Savannah's Birthday Party

A little delayed, but we all had a nice time at our small family party for Savannah's birthday. \

Programming Microbits

You can buy these small circuit boards on Amazon called Microbits (about $16).  They connect to the computer and allow the kids to program the LED array, accelerometers, radio, buttons, etc. on them.  It is really powerful and educational.

Friendship Heights, DC Police

In the Friendship Heights area of DC is this statue of a police officer.  It shocked us when we drove -- it looks so realistic.  We had to see it and take a picture.

Visit to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum

Melvin and Nan just finished their Church History Mission in Salt Lake City. They started a trip in Ohio, then drove over to Pennsylvania, then to visit us on Friday and stayed with us through the weekend. We went to some places we've been before but they hadn&

Smithsonian's National Zoo - Zoolights

More lights, at the Washington DC Temple

There was a full moon, so Carson suggested that we take the picture with it as the 'star' on the top of the tree. Inside, there is a room with a bunch of nativities from around the world.

Ford's Theater

This man in period dress played the part of a constable from the night of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He was really good, he set the scene and told us how Washington DC looked back then and how things were, then went through the timeline of the night and

International Spy Museum

We have been wanting to go to the International Spy Museum for a while now, so we finally went yesterday. We didn't realize there would be such a James Bond emphasis on all the exhibits, but that IS the epitome and glorification of spying, so..... There was a

Early Christmas Tree!

We couldn't wait to get a Christmas tree, so we went to Whole Foods and were probably the first people to purchase one.

Cox Farms

We went to Cox Farms with some friends last Thursday. It's a big pumpkin patch amusement place in Centreville, VA. We met our friends at our PE class in Chantilly last year. They live in Reston, VA, and we wish we lived closer to them, cause their boys

Air and Space Museum

We try to go to one of the Smithsonian Museums every week; we went to the Air and Space on Tuesday this week. Above, we were looking at the planet/space exhibit and Carson is using a device to zoom in on the various planets. Part of the aircraft carrier

2017 Air Force Air Show

Keith has wanted to take the kids to an air show for quite a while, but the timing never quite worked out and it was always pretty expensive.  The Air Force Air Show in the DC area is free.  This year they were celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Air

carson

Anderson House, Washington, DC - HQ of the Society of the Cincinnati

The Society of the Cincinnati held a free session for the American Culture merit badge last weekend.  Keith went to drop Carson off and after seeing the amazing place and agenda, he couldn't leave. The building is a 1920's mansion -- the winter home of the

savannah

Random Events

Savannah at the grocery store yesterday: Our kids archery bow is in a storage unit, so Tucker decided to make his own bow:

carson

LDS Priesthood Meeting

Now that Carson is twelve, he can attend the LDS Priesthood meetings.  Last night, the young men in our congregation all met together at a pizza place, then went to the Washington DC LDS Temple Visitors Center to watch the broadcast.

Smithsonian Postal Museum

We went to the Smithsonian Postal Museum last week. It was in a building that used to be solely a post office, but recently they turned part of it into a museum. Old postal train car Mail transportation. Owney was the USPS mascot in the early 1900s, and he would

National Museum of the American Indian

We went to the National Museum of the American Indian. I thought it would be about Native American history and culture in North America only, but there are exhibitions on the indigenous peoples in North, Central and South America. I couldn't take any good pictures of the exhibits,

Our new place to live for 6 months

View of the backyard from upstairs. Entryway (one of the cool archways) Sunroom This house was built in the early 1920s, and has a few renovated rooms. I love the old smell throughout the house, and the old light switches, the old windows and baseboards. There are a couple of

Historic Alexandria, VA Waterfront

We wanted to go for a walk this weekend, so we drove five miles to the Historic Alexandria Waterfront.  Generally, it was a beautiful and relaxing walk.  The restaurants and shops looked delicious and inviting.   While standing by the pier, we saw a group of about 20 huge catfish and

Lexington, VA and Virginia Military Institute

On our way home, after the Natural Bridge, we stopped in Lexington for lunch. Keith wanted to see how close the Virginia Military Institute was, and it was just a few minutes away, so we drove over. Luckily, we had perfect timing, because we walked up right when the cadets

Natural Bridge, VA

On our way home, we stopped at Natural Bridge. This is a little display right before we got on the trail down to the bridge. After the picture was taken, I heard a couple of girls laughing about 'blah blah slaveowners!' That's all it's

Catawba, VA

We  went to dinner at the Homeplace restaurant in Catawba, VA, which is only about a 10 minute drive into the hills from where Dixie Caverns was. If you look closely, you'll see the flagpole with the confederate flag. Saw lots of these flags everywhere and lots of

Roanoke and Salem, VA

We have been wanting to check out Roanoke for a while now, so we finally went there this last weekend. This was a farmer's market they have downtown. We bought some raw honey from a man who lives in Catawba, VA. This is some honeycomb we tried eating;

Bethany Beach, DE

On the drive to the beach, we had to cross over water and had to go on these crazy bridges. The drive there was beautiful, as always, the countryside is full of green fields and lots of old farmhouses. In order to find parking, you have to get to the

Nationals Baseball Game

The Washington DC Library summer reading program is pretty amazing.  After eight hours of reading, they reward each child with a book of their choice, a voucher for a meal at Chipotle, and two free tickets to a Nationals baseball game.  Each of our kids completed the reading easily, leaving