Nice weekend in Arlington; on Friday night we had Caroline come over to baby sit so the parents could have a night out in clarendon; we first went to eventide for dinner, then got recruited by the 2 young SI all-stars to go to Hunan one, which unbeknownst to us had a 20s style happy hour…..definitely reminded us of 10 years ago, but it was fun even though we were probably the oldest ones there

On Saturday we took the girls to Greenbrier Park near Yorktown high school and afterwards decided to cash in the kids piggy banks….we figured the money was doing no good just sitting there…….that evening, after much debate with the kids, we went to stray cat cafe for dinner.

On Sunday we took the girls and back to glen echo park; wendy had not seen it before and last time we went were not able to go to the kids center, which we did this time…..the girls were able to pet snakes and run around the gardens,…..mike even went for a run on the c&o canal, which ran along the Potomac river; great views.

It’s great to have mom back home for the weekend; on Friday night we went to our old standby, Clare and don’s beach shack….we got the royal treatment by Dave, the owner.

On Saturday morning we took the girls down to the Rosslyn spectrum theater for the Teatro de la Luna bilingual celebration; they did art and puzzles with all the other kids before going to see the Hansel and Gretel play….riker watched the entire thing and piper laid on the floor for most of it

That evening we went down to Clarendon to do some shopping and eat dinner at Pete’s new haven pizza; we got a great booth for the girls to hang out so the parents could relax (see pix at the top).

On sunday morning mike took riker ice skating at reston town center while wendy took piper shopping (we figured piper would not be able to ice skate); riker was very excited, but got nervous quickly, we did about 3 shaky laps around the rink before she called it quits.  that was okay; it gave mike and riker a chance to have lunch together at Jacksons.  The rest of the day we cooked, watched football, and the girls played on the ipad.

This weekend was just mike and the girls as wendy went to New Mexico to be with her mother during her final days (LINK).

The girls were great all week; listening, eating and sleeping (although I did start a bad habit of letting riker sleep in my bed at night).

The weekend was a nice relief; on Friday we went to pizzeria orso after ballet; we got their early and beat the crowd

On Saturday we woke up went downtown to the natural history museum; riker was talking all week that she wanted to see dinosaur bones, so we checked those out.  Not sure if it was the MLK holiday, but down town DC was crowded; too an hour to find a parking spot.

On Sunday, we went downtown again, but went to the oconnell’s to hang out with neve and josie…..you can tell these girls are going to be good friends; riker and neve were scooter’ing all over the neighborhood, and josie and piper played great.  We went to a kavanaghs for lunch.

–Rabindranath Tagore

With sadness and a heavy heart we remember the life of Mary Christopher Riker (Christy), 69, _­of Cochiti Lake, New Mexico—formerly of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Surrounded by her husband of 37 years William Riker and her beloved children Christopher Riker, Rachael Schultz, Rebecca Riker and Wendy Matthews, Christy passed away peacefully in the early morning of January 12, 2012.

She fought her cancer valiantly for two years and did so with great resilience, being strong for her many grandchildren:  Liam and Rhiannon Riker, Lucas and Nathan Schultz, Riker and Piper Matthews, Allen Scolese and Sam Siple.

Her family and friends will miss her delightful ability to charm and engage them, her creative cooking flare, her zest for life, her remarkable way of leaving a positive impact on her children and the children she taught and inspired, her affection for animals, her love of Independence and Christmas Days and her effortless pride in her family.

Thank you all for the support, love and well wishes that were sent during her journey and for your friendship during her life. We know that she loved each and every one of you very much.

When I die

Give what’s left of me away

To children

And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,

Cry for your brother

Walking the street beside you.

And when you need me,

Put your arms

Around anyone

And give them

What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,

Something better

Than words

Or sounds.

Look for me

In the people I’ve known

Or loved,

And if you cannot give me away,

At least let me live on your eyes

And not on your mind.

You can love me most

By letting

Hands touch hands,

By letting

Bodies touch bodies,

And by letting go

Of children

That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,

People do.

So, when all that’s left of me

Is love,

Give me away. 

~Merrit Malloy

In her memory please consider making a donation of blood, as it is a reflection of her generosity to give back to the living. If you care to make a monetary donation in her name to a charitable organization, she was actively involved with Futures for Children located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or please consider any local animal rescue organization.

Getting back into the swing of things after the holidays; we went out to dinner on Friday night at the beach shack; piper ate an entire plate of pasta with butter.

On satruday we went to hains point park in the morning to let the girls run around for a couple hours,….i don’t know what it is about this park but someone always seems to get hurt; piper nailed her head, but was okay.  That evening we went over to the petersens to watch football and eat hotdogs and chili,….the loughs, brantleys, and blachards were there- 10 kids!

Sunday mike took the girls to glen echo park so wendy could pack for her trip to new mexico to see her mom.  This park was very cool; it’s an old amusement park from the 1930 that still has all the buildings, but none of the rides,…regardless, the girls loved running around it for a few hours.

Mimi and pap came into town on Wed and we went to pie tanzza; on Thurs. Steve came into town and the Matthews went up to university of Maryland for Pap commencement speech to the Maryland business school graduates.  Pap did a great job addressing the crowd of almost 1000 people; check it out on line if you have a free 15min.  After the commencement we went right to riker and pipers xmas recital at building blocks; both girls did an excellent job singing and dancing- riker had a bells solo and even wore a steelers santa hat.  That night we got a sitter and the adults went out to dinner at willow’s; we had a great time catching up with mimi and pap.

On Fri riker took mimi to the rough faced girl play in Shirlington as her xmas present; mike went with but went to the Shirlington Library to do some work.  That night we had a home cooked dinner by pap then steve mike and wendy went to Clare and don’s while mimi and pap watched the kids.

On sat morning mimi and mike took the girls to the international spy museum; then home to listen to the steelers whoop up on the rams.  That night was xmas eve; so we wrapped presents, went to church, and then tracked santa on his way to Arlington, va.  Riker was scared that santa would come into the house and made mike guarantee he’d keep watch on the stairs.

Sunday was xmas and damn were the girls excited; they were up at 8am and did not finish opening presents until 10am; before heading off to the airport we took the girls to the park so riker could ride her new scooter that uncle steve gave her.  We dropped everyone off at the airport and picked up aunt lynn on the same trip; she is in town for a few days to watch the girls so mike and wendy can make their annual trip to NYC.

On Monday morning we had a great breakfast, opened presents from aunt lynn, then went to clemijontri so the girls could get some energy out; Aunt robin and kate met us there.

On tues morning mike and wendy took the train to NYC we had a blast; we stayed at kenny’s princes place in the west village; we went to time square, out to eat a few times, saw phish and the disco biscuits, hung out with schaivi, jess, pete, and marshall, and took the subway up and down Manhattan.  It’s a great annual trip and so fun and easy on the train.

We got back home to well taken care of kids by aunt lynn and played it cool for a few days; Julia and Bridges came into town on the 30^th; we hung out with the kids and watched the phish show on tv; definitely a strange experience.

On new year’s eve we first went to jammin java for a kids concert, rocknocurous; it was so cute to see neve, riker and oliva jammin’ at the front of the stage!…..all our friends were there and afterwards we went to a local park to let some energy out……that night we went to the carrier’s to get the kids together; we knocked open a pinnate then faked a NYE countdown at 9am then put the kids to bed and the adults (and drew) watched the real count down,…..it makes you feel old to spend NYE this way, but it’s always been armature night when you go out on NYE.