For Christmas 2002, I got myself one of them newfangled digital cameras, so 2003 marks our first year of mostly digital photos, with timestamps that help me place when each shot was taken. Lucky you!
Barb, Allie and I started the year (actually the end of 2002) in Florida with Grandma and Grandpop at their condo home in Singer Island. We had fun watching Grandpop and Allie feed the fish off the dock, using the kitchen scraps that Grandpop assiduously saved up for Allie’s visits. He spent years periodically dumping concrete blocks and other odds and ends to create a little reef for his buddies, then he kept them coming back by feeding them dinner scraps pretty regularly. They were the closest things to pets he had since Sam in Hong Kong.
We stayed at Singer Island for just New Year’s Eve and part of New Year’s Day, then we drove up to Orlando for a couple of days at Disney World. We spent the night at one of the Disney hotels (not sure which one…over by the Key West area, I think) so we had early admission to the Magic Kingdom on January 2. We had been at Disney World for a week back in February of 2000, so we knew pretty much what we wanted to do. We were veterans.
When the doors of the Magic Kingdom opened at 8:00am we scooted straight over to Space Mountain and were on the first train (photo at 8:03am!). I think this was Allie’s first time on that coaster; she was too short before. She survived but I think we only did the ride one time…maybe twice. From there we headed to the The Mad Tea Party, Barb’s favorite teacup ride.
On Space Mountain, first train 
Hi from the teacups
From the teacups we headed to Allie’s favorite ride, Splash Mountain. We went on it again and again and again until the crowds built up and the lines got long. Then we stopped for some photos.
Having done the important rides we wanted to do and with the New Years crowds starting to build, we slowed down a bit for the rest of the day. We caught one of the Main Street parades at noon, then spent the afternoon a little more low-key exploring Mickey’s Toontown Fair. Allie always felt at home at Minnie’s house.
Hanging out at Minnie’s house
In the evening, we went over to Epcot to see the Illuminations light and fireworks show. First we stopped by Allie’s “Leave a Legacy” etching of her face. I’m sorry I didn’t take a better picture…find the etching yourself someday at East-4-C-14-11-35, if you wish. Then we watched the fireworks and I attempted a couple of selfies. I’m sorry those were not better pictures, either.
Allie’s pointing to her Leave a Legacy face 
Working on the flash… 
New camera, first selfies 
The next day we spent the morning at the Animal Kingdom. I’m pretty sure we did the Kali River Rapids (“You WILL get wet. YOU MAY GET SOAKED”) but the main photos I have are from The Boneyard. We also took in one of the bird shows. Allie was especially proud to have won the stuffed dinosaur at one of the arcades. She wanted to play all of the arcade games but I wasn’t willing to shell out extra dollars so I made her choose one game. She chose an squirter horse race and I’m pretty sure she and I were the only contestants. She managed to win and got to pick out her prize. The dino doll remains a favorite.
One of my favorite Allie pictures
When we got home, we received the following note and photos from Mom. I think for posterity’s sake I should try to transcribe Mom’s scrawl.
Jan. 19
Dear Bill, Barb, Allie,
We enjoyed our call to Barb and Allie and hope you don’t get snowed in. Dad managed to leave on a trip at the right time too, Bill. This is a long one!I am enclosing some photos of Sue’s house, and her pretty girls. This was the Christmas Eve party at their house.
Mary Pruitt called today. She lived in Orlando but is moving to Stuart. We went to Tori’s wedding several years ago in Stuart. She and her husband have adopted 3 foster children. Mary wants us to come up soon and stay overnight – what a surprise!
Tomorrow we are going to lunch with Schroths (from HK) in Stuart. The man who built our house is their neighbor. The Pendergasts (played tennis) from HK live there too – so we are all going. Never dull!
Dad is really enjoying his computer – I shall work into it yet!
Love from us both,
Mom, Mrs. Duncan, Gramma
I don’t know what trip I was on. I do remember the Pruitts, our neighbors from South Miami. Their daughter Tori shamed me into getting my head wet when swimming. The Schroths were friends from Hong Kong. They had two sons, Scott and (Paul?), who went to school with me. I barely remember the Pendergasts. All in all, one gets the impression that things were really happening up the road in Stuart (35 miles north of Riviera Beach). Mom never did “work into” the computer, btw.
Here are the photos Mom included with her note.
Sue’s house in Gainesville, with Mom in front 
Jill, Sue, Keri and Susanna at Christmas Eve
We have a couple of undated shots of Mom, Keri and Jon at Mom and Dad’s condo in Sugar Sands. I’m not sure if they were from the same time but why not include them here?
