1999 Second Half

July started once again with Christine’s 5th birthday party at Patti’s.

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Followed by Maddie’s 4th party in the Harders’ backyard in Baltimore.

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We have a discrepancy here because we also went to a summer birthday party which Barb also thought was for Maddie at the Harder’s house. I’m not so sure, but haven’t figured out whose else’s it might be or where.

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A couple of pictures from home, including one of my favorites of Allie. I’m not sure there was any particular occasion for these shots.

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We headed down to Florida at the end of July to celebrate Grandmom’s 80th birthday. Laurie and Maggie came down for the occasion. On July 31, we spent some time hanging out in the living room at the Powell Drive house.

Allie video, July 31, 1999, Florida (4:07).
Laurie, Allie and Maggie have fun in the living room at Powell Drive. Cameos from Grandpop and Barb.

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We celebrated Grandmom’s birthday properly on August 1, beginning with cards and presents.

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We had a special birthday luncheon for Mom at Roly’s, a restaurant that I guess was one of her favorites though frankly I don’t remember it at all. We had a private room, so that was nice, and a good family turnout including Len, Sue, Laurie, Maggie and Aunt Helen. This was another occasion where Allie was with Len.

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Back in Maryland, we attended another birthday party, this time for one of the daughters of Stuart and Lyn (Jamie?). They lived in Olney and the party was in a nearby park. We have lots of pictures and Allie looks like she’s best friends with Jamie, but before long we kind of lost track of the Crozier-Langbeins and hardly saw them since.

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We made a summertime trip to a waterpark with some cool play areas. I can’t remember where this is — the submarine thing is very distinctive but I can’t recall it. In any case, looks like some of us had fun.

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Proud princess time at home.

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On September 2, Cal Ripken hit his 400th home run which the Orioles commemorated by sending this letter and photo to season ticket holders. I wasn’t at that particular game nor, for example, the game in 1995 where he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak. Nevertheless, I feel privileged to have seen much of his career from 1981-2001. No one better embodied the everyday craftsmanship of a man embracing his job. I especially enjoyed watching him warm up before each game, enthusiastically tossing the ball in front of the dugout. He wasn’t exactly a role model for me — I had nowhere near his sense of dedication — but I admired a lot of what he brought to the game. After he retired, a lot of the wind went out of my Orioles sails. I’m not sure exactly what years I had 13-game season ticket plans, but it became easier to just watch the team sporadically on TV rather than venture down to Camden Yards. I’m glad, however, that I seem to have taught Allie some appreciation for the experience of attending baseball games, if not for the actual sport.

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In the fall of 1999, we shifted Allie out of daycare and enrolled her in the Love of Learning Montessori School in Columbia. Located in an office park off Route 108 just east of Route 29, it was much closer and more convenient to home, making dropoff and pickup much easier for all of us. Most often, Barb would drop her off and I would pick her up though I remember plenty of days juggling things around. The school itself was good for Allie and she made a new bunch of friends.

At some point later in 1999 or 2000, Barb was doing some shopping at Bombay Company in the Mall and paid for her purchase by check. The store clerk noticed the Paddington Court address and said that she took care of two kids on that street. It turns out they were our neighbor’s kids and the store clerk was named Adrienne. She offered her services to Barb as well and gave her contact info. After a little consideration and checking with our neighbor, we took Adrienne up on the offer. Adrienne started picking up Allie and then taking care of all three kids in the afternoon. She was terrific and a tremendous help, especially when she rescued Allie on the first day of school at Centennial Lane…as we shall see.

Soon enough, it was October and time for Allie’s 4th birthday party. Barb found an interesting place in Columbia, the Young Artists Studio that promoted acting and arts for kids. Sadly, it was shortlived but it was a good place for a party with a variety of activities and wranglers. Your cast of characters include Sara and Kristen, Maddie, Christine (no Jimmy), Dayva and Bobo, Joshie, Jamie, Kristin, DJ and several new Love of Learning friends. Besty, Pattie, Gloria, Stephanie, Bernard, Lyn, Connie and several other parents were there to help. It was a big production. Things began with a group activity on stage.

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There was a creative writing/drawing project.

