June 13, 2004
New Toy!
Karen and I purchased a new DVD/VHS player yesterday -- our first foray into the world of home theater technology since the acquisition of our TiVo more than a year ago.
We have been talking about it for a while... I mean, its not really like us to be behind the times when it comes to new fangled technology. But our desire to research the best options, learn about the various formats (DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, and DVD+R & DVD+RW), and suck every last bit of life out of our current VCR kept us delaying the inevitable.
But no longer!
Yesterday, while redeeming a free movie rental (Karen won it off a Sprite cap), I noted that the Blockbuster was stocking far more DVD's than VHS tapes. Karen suggested we buy a DVD player and grabbed the DVD version of Y Tu Mama Tambien, our movie of choice for the weekend, to force the issue. Off to Best Buy we went, and after just a few minutes of chatting with a sales associate, we made our choice.
We already own two DVD's (Karen purchased them to view on her computer during a cross-country plane flight), but our ceremonial first purchase was Finding Nemo. I hooked everything up when we got home and we spent the afternoon watching.
In the Hotline!
Brian's weekly column in the Hotline debuted this week. Check out Emily's post, including shots of the column, on her blog. Check it out!
St. Louis - Part Deux
After Betty's graduation and lunch we got on a plane at Bradley and headed out to St. Louis for Beth and Kevin's wedding. We met Koonal at the airport where Aunt Judy and Uncle Gil picked us up for a fabulous and activity-packed weekend. Once again, I forgot to bring my camera to the main event, but the outdoor ceremony and reception were gorgeous, the rehearsal dinner was at the very cool St. Louis zoo, and Aunt Judy helped to run a hospitality suite full of delicious food out of the Frontenac Hilton all weekend long. We got to reunite with many of the guests that we met at Aaron and Cyndi's wedding in May - including the band!!
Thanks to Aunt Judy and Uncle Gil for being such awesome hosts and taking such good care of us. We spent some much-needed quality time with Koonal too (who just finished his first year studying public policy at Georgetown).
The St. Louis Arch
Who are those cool kids?
The Mighty Mississippi
In line for the "ride" to the top
Doors to the top...
Our door...
Our pod awaits...Karen wasn't nervous at all...
Views from the top...
Busch Stadium - Home of the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Court where the Dred Scott case was heard
Illinois river boat gambling
Trains
Brian and Karen at the top
Heading down...
The end
Ted Drewes
After the Arch, we were hungry and tired, so we just had to go to Ted Drewes, another famous St. Louis landmark!
St. Louis Cardinals Game
Gil and Judy got us some fabulous seats at the Cardinals/Astros game on Sunday. Because the Cardinals lost, Judy says we can't go with them ever again - so sad.
Thank You!
Betty's Graduation
Last Friday we went to see Betty graduate from Loomis!! We couldn't be happier for her and cannot wait till she starts at Wheaton this fall as she'll be a short train ride away from us.
May 2004
We've admittedly not gotten the hang of posting regularly on our blog but we've been up to some fun stuff and would now like to share with you some highlights from the month of May...
Aaron and Cyndi's Wedding
April 30-May 2
At the beginning of the month, we were in St. Louis for Aaron and Cyndi's wedding and a bit of a family reunion. It was fabulous!
Before the big event, a few of us got to play baseball with Alex - he was better than everybody! But Brian reports that it was HE who in fact hit the game-winning home run (he was on Alex's team).
Here, Gil explains the finer points of hot air management to Dad in the Grands' famous new "Taj Ma-Tuchus."
Cyndi's dad walks her down the aisle...
The Grands...
Alex, Jennifer, Grandma Reich, and Uncle Jim...
New York City
May 15-17
In the middle of May, we went to NYC for the wedding of Aimee Malnati and Mark Stromberg's, friends of Brian's from the White House. We got to reunite with many of our friends from 2000 and took our first double decker bus tour EVER of the city. Very cool...
While we were in town, we also went to the famous Paris Theater and saw Valentin (2002), a heartwarming story about "an 8-year-old boy, raised by his grandmother, is surrounded by problems in his family he finds only himself capable of solving." It was reminiscent of Ponette, a 1996 French film with a similarly thoughtful and tragic young heroine.
We also got stuck in a TORRENTIAL downpour - everyone was crouched in doorways as we sloshed through puddles on the walk back to our hotel...only in New York.
On Sunday we got to see the Yankees play and WOMP Seattle at Yankee stadium.
Wiffle Ball with friends
In preparation for our Memorial Day BBQ, we had a practice game (or 2 or 10) of wiffle ball with Stacey and Nick and Nadia and Chris at Danehy Park across the street.
Soccer and Golf
May 28-29
Craig and Jenn made the trip up all the way from DC to spend the weekend with us. Stacey, Nick and Erin spent Friday night with us too and gave us the coolest present ever - matching polo shirts and visors for golf, along with a practice electronic putting green!! We all got to go to Erin's soccer tournament together on Saturday.
Ev and Jim spent Saturday night with us too. We got to go the The Cheesecake Factory for a very yummy dinner.
First Annual KD Bri BBQ
May 30
We had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures!! Brian did a ton of cooking on the grill - everything from kielbasa to veggie skewers. Ev Dahl provided her famous home-made macaroni and cheese and a much talked about potato salad. Cheryl made Karen's favorite pasta salad (and cancelled her family trip to Maine to bring them all to Cambridge instead!) and friends brought black and white cookies, flowers, and their charming personalities. We had a ton of fun with all of our friends. There were Jumpstarters, 2000 campaigners, and Danbury Highers.
We had a nail-biter of a 10 on 10 wiffle ball game on a real field at Danehy Park. It was a blast! Thanks everyone to making it such a fun time. We promise to take pictures next year!