DC -- Part 5

Eric and Katy sharing an affectionate moment in the White House.



In the basement of the White House is the 2 lane bowling alley. As you can imagine, I almost lost my mind with excitement.



Those cool guys AND my sisters and I all bowled there!

DC -- Part 4

A required visit on this trip was my favorite -- the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.



Dad and Abe having a private chat.



Watching the spectacular 3-D movie, The Sun.



Hanging with the Wright Brothers.

DC -- Part 3

On the next day, we tried to cram in as many museums as possible. First up, the National Gallery. Half of this fountain was above ground spewing 20 feet into the air, and the other half is an underground waterfall that you can see here.



Sour puss.



Cruising through the National Sculpture Garden, these Girls caught my eye.



Outside of the Hirshhorn Modern Art Museum.



The exhibit was called Strange Bodies.








This photo was funnier in theory -- when the alarm went off, not funny to the security guard.

DC -- Part 2

After more sight seeing, the family finally arrived from their long drive down from Connecticut. Famished, Katy took us to the Old Ebbitt Grill down the road from the White House. It's been around since 1856, so you know they are doing something right.



Lindsay and Alexis above. And the whole family below. From the left: Katy, Terry, Dad, me, Alexis, Lindsay and TJ.

DC -- Part 1

My dear cousin, Katy, is a bigwig in Washington, and although I this is only a portion of her newest title, she is currently the Director of Operations for the White House. Therefore, even without a specific invitation, I called her to say that my family and I were going to descend upon her already busy life and come for a visit.

I took the redeye in and went straight from the airport to nap time with Cooper, Katy's handsome doggie below. He is as protective of his family, although appropriately selective about whom is he protecting them from, as he is cute and cuddly.



Next up, Katy's husband Eric, generously drove me around to various cool sites. Here are pictures from one of the Senate buildings. Beautiful, classic architecture. What I found most fascinating was that most Senators' office doors were wide open with welcoming receptionists available to anyone who walked by. Who knew government was so accessible?



After visiting another Senate building and stopping by Katy's old office, Senator Bill Nelson from Florida, I took this snap of the Atrium. Boy, did Katy's ex-coworkers miss her. . .but when Obama needs you. . .



And here's my Asian tourist moment in front of the US Capitol. After 9/11, you can no longer stroll through the halls, but still breath-taking from the outside. . .and if I want to see exactly what is happening, I could always flip on C-SPAN.



And here are Katy and I in front of the entrance to the White House. For obvious security reasons, no cameras inside. Boo!

Greatest Moment Ever

More about DC, the Kennedy Center and the WHITE HOUSE BOWLING ALLEY tomorrow!

More Gatherings

Warren Cady (far left) turns 23! Here we are celebrating on the Sunset Strip.



Dr. Rich joins the ladies for lunch at BLD.



Raw foods party/tv show taping for the Food Network in Venice.



Brunch with Juliet and the gals at Barefoot.

Ladies Night

I'm a creature of habit -- yes, I like new adventures, but I also love my life to have intermittent moments in my comfort zone too. So here is yet another picture of me and some pretty ladies after a delicious, comforting, decadent meal at Il Sole.



Here and Ingrid and I marveling at how Poppie's belly has grown and grown. Only 8 weeks to go until we get to meet the little girl!

Best Ever

In the post below you will see an amusing group shot. After the first, someone said, "take another one, just in case." Then the second snap was, "oh wait, I closed my eyes." Followed by, "one more, I wasn't looking".By the sixth picture, we were all getting a little impatient, but fortunately Steve kept the photo spirit alive.

Here are the crops of just him. Way to go Heavy Steavy!!

Go BC!

Ingrid and Steve came out from NYC for a visit, so it was the perfect excuse to have a bbq at the house.


And here we have 7 BC grads out of 9! Top row from left: Reagan, Ingrid, Danielle. Second row: Steve, Tom and Art, and front are me, Poppie and Olanna.
I posted this picture on Facebook, and Mike Downs asked, "where is Joe E. Tata?" referencing Nat of the Peach Pit on 90210. Hysterical.


Some ladies sitting poolside.


Enjoying the feast outside on a beautiful Southern Californian night.

Isla Holbox Part 6

And looking back, these should have been a sad moments when we were departing the island. But we had so much fun that we were just happy and thankful!

Isla Holbox Part 5

And here are some of our new friends. . .

Corey and Sherry from Phoenix. Corey was the best flaming shot taker I've ever seen! Not one, not two. . .so many! They were also the first couple to approach Kim, Andrew and I to ask why Andrew was on vacation with two women!!




And here we are with the best bartender in all of Mexico, Christian from Argentina!

Isla Holbox Part 4

Here are some of my other favorite pictures from the trip. . .

Isla Holbox Part 3

So after golf carting around the entire island (it took about 25 minutes), we were ready for more adventure. We woke up bright and early in hopes of seeing the magnificent, majestic whale sharks.

It was the beginning of mating season, so the whale sharks were still far from the shore. After about an hour on the boat, bouncing over bumpy waters, we fortunately caught a view manta rays and dolphins having their breakfast.



We drove around in the boat for several more hours snacking on surprisingly delicious Wonder Bread sandwiches and marveling at the vast ocean. Unfortunately, after a while, the boat needed to turn back. Kim's dream of seeing a whale shark would have to be fulfilled on another trip.

We tried to keep our spirits high and reminded ourselves that not seeing a whale shark was going not going ruin or perfect vacation. But there was obvious disappointment as we made our way back to shore. Then, out of nowhere, the boat driver exclaimed (in Spanish), "over there!!"

Here we are pulling up closer to the black fin. Can you see it in the water to the left?



I was in the 2nd snorkeling group to jump in. I didn't understand what all the commotion was about. How good could it be? So I jumped in and snorkeled around the area where the whale shark was. Darkness. I saw a sweet school of fish swimming towards me. . .and then out of the blue water, the gentle, massive, spotted whale shark came into sight. I gasped and swallowed a few gallons of water as this gigantic beast swam past me, then deeper into the ocean.



That cute, spotted face was the size of a Mack truck! I was elated. One of the coolest experiences in my life. Here are Kim and I celebrating in the water.

Isla Holbox Part 2

The island was so small that there were no paved roads. And aside from only a half dozen pick-up trucks on the entire island, the other popular mode of transportation was golf cart.



Kim liked to drive erratically and scream "OOOOOOOOLLLLLLLAAAAAAAA" to every person we passed.

Isla Holbox Part 1

For Memorial Day (I know, so far behind!!), Kim, Andrew and I had an epic vacation in the beautiful tropical paradise called Isla Holbox, Mexico.

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Here we are at the airport -- eager for the fun to begin. The journey involved a red eye through Mexico City (during the height of swine flu -- eek!), a connecting flight to Cancun, a two hour drive from the airport to the port (where our ride broke down and we had to flag down any car on the deserted road), and a 45 minute boat trip to get to the island. Certainly remote, but also pristine.

And below -- we've arrived and it's on!