Duffy:
Matthew loved the block party, especially playing in the street with his friends. “I wish they would close the street forever, so I could play football there all the time.” We all so enjoyed our Leland Street festivities and Halloween last night, especially the opportunity to see all our neighbors.
Boland:
Leanne and Jimmy had a great time at the Block Party, maybe as much as grandson, Will!
Everything was wonderful - even the weather! As busy as everyone is, it is really nice being able to catch up with so many neighbors. Leanne is visiting her parents with Shannon, Will and Mae for a few days in Louisiana. The great-grandparents and extended family are especially excited to see the children.
Forrest:
The Fall Fun began right here on Leland Street on the occasion of our annual Leland Halloween Fest as Arthur donned his Grand Marshall cape and Marcy grabbed her basket of Grizzzzzzly Bears.
The core committe of Leland Street Ladies made this a terrific day for all. Marcy and Arthur think this event just gets better every year...Special thanks to Maggie Simpson for creating an amazing Haunted House even though she was away.
Sophie Rubashkin was wonderful in supervising the spooky, foggy, creepiness with Sarah and Turner ‘s assistance.
Nicole, Wendy and Jody did a marvelous job with the games.
This year’s games were even more thematic than ever. The children all loved the Jack O’Lantern Bean bag toss, the skeleton bone game and the Pumpkin piñata. The addition of the children’s tables and chairs to the buffet was a nice thought.
Doesn’t the buffet become more sumptuous every year?! The menfolk were terrific with all the heavy lifting. Thank you to all who made this year a truly special event for all.
Marcy and Arthur returned from recent travel to Chevy Chase ready to enjoy all things local. Marcy attended the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival and the Town Coffee. Together Arthur and Marcy attended the Chevy Chase Dinner Out event at Moon Gate Restaurant; by night’s end they had partaken in Kung Pao and lively conversation. Then, in appreciation of the glorious palette of fall foliage, Marcy decided to take Arthur on a quick little Mystery Trip. They got in the car and Marcy told Arthur to just follow the instructions on the GPS system. About four hours later, the Garmin announced, “You have arrived at your destination.” And there they were at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters in Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania.
What an incredible architectural accomplishment! It was a great day for a walk in the woods and a chance to look over a waterfall from the terrace of this unique private home. An overnight stay at The Summit Inn added more views, a magnificent sunset and fabulous meals to the experience.
Nicole and Zak have had a busy month in far-a-way places. Nicole and Steve spent Columbus Day weekend in Chicago, enjoying fine dining, a lake tour and art exhibitions.
Nicole and Steve celebrated Halloween at a costume party as Lady Luck and a High Roller. Nicole found a “money” boa” and a poker chip charm bracelet on the Internet to complete her costume.
Zak and Chad took ZF Films to Poland where production on the Stars of the Lid feature film continued. During their week in Krakow they filmed the Stars of the Lid performance in the Gothic splendor of the 15th century St. Catherine’s church.
This is regarded as Krakow's most exquisite Gothic church and boasts the finest acoustics of any house of worship in Poland, so this was particularly suited for the music.
Rubashkin:
We all enjoyed the block party and jacob is looking forward to halloween. It was great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time. Sophie and Jacob are finishing up the fall Artermis cycling season, and are anticipating a move to indoor training for the winter. Hannah will be home this weekend, both to celebrate a friends bat mitzvah, and to enjoy home cooked food for a few days. Seems that Columbia University closes for election day!
Bateman:
Jill and Terry have been busy with multiple "parents weekends".....Jill comments it would've been easier on them if Annie and Claire had chosen the same college but not as beneficial to the girls " individual growth and expression" and that's got to be worth a little extra traveling. Will and his friend Jenny were honored to drive the pace car for the illustrious Halloween parade this past Sunday......Jenny is from Charleston, SC, and didn't realize how "down home" a Washington neighborhood could be.
All enjoyed the wonderful fall day and the sweet tradition of watching the children parade down the block in their Halloween costumes, and Rugby was pleased to be included in the festivities, wearing Teddy Bear's hand me down pumpkin costume that was only a little on the baggy side.
