Daddy and Son Day

While Evan was busy earning reading awards and I was busy teaching one step equations, Wes and Keagan spent the day taking pictures. Aren't these great? 

It's a Meteroid

After spending some time outside playing in the tree line with the neighbor Mark, Evan ran inside today exclaiming, "Mom! We found a meteroid! I need my space books to look at the pictures to make sure." Up to his room he ran and a few minutes later he returned with his "Solar System Book." He and Mark, after looking at the pictures, verified it was a meteroid.

Just as the sun was setting Evan persuaded me to take a look. We tromped through the trees, crossed the golf course, and walked the golf cart path for what seemed a really long time. Along the way we discussed various characteristics of the planets. (Evan can tell you which planets are rocky, which are made of gas, and why Pluto is no longer a planet. For some reason, he is fascinated with space.) Finally, Evan said, "This is it!"

A part of the path in the backyard has been washed out by water running off the path. The path of the water left a rather big gully that looked just like the picture of the Barringer Crater formed in Arizona by a meteorite many years ago. Evan assumed that the hole in our backyard was formed by a meteorite since the shapes were similar. Surprisingly he didn't seem too upset when I told him water was the likely culprit.

President's Day

Despite Wes's warnings of big crowds and crazy traffic, the boys and I visited Mount Vernon this morning. It was free today to all visitors and several events took place in honor of Washington's birthday. We arrived in time to see the wreath laying ceremony at his grave. The honor guard lined the path to the tomb wearing 18th century war uniforms. The boys loved the costumes. We arrived at the green space in time to see the troop demonstrations and hear the musicians perform. The soldiers fired blanks from their guns and modeled different troop formations. Evan was mesmorized. We left the huge crowd early and headed to the education center to find empty seats in the Revolutionary War movie theatre. It is impressive with the seats rattling with each cannon shot, the fog rising, and the snow falling. From here we toured the rest of the museum and discussed Washington's contributions to America. Even though we had been two or three times before, Keagan didn't remember much of it. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I must admit that I couldn't believe how easy the trip was. We left as hundreds of cars were trying to find places to park. We avoided the crowds and really enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend this to any family looking for an outing.

We Finally Have Heat

Many people called, sent emails, and offered suggestions for ways that we could improve the heating situation in our house. After last month's exorbitant bill, I decided that it wasn't the size of the house or my frugality keeping us cold. The repairman said the entire unit was broken and the owners agreed to replace the unit. Last Monday we thought it was fixed and I soon learned at 2:30 in the morning that it was not. It was another very cold morning and we carried on as we had every other morning this winter. I vowed to never rent another house again (even though that is a tough promise to keep when you are at the Army's beckon call). A third service call was made on Wednesday, and the unit was "fixed" again. This weekend is the first time that we have had heat, real heat, since we moved in last fall, and our bodies are just not used to it. Evan has stripped down to underwear and a t-shirt complaining about the heat, and Keagan says he thinks he will die from the heat. All of this and the thermostat is on 64 degrees!

A Day at the Museum

We woke up to a Saturday with absolutely no plans... no soccer, no swimming, no parties, no errands, no grocery shopping. What to do with a full day on our own? We drove to the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. Even though we had been there before, the boys did not remember it. After all, Evan was only two and Keagan was "zero" years old. We thought Evan would be fascinated with the space shuttle Enterprise and the airplanes, but he really couldn’t have cared less. But I thought it was wonderful!

Both boys were more excited to see and ride the glass elevator. However, we were able to show the boys the P-38, or Lightening, the plane that Wes's grandfather Toole flew in WW2. 

We all agreed that the best part of the trip was the IMAX movie, "The Blue Planet." The big screen, the wonderful images taken of Earth from space, and the special effects made the movie memorable. Now that we have our Smithsonian membership card, we plan to return. 

You Can Take the Kid Out of Texas, but...

Before I receive comments about my boys and their state heritage, let me begin with this disclaimer. Technically Keagan cannot be considered a Texan, but in my mind, he is a Texan because he can't be German (his place of birth) and he is certainly not a Virginian. Hum...

Even though we are Texans, I never, ever thought that my boys would own cowboy hats. However, last week I had to run to Target. Keagan was adamant about wearing the cowboy hat that was a part of Evan's Halloween costume three years ago. I conceded and you should have seen the looks of the people that passed us walking down the aisles. I guess it did look a little out of place. After all, we aren't in Texas.