In the category of mystery pictures, I’m not sure when these happened, but we have these various shots in our 2003 box so I figured I’d tuck them in here. It looks like at some point David flew Maggie up to West Palm Beach to see Mom and Dad while Keri and Jon were also there. It appears David took some other pictures of Maggie, including at a mystery shore, and Maggie visited Mom and Dad at their condo in Riviera Beach. I’d appreciate any help filling in the details.
Meanwhile, back in Maryland on January 31, Allie comforted Harry after he’d been to the vet to get neutered.
That same day, I showed Allie “Singing in the Rain” for the first time and she couldn’t help but dance along. Gene Kelly has that effect on some people.
We celebrated Chinese New Year with another parade in Washington DC’s Chinatown on February 9.
We took advantage of the Presidents Day holiday to go back to Colorado for a week to see the Embreys and get in some more skiing. On Sunday, February 16 we visited a museum near Highlands Ranch before the girls bedded down at Betsy’s.
We (was it just the three of us?) returned to Copper Mountain for some skiing. We were all a little better at it this time…sort of.
Our snow bunny
The next day was snowy which made it hard to ski but was good for some tubing, the first time we tried that activity. Tubing was a lot easier than skiing but did involve lugging a tube around which was easier for some than others.
Back at Betsy’s for one last night and some family photos.
Two cute girls! 
Odd girl out 
Three cute girls!
Joe in his office 
The Embrey Family 
Four cute girls! 
Quien es mas macho? 
Five cute girls! 
For Spring Break in April, we ventured on our first international trip with Allie, jetting off to Denmark to see Copenhagen and Legoland. See separate post for more details.
Two little mermaids 
Barb’s crocus ideal 
Hanging out in Copenhagen 
Legoland! 
Allie’s first drive
We returned home in time for Easter and springtime pictures for grandmom.
We got Allie a bike for her 7th birthday back in October which she rode around with training wheels for the fall and spring. At the end of April she felt ready to take her training wheels off. Here she is on her first day on two wheels. Freedom!
I burned another CD, Allie’s Now 7-1/2.
In the home improvement department, Barb found a guy that installed a new slate walkway to our front door, replacing the plain concrete one. We held a little opening ceremony on April 29.
At some point, possibly for our 20th anniversary which was May 7, Barb and I went to the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michael’s, Maryland. At least we snagged this postcard from there and it’s in our 2003 box. I know we stayed there two or three times over the years. This was a nice inn that always seemed like it should be better. We liked it but never felt it was quite as nice as the people there seemed to think it was. Then again, we had been spoiled by the Inn at Little Washington where we had reservations for the end of the month.
I’m not sure of the exact date I resigned from Spirent but it must have been by May 2003 for we started to take even more trips including little Dad-and-daughter day trips. On Sunday, May 11, Allie and I took a road trip to Dinosaurland in White Post, Virginia and nearby Skyline Caverns. The kitschy Dinosaurland was a throwback 1960s roadside tourist trap. I hadn’t been before but had read about it. Allie and I had a fun time exploring the nearly empty park, taking pre-Instagram photos with the menagerie of concrete animals. Goodness knows how the park has stayed in business all these years, but it was still there in 2019 when we happened to drive by.
Find Faye Wray
Skyline Caverns was another roadside attraction a few miles away. We took the cavern tour which was OK. Spelunking has never been all that fascinating for me. I get a little creeped out being underground.
Working on our smile 
Yes, Dad, we’re having fun if you say so
Skyline Caverns included a little train ride where we were the only passengers. I think the train was more fun than the cavern.
Spring pictures of Sara and Kristen, courtesy of Betsy.
Allie wrapped up second grade at Centennial Lane. Here are a couple of documents to show for it, including a May 13 thank you for participating in a Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser and her 3rd quarter report cards. The previous year, Barb eventually developed a good relationship with Allie’s first grade teacher, Mr. San Giovanni. The same approach didn’t work with Allie’s second grade teacher, Ms. Berndt. Barb became increasingly concerned that Allie was being overlooked and ignored in class. We took our concerns to the Centennial Lane principal who in effect told us, “If you don’t like it, you can leave.” So that’s what we did. We investigated private schools in the area, thought for a minute about sending her to McDonogh or maybe Friends in Baltimore but decided to enroll Allie in Glenelg Country School, Howard County’s top (and prettiest) private school for third grade.
