It was an incredibly beautiful day today in the Washington, D.C. area, and we enjoyed it at the zoo. Gavin really enjoyed seeing the animals and spending time with grandparents, cousins and aunts & uncles. [In the above shot the lions are in the background.]
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| Gavin was determined to get into each and every animal enclosure. In this photo, he actually succeeds in getting into the outer layer of the seal enclosure! And it took Dad and cousin Jacob to get him out. |
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| with Aunt Jennie (and a gorilla in the background) |
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| The National Zoo's popcorn can come in this adorable bucket, which went EVERYWHERE with Gavin today. |
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| two brothers and their respective offspring--sweet |
The lions were a highlight; in the below photo Gavin is pointing to them and saying "Simba."
Who knew a huge part of the fun of the zoo would be the fallen autumn leaves.
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| trying to get into another enclosure |
Gavin was 9 months old yesterday. We spent the entire past month of his life in the USA, so here are some Gav-specific photos from our trip. (next photo: at the famous benches in Central Park that you always see in the movies)
Gavin's absolute favorite toy on the trip was a straw. He could be consoled by a straw and happily occupied for long stretches of car and airplane rides. 
You may have also noticed from previous posts that he started sucking his thumb this month. We do hope he grows out of it, but we've decided not to make a big deal about it now. Here are a few photos of him "eating" other things (a toy, a crayon box, an empty milk jug, his Grandma's glasses).
When we were with his paternal grandparents Gavin ate lots of ice cream and cones. I loved that they gave him empty cones to eat (and shared a bit of their own ice cream on the side), and Gavin loved it too.
There's really no unifying theme to these last few except that he's cute.
We really enjoyed our time with Jacob's brothers and their spouses while we were in DC. One of the highlights of the whole USA trip was meeting our sister-in-law Ashley (below), who married Jacob's youngest brother Jared while we've been in England. She's fabulous!
Jacob's older brother Jon and his wife Micaela and their kids Jacob and Emily (plus one on the way!) also live in the DC area, so we got to spend time with them.
And Joel (who falls between Jacob and Jared), along with his wife Emily and their daughter Brinly (plus one on the way!) visited from Ohio while we were there, and we were so glad they made the trip!
The above photo was taken while we enjoyed paddle boating. As always, it turned into a game/competition with the football and splashing. Here are more photos of the fun.
During Hurricane Irene Jacob initiated the creation of a 100-foot slip n slide, which was lots of fun. I especially love the brotherly togetherness in some of the photos and with the endeavor in general.
We spent a little time in New York City while we were in the USA. We were there for the earthquake but didn't feel it. And we were 
We got to Manhattan and pretty much made a beeline for 30 Rock, pictured below (we're huge fans of 
In the next photo you can see the Statue of Liberty between us (no, we didn't have time to go up--and we couldn't have taken Gavin anyway). Unfortunately you can't really see Gavin in the photo. 
In the next photo Jacob is sampling some of the famous New York pizza. 
In the next two photos, Gavin and I are in Central Park; and Gavin and Jacob are in front of the US Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
Just a few more: the Brooklyn Bridge (
