Memorial Weekend

Ulana, her mother, and HAHA held down the fort while the rest of us (my dad, my father-in-law, Matt, Georgine, and Marybeth) went to the air show at Patuxent River NAS last weekend (see photos and my rant below). Here are some pictures of the twins charming everyone... ;-)

TETA HAHA gets a nice smile out of Izzie.

Zoe is enjoying herself with Georgine.

Dido holds Zoe (thanks to Georgine for this photo).

Pax River Air Expo 2009

Every other year Patuxent River NAS holds an Air Expo. The yearly Joint Service Open House at Andrews AFB is much larger (see this year's gallery here), but Pax River is closer to home, and I get to show off aircraft that I've worked on. ;-) Also, the Blue Angels always perform at Pax River (Andrews AFB alternates between the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels), and in my opinion they are more photogenic than the Thunderbirds, especially in marginal weather conditions.

<rant>
This year, friends and family joined me in going to the air show on Saturday. We got a somewhat late start, but I don't think anything would have changed even if we had left earlier. I've been to many different shows at many different locations (both civilian and military), and I can say without reservation that traffic management at Pax River this year was the worst that I have ever witnessed. It took over an hour to get from the base gate to the parking lot, and in numerous spots it was obvious that bottle necks could easily have been alleviated. Once we finally parked and trudged across the immense grass parking lot, it was evident that we were in for another long wait to get through security. I was pissed, as we had missed the majority of the show already.
</rant>

I should have followed my original instincts and not even tried to get onto the base. Plan B was to watch the show from Solomons Island, but given that Georgine and Marybeth had never been to an air show, I felt that watching from the base would provide a fuller experience. Oops. We decided to cut our losses and headed to Solomons Island after all, and we managed to get seated at the bar in Solomons Pier restaurant. That turned out to be a great spot, as we were able to head outside onto the pier to watch the Blue Angels perform. Not to mention that we got a great meal and some much-needed beers there. ;-) Next time we'll know to either get people together for the much less crowded Friday practice show, or just head straight to Solomons for the Saturday or Sunday shows.

Besides taking photos of the Blue Angels from Solomons Island, I took some decent shots at the practice show the day before; I'll hopefully be posting them this week. Georgine was kind enough to send some shots of us watching the Blues from the pier, included below (the last shot was actually taken by Matt from my cell phone).

Sorry for the rant; I guess I still needed to vent... ;-)

Marybeth, Matt and I take in the show from Solomons Pier.

Georgine gets a shot of all five of us (my dad, my father-in-law, Matt, Marybeth, and me) from the balcony of the restaurant.

Another nice group shot of us.

Matt uses my cell phone camera to snap a shot of us sitting at the bar.

Update: I've posted pictures of the show to the DrikoLand Gallery.

Driko and the Twins

Zoe has some tummy time with a sunburnt Driko. She doesn't climb up Driko like Izzie does (yet).

Zoe is almost sitting up on her own!

Zoe loves air time!

Driko relaxes with Zoe and Izzie after a long, sunny day at the air show.

Izzie grabs hold of Driko's fingers. She's got quite a grip for her size... ;-)

Mothers' Day 2009

The twins visited the families over Mothers' Day weekend, spending the night at Babi's and Dido's.

Here Zoe models some Ukrainian vyshyvka (embroidery).

Baba (the twins' great-grandmother) is happy to see Zoe.

Baba looks really good! I think the twins' presence really brightened her day...

Zoe sat in Driko's lap as we conversed with Baba and others in the church hall.

Meanwhile, Babusia holds Izzie.

And finally, an obligatory group shot.

Zoe in Her Bumbo

 

Zoe seems to really enjoy sitting in her Bumbo chair. Izzie is still warming up to hers...

Fashionable Twins

 

Zoe and Izzie model the beautiful dresses that Miryam and Toby sent them.

Zoe Takes Over Ozzie's Spot

 

Ozzie looks on as Zoe takes over the cat hammock, one of his favorite spots.

 

 

Zoe has a nice view of the azaleas in our front yard from Ozzie's hammock.

Loungin' at Andrews Air Force Base

 

Although the low ceiling restricted some of the performances and made photography challenging to say the least, I had a great time at the air show on Friday. I've been going to this air show for 20+ years now, almost all of them with Matt here.

If you're interested in seeing pictures from the show, keep an eye on this flickr photo set. I have a lot of photos to go through, so it will be some time before they're all posted.

Zoe's First Slide!

Ulana takes Zoe down her first slide at the Tot Lot at Calvert Cliffs State Park. Zoe seemed to enjoy it, although the sun seems to bother her eyes.

Izzie's Fauxhawk

 

We firmly believe that Izzie rocking a fauxhawk was instrumental in the Caps' win over the Penguins today. ;-)

Fashion

 

The twins model the beautiful sweaters knitted by Mrs. Lisa.

Grandparents' Visit

 

Zoe checks Dido's dental work. :-)

 

Izzie gives Babi a nice smile.

Happy Four-Month-Olds!

 

 

Both Izzie and Zoe have changed quite a bit in four months. They have both become a lot more vocal, and we get to see a lot more of their beautiful smiles. :-)

Quiet Time

Ulana spends some quiet time on the sofa with Izzie.