Category: Movies

Sunday afternoon on the 1st we went to see Shrek: The Musical performed at the Reston Community Center. Nina and I had just watched the original movie a couple days earlier and I’d played her the soundtrack the day before, and she was ready. At intermission she wanted a pair of Shrek ears and I was inclined to say no until I saw they were $2 each (I’m too used to Disney prices). She really enjoyed it – the dragon wasn’t as scary as the one in the movie, and she was still singing “Freak Flag” days later (I got “Morning Person” as an earworm).

Monday and Tuesday were teacher workdays, I stayed home on the Monday (and got her a playdate with her friend Olivia) while Jill got to handle the teacher conference, voting, and 2 more playdates on Tuesday. Wednesday we met up with some of Nina’s classmates at Così in Reston Town Center as the restaurant was doing a fundraiser for her school; she liked her peanut butter and jelly and loved the s’mores.

Friday the 6th my mom came over to babysit (and watch Snow White). Jill was away for a murder mystery weekend, and I was determined not to miss the DC debut of Dead & Company – three former members of the Grateful Dead with John Mayer. And it was worth it, he was a much better fit (and bolt of energy) than Warren Haynes when the Dead were last in DC in 2009 (would’ve liked to see Trey with them but missed out twice on the lottery).

Saturday I took Nina over to the University Mall Theatres for her first movie in a real theater – Shaun the Sheep. I was concerned she would talk as much as she had at home but she was mesmerized for the most part (and mostly in my lap). Afterwards she was introduced to the claw machine. She’s not a fan, and a total meltdown because she didn’t get a toy was only avoided because I had a Frozen video on my phone. There was also a near meltdown later when the peanut butter crackers I served were square instead of round (she’d seen round ones in the grocery store earlier).

Sunday Jill came back and after dinner I headed to Fairfax again, this time to the Center for the Arts to see the Art of Time Ensemble with Steven Page and Glen Phillips cover Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Slightly different arrangements but a fantastic performance, and not a long line afterwards for signing so I got a chance to talk to them as well. The rest of the night was less fun, doing tech support on Mom’s PC.

Thursday the 12th I had my other ingrown toenail permanently fixed and on Saturday Jill took Nina to see a roller derby game. Wednesday Jill went to Nina’s class’ Thanksgiving celebration at school. Later I picked up Nina from school and got her and my mom situated, then I drove to Ashburn for a quick and tasty dinner of ramen and sushi at Okada, then joined Jill for Mockingjay Part 2 at the Drafthouse (she’d just seen Part 1 and they won’t let you in part way through so I watched it at home). Waiting to see the final Hunger Games movies together was a good idea. Great ending to the series.

Friday the 20th I fought Friday night traffic to Rockville to meet up with my dad and see Brian Wilson in concert. Last time we saw him solo he had Al Jardine with him, and this time Al was there again, along with African former Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin (who I hadn’t heard of the day before the show). The thing about one of his shows is with 12 people on stage, when there’s a French Horn part, you know it won’t be a sample on a keyboard. Some great songs off his new album he played along with all the classics you expect.

Saturday we took Nina to see Cinderella??? in the afternoon. Put on by the Reston Community Center’s Young Actors Theatre, it was an interesting twist on fairy tales, and Nina enjoyed it (especially good for young attention spans at a tight 45 minutes). That night Mom came over and Jill and I headed over to Clarendon to Me Jana, a Lebanese place. It was delicious, I especially enjoyed the seared haloumi and lamb chops. Later, we went to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington to see Natalia Zukerman & Caleb Hawley as part of Stone Room Concerts. We hadn’t seen Natalia in years, and she was fabulous.

Nina’s school was closed the day before and after Thanksgiving, so Jill was off on Wednesday as they did prep and Jill made a pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving Jill made potatoes and rutabegas, then we headed over to my Mom’s house where she and David were finishing cooking the turkey. Mom chose wisely to pick that day to let Nina start playing with the dollhouse that her father built for her (a model of the Sears Catalog home they lived in), and she didn’t want to do much else (although we did burn off some energy at the elementary school playground).

