Barack's Stomping Ground and the Waldreps

"There was a dragon with extremely long eyelashes who lived in Washington D.C. She was vicious-looking but was very nice, and had a human friend named Lindsey who combed her eyelashes for her each day. The dragon decided she wanted more human friends and so found three triplets to befriend. All three wore beautiful wedding gowns of different colors. Lindsey also wanted a red gown so they went to a dressmaker's shop run by a lady named Emily. The dressmakers told them she would make a beautiful gown embroidered with crystals but they must go on a journey into caverns to find the gems themselves. The caverns were beneath the White House in D.C. The girls and the dragon traveled to the caverns and chipped apart rocks to find many beautiful crystals. Both Cassidy and Karli fainted and were taken by Barack to the hospital. When they returned Lindsey decided to save the United States from an financial crisis by reviving the economy with the crystals. She still got a red dress but sacrificed the glittery crystals in order to save the United States. Barack rewarded the girls and the dragon by letting them move into the White House and they all lived happily ever after." - A tale by Lindsey, Karli, Cassidy, Anslie and Emily as summarized by Lindsey

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Today I was body-slammed awake by my Uncle Lee and then kicked in the nose by his daughter Karli during a photo shoot (see visual aid above - she finds it hilarious, and so did he). Neither considered my injured back that happened while trying to lift my luggage for going abroad several days ago. Apparently I also owe money for the Waldrep hospitality but I believe Cassidy is going to take care of it for me. 

Otherwise I have no complaints. I have made my impact during this short visit - all three now have a basic knowledge of Hebrew (shalom, yalla, tova) with excellent accents. Our bedtime yoga and sunrise yoga has provided a solid foundation for their lives as future yogis and each girl has a pose that is their speciality. And someday we are all going to live in a massive tree house where each tree is a different room and all the animals in the world live in our backyard and in the trees. However, I believe Anslie would like to exclude whales and jellyfish and sting rays.

Lee says he won't read my blog if it's this long so I am fairly certain he has already quit by this point. So I can say whatever I want about him. Let's just say Bear is a more patient individual than my Uncle Lee. Besides that the Waldrep family (Maryland Division) are wonderful and giving hosts, particularly Sherry who told me the one rule is "to eat whatever you want". We met Brad and Irma for dinner in Alexandria where a cook in the kitchen sent his manager out to compliment me on the Shalom/Salaam t-shirt I got at Hazon. Another highlight was a game of "whoonuu" or whatever it's called with Lee and Emily. Nothing like learning about your relatives.