Afternoon at the Museum

This past President's Day weekend, we took the kids for a quick day trip to D.C. (It isn't that quick, but it is quick enough to do once in a while.) This time, we went to the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian. We really only saw about a third of it, but it was so much fun. When you go inside the front doors, there is a large rotunda with an elephant in the middle. You then go around to different areas off to the side. Between the rotunda and the dinosaur section, the kids were convinced everything in that museum came to life at night. Jon even asked where Larry was. If you do not understand what any of that is about, watch Night at the Museum.

Jon loved the section with dinosaurs and other early life. We all enjoyed the mammal section, and Ashley and Trent particularly liked the mineral and gem section. They have the hope diamond on display, but I missed it I am afraid. Trent saw it though. Ashley loved the new butterfly display even though we didn't have tickets for her to go inside the habitat. There is an ocean section currently under construction. We will definately have to go back for that one. Regardless of how hard I tried, I couldn't get a picture of any of the dinosaurs. The lighting was too dark. Here are a few other pictures though.

A giant prehistoric sloth. Both fascinating and bizarre.

Ashley in front of the wooly mammoth skeleton

The glare off the case is bad, but I included the walrus anyhow. Aren't walruses funny?

Check out that moose!

This reminded me a bit of my kids.

I really love the Smithsonian. It is fun to take the kids and see how excited they get by the different exhibits. They really want to go back to Air and Space. Ashley wants to see the real ruby slippers again. However, the Treasures of American History exhibit that is currently at Air and Space will be moved back to its home, the Museum of American History, when that museum is refurbished this April. What a great excuse to go back!

We tried to go to the National Archives so that I could run in quickly and see the Declaration of Independence, but it was closed. I have been to the Smithsonian 3 times now in my life and still have never been in the National Archives and seen those documents. Now, I know that I joke (mostly) that I wish National Treasure were real, but I am not going to try and steal the Declaration of Independence. Honest. I have since discovered that the Constitution is being cared for so it won't be on display until March. Therefore, I will take some consolation in knowing a later trip is likely to be more successful.

New Furniture!!

On Thursday, our new sofa and love seat were delivered. This is the first set of living room furniture we have had since we got married that was not hand-me-downs. I am grateful that we were so fortunate as to have the previous hand-me-downs. I am also so happy to have something new that we picked out.

Our last sofa and love seat (in addition to being previously owned) did not make the journey from California to Virginia well. We knew they didn't have a lot of life left in them as it was. As we put everything together, though, we figured out quickly, that we couldn't even get the legs back in the front of the sofa. Trent, the awesome boyscout that he is, came up with the telephone book idea. As a result, from Aug. 1 until Feb. 14, our sofa was standing on two legs and four telephone books. I take some weird kind of pride in that makeshift solution until we could get new furniture. It is kind of almost like MacGyver. O.k. not really.

We told the kids that there would be new rules with the new furniture. We then quickly corrected ourselves and told them that they would have the same rules but that we would be much better enforcers. If only it were that easy for our elected officials. Hmmmmm. Anyhow, I am very very happy. My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that I don't care for how much the accompanying throw pillows blend in with the upholstery on the sofa and love seat. I am thinking of finding some material I like and making new covers. If only my friend Megan were closer. She is truly creative.

Happy Valentines Day

We hope you all have a great Valentines Day.

Potomac Primaries

Today is Potomac Primary day. That consists of Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland. I feel like I have been waiting to vote for a long time even though it really hasn't been that long. My candidate got out of the race, and those candidates I would call a second choice are gone as well. Really, the candidates left are varying degrees of cringe inducing for me. I thought about what I was going to do. Virginia is an open primary, so I could vote in either party's primary. I tossed out the idea of voting/meddling in the Democratic primary, because I am unlikely to vote Democrat in November. (I haven't ruled it out though) To vote/meddle in that primary would be to make a hypocrite of myself as I have previously criticized that exact behaviour. Initially, I was just going to vote for my guy even though he is out of the race. It would be making a point of some kind I thought. Then this weekend happened, and I thought a lot about what I wanted to accomplish.

In the end, I figured anything I was going to do was going to amount to a protest vote of some kind. I chose to vote for John McCain, the remaining candidate I have the fewest gripes with. However, I didn't vote for John McCain so much as I chose to vote against Mike Huckabee. The faster he is finished with this campaign, the better for America in my opinion, and voting for McCain is the more effective way of achieving that result. Trent mentioned that I might regret this vote if Huckabee is the VP candidate for McCain. I decided that would not be the case. I would simply have the opportunity to vote in protest again in November. I probably sound bitter. Perhaps I am a bit. For now, I have voted in protest. Now I am going to indulge in some angry and sad music while completing chores. Besides, I e-mailed in my quandry and made the Corner at National Review. That's got to be worth something as far as getting my opinion out.

Hiding Places

My kids all have their favorite hiding places. Sami's favorite place to hide is in the back of the closet in her and Ashley's room behind the stuffed animal and shoe cubbies with the stack of bigger stuffed animals.

On Monday night, we were looking for her to put her in bed, and we couldn't find her anywhere. Usually if I can't find Sami at bed time, I go into the girls' room and call her name. She then answers, "I'm in here," from her hiding place in the closet. This time she didn't answer. Trent and I both looked in the closet first and then started searching the house and backyard for where she could have gone. Knowing that the closet is her favorite and that she was very sleepy, I tried the closet again. Sure enough, we had both looked right at her and missed her the first time. In her pajamas, she blends right in with the stuffed animals. Keep in mind that it was dark as well. You have the benefit of a flash in these pictures. Anyhow, she had crawled into her favorite cubby and fallen asleep. I would say that this will teach me to look more carefully in the future. If I am being honest, however, I would likely make this same mistake again. I've done it with the other two and their hiding places as well. Do all kids do this, or is it just mine?

Super Tuesday

It is Super Tuesday. This doesn't affect me as Virginia doesn't vote until next Tuesday (Feb. 12). For all of you this does affect though (all of you in California, Utah and Colorado for example) go out and vote in the primaries if you can. It doesn't matter if we don't like the same candidate or even vote for the same party. The best chance of a nationally vetted candidate is for as many Americans to vote as possible. I also don't deny that I want to be able to vote for my guy next week. For some of you that may mean putting on cross-country skis, but get out and vote.

This Weekend's Holiday

Well, it is Groundhog's Day again. This Saturday, poor Punxsutawney Phil was pulled out of his hole and among countless flashing cameras, it was determined that he saw his shadow. As a result, we will have 6 more weeks of winter.

It is no secret that I think Groundhog's Day is a joke. Now that I am a parent of children who seem to enjoy sleeping in on a school day and waking up bright and early on Saturday, I empathize more than ever with poor Phil. Here he is asleep and cozy in his ground hog home and some very rude people pull him out of his rest and force him to pose for flashing cameras and jabbering reporters. I suppose Phil at least gets to go back to bed when it is over.

Trent wants me to note that he thinks Groundhog's Day is a noble tradition and a great holiday as well as very uplifting to the soul. Whatever.