Friday I took Nina to the 25th Annual Reston Holiday Parade at Reston Town Center. Afterwards she wanted to play hide and seek along with all the other kids at A Bird in Hand and run all around. Then we heard bagpipers (we’d missed them in the parade) at the nearby World Of Beer, so we had to check them out. I’d already asked Nina if she wanted sandwiches from Cosi or Potbelly and she’d declined, so when she wanted to go inside World Of Beer “for a drink”, I wasn’t saying no. And she did a great job with poor service, especially since she couldn’t have her first choice of food (giant pretzel). We came back to Reston Town Center that night as Mom and the rest of the Reston Chorale were singing carols at the Christmas tree lighting, then Mom and David came back to our place for some open face turkey sandwiches.

Saturday night I ducked out for a quick show by Parthenon Huxley at Jammin’ Java – I’m always up for power pop and an Electric Light Orchestra connection. Sunday we drove over to Dad’s house for another turkey lunch with him and Patricia. Nina had her first introduction to their young dog Justin – while he was a little scary at first, he calmed down and everyone enjoyed themselves. The rest of the day was mostly cleaning the house.

Sunday the 1st I took Nina to Kidz Plaza for a friend’s birthday party. It was a little disconcerting since the last time we were there was for her birthday party, but she got over it quickly. She enjoyed herself at the Jewells’ Super Bowl party, but got a little crazy and we left early. Tuesday I mentioned that it’s hard to convince a 3 year old that Lucky Charms are more than a marshmallow delivery system.

Saturday the 7th we had lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger after gymnastics and Nina let us know that when she and BFF Felix have little kids, they’re going to live far away in South America. After a gorgeous day playing outside Sunday, we took Nina to The Old Brogue for an early show by Beth Patterson and she did pretty well (and we wished happy birthday to Bernard). Tuesday I decided that one great thing about being a grownup is getting to pair a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with beer (also Tuesday we got a new microwave after being without one for a week).

Thursday the 12th I participated in my first live auction, for props from the Coraline movie. Some pieces went for a lot of money, but I managed to get a pencil drawing of the Apartments, artwork with the 26 different faces of Coraline, and the centerpiece: an early design of the apartments’ porch.

Saturday the 14th Mom came over and we went to the Mosaic District for Valentine’s Day, got a seat at the bar at B Side in 10 minutes (our 1st choice), had a yummy dinner (delicious charcuterie, “pig wings”, and fries) as we watched the storm blow through, then a slippery walk over to the Angelika to see Kingsman (great adaption) before an ok drive home. Lake Thoreau had frozen over Friday, but the wind was so strong on Sunday it blew the ice apart (Nina enjoyed her cocoa and a fire in the fireplace). As a Saturday Night Live super geek, Sunday night’s 40th anniversary show was just about perfect. It was a good mix of clips and new sketches with old characters. I was surprised Paul McCartney blew his voice out the night before and Paul Simon didn’t come out with Miley Cyrus to sing his song. The best moment might have been unscripted – Jim Carrey asking Matt Layer on the red carpet where they were hiding Brian Williams.

Monday the 16th Nina put on a concert (including songs from Django Jones and Frozen). There was snow on Tuesday and Nina went sledding, then Saturday we got the most snow of the season and that meant another fire in the fireplace and Nina’s first s’mores. Sunday we built a big snowman together (Jill’s mom Sue was down for a visit and was a big help when school was closed).

Monday the 23rd I had to share a link about why record store clerks are pretentious because the record store I owned with my friends Eric, John, and Steve was EXACTLY like that. That night I went to see Neal Morse at the State Theatre because legendary drummer Mike Portnoy was playing with him. A great performance, but disconcerting because there was a group of guys next to me that must have been under 21 because they had Xs on their hands, and therefore not born the first time I saw Mike Portnoy play with Dream Theater at Hammerjacks (I won’t even get into them covering “Jet”, a 41 year old song).

