Washington D.C.

During my week of vacation, we drove down and met my parents in Washington, D.C., to do a little sightseeing. Completely unplanned it happened to be Memorial Day weekend so we ended up getting to see some things that aren't normally going on. We got around by subway and tons of walking.

Our first day there we hit a couple of museums. Caleb's favorite was the air and space museum. We went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. We also went to the Holocaust museum. It was very crowded and very sobering.

Our second day was all about memorials. In the morning we went to Arlington National Cemetary. Because of Memorial Day, all of the grave markers had flags. While there we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And then they also did a couple of wreath ceremonies That evening we went to a improv play at the Kennedy Center and had a neat view of as schools presented wreaths to lay at the tomb and they played taps. Next we went to the Washington monument, WWII memorial, Thomas Jefferson, and FDR memorials. D.C. at night from the top of the building.

Our third day we went to the Lincoln and Korean War Memorials. At the Vietnam war memorial we saw a presentation by a group of veterans in memory of people they had served with. A park ranger stood on top of the monument and played taps. We went to the National Museum of the American Indian. There they were also doing a presentaion in the atrium. We ate lunch there--they had a huge variety of native food from different parts of the country. Then as we were walking around we found out that there was going to be a dress rehersal for the PBS Memorial Day concert on the lawn of the Capitol. This was open to the public and so we waited around to watch. It was pretty neat. A few parts were kind of funny because the real performers weren't there and the stand-ins were so different.

The next day we headed home. When we got home we watched the concert on tv to see how it was different from what we had seen the night before. It was a very fun and busy trip. Thanks Mom and Dad.

One other funny thing about the trip was that there was an annual motorcycle rally "Rolling Thunder" that weekend. This means that there were tons of bikers. Caleb and Dad had to check out a few of the crazier bikes.

Ceiling fan

Our house does not have central air and so each year we pull out all the fans and eventually window AC units to help us stay cool during the summer months. This year we decided that a ceiling fan would better circulate the air in our bedroom. So Caleb got to install one. The difficult part of this was that there was not any wiring and so he had to get wiring up the wall and across the ceiling so the fan would have power. It took half a day but now that it is done it is definitely worth it.

Flower bed

About two months ago we decided that we needed to fix up our flower bed in front of the house. We bought some stones to make a little retaining wall. Added a lot more dirt. Planted a couple of smalll bushes (that will hopefully eventually give it some height). We also planted a small tree in the front yard. Hopefully everything will grow well and next year look great. As you can see the weeds are what grow best in the flower bed--especially that morning glory stuff. We are constantly pulling it up. If only the things we plant grew as well as weeds do.

Will's Quilt

Thank you so much everyone who contributed to Will's quilt and scrapbook. This is a picture of the end result. It turned out great. It is about 5 x 6 1/2 feet big.

Shiny new floors

 For the past few weeks our house has been in upheaval as we have gotten our wood floors refinished. The main floor already had wood floors and upstairs we ripped out the old blue carpet to expose the original wood floors (in ok shape). Then we had to consolidate all the furniture--living room and kitchen in to garage. Bedroom and office in to one small room. The piano got pushed into the kitchen blocking everything else. Needless to say this made life a little complicated. We spent several days sleeping on the futon and even spent one Saturday at a hotel while they were working. Now it is all finished and we are getting done putting things back in order. The floors look great, so I guess it was worth all the inconvenience.

New Furniture

This is the new chest of drawers that we got. It consolidates our two dressers and takes up less space. We also got two matching night stands. (Also note at the bottom the beautiful old blue carpet in our bedroom.)

Playing in the Snow

In the beginning of December, the snow finally arrived in Rochester. Camberly was on nights and so after she walked home in the mornings, she would shovel six inches of snow off the driveway. Then Caleb would have to shovel again in the afternoon because there was more snow. For several days there was at least six or more inches every morning. In the winter Sadie and Sylvester don't get to play outside very often, so they love it when they get the chance. There was so much snow that it was deeper than their legs so the would jump/hop to get through the snow. Sylvester in particular loved running new paths through the backyard. They would bury their noses deep in the snow trying to smell things. When they came in they had little snow balls stuck to their fur all over their legs and bellies. When they melted they left wet spots all over the couch and floor.