March 2002 -- Elise wins
a major French
competition. Elise went head-to-head with several hundred high
school students in Northern Virginia and beat more
than
30 in her category: beginner French. The competition took place at Thomas
Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (considered the most
rigorous high school in the United States). At 10, she was the only
competitor under 13.
She recited a lengthy poem from memory in front of four judges (as well as
an author bio.) We couldn't believe how gutsy she was. Garret has surgery again and
again and again! In an exciting four week period this spring, Garret managed
to split his chin open twice and sustain a gash above his left eyebrow. The
first wound resulted from a fall on
our hardwood floor. He got five stitches, and the wound healed nicely. Graeme
carefully removed the stitches, then, at midnight on a Saturday night, Elise kicked
Garret in the chin (how often does that happen?) and reopened the
wound! It had to be restitched--with seven stitches this time. Two weeks later,
a beautiful slide into home base ran into a brick, and Garret got a large
gash above his eyebrow. Graeme and Garret went back to the Emergency Room
and the inevitable "what-the-hell-kinda-parent-are-you?" looks from
the nursing crew.
age 10 tops them all. Now she teaches Tae Kwon Do to young kids on Fridays and
smiles when they occasionally address her as "Sir!" July 4, 2002 -- Donny Gets Lost among 400,000!
We headed downtown to the National Mall as usual for the 4th of July fireworks.
But this year terrorism fears prompted a massive security
presence.
That didn't stop our summer nanny, Alexandra, and her friend Josie from
charming Pentagon military personnel on our way to the Metro. The girls
were allowed to pose for photos in front of a Humvee. Once downtown, we
waited in line almost an hour to get into the Mall. Just before the
fireworks, we decided to move to higher ground. It was so packed and
humid that it felt like the mosh pit! Sweaty adult bodies were easily navigated
by wily 5 and 6 year olds. Donny and Carly Greenfield disappeared!!!! We managed to find them
15 minutes later... 
the travel (select) soccer team, the Arlington Arsenal. The calibre of
play at this age is amazingly high. This newly formed team struggled early on
(losing seven straight games, one by 13-0), but won their last two games. In the offseason,
the team is continuing to play together on an indoor soccer league. Summer in
the Outer Banks.
This will sound familiar to those who know us: summer vacation in Okracoke, North Carolina, with
our
best friends, the Greenfields. In fact, it was the seventh year in a row for
such a vacation. The
beaches of the Outer Banks are among the best in the world, and with Donna and
Starr cooking up feasts, so are the meals! Here's Donny playing a game called "Come and Get Me Wave!"
We took lots of beach pictures
here, including Donna in a bikini! 
Baseball!
After an exhausting day of site seeing and eating at Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore
(we got close enough
to touch Angus Young's guitar), we decided to catch the New
York Yankees-Baltimore Orioles game. The following account of this adventure is
taken directly
from our
website: There were no tickets to be had. After an hour of negotiating with a very small number of available scalpers ("I'm prepared to pay $15 each for six consecutive $30 tickets to this sold out game... Okay, how about $180 for any crappy tickets you've got that are within shouting distance of each other?") As we were leaving, I stumbled across a wheeler dealer who
took pity on us and said he'd get us great tickets for whatever we wanted to pay. I said "$15 apiece." We swiftly followed him past security (he flashed a couple of tickets
to several security guards that looked like they wouldn't have cared if he'd shown them a newspaper), and then
took us on a long walk to a well-guarded "players section" -- a fabulous place at center field reserved for the visiting team to give to friends and family (no face value). On the way he told me, "If anyone asks, you're my son." Okay... I shook his hand to thank him, cleverly passing
him a cool 90 clams. After 15 minutes without arrest, we settled into our seats and enjoyed a great game."
Note: picture at right demonstrates that Donovan has learned the proper way to
use the urinal at a baseball game! 
Celine
was very funny, and taught us about the fabulous cuisine of Quebec. Here she's
showing one of her favorites: a tasty combo of toast, peanut butter,
mayonaise, and sausage! Yum!
Max, Mylene's boyfriend, was a big fan of fast
cars, so off he and Graeme went in the Charger. He didn't have a driver's license (and
didn't speak English), but Graeme pleaded with him to drive the beast. "Whata-they-gonna-do-to-ya?"
he argued unconvincingly via sign language. Garret plays soccer at RFK.
Ever want to play soccer in front of 30,000 screaming fans? Garret got to in
November during a
half-time matchup at DC's legendary RFK stadium. 
So
on
Monday when we heard the Stokes were
going to be in town on Tuesday Graeme went onto the
Internet to buy the best tickets he could find. Fourteen hours later, seventh row
center tickets arrived at the door with help from FedEx. The Stokes? The best
band of the past five years. The lowlight was the warmup act--Jimmy Falon of Saturday Night
Live. Otherwise, it was an
awesome night. We loved the shirt of the girl sitting in front of us!
Thanksgiving Dinner.
What better way to end a delicious dinner for 30 than build a giant bonfire and
leap over the 4-foot flames! Some fools couldn't resist playing "Jack be
nimble." The dinner itself, hosted by the Greenfields, was amazing.
Donna and others were big contributors food-wise, and Graeme provided the
reckless entertainment. Yeah!
featured
a Silver Mime and a Naked Cowboy posing for pictures with women. At night we
took the family back to the Park Avenue hotel suite. Then Graeme and Donna
headed to Greenwich Village (the kids were with Mylene, in case you're
wondering) to listen to live Jazz with a friend of Graeme's. When we got back
to the hotel around midnight we were greeted by a pale-faced boy and a GIANT
puddle of vomit on our pillows and bedding. Oh the joys of parenthood! Day
two included a trip to Ground Zero and a drive to Brooklyn. The latter activity
proved to be a
really dumb idea. It took one
hour to drive half a mile across the Manhattan Bridge, another hour to drive one
mile across town, then six and a half hours to drive 230 miles back to DC. Landscaping!
Okay, this is boring topic, but not when Graeme gets hold of a chainsaw! To save a few
thousand dollars, Graeme cut down six trees and jackhammered the concrete and asphalt
patches to our dirt driveway. Amazingly he was barely injured. The
chainsaw ripped through his jeans three times, but no stitches were required!
Picture this: a total novice 20 feet in the air with a powerful chainsaw in one
hand, a tiny limb in the other, while racing to cut down trees four times
as fast as a professional. Among
the upcoming changes to our yard: lots of new trees and beds, a driveway, new enclosed
gutters, a shed, a shed for trash containers, and a sprinkler system. Follow the "exciting"
progress at http://www.littler.net/photos/2002/house/index.htm
Missed our 2001 Christmas
letter? It's now online at http://www.littler.net/christmas/2001/