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 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.
A few brave au pairs showed up for the baseball game last night. We had rain off and on all day. So, we were really lucky that we had no rain at all last night for the game. It was not the most action packed baseball game, but they can all say they have been to an American baseball game. I have the pictures to prove it. The fireworks were a nice way to end the evening. Click on any of the photos to view them full size in our Cluster Photobucket album.
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
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.
