Au Pair Chatter

On Sunday, along with two neighboring clusters, we tried out Monster Mini Golf in Jessup, MD.  Here are a few pictures courtesy of Tina & Teresa.

Teresa & Tatar - Winners of Lowest & Highest Scores

http://gi90.photobucket.com/groups/k241/HRK5K1A3T2/monster4-1.jpg

Teresa & Tatar - The winners of highest and lowest scores

On Saturday, May 21, we held our Annual Au Pair Awards Brunch cluster meeting.  Each au pair in attendance received an award from her host family.

Teresa from Germany, currently an au pair for a host family in Silver Spring received the Cluster Au Pair of the Year Award.

I am working on uploading pictures of everyone receiving their individual awards to our cluster Photobucket Album.

If you have pictures from the Awards Brunch to share, please email them to me.

Twenty four au pairs from our cluster participated in the DC Metro Area Au Pair in America 25th Anniversary Cultural Fair. I am in the process of gathering photos and videos that  were taken at the fair and I will post them soon.

Here is a nice photo of Mayela and her friends from Costa Rica

We went to the Ringling Brother’s Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Verizon Center on Sunday. I got a few pictures, unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of everyone who was there. If you have any nice ones to share, please send them to me.

This year instead of snow, we had rain on our White House tour day.  But, it was still a great day to get a peak inside this fantastic building. In addition to the usual sights, we were able to see one of the rooms set up for a Super Bowl Party. I thought the choice of colors (a lot of pink) seemed a bit off for the Super Bowl. Maybe they just wanted to be careful not to take sides.

Since no photos are allowed inside, here are a few nice ones from outside. Not everyone from our group is pictured. This is as many as I could gather together for a group photo, standing in the cold and rain waiting outside. Special thanks to the office of Senator Ben Cardin, for assisting with our tour request and to my son, RJ for photography assistance.

Click on any of the pictures, to see it full size in our Cluster Photobucket Album.

We had a wonderful time at the cluster meeting on Sunday! More than 20 au pairs from our cluster (and a few more friends) tried out ice skating at this new skating rink in downtown Silver Spring.  The facility was beautiful, well-maintained and the people working there provided excellent, courteous service. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try out ice skating outdoors.  Silver Spring Ice Skating at Veteran’s Plaza 

Here are a few photos:

We had a full house for our Cluster Holiday Party on Sunday, December 12.  Below is a photo of the au pairs modeling their “I Love DC” t-shirts I gave them.

 On Saturday, November 13 we joined an au pair cluster from Virginia for a Naval Academy Football game against Central Michigan.  For most of the au pairs, it was their first America football game.  I think many of them felt like I did… It was great in the beginning with the midshipmen marching on the field, the band performing and the jet flyover.  It was exciting at the end, because the game went down to the final seconds and almost went into overtime. The middle however, went on a bit long for my liking.  But, that’s football for you.

Here are a few pictures.  You can find even more in our cluster photobucket album.

It was a close game and went down to the last few seconds, but Navy won by 1 point!

I want to thank all the au pairs and host families who joined me for our Annual Pumpkin Patch Cluster Meeting at Queen Anne Farm.  We had beautiful weather and lots of pumpkins to choose from.

Update: The group photo was published in the Bowie Blade Newspaper on 10/21/2010.  Pick up your copy at the Bowie Library, Community Center or a newspaper box.

Here are some photos…

It was hard to explain exactly what the au pairs should expect at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  It is an event that you have to experience to truly understand. A bunch of au pairs, host families and friends did just that on Sunday.  It was a cloudy day with rain in the forecast.  We brought our umbrellas and took a chance.  It turned out to be a very nice day.

Thank you Liz for sharing her great photos with me.  I have some more to add later.

If you missed our visit to the Renaissance Festival, I encourage you to check it out.  It runs weekends through October 24.  Visit their website for more information.