Probably last blog from Washington

Great to hear from you, Jim - blogging is a challenge!!! and great to contact, Leo - no penguins at the zoo, but I did watch the "March of the Penguins" on the plane on the way over - great show.... Desley and Mark, Peter now says the birds at the zoo DO fly south for the winter (and he's sticking to that story!)
Well, we are heading for New York tomorrow. There is still NO baby. Gill is to be induced on Monday - Sunday Aust. time - but Judy's time is running out. At the moment, she and Peter are trying to organise an extension for a couple of days, which will mean a more expensive fare back but also they would have to pay more money on the trip over which Judy has already made....so it is still in the melting pot. Peter has arranged to finish work at 4.0pm next week and the kids are back to school on Monday.
Amanda has succumbed to a bad head cold. She has been invaluable with the driving and entertaining and showering the children. Ray and I have not driven and we could not have done without her. However, as Jasper, Freyja and Kobi will attest, the kids are all worn out!! She ran a boot camp 2 days ago and the kids are still recovering. There is to be a dance exhibition this evening. We have a photo of a rain dance on the back deck, and it has been raining since then.
Ray and I have had 2 return visits to the Smithsonian, but the highlight of our week was being taken to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse, which is advertised as an Australian experience. On the menu is Toowoomba Pasta, Cyclone fettucini, Prime Minister's ribs, Kookaburra wings....However, the food was not at all like Australian fare. We did have a good laugh and did let them know we were genuine Aussies.
Yesterday we had a day at the movies, after mild panic getting lost. Amanda and Nathan saw Benchwarmers, which we hear was grose. Clare, Lizzie and I saw The Wild. As a Disney film it was loud and pretty ordinary, except that the lion cub who is the star was called RYAN and the giraffe, who was the beautiful friend was BRIDGET. Hope to find an internet cafe in New York, but the photos may well stop. We are going up on the Greyhound bus - just under 5 hours. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gill and Phil and Madge, and Judy and the support team in Canberra. Much love, Mum/Granma/Pat