Friday, August 28, 2009:
Friday, we woke up at Jen and Gabe’s place and proceeded to enjoy the beautiful weather and the company of our friends.
Cati and I went for a walk with Nina while enjoying our 2nd cups of coffee. Nina recently discovered sitting– and she likes it. She usually has a seat, looks around, then she smiles and seems so pleased with herself. [weird but cute, eh?]
We headed to town to walk around, and Nina found another convenient place to have a seat. See, she loves it– I laugh and take a photo.
Also, Nina is crazy about dogs. We think the impetus for her walking at 10.5 months was to chase Nacho around the house. While we were walking down Broadway, we stopped at a pet store that had some kittens on display in a cage outside. While there, a friendly lady had a collie puppy and Nina just had to interact with the dog. She even kissed the puppy– look at the small crowd that gathered to check out the cute-fest.
The evening ended with the Saratoga crew getting together at our friend’s place and we all spent the evening catching up.
Saturday, August 29, 2009:
Travers day, at last. The rain started on the previous evening and did not let up until late in the evening on Saturday. The day was grey and soggy, but we didn’t let that stop us.
Cati placed a one dollar bet on the first race after we arrived. She bet on the long-shot to win, place, or show. We were all screaming and cheering during the race as though we would be able to retire to the Greek isles with our winnings. We She won $35 bucks. I lost my voice for $35. It was great fun, though. The last 20 seconds of any race at the track is a phenomenon like nothing else. The crowd-noise goes from sporadic individual cheeers to all-out riot level as the horses approach the finish line. The energy from the crowd is electric.
After the day at the track we went back to Jen & Gabe’s place where they organized and hosted a one-year birthday party for Nina.
Check out the cake our friends had made for Nina. It’s Nacho– Nina gave a big smile when she saw it. The resemblance is uncanny, eh? The bakers worked from pictures of Nacho supplied by our super-clever friends who had the idea to do this.
She even had her very own cupcake-Nacho to enjoy as well.
There was plenty of delicious food for us grown-ups too.
Then Nina got to open presents. Purses, books, clothes, balloons, toy telephones, just to name a few. They are spoiling her– and us too– what great friends, eh?
Our feelings for our friends, and the Capitol District, are best summed-up by the following hair-metal power-ballad from the tier-2 rock band Cinderella.
Break out that cigarette lighter.
aw, nice recap of a stellar weekend – miss you guys!!
Nice to hear from you again Alex! I’ve loved looking back through your posts. Nina is absolutely adorable! Cati has done a fine job whipping you into shape!
It was definitely a memorable weekend, and had tons of fun with you guys! Thanks for making the trek! We miss you around here (I’m rocking out – slow dancing? – to the Cinderella song as I type).
Oh no, Gabe! You, too, slow dance to Cinderella! Alex pretends to have an invisible lighter in the air, when he listens to that song… What a pair! You are just going to reinforce this idea he has, that metal is cool.
[tsk tsk]
Love the pics guys! Nina is very cute, just like Cati.