Yesterday we bought nice picture frames for the long wall in our living room. They will arrive in a few days and we are picking out photographs to put in them, a fun project.

Last weekend I borrowed two books about the history of Arlington and we enjoyed watching those old pictures as well. Perhaps we'll put a few small frames in the basement with pictures of our immediate neighborhood. The picture that you see here is (apparently) from 1923, when Mr. Lyon was scouting out his land to build houses on. This is now Lyon Village.

Our own house is built on what used to be the Hayes Farm until our houses were built in the mid-1960's. I haven't been able to find a picture of that farm yet -- that would be a great find.

This weekend a new box with Duplo arrived.

Being a father is a wonderful excuse to play with Duplo again.

Today I scanned many of our older photographs.

It was a lot of fun going through these old pictures and it's great to have them digitally now.

This weekend the weather was very nice and we went to the park. There were a lot of "big" girls with scooters and Nora was looking at them with interest. She had read about scooters in her books, in particular in Jip & Janneke.

Sunday evening we bought her a helmet and a beginner's scooter and we tried it out for the first time yesterday,

She's still learning that she will have to move her leg before the scooter moves, but she enjoyed practicing.

Jim Hash, a friendly face in the neighborhood, passed away last week.

We met him when we lived near his house on Custis Street two years ago, and we always stopped for a chat. He loved seeing Nora and always smiled at her. When he learned we were looking for a house, he tried to help us.

It is sad to hear about his passing.

Guus: "Is Nora Bulgaars?"
Nora giggles.
Guus: "Is Nora Nederlands?"
Nora giggles again.
Nora: "Nora is panda!"

I was making hutspot, and part of the recipe is to mash ingredients together ("stampen").
Nora: "Net als mevrouw Helderder!"
Guus: "Mevrouw Helderder?"
Nora: "Oh!"
And then it dawned on me: Mevrouw Helderder always stamps on the floor (also "stampen").

We celebrated Sasha's birthday the three of us at home, and had our parents on through Skype.

We had a small cake with candles and in the evening we went out for dinner. We ordered a plate for Nora separately, for the first time.

Nora turned two yesterday and we celebrated it in Secaucus. It was a great day, and Nora had a lot of fun.

Ilana had made a nice crown for Nora and there were balloons. And a cake, that Nora was looking forward to very much -- "happie?"

She received many presents, cards and phone calls which made it a special day. When she went to bed she wanted to take her new Playmobil airplane with her.

We are in Secaucus and there's a large amount of snow on the ground.

We went sleighing and Julian took Nora with him on the sled.

The website Greater Greater Washington.org asked for pictures of so-called "sneckdowns". Those are photo's that show where cars don't use space on an intersection. Space that could be used for pedestrians to make it safer and easier to cross the road.

10th St N and Fairfax

I went to the intersection of 10th St N and Fairfax Road, close to our house. With the planned redo of the Clarendon Circle, more traffic is expected here. Crossing from the George Mason University campus to the other side of Fairfax (or 10th St N) is not easy for pedestrians. The light across Fairfax, six lanes, is only 10 seconds (!).

The first photo shows there is place for a very large pedestrian refuge which will make crossing 10th St much easier. The second picture shows that in the median of Fairfax there is room for a large pedestrian refuge also -- making it safe to cross Fairfax in two stages.

Kirkwood and 13th St

Thanks to careful traffic calming over the past decades, Kirkwood is only a two-lane road, instead of the 4-lane road it easily could have been. Crossing is not always easy though, especially during rush hour or late at night. The cut through the median where Kirkwood and 13th St meet is much wider than is needed (and there is no sidewalk). This photo shows that cars really don't need so much space there.