Here is a video of our recent Belly Dance Class Cluster Meeting with Lara Adrienne at the Dance Exchange in Takoma Park.

#5 – Sandra from Spain

The Winning Photo

Over 6,000 votes were cast in this Photo/Video Contest!  I want to thank everyone who submitted photos and all of those who voted.

Sandra has won a free ticket for our ski trip coming up on March 7.

I am putting together a video from all the photos and videos taken at the cultural fair. Look for that to be posted later in the week.

Below you will see some of the photos and videos taken by au pairs who participated in our Cultural Fair on 1/23/10.  Please view all the photos and video and vote for the one that you think best represents our motto, “We Bring the World Together.” You vote by clicking THIS LINK and selecting your choice.  Voting ends on February 8 at 9 am EST.

You may vote as many times as you would like and share it with friends via email, Facebook, etc. to get lots of votes.  Good luck!

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I have heard it is not an easy road to get to the White House, but I always thought that meant to be elected president.  On Saturday, it was a difficult trip for us just to get to the White House for our tour.

Since White House tours are not easy to come by, we could not let a little thing like 6 inches of snow stop us.  Over 70 au pairs from two clusters braved the snow and had their chance to catch a glimpse of some of the famous rooms inside the White House.  And I caught a glimpse of the president’s car leaving for the Georgetown basketball game.

Here are some photos of that day.

A closer view.

How is that fountain still working at 20 degrees?

A few au pairs warming up in the White House Visitor Center after the tour.

A snowy view of the Washington Monument.

Washington Monument

Here is a montage created with all the photos my wonderful au pairs sent me.  I left my camera in our suite at the hotel when we visited ICE, so I didn’t have any pictures.  My au pairs helped me out and sent me a whole lot of nice pictures to post here.  Enjoy!

You can find most of these photos on our Cluster Photobucket Album.

Please vote in our Holiday Cluster Meeting Photo Contest.

We had a wonderful time at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor.  Below are some photos taken by au pairs in our cluster at the hotel and ICE!  Please take a look at the photos and vote for your favorite.  Voting is super easy, just click on your favorite photo, select it’s number from the list and submit.

Vote early, vote often and send your friends this link to get more votes.  Winner will be announced on December 21.

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Yesterday, we had a cluster meeting where au pairs gave their time to prepare sandwiches for the homeless.  We were joined by a few moms and cub scouts from Pack 403.  Thank you to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for allowing us to use the parish hall.  Together, we were able to make almost 600 sandwiches!!! These sandwiches are going to the DC Central Kitchen to feed homeless people in Washington, DC.

I want to thank everyone who showed up, brought bread, made sandwiches and helped us surpass my initial goal of 400 sandwiches.

Here are a few photos.

First two au pairs to arrive getting right to work.

Sandwich assembly line

Having fun making sandwiches

Many hands make light work.

Striking a fun pose after all that hard work.

Group Photo with our Finished Sandwiches

At least once per year, we have a cluster meeting that is a service project.  Some of our past volunteer/community service events include:

• DC Help the Homeless Walk
• Bowie International Festival
• Preparing lunches for Habitat for Humanity
• Donating items to children affected by Hurricane Katrina
• Working at Silver Diner to raise money for Tsunami Relief
• Wrapping gifts for needy children

We had great weather for our Annual Host Family & Au Pair Pumpkin Patch Trip.  It was a beautiful fall day and no rain!  About a dozen host families and their au pairs turned out.  I had a hard time getting all of the au pairs in the same place at the same time for a complete group photo.  Here is a nice photo, with most of the au pairs who came.

Au Pairs at the Pumpkin Patch

We went to Queen Anne Farm in Mitchellville, MD.

I just posted a video from our Red Cross Class at Sojourner Douglass College Au Pair Weekend Course back in August.  The class was paid for by Au Pair in America’s Red Cross Scholarship Program.  It is part of Au Pair in America’s ongoing commitment to provide reliable, well prepared child care providers.  This is also a benefit for au pairs to have the Red Cross certification when they return to their home country.

If you want to see and copy any of the actual photos, they are available in our Cluster Photobucket Album.

Here is another video that has been a long time in the making. This is a video of au pairs participating in our Central & Southern Maryland Cultural Fair on February 7, 2009.