Last weekend we went to a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game at the Verizon Center in DC. It was part basketball game and part comedy show, which is good because I have a hard time sitting through a regular NBA game.
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A dozen au pairs from our cluster volunteered at Holy Trinity Church in Bowie on Sunday. The church was hosting a week of the Warm Nights Homeless Shelter Program.  Our au pairs donated food and prepared bag lunches for the guests.  We also led a few games of bingo, for an after dinner activity.

We had more donations than we needed for the number of guests. The bags of extra fresh fruit, bread, cookies, water bottles , peanut butter and jelly were donated to the Bowie Interfaith Food Pantry.  So, it turned out to be a double service project.

Here are a few pictures of the lunch making assembly line…

On Friday, December 16, our cluster went to the Verizon Center for a Holiday Party followed by a Washington Wizards basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers.  Unfortunately, the Wizards lost by 40 points! We still had a great time and it was the first NBA game most of the au pairs had ever attended.  Come to think of it, it was my first NBA game too!

Rockledge Elementary had their Annual Holiday Shop on Friday, 12/9.  Au Pair in America sponsored the arts & crafts activities: providing the craft supplies as well as some volunteers to assist the children.  Three au pair volunteered: Alex from Austria, Šárka from the Czech Republic and Sabrina from Germany. The students kept us busy! One of the volunteers, Šárka said,  “I´m glad I was there, it was a nice time with the kids.”

You can see more pictures from the Holiday Shop here in the article on the Bowie Patch.

Here are a few pictures from our November Coffee Meeting. Click on the pictures to view them larger.

On Sunday, 11/6 we had a great cluster meeting at The Castle Laser Tag in Bowie, MD. It was the first time most of the au pairs had played laser tag. Before the laser tag, there were a few very competitive games of air hockey too. My au pairs surprised me with some cupcakes and a card to celebrate my birthday, which was two days earlier.

On Sunday, we had beautiful weather and a great turnout for our Annual Host Family & Au Pair Pumpkin Patch Visit.  Queen Anne Farm remains an authentic pumpkin patch where kids get the chance to pick their pumpkin right off the vine. There were also animals, a corn maze and a hayride.

Click on the pictures to view them full size in our Cluster Photobucket Album.

We had a cold, rainy day at the Bowie International Festival this year.  Even in those less than perfect conditions, all of my fabulous ladies who volunteered to help showed up.

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We had a great turnout for the September Coffee Meeting.

On Saturday,  September 17 we had an au pair soccer match on the National Mall in DC.  Our team represented Maryland and we played against a team of au pairs from Virginia.  We cheered for our team and they played hard.  I think we represented Maryland au pairs very well, even though we did not win.  Lots of people stopped, watched and took pictures.  After the soccer match, we toured the U.S. Capitol.

Click on the images to view them larger.  Click here to see even more pictures from this event in our Cluster Photobucket Album.