New Years in DC

Well I can at least say we had a bit of a holiday for our vacation when we went to the Kaisers to spend 3 nights there including New Years. Andrew and I am are quite close but it has been 2 years since we had seen one another and 4 since the families convened. So we all got to meet Sefi and them Rea for the first time. Not only is their house on the Chesapeake Bay incredibly peaceful but the boys and girls got along great allowing us adults to actually catch up over great home cooked meals and plenty of cocktails. We adventured around the fields, water and forests when it was not raining. The weather even improved to the point that Andrew and I rang in the New Year playing tennis that day. The evening celebrations included a wonderful meal, smores roasting over the fire and the adults venturing out onto the pier for some stargazing and midnight toast (ok so the girls retired slightly early and the boys braved the cold). Most of us were fighting various stages of colds but we managed to maximize our time together before we drove into DC to spend the last 2 nights visiting old friends and family.

The first night we crashed with my cousin Rand and his lovely canine companion Zeus. Nice to see his new home in Takoma Park where we also desserted with old friends the Kauffman's who came in from the suburbs as well as Rick and Sarah and their two little girls who we know from Maputo. Not to mention the obligatory shopping, storage visit and walking to the White House and taking the Metro (have to show our kids something). We also find a great kids playcenter which allowed us to catch up with dear friend Maura. A DC visit would not be complete without seeing Rand's daughters (kids cousins) which was perfect. A wonderful sushi meal and time to catch-up on Kate being an 8th grader and Sohpia's first year at college (I remember when they were my kids ages and I sat for them).

The slightly fewer flight segments should have made the return trip easier but we still had a long 7 hour layover in Frankfurt where we finally boarded our home-bound plane to Pristina. Problem was that a big snow storm had just hit and as we descended to land we had to abort and circle around for a second attempt. At this point we were told if not possible to land we would go to Tirana Albania where we would have to someone figure on how to drive 3plus hours to our home over mountain roads covered in snow and ice. Finally the travel God took pity on us and decided not to have me experience my second diverted flight in one trip and the pilots cut through the storm and stuck us on the runway (one of the only flights in for the next 2 days).

Freezing cold temperatures (high of -10C) have kept us inside for most the past days just trying to keep warm. But with the sunshine and snowsuits we have ventured out a couple times to sled and finally shop for some food. With our heat breaking almost daily it feels like it will be a long winter. But we are non-the-less happy to be back and get the kids started up with school again (as soon as we can find a new one for Rea).