Some glimpses of our days in DC

We are more than halfway through our time in DC.  Paolo flew back to Kiev last night so now Gio and I are on our own for the next two weeks.  We are spending our days going to swim lessons, playing in the parks around Georgetown, visiting friends and family and indulging in treats we miss in Ukraine (Starbucks egg sandwiches, Sprinkles cupcakes, ice cream from Thomas Sweet and 5 Guys hamburgers).  Gio loves going over to our old house to hang out with Nonno and Nonna (Happy Birthday, Nonno!! 69 years old today!).  On Friday we move to our good friend Micki's house so we can take care of her Bernese Mountain Dog while she and Annie go on vacation.  This will be good practice for me since we will have a BMD of our own in about a month! Friday is also the day Uncle Andrew arrives for the weekend.  Gio is going to be in heaven!  He has so much showing off to do for Uncle A, including his newest trick of being able to simultaneously burp AND fart.  Really, a mother could not be more proud. 

Here are some shots from the last week....

Checking out the cowbells in our garden (photo courtensy of Nonna)

Sandtime at Nonno & Nonna's

Jonah's Treehouse (photo courtesy of Hedvig)

Another Hedvig shot!

Back to the sand....

Taking a break from cupcake munching (sticker placement courtesy of Gio)

This "Big Digger" at Rose Park must be visited DAILY.

A haircut at last....

I requested it very short!

Post haircut, it was off to buy new shoes....size 10!

Close ups of the new hairdo!

Searching for planes

A post-dinner giggle.

Back to Rose Park- we have only missed one day so far!

Brunch at Carlo & Doerte's,  Notice which kid is NOT at the kid table....

After the meal, the real fun began...

5 boys under the age of 4?  Chaos!!

What?! Another cupcake???

A visit to Montrose Park with Gio's Godpapas Tim & Jay.  Massive stick collecting....

A visit to Potomac School is not complete without some time hanging out with the llamas.

We hope all of you have a fun St Patrick's Day tomorrow.  Be well and stay in touch.  Hugs from all the Bellis. 

Puppies Are Born!!

Our breeder announced that the first litter (of two expected) was born last week- 10 puppies on all!  The mother is Lunchbox- one of the wonderful dogs we met on our visit in January.  Looks like Gio will be a big brother soon- probably around the first week of May.  Here is a link to see them at 1 week old....

 http://www.torredovarda.com/Qpups.html

In DC!

We have been in Washington for one week now.  It is such a pleasure to be back in familiar territory.  I get giddy just going to Safeway!  It is such fun to be able to read all of the labels and to see the aisles filled with our favorite things.  Gio has been eating watermelon like mad, along with edamame, ravioli and his beloved egg sandwiches from Starbucks.  We are spending a lot of time with Nonno, Nonna, and Bisnonna (Grandfather, Grandmother and Greatgrandmother).  Gio was thrilled that Nonno and Nonna kept his sandboxes filled out on the patio.  He has been busily emptying the sand all over the garden and tromping it into the house.
Here are a few shots of Gio's first week back in DC.  I will try to be better about photographing our time in the US.  We can feel spring in the air here.  Love, Clara

Doing some balancing at Jonah's Treehouse.

Playing with my new parking garage.

I spend a lot of time watching the planes come in and out of  National Airport.  We have a perfect view from our apartment here in Georgetown!

A Video Tour of Our Apartment....

Breakfast with Gio

Our first houseguests!

This was an exciting weekend, but now I am sitting here on the couch with Zeus awaiting the end of Gio's nap feeling a bit sad.  For the last 3 days our cozy little apartment has been filled with laughter and good friends.  We had three visitors from Italy: Paolo's very good friends Angelo & Sandro and Sandro's son Andrea.  It was a tight squeeze, especially since we also had to include Zeus in the bed count! We showed them all around Kiev, and they spent two very late nights out dining and dancing.  Right now Paolo is driving them to the airport, and I am waiting to take dear Zeus home as his family has returned from vacation.  The apartment is going to seem so empty tonight.  I suppose I should get started on packing (we leave at 3:30 AM Friday!!), but I don't expect too much of myself this evening... 

Snack time usually happens at the top of the slide.  Gio likes to spend a few minutes with the bulb we planted last month.  It is finally sprouting!

Yesterday we all went to a giant indoor amusement park near our home. The guys played foosball (there is also a movie theater, bowling alley, hundreds of video games, bars and restaurants) while I hung out with Gio at the kid area.  Here he is on his way up to the top of this 3 story play structure. No body does indoor playgrounds like the Ukrainians!

At the end of our playtime. No, Gio is actually NOT sucking his thumb for once... it is an ice cream cone!

Brunch at Cafe Wolynsky... Gio is at the play area while we enjoy some adult conversation.  From left: Ina (our landlord's daughter), Andrea, Sandro, Gennady (world's greatest landlord!), Angelo & Paolo. Having not showered in 2 days, I refused to be in the photo myself.

It is a cold cold time of year here in Kiev.  Not expected to be about 10 degrees all week. I am looking forward to the "warmth" of DC.  Seeing that it is expected to be 44 on the day we arrive, I am going to break out my flip-flops.  Anything above freezing sounds heavenly.

Brrrrr

It has been a brutally cold week here.  I should not complain as this winter has been mild in comparison with what Kiev lived through last year.  We have had only a few small snow storms and mostly bearable temperatures.  At least this week the skies have been brilliantly blue.  So what to do when the weather is so cold?  Sometimes the time stuck in the apartment gets rather tedious, but Gio is quite good at finding new ways to entertain himself....

Inspired by his current favorite book "Where the Wild Things Are," Gio builds a sail boat...

We bundle ourselves up to take Zeus out to "make yellow snow."

Zeus is particularly fond of our neglected garbage dumpsters.  Fortunately they were finally emptied an hour after this photo was taken!

They look thrilled to be out in 4 degree weather, don't they?

Zeus would really prefer to be couch surfing.

Yes, Gio is investigating some frozen dog poop.  Luckily the same command I use for Zeus works for Gio: "Leave it!"

On a stick collecting mission.  At least one of us seems not to be bothered by the temperature!  In fact, he spent an hour on this collection effort until his shivering mama dragged him back inside!

Stick number 24 and counting....

Zeus waits patiently. 

Back inside waiting for hot cocoa.

Lego towers are a new obsession.

Tomorrow two of Paolo's best friends from Italy are arriving for the weekend.  We are looking forward to the house party! We are curious who Zeus will choose to sleep with.  It will be an empty house on Sunday when everyone goes home, including our sweet dog guest. I hope to take pictures of the fun, but currently I cannot find my camera charger.  Off to continue the search....