A busy couple of weeks ....

... and about to get busier.

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. Father's Day of course - which was a great weekend - myself and Tika spent Saturday at the Corcoran Gallery in DC. We had been wanting to get there for some time but every time we went there they were closed so with their Summer Saturdays program we knew we would be able to FINALLY make it there. Sunday myself, Kris and Sam went out for barbecue and then hung out and played some board games - it was a lot of fun and a great way to spend Fathers Day.

This past weekend myself and the girls headed down to the Folklife Festival on the Mall in DC. It is an annual event that highlights two or three cultures and you get to learn about all aspects of the culture from education to food to homelife. The primary culture this year was Welsh which allowed us to learn of one of the world's longest town names .... Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Try putting that on a post card.

We also made a quick stop into the National Museum of Natural History to see the new Oceans exhibit and the new Bones exhibit and then a run over to the National Gallery for the Royal Armour exhibit - which was INCREDIBLE.

We metro'd down and back, which was a challenge on the way back due to the crowds. As you can tell from the girls they were less than excited to be waiting in a crowded metro station for 20 minutes - but once we got on the train it was ok - crowded but OK.

Of course with tomorrow being Canada Day I am looking forward to getting together with some friends down at O'Sullivans in Clarendon. This will also be a special Canada Day as it will be my first Canada Day with Laura so I am looking forward to not only sharing with my friends but sharing with her as well.

Then there is moving day which is rapidly approaching. I have yet to start packing. Thankfully I am not moving far and I do have a pile of vacation time I have yet to take so that should make it easier - but It is still a process. Hopefully after the move we can get into a nice relaxing period - the occasional BBQ and relaxing weekends.

I hope everyone has a great CANADA Day and hopefully I will have some pics of it to post the end of the week :-)

.... cu

Late posting from last weekend ....

It has been a busy week so I did not get a chance to update everyone on last weekend. It was a busy weekend as well. On Saturday myself and Tika went to DC to work on her AP History project. She is working on it with two other class mates and she needed to do some video that would basically be "News story-like" on some of the top events of the 2000's. So off we went.

We started at the new Pentagon Memorial where she did a brief piece on 9/11. Neither of us had been there before so it was a nice opportunity to see the memorial itself. It was also tough in some regards as we saw the name of someone born the same year Tika was born and then realized that not only was she lost but also her Dad and step-mom. We then drove up to Arlington where we did a brief piece on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not the most cheery start of the work but it had a flow. We did have a challenge filming in Arlington as planes would take off every 60-90 seconds out of National Airport and fly overhead - but we managed.

Back in the car and across the river where we filmed a piece in front of the Federal Reserve on the financial crises of the decade, the tech-bust and the recent recession; a piece in front of the White House on the Obama election and finally off to Capitol Hill where we filmed a piece on the changing landscape in the Legislative branch.

I had a lot of fun. Tika was very professional when filming and we had a great time just talking about the different aspects of politics, things going on and school.

On Sunday myself, Kris and Sam picked up some food and headed to River Bend park for a hike down to Great Falls. It was a good day for it, not too hot and not raining for a change. The trail was a bit wet but not too bad. It was obvious from the Potomac that we have had LOTS of rain. As you can see in the pic - the water was pretty fierce.

We did get to see some wildlife. On the way down there were two beautiful deer on one of the peninsulas near the falls. They were hidden in the woods but we got a very good look at them. On the way back we saw this Salamander, or I should say Kris saw this Salamander (myself and Sam walked right by it). Kris is great on the detailed stuff. We had a great hike, got a little muddy, but it was fun and the girls did not complain too much about the few miles we hiked.

I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I will get out for a bike ride tomorrow morning down to Lake Accotink and then have a relaxing afternoon. Sunday morning will be breakfast with the girls as they have a graduation ceremony to go to in the afternoon. One of our family friends has their son graduating from High School - Congratulations Cole.

Have a GREAT weekend.

.... cu

PS Go RED WINGS!!!!!!!

Sam's Field Trip

Today was Sam's 7th grade field trip. It is an annual event at BEMS where they take the 7th grade class to the National Mall for a scavenger hunt. Of course it is an educational scavenger where they have to find the answer based on clues - like how many states were in the US when Lincoln was president (hint - count the columns on the Lincoln Memorial).

I chaperoned on the trip and it was a great time. I had 4 kids with me - Sam, Alec and Sam's friends Melika and Kayla. We were dropped off at the Smithsonian castle and headed West down the mall to answer questions about the Mall itself, the Washington Monument, the White House, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Vets Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial and then ending up at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The picture on the left, of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial was taken by Sam.

Sam did not limit herself to pictures of memorials and monuments however. She also was pretty busy taking pictures of her fiends and "SQUIRREL". Sorry, that was another UP reference. She was very good though at taking pics of memorials as well, as can be seen from the picture of the Lincoln Memorial.

The kids all did well answering the questions and the rain held off so all in all a very good day. She now has to pull together a project with her teammates which will be displayed next year at the start of school.

Next time you need a guide at the National Mall maybe Sam can help.

.... cu

Up .....

So it does also describe my mood but that is not why the title .....

This weekend we went to see the new Pixar movie Up. It was a great movie with something for everyone. It was a bit sentimental at times, lots of action and lots of comedy with memorable characters. I took Tika, Kris and Sam and Kris's friend Brie came along as well. They all enjoyed it. At many parts of the movie I caught all of them laughing hysterically. Who would think that the same kids that are eager to see "Drag me to Hell" could get so much entertainment out of a Pixar movie.

Tomorrow it is off to DC with Sam's class for a scavenger hunt on the National Mall. I am looking forward to that. Then on Saturday Tika wants to go to DC to do some filming for an art project. She is looking at the top influencers of the decade - everything from the Obama Election to the Iraq war to 9/11. It should be an interesting weekend.

So if you have not seen Up I would encourage you to do so - I know you will "SQUIRREL" enjoy it (you will get that joke once you see the movie)

...cu