Ian's Trip

Ian has had a very busy week, so there is lots to catch up on. Last Sunday, Ian and I left for Gaithersburg, Maryland, where I was attending the useR! 2010 conference (a statistics software conference -- more fun than it sounds). As we did last year with the Joint Statistical Meetings (likewise), my parents drove down from NY to take care of Ian during the days. This works out nicely for everyone: I get to attend the conference, Doug gets the house to himself for a few days, Ian gets to spend time with his grandparents, and Mom and Dad get to see Ian without having to drive quite as far as North Carolina. A big improvement over last summer's version was that we got a two-bedroom suite with a kitchen instead of a standard hotel room. The suite was so nice to play in (and it was so incredibly hot outside), that they spent a lot of the time at the hotel. All the important things were there. Trains:

Lots and lots of Legos (Ian acquired some additional Legos from Grandma and Grandpa as birthday presents, so now he has plenty of blocks to go with his trucks and people):

A court for playing ball:

A pool:And, of course, a construction site behind the hotel parking lot:

They ventured out a few times to local parks. Just like at home, putting mulch on the bottom of the slide is very appealing to Ian:

Trying out his chalk, another birthday present:

And checking out the pine needles at a state forest nearby:

Not pictured: Grandma, photographer. We also got to see some other people while we were in the area (we seem to accumulate new friends in the DC metro area every year). Two of my favorite former co-workers left BD to work for the USA. The three of us presented a tutorial at the conference together, and it was good to see them.

Ian and I also went out to dinner with my first college roommate, Kay, and her husband. We went to an upscale family friendly restaurant, where Ian ordered filet mignon off the kids' menu. I would say that he behaved pretty well on this outing, but I think we may have made Kay and Ross reconsider the prospect of having kids : ) We had a good time though.

On the way home from Maryland, we stopped in Virginia to see my post-college roommate Anneke and her daughter Sasha (one of my other roommates was waiting for us when we got home, so this is the most roommate-visiting-intensive week I've ever had). We saw them last time we were in DC, but it was more fun now that the kids are old enough to interact and show some of their personalities. We all went out to lunch at a burrito place around the corner:

And back at Sasha's house the kids burned some energy, shown in this video:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thegeelmobeel/4824841275/

This was a good thing, because it was a long trip home. Ian only took a short nap, so it was pretty intense immobilized play and entertainment for hours on end. We made it home, though, and proceeded to have a very busy weekend. More on that in the next post . . .