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There was a kind of group mirror exercise.

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Then it was cake time, followed by pinata mayhem.

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Then finally there was a group therapy circle to discuss our feelings and sugar addictions, capped with a little solitary confinement time for the birthday girl. I may be misinterpreting some of these photos.

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We went home to open presents, along with Sara, Kristen and Christine.

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Later we had a birthday call with Grandmom and Grand Pop.

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Fred passed away in September. I must admit I’ve managed to scrub most of the details from my memory; I need to check with Barb to get the fuller story. He died in Montana from heart trouble after a quick decline. I don’t think Barb or Betsy were able to see him before he passed. Fran, who had experience in such things having buried two previous husbands, made sure his ashes were scattered in Flathead Lake.

In October, we gathered with Virginia family friends to plant a tree in honor of Fred and Louise and used the occasion as an informal memorial for Fred. Betsy organized whole thing, including the planting at Franklin Park in Purcellville, Loudoun County. I had lost track of where it was until I started working on these photos and found one of Betsy’s notes. It gave me incentive to go hunt down the tree and see how it’s doing, which we finally did in March 2021.

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Allie had a camera of her own so she took some shots and had others take shots of her.

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After the tree planting, we adjourned to a restaurant in Leesburg for tea and a little more remembering.

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After tea, we decompressed a little at Ann and Harry’s house along with the Embreys.

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Halloween scene number one at Betsy’s with Sara and Kristen.

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Halloween scene number two at home with our pumpkins.

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Halloween time number three with Dayva and Bobo.

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Halloween number four and other activities at Love of Learning.

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Right after Halloween, I headed off to Geneva, Switzerland, for a big two-week trade show. Telecom ’99. The show was so huge and Hekimian got involved so late that the only hotel rooms we could get for our six or so folks were in Annecy, France, more than an hour by bus from Geneva. Annecy turned out to be a pretty little town on a lake in the foothills of the Alps. We had a small, old hotel in the Old Town, close to lots of restaurants. The only bad thing was it had a very limited hot water supply so it was a race each morning to get a warm shower before catching our very early bus. I had more than my share of cold showers and learned to get up even earlier.

We saw very little of Geneva, but quite a lot of Annecy in the evenings. We had one young employee with us who had a French background. He helped show us around and introduced us to raclette, among other Alpine treats. We introduced him to single malt whiskey over a number of evenings in a well-stocked bar. A fair trade.

On our one day off, we rented a small van and toured Mont Blanc, Chamonix and Evian on Lake Geneva. We took the cable car up Mont Blanc and for the first time I saw hang gliders launch themselves off the icy slopes and glide all the way down to valley floor. I could have watched them all day, though I don’t think I could ever actually gather the courage to try hang gliding. It was a beautiful area all within one long day. I’d like to get back and explore that whole region at length at some point.

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Carol Blackford, who worked with Barb, had a baby. Their first child, Sara, was in daycare with Allie.

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Leaf playing time with Maddie.

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Meeting Leila’s grandbabies, Jack and Abby.

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We attended another birthday party for a girl I don’t remember. I’m not even quite sure which of these is the birthday girl. They were most likely friends from either daycare, Gymboree or Love of Learning. I do remember the dress-up party was at a place in Savage Mill, a local collection of arts, crafts and antique stores. I remember the dress-up clothes were nicer than those we’d seen in most other places, and I remember it felt more than a little odd to see Allie get dressed up as a bride. Princess was fine; bride was a little over the line. But she enjoyed it.

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We later went on an outing with friend Kristin to what also looks like Savage Mill, though maybe not the same dress up place.

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We have these photos from December 12 with a number of kids we don’t know, therefore I’m thinking this was an event at Allie’s Love of Learning class.

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December portrait time, getting it done in time for Christmas.

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Before long, it was Christmastime. Both the tree and Allie put on their finest.

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We spent Christmas Eve at Auntie Jessie’s, per tradition. This was still at her big house in Reston.

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We spent Boxing Day at Patti’s, also per tradition.

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Seasons greetings from the Embreys.

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Ditto from Bill and Hillary. This was our last card from them. Fair weather friends.

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