Corcoran Museum

During the summer the Corcoran Museum, in downtown DC, hosts 'Free Summer Saturdays' where they host Gallery tours, workshops, demonstrations, and performances.  The Saturday that we went the kids did a
Printmaking Workshop with wood blocks and dabbled in some the sidewalk chalking.  We went home with about 20 original pieces of art. :)

Nats BallGame

Dylan and I finally made it to a Nationals ball game... it fact it was during a workday, as it was part of an afternoon out of the office for the A3C/A6C Directorate... even more fun!

At the end of the 4th Inning, the mascots, Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, run the baseline and race to finish first.  Notoriously 'Teddy' never wins, even when given a head start.

The writing on the wall (and everywhere else)

We wondered why the kids were so quite.  Ends up they were concentrating on a very large art project, that involved the wall, the blanket and themselves (arms, foreheads, and clothes). 

As we made them pose for the pictures of their creation...I don't think we got across the idea that they should be punished for this type of behavior. :)

GG's Memorial

Visit with GG at Nursing Home (Dec 2012)

GreatGrandma Micco's, aka GG to the kids, pasted away on 3 Jan 2013 (Maliah's 2nd birthday), at the age of 83.  GG had lived with Dylan's family since he was in High School, 20 years ago.  She was a sweet sweet Grandma and an even sweeter GreatGrandma.  The family waited to have a memorial for her until the summer, and coincidently it landed on 20 July, GG's birthday.  She will be greatly missed!!

K&M Newman Visit

A picture of the family with Uncle Maurice and Aunt Kathleen as they depart after their week-long visit.  We were spoiled during their visit. Aunt Kathleen came with boxes of toys and books for the kids, and every night they made us a scrumptious dinner... like surf and turf, I felt like we had ordered out from a fancy restaurant every evening!

Lily & Lotus Feastival

We went to the Kenilworth Aquatic Park for their annual Lily and Lotus festival.  It was impressive to see the abundance of Lotus flowers and Water lilies.  As we learned the flowers close when it gets above 89 or 90 degrees, and don’t open again until the next morning.  Luckily we were there before it got too hot to be able to still see some flowers. 



Budding artist drawing in the garden
(with their plastic glow-in-the-dark snakes they won at the festival)

Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens is a National Park Service site located in the north eastern corner of DC, nestled near the banks of the Anacostia River.  It preserves a plethora of rare water lilies and lotuses in the cultivated ponds near the river. The total area of the park is about 700 acres large and constitutes the water gardens, Kenilworth Marsh, ball fields, and recreational facilities.

 

 

 

Penrose Square

Penrose Square, located just two blocks South of our house, was redone this Spring and now has water fountains that the kids can play in.  It has been a pleasure to have a mini-splash park just walking distance away.  And there is a sculpture in the Park, called Echo, which apparently the kids like to play in too!


Echo consists of two concave elliptical parabolas carved into a monolith that reflects and projects sound, allowing words spoken into one stone to be heard by listeners at the other. Echo was inspired by the Three Sisters Radio Towers, formerly located nearby on Columbia Pike and Courthouse Road South.  Built in 1913 by the Navy as cutting edge technology, the Towers broadcasted the first trans-Atlantic radio signal in 1915, connecting Arlington with the Eiffel Tower.

Natural History Museum

Every time we go to the Natural History Museum we like to get a picture with the wide-mouthed hippo!  And we like to time the visit for when the insect petting/viewing zoo is open!  In April we were there for the tarantula feeding.  During our visit, the tarantula wasn't interested in his cricket lunch, so he will have to wait another week before he is offered it again! 

23 Apr

9 Jul





Croc attack in the Discovery Room



 



Madagascar hissing cockroach

Madagascar hissing cockroach

 

eastern lubber grasshopper

Heliconian Caterpillar



Tarantula viewing

Tarantula Feeding Time

Who you lookin' at?

4th of July

We dared to go down to DC for the 4th of July to watch the fireworks.  We opted to ride our bikes, which ended up to be a good idea, as most of the roads were either closed, or severely backed up, due to all the festivities.  We found a viewing spot in the grass along the reflecting pool, just 600 feet from where the fireworks were launched.  The crowds weren't too bad. With the help of noise cancelling headphones for the kids, and lot of discussion about how big and loud the fireworks would be, everyone enjoyed the firework display!  It was  great evening!