Tuesday the 24th I was a chaperone as Nina’s class went on a field trip to my old high school, W.T. Woodson, to see the planetarium. It was very hard to keep Nina and her 2 friends quiet, and odd to see the changes at the school. Saturday the 28th was a movie double header. We wanted to finally seeing Jupiter Ascending, but found out Run Lola Run was playing at the Alamo Drafthouse at a late show (I knew Jill would be up for a late showing because she has 2 copies of the soundtrack). We initially thought just dinner beforehand, then decide on a double feature with an early show at the Googleplex. Jupiter Ascending was worth it just for that shot of the spaceship coming up through the ring. Then we had a quick dinner at The Dons’ Wood-Fired Pizza before Run Lola Run (a fantastic movie that still holds up).

The first weekend in December we finished decorating the house and Sunday had our 4th night of eating turkey (mixing it up with soup, sandwiches and enchiladas). If only the Skins could give me the same level of adrenaline rush as The Walking Dead (RIP the ones that aren’t with us).

Jill and I still haven’t been to minibar, but Wednesday the 4th we went to little brother barmini in DC for excellent snacks (banh mi burger) and fabulous cocktails (Pumpkin Flip and a Manhattan made with cotton candy). Then over to Verizon for the twin guitar attack meets Tchaikovsky that is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Fun night but left before the end – the maids were coming the next day ahead of our party (and Jill and Nina ended up back in DC for lunch with a friend of Jill’s).

Friday the 6th I got takeout from Moe’s and decided there is no more sharing dip with Nina. She failed to grasp the concept of not double dipping, and there was queso everywhere. Saturday we had only 11 guests for our party, but it was nice to be able to actually spend time with everyone – and Nina loved spending time with her favorite twins. Plus cleanup was much quicker. Also, Speedway Stout is amaze balls when aged 2 years (so smooth). Sunday we had a lovely brunch today with the Norwoods. The girls and Nina played inside, we ate, then we all went out to play in the snow. We even made a tiny snowman. That afternoon, I found out that nothing shows how bad your team is like playing a really good one. And both teams putting in their 2nd string QBs shows how they knew the game was over.

Monday the 9th it only took an hour to clear off my car and a path through the ice this morning. Roads were fine, and I’m very thankful Nina’s school runs a “snow camp”. That evening, I had things I never expected to happen #367: having an argument with my toddler about who owns the bottle cap I just removed from my beer (and she won). No Fairfax County government closing the next day, so more snow camp for Nina. Thursday the 12th Nina went to school and Jill got a day off, finally seeing A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre. Thanks to early dismissal for her school’s winter break, I had Nina most of the day on Friday the 13th. Achievements unlocked: 3 hour nap, and a poop in the potty (first for me with her). Plus I guess she likes school – there 4 days this week, and when we went out after dinner, she made a beeline for it.

Nina’s first show was Sesame Street Live Saturday the 14th at the Patriot Center. It was a huge hit, she danced most of the time, and she ate nearly half of a giant tub of popcorn. That night we had a rare non-concert night out thanks to two grandmothers, which meant delicious dinner at locavore restaurant Tavern 64, then Hunger Games 2 (great adaption) at the Alamo Drafthouse (good beer selection, and you can’t beat the rules).

Wednesday the 18th we again had two grandmothers with us as we went to ZooLights at the National Zoo. It was fun but exhausting. 2 year olds be out of control (especially when they’re running around without mittens and their hands get so cold it’s painful when they warm back up).
The next day, Nina, Jill and her mom visited Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

The weekend of the 21st and its liquid diet weren’t fun (also known as the 2 days swallowing was like gargling sandpaper), but I thought I was starting to feel normal on Monday (it would actually take another week, think it was tonsillitis). Christmas shopping was still done, although seeing The Hobbit turned out to be a pipe dream (see what I did there). Jill’s mom stayed until Monday morning so we could go out on Sunday night for Todd Wright’s annual “Santa Clauster-f@%!” Christmas song extravaganza (I missed the food, but consoled myself with a Cold Stone shake).

