Virginia Beach 2009

Dancing with the Stars

Scots on the Rocks

Scottish Terrier Tail

We decided to go down to Virginia Beach for their annual Neptune Festival this past fall. They had amazing sand sculptures. Some of the contestants came from all over the World. Tonio and I each had our favorites. Tonio liked the "Dancing with the Stars" sculpture. It was a creative twist. The detail of the sun was amazing. I loved the "Scots on the Rocks" sculpture. I loved the face of the old Scot in front who was giving a wink. The sculpture was complete with a bagpiper and a caber tosser. The little Scottish Terrier's tail looked like it was wagging.

Seattle - Vancouver 2010 Saga

We know this post in not in chronological order but who cares? The most important records are not in chronological order, like the Bible.

Our Seattle adventure began early at 4:30 AM on Saturday, January 16 in order to be at the DCA airport at 5:00 AM ready for our 6:00 AM flight. The plan: get to Seattle at 11:00 AM, drive to Vancouver, have a great weekend with Antonio's friend, Jose, and come back to Seattle on Sunday night so that Katrina would fly back to DC on Monday while Tonio would stay in Seattle during two weeks for work. Alas, our weekend did not go as planned. Behold our timeline of doom:

• 5:30 AM. We were told that our flight would be delayed for 30 minutes due to heavy fog in Kansas City, MO (our connecting city) [repeat this instance 5 more times];
  
• 10:00 AM. Still at the airport, we finished watching the movie we brought for our flight ("500 Days of Summer");
• 11:30 AM. We finally got clear to take off towards Kansas City, MO;
• 12:30 PM. Midway to Kansas City, we are diverted to Indianapolis, Indiana due to an increase of fog in Kansas City;
• 3:30 PM. We boarded another flight for Denver in order to make our connection to Seattle;
• 4:30 PM. The plane's door is damaged upon trying to close it. We had to get off the plane.
• 8:00 PM. The door problem is fixed, we board the plane towards Denver;
• 10:00 PM. We arrived to Denver, we are told that no more flights are available to Seattle. We are given vouchers to stay the Marriott, breakfast ($5.00 each) and a $200 flight voucher.
• 7:00 AM (January 17) we returned to the Denver airport to board our flight to Seattle
• 10:00 AM. We finally arrived to Seattle. Yeah!

For obvious reasons, we decided to change our plans and stay in Seattle. We actually had a great day going to the market and the Aquarium. Katrina could not get enough of the Sea Otters (she looked at them for about 30 minutes). We had a great dinner at Elliot's on Alaskan Way.

Seattle Aquarium

Under the Sea!

Sea Otters

Monday, Katrina flew back to DC. Upon arrival to the airport, she faced a similar delay situation with her connecting flight in Kansas City, MO. As soon as Katrina was told that there would be a delay due to fog, she stood up and requested a flight change. She was told that because the delay was due to weather conditions, they could not change her flight. At that moment Katrina grabbed the worked by the neck with one hand and lift her about one foot from the ground. Using a deep, terrifying voice she said "Weather does not concern me. You will get me in a new flight or die!". She was put immediately in a direct flight in Alaska airlines that arrived an hour earlier.

Meanwhile, Tonio spent the next two weeks working in Seattle. During the weekend he visited the Seattle temple and made his way to Vancouver. While in Vancouver Tonio stayed with his old high school friend, Jose and his family. They took Tonio to downtown Vancouver to see how the city was decked out in preparation for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

On Sunday, Tonio prepared for his friends a batch of Katrina's Killer Waffles for breakfast, alas, they were not super killers. In order to compensate for his lack of waffle-making skills, Tonio made a Tres Leches Cake for dinner. Dinner took place at the house of Jose's old friends. His friends are a Vancouver family that hosted Jose and his wife when they first arrived to Vancouver. Tonio and his friends had a great time. It was like Thanksgiving all over again. What a great trip!

Downtown Vancouver with Jose and Rosalinda

Olympic Clock

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's like Hoth out here!

One would think that living in Alexandria, Virginia you wouldn't need to stock up on snow pants, gloves, and shovels. However, we are having Snowmageddon!!! Tonio was scheduled to fly to Seattle for business but that is hard to do when they close the airport. Katrina has eight snow days to date. This gives us an excuse to finally catch up with the World and create a blog.