Springtime in Vienna (VA)

2 out of 3 was as good as we were going to get for this photo at Great Falls, Maryland.

Rach, Hamish and Annie outside Mount Vernon - George Washington's home

Annie and her dad inspect the livestock on Mount Vernon's farm

Who let out the Wild Rachie? She should be safely back behind her fence!

"What do you mean the cowboy look isn't in style anymore?! I've went and bought the boots and EVERYTHING!"

Yup, even saintly ol' G.W. kept slaves...although he did free 123 of them in his will

Scotland's next scrum half warms up for the match

Oh no! England have scored! (actually this was her reaction to us shouting loudly upon Scotland scoring, she was unpatriotically happy when England scored!)

Great Falls of the Potomac River after heavy rains...not sure you get an idea of scale, but this river is BIG!

Maybe I should get an outrigger for my kayak...

Spot the difference

Hello all!

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I’ve been neglecting my blog duties as I’ve had a couple of job applications to do which have consumed my time - and also a lot of Shiona's time as I have passed various drafts of my applications to her for her professional opinion. Thanks Shiona! However, I have still managed to get out and about a bit, mainly wee walks and runs around Vienna during the week, along with a trip to the Museum of American History which was interesting but Native Americans were notable by their absence…So today Rach and I went to the Museum of the American Indian which was much better and had a far better café than either the American History or Natural History museums we have visited in DC. I had a buffalo roll, and Rach had a baby octopus salad – yum!

During the week I’ve not really taken the camera anywhere, but last weekend Hamish took us all to Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) and Great Falls of the Potomac River (pretty gnarly at 9,200 cubic feet per second!).

Rach and I have frequented Norms Beer and Wine store, where there are some really enthusiastic staff who give free samples on a Friday and Saturday afternoon…this has encouraged Rach to run to the beer store, with me cycling, then we buy beer and I carry it back on the bike so it’s not too shook up. Many of you will notice that this involves very little exercise on my part, but don’t worry, I have made use of Hamish and Shiona’s rowing machine downstairs in our ‘granny flat’. This place is like a hotel (photos of house to follow!)...but a hotel that comes with child entertainment system!

Auntie Rach here to update on the entertainment that Annie has been giving us. We have not been in charge of daytime childcare, as in New York, but have been 'assistants' to her mum and dad. As she is the youngest kid Andy or I have spent any amount of time with, it has been really interesting (and fun!) to see what she can do. We have been doing lots of stair and walking practice (usually for Annie's benefit, not ours), had any number of chewed-saliva-covered toys thrust in our faces and done lots of singing (as you can imagine this has been far from a hardship for me and I think I have got even worse/better at putting everything I do into song)! She is a delight....although her parents tell us that since we have arrived she has become more willful...not our fault we hope, but rather a reflection of growing up! We will be very sad to leave her and her parents on Saturday, but already looking forward to seeing her and her mummy in the summer and them all at christmas!

As I said, we leave Vienna on Saturday and head back to NYC, where I am sure May will be delighted to see her favourite carer...and 'the other one'.

We are SO grateful for the WONDERFUL hospitality we have received here in Vienna. As always it's been a delight staying with another branch of the Adamson family!

Have a nice day, y'all!

A&R