Digital Scrapbook II

We drove to Capital Hill on Saturday and then took the Metro to the Smithsonian stop so we could visit the Natural History Museum. Of course, we saw the gems and paid homage to the Hope Diamond. Then we visited the Butterfly Pavilion. Here are some pictures.

Only one minute left to wait for the train!

Freaky looking butterfly.

Two butterflies resting on the wall.

Too bad I didn't pay more attention to the names of these pretty things!

Hiding in the flowers. Perhaps all the little girls with cameras were too much.

In Other News...

I finished The Samaritan's Secret. I know. It's a miracle. It was an excellent little who-dunnit with the twist of providing a small amount of insight into the many Palestinian views of conflict in the Middle East. And the insight was provided without a bit of anti-Israeli rhetoric. I highly recommend it. Now I've moved onto Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. In case you've been under a rock for the past few years, Three Cups is the story of a man who wanders into a Pakistani village after failing his attempt to climb K2 and how he was so moved by the people in the village and their daily struggle to survive that he decided to build a school for them. I'm possibly the last person on earth who hasn't read this book. So far, it's pretty delightful.

Enjoy your day!

New Toys

We got wi-fi yesterday so now I can blog from anywhere in my house. If only I knew what to blog about...

Summer has really officially begun because swim practice started today. My 7 year old is making his second attempt to get on the team. The requirement is that you need to be able to swim one length of the pool. He came down with a virus the day before time trials with a fever of 102 that hung on for days. It was very tragic. I was tense for him today, but he did an excellent job! He's got two weeks of practice to hone his skills but I think he's going to do this. 

I love our swim team. It's a little neighborhood team that's very low key. It's the perfect athletic endeavor for our kids. Low emphasis on personal success. Big emphasis on fun fun fun!

We have very few other activities planned for the summer, mainly because their isn't a lot of money to pay for them but I truly enjoy having summers free. No schlepping kids to and fro from one expensive activity to another. Lots of time at the pool. Excellent tans. Time for everyone to enjoy their friends and for all of us to just be with each other. 

I do love summer.