'll do a Denison booth at the Trinidad College Fair.

Sunday we had a great time, going to a neighbor's Halloween Party then Trick or Treating in the neighborhood. Nicholas was such a good boy and sooo cute! Then since Alicia was here David and I snuck away for a date night--Thai food!

pre-Halloween reading

trick or treating with some of the other embassy kids

party at our neighbor Reshma's house. Nicholas and Jared (aka superman) like to play at the park and go on walks together

we bought Alicia a witch's hat to wear while handing out the candy

mischevious monkey and cat woman

our Halloween fam

hurricane party

we were well prepared to weather the storm

Halloween morning after.... being cute

Next weekend we continue the fun with the Embassy Marine Ball!