Tuesday, June 30, 2009

An Avacado Mustache



A Team of Dogs

On Sunday morning, Uncle John, Aunt Mary, Cousin Roo, David, Archer, Scout, Brandy and myself made the short trip over to the arboretum to go running. We had the BOB running stroller and 3 leashes so all the children would be under control.

John had made Mary the coolest leash attachment for Roo, which we had to try out with all three dogs. It is a belt that you attach leashes to so that you can have your hands free. Because all of our dogs need to go back to dog school, they pull and pull hard. I tried on the harness and have never run faster in my life. It was so much fun.

Post-run.
Aunt Mary running with the harness.

Monday, June 29, 2009

The Rock Box

Their trip up to D.C. involved major traffic jams, but Uncle John, Aunt Mary and Cousin Roo arrived to our delight on Saturday around 2pm. In the span of 3 hours, they had built their nephew the coolest rock box in the northeast. Below is the progression of events:

1. Aunt Mary, Uncle John and David get cases of tools out of Uncle John's truck.
2. Aunt Mary, Uncle John and I buy wood at Home Depot. David hold down the fort by monitoring Archer sleep and calming the dog pack.


3. Aunt Mary measures.

4. David delivers the pea gravel to the construction site.

5. Aunt Mary distracts Archer from interesting tools by taking him on a tricycle ride.

6. The spectators spectate.

7. Uncle John drills.

8. We fill rocks.
9. Archer supervises the filling of rocks.


10. Uncle John and Aunt Mary give Archer the best 4th of July present EVER!

Thank you!!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

An Orioles Game

Thursday night Archer went to his first Orioles baseball game. He even got a certificate to prove it. Archer's favorite parts were looking around at all the people and eating ice cream. His least favorite part was the long drive to Camden Yards. All in all we lasted 6 innings - not so bad.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Sunglasses

A Trip to Hampstead, NC

Archer and I left last Thursday to visit Uncle John, Aunt Mary and Cousin Roo in Hampstead, NC. Friday, Mary, Roo, Archer and I went to the beach. Archer took to the ocean like a little sea turtle. He started crawling right into the waves - no fear. I wish I had gotten pictures of that.

Saturday, I left to go see my friends for a bachelorette party on Figure Eight Island, which is close to where Aunt Mary and Uncle John live. Archer was lucky enough to stay the day and night with his aunt, uncle and cousin. They went to the children's museum in Wilmington, played with tools in Uncle John's garage/boat and furniture refinishing room and played around outside.

Archer told me one of his favorite things to do was play with his cousin Roo. Scout and Brandy are good around Archer, but Roo took it to another level. Roo was the best! She would follow Archer around, share sticks with him, give him a million kisses and play really gently with him. By the end of the trip Archer thought he was a dog I think. He would hold Roo's head up in his hands and stick out his tongue for Roo to kiss. Archer has been trying the same trick with Brandy, but I am not sure she understands. We miss Roo Roo and can't wait to see her and her parents in a few weeks.

Archer was so thrilled to be with his aunt and uncle and cousin that he wouldn't take a nap. He didn't want to miss anything. Unfortunately, he also wanted to wake up at 4am and not go back to sleep. Aunt Mary was a champ, reading to him, rocking him, feeding him, and being the greatest aunt there ever was. Uncle John had to go to work early anyway, so I wasn't too worried about him. Even though I really wanted Archer to be a perfect baby, I think John and Mary really enjoyed having him. I appreciated the free babysitting immensely! Thank you!!!

Roo, Uncle John and Archer playing with sticks.

Blocking the garage entrance.
Building a block tunnel at the Children's Museum

Aunt Mary having a blast at the museum

Monday, June 15, 2009

Archer loves Miss Clarice

When visiting Richmond this past week, Archer was lucky enough to have some quality time with Miss Clarice. Clarice has supported my family in numerous ways since Uncle Hugh was about 2 years old. I remember how Little Hugh only let Clarice help him with his homework. No one else would do.

She is the most spiritual person I have ever met. I know Archer could feel how wonderful she is and he trusted her completely. He likes people, but I think it is a tribute to Clarice that he took to her so easily. Here are some pictures of them playing. He followed her all over the place.





Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Club Vacation

I am in Richmond for the week. It was a great way to visit my parents, work on grad school stuff and break up my trip to NC to visit Aunt Mary and Uncle John. Archer's aunt and uncle have also graciously agreed to babysit while I go to a bachelorette party for Kate Osborne in Figure Eight, NC.


It has been more a vacation than I could have imagined so far. The Country Club of Virginia has redone their pool. Now instead of 2 pools (an upper and a lower pool) there are 6 beautiful pools: a diving pool, a lap swimming pool, a huge play pool for kids with lots of fountains, a baby pool with more fountains, and an adult pool where the 18 years and older rule is stictly enforced. So every morning so far I have been to the pool with Archer, had a grilled cheese with french fries and ketchuip and played with my mommy and my baby. So fun. I only wish David was here with me and we could go to the resort, I mean club, all summer.



















