US Navy Museum

I love all the free museums here. A couple of weeks ago Diana and I took the kids to the Naval Base to see the Navy Museum. It's on the Anacostia River, which means it's in a not so good part of DC, but since we were on the base, it was very secure and safe.

We had a great time! The museum itself was really interesting. I added it to my list of places to visit with Cory, sans kids, so I can actually read and browse more thoroughly. There model ships from the earliest naval ships (Revolutionary War) to the present. The kids particuarly liked finding all the cannons/guns that they could climb on.

They were having some free crafts that day which the kids really enjoyed (particularly Lucas; he loves artsty stuff).

Making sailor valentine'sColoring Naval Officer apparel to wear (hats, badges, etc.).

4 proud Naval Officers!

The climax of the trip was the USS Barry, the decomissioned Destroyer that you could tour. Pretty cool!

There it is in the background. I didn't take pictures on the actual ship. I guess you'll have to come visit us to see that.

The Dark Knight

Cory and I saw "Batman Begins" when it came out 3 years ago. I wanted to see it because I like Christian Bale (any other Newsies fans out there?!) and Cory had no expectations. It changed our lives. OK, not really, but we liked it. A lot. We own it. So, we've been anticipating the 2nd one...

We saw it last night and WHOA. Intense. Dark. Good story. Good characters. Every bit as good as the first. If you're into that sort of thing, go see it.
If not, don't.
But we liked it.
Hoping there's a 3rd.

So You Think You Can Dance

No, but I WISH I could!

Cory and I are no strangers to dance. It may a little known fact to many of you, but Cory's mom has taught dance and owned her own dance studio for years. How could Cory not have danced with that kind of upbringing?

A few of his ribbons from dance competitions.

One of my favorite pictures.

This was Cory's first girlfriend. Well, look who's dancin' with him now, Marly.

I took clogging when I was younger but, alas, those pictures are in Utah. I took some tap classes and a jazz class at BYU. And, you know those people you've dated where you think, "now, why did we date? Because that was a really weird relationship." Well, I have one of those, but I figured out his purpose: he took me swing dancing several times, which is something I'd always wanted to do, and it was fun.

Anyway, I love dancing. In the next life I am going to be a dancer. I would love to perform on stage and really be in the dance I'm doing. But, for now...

Those who can't dance, watch. And I love to watch it -- all kinds. Well, most kinds. Contemporary is a little beyond me sometimes. So, to the point of this post, I really enjoy watching the Fox "reality" show "So You Think You Can Dance". There is some incredible dancing on there. I've even gotten Cory watching it with me and, since Scott is at our mercy as far as TV, he's watching it (and I think at least being entertained by it). They are now down to the top 8 dancers (one of them being from Utah -- woohoo!), so, uh....I recommend it.

The end.

Happy Birthday, USA

We were excited to be in DC to celebrate the 4th of July. My brother David and his wife Maida came down from Pennsylvania, and of course Scott is living with us, so we yankee doodled it all weekend.
The morning started off with a breakfast with our ward (our Church congregation) at a nearby park. The kids also got to decorate their bikes for a kid bike "parade".
That was an early start to the day so, to avoid cranky kids (and parents) we took the afternoon easy. Equipped with blankets, chairs, umbrellas, and a fried-chicken picnic, we then headed off on the metro to DC for the fireworks. We decided to view them from across the Potomac in Arlington at the Marine Memorial (Iwo Jima). About 10 minutes after getting off the metro to walk to the memorial, these speakers in the middle of the city started blaring a horn, followed by a voice that said, "Attention! Attention!" That's not really a sound anyone wants to hear, and especially in the DC area. My heart stopped for a minute and I was imagining the worst (I think all us adults were).

However, much to my relief, the voice continued, "Severe weather approaching. Seek shelter. Avoid trees." Well, you don't ignore the faceless voice blaring from the tall black speakers, so we sought shelter under an office building. Not quite what we'd imagined for our picnic, but we were all hungry, so it would have to do.

After the "severe" weather passed (some rain -- we've learned they tend to overreact to weather in this area. Everything is an emergency), we continued to the monument and found a nice place to sit right in front it. With the Iwo Jima Memorial behind us the and Washington Monument in front, we felt pretty dern proud to be Americans.

We did get rained on some more before it started; thank goodness for the umbrellas. Scott and Cory sacrificed and got soaking wet. The fireworks were a little shorter than we anticipated, but it was fun nonetheless. You couldn't beat the ambiance. Although, if you ask Gabey, he didn't think it was so great. He was screaming, "I want to go home!" through the whole show.

The ride home on the metro was crowded, but we made it back the station by our house where we'd parked our car quicker than we thought. We thought we'd be in the house by about 10:45! Ha ha ha. We were in the PARKING STRUCTURE for an hour and half. Most of that was just sitting in a line of cars not moving. We all thought that was really fun.

Anyway, it was a fun time and I really do love the 4th -- it's great to be an American!

It's Been a While

We apologize for the long delay in new posts; we were abducted by aliens.

In brief summary....

Lucas graduated from preschool,

Gabey had has last day of our co-op preschool,

(an aside to Lori Truman and those who know her: ever since I met the twin girls in our preschool -- Rachel and Lydia -- I've thought they looked like they could be your daughters. Either it's been too long since I've seen you and don't remember what you look like, or they do look like you).

I took a weekend trip to NYC with my friend Diana. We took the Chinatown bus from DC to NY, stayed with Diana's great uncle, ate yummy food, shopped, explored, came upon some street fairs, and caught the end of a dance festival with some very colorful people. It was fun...and I only took like 3 pictures. When my kids aren't around, I guess I'm just not as motivated.

In front of a cafe where we had breakfast and an amusing sign.

We got a new roommate. My brother Scott is doing an internship in DC for the summer and is living with us. I know it's been hard to leave his wife and 2 cute kiddos (who went to spend the summer with her parents in Spokane), but we have had fun having him here.

We found a new house to rent.

This is the front of the house. We're still in Alexandria and in our same ward, only about 5 minutes from our old house, but now have more room and a yard.

Oh whoops. Wrong picture. Here's the real house.

Cute, huh? We weren't fond of the front room colors so Cory and Scott did some repainting. Here are some before and after of the front room.

The red/cream-tannish were the colors of all the walls with the mustard wall as an accent. Here's what we did:

Voila! The walls are cream yellow and the windows/ railings/fireplace are chocolate sprinkle. Yummmm...we lick our walls now.

It was a lot of work, but now we want to repaint the kitchen and 2 of the bedrooms. All in due time, I suppose...

More pictures are forthcoming of the entire house once we're all put together.

That's all for now. Still worn out from the alien abduction.

We Moved

Details coming.

Lost Tooth!

What a surprise! We were eating a picnic last Wednesday when Lucas told me, "My tooth feels funny." I had noticed it looking crooked over the last couple of weeks and thought, "Wow. I didn't realize before that his teeth were so crooked. " When he noticed it "felt funny" I realized, "Duh! He has a loose tooth!"

He ws upset about it for a bit because he didn't like how it felt and was worried that it would hurt. After some talking and reassuring, he went on eating his lunch. Five minutes later, "My tooth!!" It had fallen out with a bite of his pb&j. Voila! The first lost tooth. He was VERY excited and immediately put it in an envelope and put it under his pillow.

The tooth fairy was very generous for a first tooth and left him $1 that night.
What a momentous occasion!