My sister and her husband stayed with us Monday-Thursday of Christmas week. Christmas Eve we all went to church and Nina wore her Piglet costume again so she could participate in the children’s Nativity reenactment. On Christmas we had a long, exhausting day filled with lots of food, family, and a failure of toilet training. But a nightcap of eggnog and Doctor Who made things better.

Friday the 27th Nina was a meat fan, asked for sausage, hot dogs, and bacon and got 2 of the 3, eating 5 sausage links and 2 pieces of bacon. We also seemed to be back on track on potty training, after two lost days that included ending up in just a towel at my mom’s house on Christmas. Saturday Jill’s dad and his wife visited, and I was actually feeling good enough to enjoy our lunch out at Jackson’s and the Flippin’ Pizza takeout for a late dinner after seeing the lights at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. The last Skins game was horrible – I’m not opposed to Mike Shanahan being fired. But I definitely think Kyle should be let go. A pass play on 3rd and 2? And then running the exact same play on 4th and 2? Aargh. We had another low key New Year’s Eve – Jill worked and we had a late dinner and watched TV until it was almost midnight.

We celebrated Nina’s birthday a day early on Sunday at Lake Fairfax. My dad, mom and sister came, as well as Jill’s mom and a number of kids and their families that Nina is friends with. We grilled dogs and brats, and the kids had a blast running around, blowing bubbles, and riding on the carousel. Later, while Nina napped, I took Dad and his girlfriend Patricia and my sister and her husband out for a cruise around the lake, which was a little more trouble than planned when the motor died. After Nina got up, we opened her gifts (she loved her trike, but she’s a ways away from reaching the pedals).

On Labor Day, Jill and her mom took Nina to Glen Echo Park. Later Jill and I had a late dinner at Nikko Sushi & Hibachi (surf and turf with sushi and steak was quite good), then the next day I was a zombie dad chasing Nina around and producing a truly amazing amount of screaming. Wednesday the 4th was Nina’s first day of school, on a gradual transition schedule that started at one hour the first day. But she had fun, and later had some firsts: walking in the lake, clapping rhythmically to a live version of Girlyman’s “Through To Sunrise”, and adding a vocal solo to “On The Air” from the same show.

Friday the 6th I instituted a new tradition of daddy daughter date night (as Jill was now working until 11). We started at her favorite Vienna playground, then mac and cheese at Noodles & Co (also the first time I’ve taken her out to eat solo) and finally toddler dance party at Jammin’ Java with the folkgrass sound of Joy Kills Sorrow (and thanks Cover Lay Down for finding them).

Saturday morning’s musical journey started when Nina said something that sounded like “Iko Iko”, so I played some of the first Dead show I found with one. Then we listened to The Decemberists cover Pink Floyd, but that’s another story. That night Jill and I saw Tig Notaro at the Reston Community Center. She’s wickedly funny, but never raise your hand to speak. My mom had babysit Nina, and the next day I returned the favor by being tech support on her computer. On the way back I picked up some Bon Chon chicken for takeout (still delicious) and saw the surest sign of hipster cred: a Zipcar parked outside.

The next weekend we went out two nights in a row to fundraising concerts. Nina had no nap on Saturday the 14th (she fell asleep briefly in the car on the way back from Mom’s work picnic), so it was an early bedtime for the babysitter (daughter of a neighbor) that night. We joined the Jewells to watch Eddie From Ohio do a benefit for One Voice at The Hamilton (great show, and we did VIP to see the soundcheck too). Nina had a cold on Sunday, so was a little rougher, but Mom came over to watch her so we knew she’d be ok. That night was a benefit for Americans United and we did VIP again as that included dinner with Dar Williams before her house concert. The only bad part was I’d hit my toe so hard on Nina’s potty trainer the night before I thought I broke it, so I was limping around that night. The X-ray the next morning was negative though, but Nina had one more trick, wouldn’t go to bed until 10:55 that night.

