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.

Life on the Farm

My brother John lives north of St. Paul, MN. He and his wife, Debi have enough land that they are able to have lots of animals; including dogs, rabbits and some baby ducks that pay a brief visit each spring.

Not entirely sure what this is. This animal does not reside on John's land.

This is Simon walking his dog Tickle.
Tickle loves Simon so much he has jumped in the tub with him.

These are the ducks who have come to stay until they decide to leave.

This is a huge rabbit. He's bigger than Tickle.

This is Simon feeding a horse. I like the shadows.

Simon would absolutely love a horse of his own.

With Apologies to A.A Milne

Last night, our little dog had a stroke of courage and ran up the stairs. In two years, he has not attempted this feat without one of his youthful owners standing behind him. All I can think is that the thought of being away from his two precious little boys gave him the adrenaline rush he needed to make the journey. But on his last attempt, he gave up. He stopped about midway up the staircase which caused me to remember a poem by A. A. Milne.



Halfway Down

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!

(If you own the copyright to this poem and would like it removed, please let me know.)

Enjoy your day.

Digital Scrapbook

These are pictures from our February visit to the Natural History Museum. The captions are taken from my 7 year old's scrapbook of the visit. The spelling is his.

The ruby pictured above he called "Werd."

"Thats a crstaly a blue one."

"thats the rope dimond o hell the hope dimond."

"thats a brainy rock."

"thats me touching a crsital."

"thats a quartz i almost past out."

Enjoy your day!