Let the Birthday Month Begin!

There's something to be said for having your birthday right after Thanksgiving and just before all of the holiday parties start. My parents are both January birthdays and have great, personal sympathy for being born too close to Christmas. So, to remedy that, they've begun a pattern of celebrating my birthday in early to mid November. This is great because I get my party early in the month and then, by law (or at least it should be a law), they must celebrate again on my actual Birthday at the end of the month; and wa-la, the birthday month is born!

My Nana and PopPop sent me my gift in time for my party - way before my actual birthday - so I scored a new tennis racquet that's just my size. I've already been out on the court - check out my form (but pay no attention to the large amount of missed balls sitting near my feet).

Ten of my buddies came over this weekend for a football party. And while we may be short in size, we sure looked tough with our football eye glare make-up. We jumped in the sports moon bounce, attempted field goal kicks, made playdough creatures, played in the band, and ate football cupcakes and hot dogs - a 2-year olds paradise.

The photos provide MUCH better commentary than I can, so here are a few pics - enjoy!

49ers, Hope, and Happiness

GO NINERS! That was my motto this past week and it totally worked. We went to the 49er vs Redskins  game on Sunday and my Niners came out victorious! This was my second NFL game - last year I got to see the Dolphins play Baltimore (not as good of an outcome in that game) - and I can now comfortably say I'd like to own an NFL team when I grow up; football is fun.

My dad even got in to it and wore 49er gear (rather than his usual Dolphins attire). And while I was one of the smallest fans at the game, I showed my big spirit by running through the crowds in the parking lot and the stadium yelling "Go Niners!" Even the Redskins fans were nice to me - probably because I'm short (and I winked at them as I passed).

Then my buddy Hope came to town with her mom Amy. Amy and my mom have been friends since they had a food fight at sleep-away camp when they were 12 years old - pretty cool. Anyway, we had a blast and spent the day at the zoo. I showed Hope all of my favorite spots - Amazonia, the O line, and the pandas. And this is how she showed me her appreciation... Yes, I'd be happy to take her to the zoo again - shazam!

Then last night two of my favorite people, Christine and Uncle M.O. came to visit me. Christine gave me a cool  bowling set (but my parents have already commandeered it for themselves and are competing to see who can knock down the most pins - good grief!). This is why I love Christine and M.O. - they love to play. They let me wear their shoes, they put on goofy hats, and they're just plain fun. Thanks for a great evening.

Spooktacular Weekend

We jammed in as much as possible in the past three days - trick-or-treating, yard work, Halloween parties, bike ride, cookie decorating, birthday party, church, soccer - and we even got SNOW! Does it get better than this?

Here's a photo recap of our fun...
Halloween cookie decorating, yes, that is frosting in my eye

 First party of the weekend - we went as pirates to that party

Yard work with a a break for a soccer game through the graveyard

Another party - this time I was a UPS delivery guy and my parents were UPS shipping boxes

Then the main event - total chaos in our neighborhood. This is the fifth straight year with more than 400 trick-or-treaters.

I worked the smoke machines and strobe light

Loved every minute of it!

Dober dan!

We traveled to the western Balkans the past few weeks and I must say, I sure like those people. We stopped in Turkey for a night then headed to Sarajevo, Bosnia to see our fun friends - Mary, Todd, and Liam. Liam is a few months older than me, a few inches taller than me, and has a lot more red hair than me!

We arrived into their city and headed out to the old square. I heard my mom and dad talking to Liam's parents about the architecture, the damage and rebuilding from the war, and how  much they liked the old city. Liam and I took turns chasing after pigeons and having our cheeks squeezed by total strangers (the Bosnians LOVE children).

The next day my dad and Liam's dad went for a "killer bike ride" through the Bosnian hills. Their streets are built into the mountain, so the hills are like 10x's steeper than San Francisco's! You need to be careful when you go off the main roads in Bosnia because there are still active land mines left over from the war - signs are posted in some of the areas to make sure you don't get hurt.

While they were avoiding land mines, Liam and I went on our own bike ride. The only land mine we encountered was an elderly Bosnia woman who gave my mom a very long lecture (in Bosnian) for allowing me outside without a hat - it was pretty funny.

The next day we headed south to Mostar - the city with the famous old bridge, Stari Most, that was sadly destroyed during the war but has since been rebuilt. We ran through the old cobble stone streets chasing stray cats while total strangers chased after us pinching our cheeks (again!). The bridge is made of a very slippery stone so Liam and I decided to scoot down the whole bridge - apparently that's not the typical way to do it because people thought we were pretty funny.

