A great weekend

I finally got to relax after a long week last week - and it was needed.

Saturday Laura had planned a kayaking trip but with the weather a bit cool and the wind from the north making it a bit cooler we decided to take advantage of Free Museum Day and head to DC. The plan was to visit Hillwood Estates or the Newseum. Well neither worked out as both were jammed but for us that was not a bad thing as it meant we had an opportunity to head to the National Gallery.

We both love the galleries in DC and the National is one of our favourites. The National Gallery was one of our first dates so going back there is always a nice reminder, especially when we head back there in the fall.

They had a George Bellows exhibit there which was great to see. It is interesting to see over the years he painted and drew the changes in his work. The harsh brushstrokes, heavy paint use and the darkness of most of his early work that then contrasts against some of his later works which are softer in execution even though the topic is still strong. We caught one other exhibit before heading to the Hirshhorn to see the sculpture exhibit of the creatures of the Chinese zodiac. Hirshhorn is one of those galleries that does not get the attention it deserves but that is ok by me as it usually means smaller crowds.

Sunday, after a great run, myself and Sam grabbed some food at our favourite mediterranean restaurant, Zeitoon, and then headed to see "The Perks of being a Wallflower". This was a great movie. It is playing in less than a handfull of theaters in the area but worth finding one that is showing it. After the movie we stopped by the College Fair that was at Sam's High School. She has another year to keep thinking about what she wants to do but she wanted to go by and see if anything jumped out at her.

It was a great weekend - nice and relaxing and, for a change, quiet :-)

A Great Weekend

Yes it was a bit cooler than we are used to during July in and around DC, and yes it was a bit wet at times but for me it was a great weekend.


Saturday I got to spend the whole day with my beautiful wife. A relaxing
coffee in the morning, a nice lunch, an afternoon at the Torpedo Factory catching up with a couple of our favorite artists, Laura Edwards and Matthew Johnston followed by a nice relaxing supper at home and an evening watching Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The day was relaxing, no stress and no running around. I got to spend the entire day with the person that makes me smile every day - how much better can it get.

Sunday i went out for a nice run - it was a bit cooler and just occasionally misty - so 7-1/2 miles from Brambleton through Broadlands was great. After i got back and had breakfast and coffee I packed up all the kayaks and took Kris and Sammy kayaking at the reservoir. This was Kris's first time but she did great. We had grabbed some sandwiches beforehand and paddled across the reservoir and had lunch there. On the way we saw herons, turtles and even a loon. The girls were both a bit sweaty afterwards which was also good - I like that they get exercise when they do not think they are :-)



After kayaking Laura and I took Kris to get some things for college. The usual stuff that she will need in her dorm but Kris always appreciates when we do things like that for her. After dropping the girls off Laura made me a great carb loaded supper and we watched the end of the Tour de France (now we are all excited about the start of the Olympics this week).

So as you can see - a great weekend and after that I have no issue in looking forward to a bust week at work.


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Some pics ....

I promised some pics from Christmas ... so you will find two new albums up on our Picasa site

One from Christmas and one with some of Tika's art.

Let us know if you enjoy them

More Art

Last year when we were in Dundee on our honeymoon Laura saw a beautiful painting that she immediately fell in love with. We both love art and since this was something that caught her eye right away I had to buy it for her. We had it shipped back to Virginia and it came a few weeks later.

Almost a year later I decided that this painting, that Laura so loved, needed to be somewhere other than the original packing so I took it to a local framer who Laura has used before for wedding photos. The framer loved the piece as well and we worked together to find the perfect combination of frame and mat. I wanted to float it since it has rough edges and is on this wonderfully heavy material. Well it is a big piece and it took longer to frame than I thought so it turned into a late anniversary present. It is now hanging in our bedroom - right where Laura wanted it.