theparkerfamily.org

Tag: Washington D.C.

  • july 4th

    []
    it’s sorta cute, the number of people who’ve asked about sparklet’s first 4th of july.

    besides brunch with the mightymightyboigs (the highlight!) we spent the day hiding from the heat, and the night putting sparklet back to sleep after being woken up by late night, unlicensed “community” displays of patriotic exuberance.

    go, team america.

  • walter pierce playground

    []
    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    walter pierce playground, washington, dc

  • baby zoo animals

    []
    []
    there’s been rash of baby animals being born at the national zoo — gorilla, red panda, kiwi, hornbills, etc — and because we never really make it past the petting zoo, we hadn’t managed to see any of them.

    it’s crazy hot right now, which has mostly kept us inside in the afternoons, but we made a rare exception and drove over to the zoo to run in an see the new baby gorilla in her (mercifully) air conditioned enclosure.

  • petting zoo

    []
    not saying we go a lot, but i know the names of more petting zoo animals than i know the names of people on who work on my floor.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    kid’s farm, national zoo, washington, dc

  • zoo portraits

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    zoo portraits, washington, dc

  • out: columbia heights civic plaza fountains

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: civic plaza fountains, columbia heights, washington, dc

  • out: children’s garden @ u.s. botanic garden

    []

    photo of the week // week thirty

    took the day off from work to spend a little quality time with baby sparklet. we’ve been out straight between weddings and funerals — not to mention sick — and there was this little nagging voice in the back of my head saying that maybe it was about time for some father-daughter bonding.

    … so of course this is the day that sparklet wakes up early, and then refuses to nap more than 20 minutes at a time the rest of the day.

    she’s been teething since mid-April with one tooth well on it’s way in, and another two or three ready to pop through. of course, this has futzed up both her sleep schedule and her eating schedule, so cute beloved sparklet hasn’t been quite as cute this last little bit.

    dodging rain, not to mention repetitive expressions of “i-should-probably-have-slept-longer,” we went down to the National Mall for most of the day. a little napping in the garden behind the castle, a little tummy time on the grass in front of the Hirschorn, and a little plant destruction in the botanic gardens.

    we’re still working with baby on the basics of “gentle” — a term our cat emily would like her to pick up sooner rather than later — and sparklet just couldn’t seem to touch anything in the garden without destroying it.

    wonder where she gets that from.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: children’s garden @ u.s. botanic garden

  • the zoo

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    the zoo

  • uncle paul, pt. 2

    []
    we’re back in the district after a trip to new hampshire for my godfather’s funeral — an event that i still haven’t fully figured out how to talk about, which explains all the photo-only posts (sans commentary) last week.

    part of my problem was that everyone had a favorite childhood story to share — and as i’ve mentioned once or twice before, the arrival of baby sparklet has temporarily destroyed any sense of a long-term memory that i might have had.

    over the last week, a bunch of snippets have popped into my head … an inevitable turn at the helm of his boat, riding on the back of his motorcycle (and leaning away from the turn because i was scared we were going to flip), seeing the inside of a movie projection booth for the first time, working his radio or in his workshop, and stopping for ice cream on the way home even though we both knew we we’re supposed to.

    but the thread from those childhood memories — and all those created since — is a quiet feeling that i was at the center of the universe.

    this weekend was also the first time most of my new england family got to meet baby sparklet, so there was a little bubble of “new baby” around the lady sparkler and i that even grief had a hard time pushing through.

    one simply can’t understate the medicinal effects of baby.

    sparklet was a little “emo” on the flight home, but this was to be expected given how crazy her schedule had become while away from home.

    and, after being held by different family members every ten minutes for three days, she was more than a little put-out today that she had only mommy and daddy (and aunt melissa for a bit) to bask in her unflinching glory.

    i have a feeling that all this will add up to our nanny simply *loving* us tomorrow.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    picnics, washington, dc

  • good friday

    unlike last year, we didn’t go to awesomest Good Friday pagent ever — sparklet was in bed asleep — but Darrow Montgomery from the City Paper went and shot a couple of rolls.

    my favorite is the guys with the lightsaber in the middle.