valentine's kisses

For Valentine's Day, Dave and I went to a couple of wineries in the area. We planned on going to 6 right around our house, but we didn't realize they give you the equivalent of a glass of wine at each one. I thought you tasted one or two wines, but it's closer to 10! YIKES!

We could visit 2 wineries every weekend, for several years and still not visit them all because there are so many in this area. It's cool!

It was an absolutely beautiful day. I haven't gotten to spend that much time with Dave having a fun day since his Christmas break, and then before that it was early August! So--it was really nice.

The landscape in the Virginia mountains is breathtaking. It reminds me of my trips to the United Kingdom. The rolling hills, the little historic towns, the boutique farmlands. It's captivating. It was exactly what the doctor ordered to boost my spirits and remind me of why I wanted to live here so much.

Dave often says that as soon as we can afford it, he wants 200 acres in Montana. We absolutely love Montana, but as I've said before, we would be (almost) THE ONLY ONES in our respective families that would be away from this area. Unpopular. And, doubtful that it would ever come to pass. But, over the weekend, Dave started saying perhaps we could just have a farm around here. That works! And we came home and decided this would do nicely: http://www.thomasandtalbot.com/welbourne/index.htm

He took lots of pictures of cows, grape vines, sheep and barns. He is quite the amateur photographer.



In Isaac news, he was so excited to visit with Grama Carolyn & Grampa Fred earlier this month. We were so lucky, they came to stay with us for a weekend. They brought fun books and toys for Isaac, and Isaac showed them all the fun new things he can do now, including, of course the raspberry noise, standing up for several seconds unassisted, almost crawling, and laughing a lot at games like peek-a-boo. Everyone really enjoyed visiting.

Then, the next Monday, we went to Isaac's 6 month check-up. He is still in the 90th percentile for everything. The doctor noticed several of his new skills and said that he's about 3 months early for many of those things. That was reassuring. He said he thought Isaac was thriving, so mommy was very happy and relieved.

He really is like a little boy now. He wants to reach out and grab everything and he wants so badly to crawl and walk. We just started feeding him vegetables. He has already had all of the grains. So far, no allergies.

And, possibly the cutest news...two days ago when he was getting his daily bath, he discovered his winkie. It was sooooo funny. I had to call Dave at work.

Speaking of Dave, he is all excited to be 3/4 through is first year of law school. So far, he is finding it to be a lot of work, but nothing like the severe warnings he received from just about everyone we know about how impossible law school is, especially the first year. Either he's really really smart, or everyone is overly dramatic.

His professors can be heard on NPR. They know Eric Holder and other (lesser known) presidential advisors. They routinely testify at congressional hearings and they share their experiences in class with students. It's a very inspiring place to study the law.

He's planning on taking a special bar exam this summer to become a patent officer. He's really excited about his new vocation and all the possibilities.

Speaking of inspiring places, I read in the Washington Parent magazine how diverse the public school classrooms are here. Parents commented on how impressive it is that 87 countries are represented in their child's primary school, for example, and how often they have cultural exchanges and celebrations. Many of the parents work for the UN or the IMF, so it's pretty common for kids in the local school districts to be from all over the world.

And field trips are to places like The Smithsonian. So there you have it.

If I had gotten to design my ideal childhood, my parents would have been diplomats for the UN and I would have gotten to travel the world and become fluent in 8 languages. I actually have 3 friends who had that childhood and they have the coolest stories of things like dinner at Imelda Marco's house for example. They spend their family's Christmastime skiing in the Alps.

So, even though Dave and I are not currently diplomats, and we don't how Isaac defines his ideal childhood, I personally think it's cool that we can offer him the next best thing: the chance to go to school with children of actual diplomats, and the opportunity to learn about the world at a very early age.

So--my sadness for the West Coast is still very strong, but my appreciation for this area is growing. Thank God, because, we are going to live here for the forseeable future.

Speaking of the forseeable future, we are very much looking forward to a visit from my Aunt Susan and Uncle Andy. Andy LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES to golf, as does Dave, and there are a million places around here. Maybe Dave can make some time!

Miss you. Love you! Email us at schleiferkin@gmail.com.