Ms. Berndt’s stock rose a little by the end of the year when she produced this nice book of poems and illustrations from each member of the class, including Allie.
Aunt Leona sent us this picture from May 21 at the Enchantment Resort in Arizona with a friend. I can’t say I know why. I guess she had an extra copy.
On May 26, a Monday, Allie and I took a little road trip to the Maryland side of Great Falls Park to see the mighty Potomac rushing over the rocks. We also hiked a bit of the Billy Goat Trail and wandered along the C&O Canal Towpath.
We also stopped in at Clara Barton’s house in Glen Echo, Maryland. I’d seen signs for it every time we traveled on the Beltway across the American Legion Bridge into Virginia but I’d never been there. Nor did I know much about Clara Barton other than she was a famous nurse. I didn’t realize she was a founder of the American Red Cross, nor was I familiar with her work for suffrage, civil rights and other humanitarian efforts. It was an illuminating little trip and we got some nice shots outside.
For the proper celebration of our 20th anniversary and my retirement from Spirent, Barb, Allie and I headed down to the Inn at Little Washington on May 31. It was Allie’s first time there. We reserved the two-level suite in the main building where Barb and I had stayed for our 10th anniversary.
We checked into the room and settled in for a while. Allie seemed to appreciate how special this place was.
We toured the grounds and had afternoon tea in the courtyard.
This garden is now a much more elaborate English garden 
The house in back was the home of Chef O’Connell. Now it’s part of the Inn. 
Deciding on tea
The suite had a little balcony with a view of the Shenandoah mountains. I loved sitting on it 10 years before. This time I lingered out there with a gin and tonic enjoying the approach of sunset.
We’d decided ahead of time that Allie was not really ready for the full fancy (and expensive) dinner so we arranged room service mac and cheese for her, along with a babysitter from the hotel. The mac and cheese turned out to be a gourmet version with a lovely plate of fruit. Between the cost of the mac and cheese and the babysitter we may as well have brought her down to dinner. But Allie had a great time and so did we, so everything worked out all around.
The next morning…
We enjoyed breakfast and got a tour of the kitchen. Allie would have to wait a few more years before coming back for the full dinner.
Allie meets the cheese cart cow 
Allie’s lacrosse career continued for the second season, this time with a Howard County rec league team. They usually met outside on the fields at Bushy Park Elementary School but for at least one weekend on June 14 they had games indoors at a facility in Laurel. The team was coached by Mr. Stukenberg and featured his daughter, Zoe. I’m not sure if it was his coaching or her natural abilities, but Zoe was a star even at age 8. Her skills were head and shoulders above any of the other kids on the team or in the league, for that matter. At every game, the cry repeatedly rose from all the parents on the sidelines, “Throw it to Zoe!!” Zoe went on to star at Marriotts Ridge High School and the University of Maryland where she led the Terps to a national championship and won the Tewaarton Award as best player in the nation (here’s another article). If I’d realized all that would happen, I would have gotten some photos of Zoe on offense. Instead, I focused on Allie on defense.
Proof of Participation!
Jumping off the timeline a little but staying on the lacrosse theme, the team got together for an end of season pool party on July 16 at Cattail Creek. Coach Stukenberg is the Dad on the right in the salmon shirt, Zoe is in the blue bathing suit on the far right, flexing. Allie is the happy one in the middle of the front row, in case you couldn’t tell.
Getting back to the timeline, June 15 was official photo day for Allie’s dance troupe. She was getting more seriously involved and committed to dance, participating in two classes: Ballet and Jazz. The Jazz squad did a cute version of “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from the Lilo & Stitch movie, which they would reprise again with greater results the following year.
I can’t remember the specific dance they did with her Ballet class, but it was a fancy outfit. These were candid photos that we were allowed to take while the professional photographers got their act together.
Weird effect on the eyes. Official photos are better.
The professional shots were better. I’ve included a separate, non-dance portrait done around the same time.
Allie and I went back to Orioles Park for Kids Run the Bases day on June 19. The Dugout Club added various attractions to keep kids from getting bored with the actual baseball game. The bouncy bird house was a hit with Allie. And, of course, Camden Yard ballpark hot dogs (from Esskay) were always the best.
We went with a group of other kids whom I honestly don’t remember. Sorry, kids. First, some shots during the game.
Running the bases.
Betsy sent photos of the very nice gazebo Joe built in the backyard of their house in Colorado.
…along with shots from Kristen’s confirmation ceremony (maybe? I’m such a good godfather).
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