Circles

Magnus and Maliah entertaining themselves with a game of ‘put the dirt/leaf/seed down the drain hole’

                           

Newman Grandparent’s 25th Anniversary

Papa and Grandma Newman took a trip out to visit us at the end of Aug.  While they were here they celebrated their 25th anniversary on 30 Aug!  CONGRATS!

Arlington Co. Fair

We took the kids to the Arlington Co Fair this weekend.  It was just 8 blocks from our house, so we loaded the kids in the bike and ventured over for some rides, food and fun.  They both enjoyed the Ferris Wheel, neither were scared!  And Magnus was thrilled to ride on his first roller coaster.  

  

 

Magnus was not a thrilled, when we came back the next day, and he was picked, after volunteering, to help with the “Sue Wee Flying Pig Races.” He was instructed to stand in front of a section of the crowd and have them cheer for their pig vested with their designated color.  He basically just stood there fearful to move. But it was fun to watch the little pigs run and try to guess which one would win.  They even had a race where the pigs had a water obstacle they jumped in and swam across before getting out to finish running the rest of the race. 

Hirshhorn - Suprasensorial

The Hirshhorn’s Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color and Space, on display from Feb-Aug 2012, is meant to “create enveloping optical effects that overwhelm and transform sensory experience.” By developing large-scale, multimedia constructions of light, color, and space, these artists actively engaged viewers in a physical process of exploring the possibilities of visual and spatial perceptions, forging new object-viewer relationships.
Suprasensorial may not have been created with kids in mind, but all of the displays are interactive in some way and can be appreciated on several levels, including from a child’s perspective. The artwork is intended to immerse viewers, so they can experience light and space in new ways.
The display that the kids liked the most was “Blue Penetrable BBL.”  It was a cluster of hundred of blue nylon strings hanging from a large rectangular frame ~ 10’x30’.   You walk through them, feeling the strings swarm around you and making the open space just beyond seem to disappear. The kids wandered through it 20 times or more, interrupting the relative quite of the museum with squeals of delight.
 
We didn’t get pics of much of the rest of the exhibition, except the outside of one other “Chromosaturation.”  Inside the room is divided into three areas lit by different colors, creating an illusion of seamless space, making you feel enveloped in ethereal color. Maliah and her bunny liked to experience this piece of art from the outside.

King’s Burger

No matter how many times we say "Burger King," Magnus keeps calling it "King’s Burger."  So much so, that I now find myself saying "King’s Burger" too.  I don’t think Magnus wants to go there for their burgers, though that is what he says, he has only finished his whole burger one or two times out of the many many times we have gone to 'King’s Burger.'  But EVERY time he has been very very very excited to go on the playground. 

The first time he went, he was scared and an older boy helped escort him around (very sweet).  The next time there was no older boy… and Magnus hesitated, and stated “I need a big kid.”  But he made it.  Now he is the kid big that helps his sister navigate the tubes and tunnels.

Pretty Face

One of Malliah’s favorite outdoor activities is playing with rocks.  And more specifically licking the rocks or putting them in her mouth.  Then she takes them out gets dirt on them and licks them some more.  The next thing you know she looks like she has been eating chocolate…. nope, just dirt. : )

Natural History Museum – Insect Zoo

Madagascar hissing Cockroach
 (Gromphadorhina portentosa)

The Natural History Museum has an insert zoo where visitors can observe live inserts and their many-legged relatives. Volunteers conduct tarantula feeding demonstrations, work with live insects that visitors may touch and hold, and answer questions about the many-legged creatures that live in the Insect Zoo.

Leaf Bug (Phylliidae)

Bee Hive

And what visit to the natural history museum would be complete without visiting the dinosaurs?










Then to top it all off… we got to see a garbage truck up close!  (A year ago when we lived in FL we used to see the garbage truck every Thursday morning, and now we just see one here and there randomly when we are driving to school in the mornings, so this was a rare pleasure!)

Orchard

Other than the kids putting their hands on every fruit in the orchard's farmer’s market, the next best thing was riding the old tractors!!! (and I guess eating the fruit they put thiere hands all over.. very juicy!) We also took a trip with the beekeeper to his beehive.  And got to touch a little screened 5’x2’ cage that was holding 3 bees.  That was really exciting.  And the bee-keeper was calm even when Maliah and Magnus instinctively shook the cage.
 

National Arboretum

We decided to take a bike ride with the kids through the National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/  We had two destinations in mind.  The primary destinations was the Koi Fish Pond.  We didn’t find it… and we had talked it up a bit, so there was a little drama when we left without feeding the fish.  I have since done some more research and now know the Koi Fish Pond is at the ‘Moat Where Lilies Float‘ at the Administrative Building. So when we return next time we will get it right.  But the other destination was the Arboretum's National Capitol Columns. http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/columns.html

The stately permanence of the Corinthian columns and careful siting on a natural knoll in the Ellipse Meadow makes them seem as if they have been there for a very long time. The columns began their life on the East Portico of the Capitol in 1828, but they did not stay at the Capital. It was not until the 1980s that Arboretum benefactor Ethel Garrett took up the cause of establishing a permanent home for them at the Arboretum. The grandeur of the columns would be in scale with the more than 20 acres of open meadow, a rarity in a built up city like Washington. The columns are set on a foundation of stones from the steps that were on the east side of the Capitol. Old identification marks from the quarry are still visible on some of the stones. A reflecting pool fed by a small rivulet of water that runs down a channel in the steps reflects the columns and provides sound and movement.

Needless to say the kids loved playing in the water.  It was a hot day so the water was a welcome relief.
  
     

Great Falls National Park

At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge.  http://www.nps.gov/grfa/index.htm

It is a gorgeous site, and the kids seemed mesmerized by not only the magnitude, but the sounds and the spray and foam of the waterfalls.

    

Magnus

Not to be out-done by adorable photos of Maliah, Magnus posed for a Tough Mudder tough guy pose!

Maliah

I snapped a few adorable shots of Maliah as she played outside… but to be true to her personality, I added one of silly shots… that is still adorable nonetheless!

 

Box

After playing with water the kids next most enjoyable play activity revolves around boxes! 

WaterSlide for a weekend

We hosted a BBQ and one of the guest brought this over for the kids to play in.  Needless to say our kids loved it.  We were sad to see it have to go two days later!

National Portrait Gallery - Kogod Courtyard

The enclosed Kogod Courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery has an elegant glass canopy (designed by world–renowned architects Foster + Partners).  The roof is a wavy glass–and–steel structure that appears to float over the courtyard, letting in natural light. The double–glazed glass panels are set in a grid completely supported by eight aluminum–clad columns located around the perimeter of the courtyard so that the weight of the roof does not affect the National Historic Landmark building.  The courtyard's interior is designed with a variety of trees and plantings, as well as a unique water feature.
http://www.npg.si.edu/inform/courtyard.html
The water feature is shallow pool of water that is slowly draining across the floor.  One could easily walk through the fountain, enjoy splashing and pass a few feet beyond its borders only to find your feet completely dry. That was not the case with our visit.

At first the kids enjoyed walking over the water… but soon they were crawling and laying in the water.  Oh well.  By the end of the outing the kids were soaked and we changed them outside the museum front door in the warmth of the summer heat (and then proceeded to our car and found a $30 parking ticket for parking nose-end, versus parallel to the curb {the nose-end parking ends at 1400 on Sunday and turns into curbside parallel parking, we arrived prior to 1400 but left after1400, DOH!} ... so this trip to the museum was not free.)