EHS Reunion Part 2

I am sure people are on the edge of their seats to find out how the second night of our 10th and 15th high school reunion went. Not to worry, it was a hundred times better than the first night.


Archer, David and I went to Luke Begert's 2nd birthday party, then hit the road to Episcopal. We got to hang out with Prather and her fiance Jake before dropping Archer off at with the babysitter's. Archer had a blast hanging out with a large group of older kids. David and I had a blast hanging out with old friends. The band was good and the food was good. Lindsay did a fantastic job of organizing everything. Here are some pictures Mrs. Whittle took of Saturday night.







Friday, June 5, 2009

EHS Reunion Part 1

I have a guest writer tonight...my handsome, loving and tolerant husband! Please take the floor Mr. Divid Pansky....

Today started like most others- baby up at 5:00am, took care of dogs, rushed breakfast, and got ready for work. There were a few differences though, like the overturned white paint can on the basement carpet (must have been the dogs) and the fact that Bettie had a Dr.'s appointment this AM. The paint was not a big deal except that in trying to clean it up some dropped onto my right dress shoe. I tried to wipe as much off as possible, but it was time to leave for the Dr. so I forgot about it.

Off to work for what started as a pretty typical day. Then the fire alarm went off for the 2nd time in a week, and we were all herded out by our fearless office manager. It was standing outside that I got a compliment on my suit and attire for the day. The compliments reversed course when the complimentor looked down at my shoes. Oh yeah, the black left shoe and black and white right one. It then hit me that it was our reunion and that if a guy in the office noticed the shoes, then surely those who had not seen me in 15 years would notice it. After finding out nobody had shoe polish in their office, I did what anyone in my position would do...I started coating my right shoe in permanent black marker. It seemed a bit metallic, but I figured it would surely fade with time. It didn't. So I found my self using the marker on the perfectly fine other shoe in order to have two metallic shoes that shined like a sequin dress.

Ok, on to the main event the Reunion. When we got our registration packets, I sliced my right index finger on one of the papers. I thought nothing more of it until we walked into the main room, and I noticed blood on three of my fingers. At this point a former teacher of both of ours stopped us, and I realized I couldn't shake this man's hand with bloody fingers. I explained to him the deal and excused myself to the bathroom.

Great start, huh? Of course, the finger did not stop bleeding, I was starting to sweat, and 25 minutes into the Reunion I still hadn't even ordered a drink. I decided to ask one of the registrants if she knew where I could get a band-aid. Like this was one of her job requirements-welcome all guests and carry a first aid kid. She made a few attempts to find one, but it was not fruitful. I had two options- either go back in the loud room and try to explain to each person I encountered why I couldn't shake their hand or get the stupid finger to stop bleeding. I finally found my wife who was a bit worried about how Archer might be dealing with the noise, so we decided to take a little time outside. My finger refused to quit bleeding, so I decided that maybe I should go to the infirmary to get a band-aid while she fed Archer his dinner. Of course, the infirmary was closed.

After about another 30 minutes the finger stopped bleeding, but the wait meant we lost almost all of Archer's good mood time. In his defense it was getting late for him. So we got a drink, said hi to several folks, and then realized there is no way we could do dinner b/c Archer was getting cranky. We just decided to cut our losses and call it a night.

The total numbers for the evening included-
  • 2 hours at the Reunion
  • 1 hour of dealing with my stupid finger
  • 1 drink
  • 1 dinner for Archer
  • 0 dinners for Bettie and myself.

The below pictures were taken from our exit in the rain. It should come as no surprise that the umbrella that is always in the car was left at home. Luckily, we get a reunion night #2 tomorrow, and we have a baby sitter all lined up. Hopefully you won't hear from me as that will mean that things went smoothly...at least we set the bar pretty low with night #1.






Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Aquatic Gardens

I haven't posted for awhile because a) I didn't have any new pictures b) I have been working too hard on stupid grad school stuff and c) nothing too exciting has happened in the world of the Dansby's in the last few days. I could have taken a picture of Archer's tummy rash and posted it, but that might have been too weird even for me.

Today we took a break from our normal routine and headed out to the beautiful part of D.C. called Anacostia. I jest, but the aquatic gardens are really kind of pretty. We saw lots of wildlife: a goose and her goslings, a big snapping turtle, a bullfrog, a HUGE fish - like 3 feet long- in the Anacostia swimming next to a pill bottle and Styrofoam plate remnants, a muskrat or beaver (the sign said they had both in the area) and a long purply black snake.

I really liked the aquatic gardens because they open at 7am and we can go early to avoid the bugs. It was a fun morning.