Sam Cummins' Bar Mitzvah was on the horizon, so we drove to Maryland in the rain and when we awoke and Ben got dressed we saw the remains of dinner on the table so we took the elevator down to the breakfast spread where we skipped the eggs and pears but had some juice and bananas if not apples and these were our plates before we began the drive to Bethesda where we left the car at this meter and gathered our stuff to leave the lot via this door overlooking the air rights center on the street below and took the infinite escalator into the station and as we waited for the train we recorded out location until we emerged in Georgetown as Suzanne called Audrey so that we could walk past this statue in the park and make our way to the Westin Grand where we saw Joel Cara and Suzanne and Audrey chatted over the chess game before I had to leave my camera so that we could see where George lives (and miss out on literally thousands of pictures).

When I was reunited with my camera, Audrey Alan and the boys in their odd posture led the way to the restaurant where this was my sangria martini as sangria bread and more sangria kept Audrey and Cara Alan Suzanne me and Ben and Joel going as the appetizers came

along with drinks and paella with serving implements that enabled us to dig into the paella as the other portions were served and this group photo (in bad light) was taken by the waitress before we finished our meal as Ben slept on Joel's shoulder and headed back to the hotel where Harry greeted us.

The next morning was the Bar Mitzvah itself which we were unable to record on film but back at the hotel as we looked down on things, Suzanne and Ben posed at the elevator as Harry and Carol's Uncle emerged and in the lobby below Joel Joel, Alan and Cara and the Alan and Joel and Alan and Cara gathered as we waited for Audrey's elevator so that we could take the infinite elevator down to the station where everyone watched as Alan negotiated the ticket machine and Ben posed by the map as Joel, Audrey and Suzanne then Joel, Audrey, Suzanne and Ben then Joel, Cara, Audrey, Suzanne and Ben posed but then the group broke up and all reassambled -- Ben, Suzanne, Alan, Audrey, Cara and Joel before I posed alone and then with Suzanne, Ben and Joel as we entered the metro station took a shoe picture and then this picture of Joel and Alan and this self portrait of me and Ben before we rode the escalator up and saw the sign for the zoo which had statuary even as we followed the signage but once at the zoo we saw the lion and then Joel, Ben and Cara posed in the zoo sign before we went in and found other places where they could imitate as we learned about cooking with dung checked out the cheetah and the animal that was on vacation before catching more cheetah pictures

and then watching sleeping seals and other animals before learning about bamboo and launching into an orgy of panda pictures

and then Ben took even more panda pictures

before Ben compared his growth to bamboo growth and as we watched Joel focus his camera

we took this movie and then went back to the focusing effort before taking more panda pictures

and then they all left so Ben sat on this rock and we looked at these before checking out the web site with streaming video of the pandas and the tale of the lost giraffe as we headed to the big animals and saw hippo and elephants which Suzanne and Ben watched as the hippo went out of focus and then there was the hippo again before we headed off to new animals and the exam room fit for an elephant before checking out the ostrich and zebra and then with a few distant shots and a tapir we checked out the leopards

before leaving the zoo and seeing the sculpture in front which Ben and Joel climbed

before we headed to the metro where Joel and Ben Audrey and Suzanne Ben and Suzanne Suzanne, Ben, Joel and Cara Suzanne, Ben, Joel and Cara (in another order) and Suzanne and I posed after which we took the shoe picture and I headed off to my bed for a rest before the main event.

When we entered, Suzanne and Harry posed along with some of the appetizers and drinks and I tried to capture the blink of my tie tacks without success before Suzanne and Audrey and Joel and Ben posed and we saw Ben's head and Joel and then Joel, Sam and Ben and Ben, Joel, Sam and a girl and then the girl posed with Joel and a boy and then I was back with Audrey and Alan as Ben Cummins posed as this woman took his picture and then Emma Cummins posed for some pictures before doing her dance and then Arnold Cummins and his wife posed and then we were seated and Carol Alter came and sat with Audrey and then Sam greeted the couple who had grown up in Poughkeepsie with Alan and Carol posed with Audrey and the woman from Montreal and then with the woman from Montreal and they were joined by the daughter from Motnreal when the food came and I put on a mask and then Alan put on a mask and we admired the movie gregors (it being Purim and all) which led to the Purim play which Ben watched and all of this led to a period when I forgot to flash and so the pictures are dark

before Ben and Joel emerged and entered the coke and pepsi contest as the kids gathered and Ben and Joel and then the gang and then Ben and Joel gathered

before Ben posed for a few as did Joel and Alan and his boyhood acquaintance posed before Suzanne was excited about dessert and so did this dance before the Straus family made music as Suzanne Suzanne and Alan Suzanne, Alan and Audrey waited for Ben and Joel to do various Blues Brother imitations

which amused this woman and then Ben and Joel posed and Cara came to sit with Alan and we made our way out and through the streets of Bethesda back to the hotel where Cara and Suzanne posed

Next morning, we looked down on brunch where we saw Sam and his uncle and then as Cara and Alan made their way down we sat with these relatives from NYC as Arnold and one of the twins ate as did Alan and Cara and Ben and Joel who had this plate as Sam joined us for bagels and cream cheese advertised by Joel as Joel and Sam posed and Suzanne conversed across the room with Samantha's mom and the bagels got spread so that Joel could eat and we could enjoy fruit The boys played in the elevator chute as Alan and his friend chatted Suzanne held Arnold's baby and I took pictures of the three musketeers -- Ben, Joel, and Sam

as Suzanne, Arnold and baby posed as Audrey discussed with Suzanne and then explained to Alan the plan for later so that once we passed the double baby carriage we found ourselves down the road 2 hours and at Franklin Mills which has vastness and a cleaning crew in the men's room before Ben's drink and my salad came and then Cara Joel and Alan arrived for the entertainment by James Moore, Jr. who made this movie for us and then our food came and we left Suzanne and Audrey to do their damage in the mall as we headed home.

Later that week, Eve Tominey came to our staff meeting and then I had lunch with Yaskuo Makino, Pat Gibney, Dottie Pearson, Karin Trainer, Lin Ferrand, Julie Arnheim, Stephen Fergueson and Mary George from the library.