Those shows helped make a Falcon Ridge fall reunion week, as then Friday the 20th we had the Jewells and Lorna and Dave over for steak and wine before heading over to the Reston Community Center to see We’re About 9 and Red Molly (hard to believe it was their first time playing together). The next morning Nina slept until 9:15 (!!! – must be genetic), then I took her to Cox Farms. It’s like an amusement park for the 10 and under set, so naturally Nina had a blast. Later I went out in the rain and rocked out with some Avett siblings, took a detour into debauchery with the twerkmaster, saw a DJ in the woods, and ended the weekend with vampires (in other words, I went to the Virgin Mobile Freefest at Merriweather Post Pavilion and saw The Avett Brothers, Robin Thicke, Gareth Emery, and Vampire Weekend). The next morning I learned that Jill and Nina played dress up the night before, because Nina tried to put a flowing scarf and shoes on me. I had to explain to her Steven Tyler is the only man alive who can pull off that look.

Tuesday the 24th Nina picked a musician off my shirt and we practiced saying his name, then listened to his music. She likes dancing to Macca – I think he could really be big. Wednesday we had dinner all from the farmer’s market (corn, tomatoes, beans plus pulled pork and collard greens from Uncle Fred’s) then we finally watched The Avengers (yes, yes, geek shame) before Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Very cool, but how has J. August Richards not aged?). Week 3 of Daddy/daughter Fridays went well: we picnicked on Lake Audubon with takeout from Generous George’s (old school).

Saturday the 28th I went to DC in the morning for a posture workshop (I’d injured my neck through my horrible posture) from Gokhale Method, then stopped in Clarendon for Clarendon Day and had some tasty sausages from Fat Shorty’s. Meanwhile, Jill and Nina went to Let’s Move with Music at Wolf Trap! (Nina loved the dancing and bouncing).

Monday Nina came thisclose to doing #2 in her potty, but got up at the last minute. In related crap news, a high school “friend” posted a Facebook status about he was sorry about the furlough, but it was worth it to stop Obamacare. I guess he didn’t know or care about the friends of mine that are affected (or the coworkers laid off that day), but I was fed up with his right wingnut screeds, and went after him. But he proved to play as well as his “heroes” in Congress, and decided to block me after we’d gone back and forth several times. Also I was wearing a Neil Gaiman shirt, and since Nina now recognizes “Macca”, decided he was “Macca” too. I tried to explain he was Mr. Neil who wrote that nice Chu book she likes, but I don’t think I was very successful.

Jill’s mom was still here at the beginning of the month, and her husband Dave flew down for a couple days. On Wednesday the 3rd, we went to my dad’s on the bay for their annual fireworks. He and Patricia made a big spread for dinner; unfortunately Nina was not a fan of the fireworks, but they started so way past her bedtime she was out before they finished. On the 4th, I grilled hot dogs for lunch, and we had Bojangles fried chicken for dinner that we’d picked up that morning on the way home. Nina was in bed by the time the fireworks began, and I took Dave out on the floating dock on the lake to watch them.

Friday Nina got completely soaked playing with the sprinkler, then her favored dish was a bowl of ketchup and mustard she ate with a fork (I won’t get the chicken hot dogs again). Saturday the 6th was an all day date day thanks to Sue and Dave watching Nina. We slept in, went to Baltimore (briefly dropped in at the Discworld convention but Sir Terry was a last minute cancellation) and had lunch at Wit And Wisdom, then saw Joss Whedon’s great take on Much Ado About Nothing at the Angelika and a late dinner at Matchbox.

