This morning, the whole family raced in the Falls Church Run for the Schools. Rali and Kristof ran the 5K race, while Rich, Kelvin, and Carmen ran the one-mile Fun Run. Unfortunately, we finished the Fun Run just as Rali crossed the finish line, so we don’t have any action photos of her finish, but here’s Kristof finishing strongly:
Seconds later, here are Rali and Kristof just after the finish:
Rali’s time of 23:49 was her personal best…and good enough for first place in the Women’s 30-39 age group! She won a $25 gift card to the Dogwood Tavern in Falls Church. Here’s Rali with her prize, along with three of the four founding members of Rali’s Fan Club:
On September 21, Rali and the kids visited the excellent Newseum, a fun, interactive journalism museum. Here’s a video Kristof, Kelvin, and Carmen made that day. The Newseum recorded it for us, so we could download it the next day. Here’s our Capitol correspondent:
Now that we’re living in the U.S. for almost a year, Kristof has decided to try baseball for the first time, and he’s signed up for the Falls Church Kiwanis Little League. He’s now a proud member of the “Sand Gnats.” What’s a Sand Gnat, you might be asking? I’m guessing the league secured a donation from the Washington Nationals, because a class-A minor league team called the Savannah Sand Gnats used to be affiliated with the Nationals. Here’s the Sand Gnats’ logo, both the Savannah team and Kristof’s team.
Yesterday, September 20, 2008, was the Sand Gnats’ first game this season, so it was Kristof’s first baseball game ever. Here’s historical evidence of Kristof’s very first at-bat:
There are a couple other Foreign Service kids on the team too. Since they haven’t grown up watching the game on TV and playing in the backyard, they don’t have all their baseball instincts yet…but they all did their best and really enjoyed the game.
On July 29, 2008, the whole family went to Claws ‘n’ Paws Animal Park in Hamlin, PA. It’s a family-friendly (although not very stroller-friendly) zoo in the woods, where Kristof, Kelvin, and Carmen got up close and personal with the animals. Here’s Carmen feeding Twiga the giraffe (“Twiga” is Swahili for “giraffe”). Don’t worry about Carmen’s hand disappearing into Twiga’s mouth; Twiga took only the carrot and gave back Carmen’s hand!
Paleontologists were stunned to find something alive inside these dinosaur eggs:
Carmen’s pretty pink dress didn’t stop her from being especially friendly in the petting zoo:
On our home leave in Pennsylvania during July-August 2008, we often went out for breakfast. From Grandma and Grandpa’s farm in Welcome Lake, PA, we drove across the Delaware River to Narrowsburg, NY (pop. 414!) to eat at the Whistle Stop Cafe (on Tuesdays, order two eggs, two pancakes, and two breakfast meats for $2.22!). Here’s the family on July 29, 2008, outside the Whistle Stop.
Not to be outdone by Rali’s 5K yesterday, Kristof wanted to do his own race, so we found a 5K for him to do the very next day: the March of Dimes Bolt for Babies in Arlington, VA. Rali ran along with him, but it was Kristof’s race, and he was the first kid to finish. He never walked, and never stopped to rest. Here’s Kristof crossing the finish line right behind Rali:
Carmen and Kelvin were very happy to cheer for Kristof. He was in good shape afterwards, but still had a banana to replenish. He says he can’t wait to do it again!
Yesterday, September 6, 2008, Rali ran her first 5K race: the Arlington Police/Fire/Sheriff 9-11 Memorial 5K. She went all-out and finished near the front, but she was exhausted from the pace! Here’s the whole family before the race:
Now that we’re living in the U.S. for almost a year, Kristof has decided to try baseball for the first time, and he’s signed up for the 