Happy Halloween to all and thanks again to all who contributed to the planning and execution of the block party…especially the moms who provided the fun and games and haunted house.
The Halloween buffet dinner was delicious and the company and conversation even more so.
As for movies, Jill and Terry have slacked off on their regular schedule of seeing a movie most every weekend.......but did see "Coco" a few weeks ago and thought it was excellent. The family is looking forward to being on the giving end of trick or treating Halloween night.
Fred and Dorothy:
Fred and Dorothy are looking forward to a special TV event: On Monday night at 9:00 WETA Ch 26 is showing a new documentary "Washington in the "60s". There'll also be an extra hour of discussion and interviews airing later in the week. [See schedules, info and previews at WETA web site.]
It's the decade in which Dorothy and Fred were involved in a LOT of worthy activities -- in addition to establishing our little family in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
photo credit: Hyman Bookbinder
In the documentary, there may be a part about the 1960 protests at Glen Echo Park; we think it'll be featured, but not 100% sure. That's where Dorothy defied a (bogus) police order, risking arrest for "trespassing" on park property with a racially integrated group. [At the time Fred was in the Public Health Service. So all he could do was to watch, terrified, from the sidelines, preparing to bail her out of jail, if need be.] This was during Dorothy's first week of living in Washington -- an auspicious beginning to a very intense era.
Taplin/Delancy:
Russell is working at the Burger Joint at Woodmont Triangle in Bethesda, and he reports that school is going well. This weekend he’s playing in a lacrosse tournament in Annapolis, but the school season doesn’t begin until the last week in February. And from Vicky: Paul's been playing in the pep band at the B-CC high school football games on Friday nights, and a few times, he and his friends have wandered over to the Burger Joint after the game for dinner. The burgers (including lots of delicious non-beef options like the ahi tuna burger) are delicious, as are the sweet potato fries!
In late Sept., we traveled to Boston to celebrate Vicky's dad's 90th birthday. The main event was taking a boat to Provincetown and spending the night. We really enjoyed sampling the restaurants, poking into the art galleries, and climbing the Provincetown Monument. Vicky's dad remembered doing all of that with his family when he was a boy (without the restaurants and art galleries, though). We also had an excellent dinner in the North End of Boston. It was very charming being there at night. We stayed at the airport Hilton our last night there, and the room had a foor-to-ceiling panoramic view of downtown Boston. Beautiful!
In mid-October, Vicky returned to Massachusetts for her high school reunion. It was a lot of fun, with quite a good turnout. Many of her classmates she hadn't seen 30+ years! It was truly a blast from the past.
Cosmas:
Blog Editor’s note:
Farrell did a marvelous job of crowd control at the Haunted House. She had encouraged bravery and eased anxiety as the children filed in and out of the spooky sub terrain.
Farrell said she had a wonderful Halloween and just loved seeing all the children in their costumes.
She was very impressed by the number of little children and their polite manners.
In fact all creatures great and small were adorable.
Trocchio:
Elizabeth is headed to Fort Worth for TCU’s Homecoming this weekend. Go Horn Frogs! We are bursting with pride that Jennie has been named President of the school where she has been working, Casa Blanca Academy in Hollywood, Florida, a school for children with autism. Julie has been traveling (St. Louis, Austin, Albany, Chicago, NYC and points in between) and working on health care reform.
Strother:
Jim reports that they're enjoying a couple of good books, Molly with Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, , and Jim with Gordon Wood's Empire of Liberty.
Lee:
Ann spent yesterday making a “practice” wedding cake for Michael’s upcoming wedding in North Carolina the day after Thanksgiving. Along with daughter Maura and Michael’s fiancé Velina, Ann made a 3-layer cake with vanilla, chocolate and lemon filling. She also painted watercolor butterflies to decorate the cake. For the wedding, Ann’s 10 grandchildren make the actual butterflies that will decorate the cake. Michael and Velina have planned much of the wedding themselves, and the reception will be at the mountain home of Ann’s sister.