Monday the 8th Nina was eating her grilled ham and cheese sandwich like an Oreo, taking the ham out, eating it, and throwing the rest away. Thursday I was solo on the lawn tonight at Wolf Trap to see Camera Obscura and She And Him, with a perfect picnic meal in between thanks to Kumo Sushi, my new favorite local sushi place. I made it home before a storm hit us hard, but stayed up ’til 3AM while waiting for the lightning and thunder to stop so I could take the dog for walk. The good thing was that I finished the new Neil Gaiman novel. Good stuff.

Friday the 12th we had a small mess in the kitchen – a good opportunity to teach Nina how to use a dustpan and brush, I thought. Ten minutes later, she’s gotten her first timeout from me and there was an unholy mess that requires a mop. Sigh. Saturday I took Nina to the Lake Anne Ukulele Festival in the morning where she proceeded directly to the fountain and refused to leave. Later, she stayed in with Grandma and we had a fabulous night with delicious food at Mothership (banh mi ftw) and the hilarious Book Of Mormon. But what are we talking and laughing about hours later? That I smacked a strange woman on the ass at intermission (in my defense it was dark, she also had her hair up and had a very similar outfit as Jill). We saw the lady seated after I told Jill what happened; she tapped her on the shoulder and told her that I thought she was her. I don’t know if that made it better or worse.

Saturday the 20th we went to a friend’s housewarming where Nina got to try a tricycle (she loved it, couldn’t reach the pedals though), then that night she had her first BLT. My favorite quote from Jill: “Stop waving that bacon in my face!” The next morning she was a barefoot girl: concrete, asphalt, mulch and grass. I think she knew FRFF was coming. Robert Plant was great Monday (and when he played the Zep songs in their original arrangement it was awesome), but I could have done without the shoe soaking deluge afterwards.

The best night at Wolf Trap this year started Wednesday the 24th with the tastiest spread I’ve had yet at the Encore Circle, then a short but sweet set from The Lone Bellow. We hung out with Mike Clem and his squeeze while we waited to meet them, then visited with Stuart and Susan during a lackluster set from Justin Townes Earle. A blast your face off finale from Brandi Carlisle (with Gibb Droll) topped off the night, highlighted by a cover of “The Chain”. The next night I wondered if I was a worse father when I let Nina lie in duck poop (so she could splash her hands in the lake) or two days earlier when she tripped and hurt her finger bad enough to need her first band aid.

Saturday the 27th we tried Zabb, a new Thai place in Manassas (very spicy but good kua kling) then saw Dave Matthews Band for the first time in 4 years (my longest break since I started seeing them 20 years ago). They played a great mix of old and new songs, and the weather was perfect. Classic Nina quotes from Sunday: After a sneeze, Jill says “Bless You” and I say “Gesundheit”. Nina’s got “Bless You”, but I had her sound it out, then I asked her to say it. She said “Bless You”. Also (you should know she’s learning to count): We were all shopping in Safeway, and I picked out some Fruit Loops for her. Nina thought that was a great idea, and got another box. Jill said “No, only one” and Nina shouted out “Two!”, followed by “3, 4, 6”.

Wednesday the 31st was the start of our summer vacation. We delayed leaving as my neck was killing me the night before, but finally got going late morning, with Nina soothed for a while by getting a plush Elmo – she’s been watching Sesame Street at daycare and is obsessed with Elmo, Abby and Zoe (and already had an Abby). We drove through the state with the lowest highest point while listening to Lowest Highest Point (very meta), then Sonic failed me – usually we eat there, but we did drive in this time. When I opened the bag, my tots had morphed into fries! At least I got my diet cherry limeade. After a 2 hour + break at the nearby Barnes & Noble, we finally got back on the road at 7PM, where Nina promptly fell asleep. For 30 minutes, then wide awake ’til we got to Great Barrington (and calmed on the Taconic State Parkway by many Daniel Tiger videos). She refused to sleep in the pack and play (a first), and fell asleep on the bed between us (then back to the pack and play).