After Mostar it was on to Croatia. My last name is Italian, but all of my dad's ancestors came to the U.S. from Croatia - so this country and I have a connection. Let's be honest - what's not to love about Croatia? Water, beaches, beautiful architecture, and lots of people who wanted to pick me up and pinch my cheeks (good grief people!).

The highlight of our trip was our visit to the island of Korcula. This is the island my great grandfather grew up on and the same island my great grandmother was born on. It is spectacular. A quaint old city, beautiful vineyards and orchards, and cozy little beaches. We took a car ferry to the island - who knew you could drive a car onto a boat - so cool! Our apartment was in the old city, just a few blocks from the building where my great grandfather grew up.

Only one relative still lives on the island, my grandfather's cousin, Vali. After showing us to the beach so we could swim and throw rocks in the Adriatic Sea, she invited us to her home for the day - a really neat village with orchards, sheep, turtles, turkeys, chickens, and cats.

We ate figs off of her tree, chased after the animals, and dined on a turkey that she said, "was just too loud yesterday..." This information encouraged me and Liam to be a little bit more quiet.

I learned about my great grandfather's home and played in the same courtyard that he did - right next to the home where Marco Polo was born. After seeing how wonderful the island was, the only question I have is why would anyone ever leave? Perhaps it was because their mom put them in the car and drove back onto the car ferry and headed south to Dubrovnik! At least that was my reason for leaving.

The weather continued to be perfect and we walked on the old city wall. Liam and I got super cool Croatian soccer balls in Korcula. We decided it would be fun to kick the balls as we ran the city wall (never mind that there are over 700 steps). At one point I picked up my ball and decided to test my throwing skills - the walls were taller than me and I wanted to show Liam how strong I was. Next thing I knew, my awesome Croatian soccer ball sailed over the city wall, dropped down the 150 foot cliff, and landed in the Adriatic Sea (if you blow this picture up you can see the tiny yellow dot in the water). Um, who knew I had the strength of Hercules? Serious bummer. My dad gave me a lecture on consequences while my mom tried to cheer me up by saying the ball decided to go swimming - really mom, a swimming soccer ball? Either way there was no retrieving my ball - I hope it's a good swimmer.

From Dubrovnik we headed back north to Bosnia. We passed by the town of Stone. I think it got it's name because they built a stone wall around their city on the hill. If all towns were named after the stuff they have most of, I think I'd like to live in the town of ice cream (good idea, huh).

My parents went to see the tunnel the Bosnians dug under the airport during the war. This is such an incredible story and if you have a minute, I encourage you to learn a little about it. Then we hung out some more with Liam, Todd, and Mary, had a few more strangers pinch my cheeks, then headed to the airport for one more stop in Turkey.

We arrived in Turkey and headed down to the beach to play at a park for dinner while the sun set. In the morning it was back to the airport for the 11 and a half hour flight home. We departed about 90 minutes prior to the 7.2 earthquake that hit Turkey, so we didn't even know it had happened until we landed back in DC.

I was a champ on the flight - my mom says the travel gods hooked us up because we had four seats to ourselves for both the flight out and the flight back - a guy my size can really stretch out in four seats! So I was able to sleep and play and even watched the movie Rio.

Learning about your relatives is fun. And if this is considered geneolgy work, I could definitely get into it. I hear my grandmother's family is from Greece!

The Color of Miracles

James McBride wrote a book called "The Color of Water." The book describes itself as a black man's tribute to his white mother. During her life she was married to two black men and had twelve children. She raised these children in poverty, often being the only white person in the neighborhood. By the author's desciption, none of the children looked like his mother and he, himself, had a hard time believing this white woman was his own mother because they did not have the same color skin. The title of this book is derived when the son asks his mother the color of God, and his mother replies ‘The color of water’.

I absolutely love this book for so many reasons, but mostly because of this response; it connects with me.

I was again reminded of this wise woman's words as I watched more than a hundred children and their families play at the annual pediatric heart picnic this past weekend. Fairfax hospital hosts an picnic each fall to bring the cardiac kids and the surgeons together for a reunion - it's pretty incredible. Every race, culture, and socioeconomic background is represented at this gathering. Keep in mind that most of these heart procedures cost between a quarter of a million and a half of million dollars to perform. (This is Dr. Shen, the surgeon who repaired Bodie's heart)

All I could think as I looked at these little kids faces was the color of miracles is like the color of water. God offers miracles to every one of his children - and we've been lucky to receive more than our fair share.