Washington DC Recap

Washington DC joins Disneyworld, Disneyland and Prince Edward Island on my short list of places that were as fantastic as I imagined them to be!

I loved it all and wished I could stay longer and see EVERYTHING! (or at least more!)

As it was, we got in quite a bit on our short trip! I'm not sure five teenagers and three adults in one suburban was the best plan ever -- at moments, it super-sucked, but mostly it went very well.

Our first full day in DC, we spent the morning at the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall -- The first steps inside the doors of the museum stopped us in our tracks, on the wrong side of security! But when an aerospace explorers post (and their crazy leaders) walks through the doors to be greeted by Apollo 11, Friendship 7, Gemini IV, SPACESHIP ONE!!!!, Glamorous Glennis, the Spirit of St. Louis and more... well, we're awed.

When we left the Air and Space Museum we headed over to Arlington National Cemetery. Which is unbelievable, breathtaking, amazing... We saw the Changing of the Guard, Kennedy's eternal flame, the Columbia and Challenger memorials. I had read that one thing that makes Arlington more real and is an essential element of the experience is to seek and find a specific grave, we went in search of and found Apollo I Astronauts Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee's graves.

On our second full day, we visited the National Mall in the morning - making stops at the Jefferson, Washington, WWII, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lincoln Memorials/Monuments.

In the afternoon, we had the AMAZING experience of a private tour of the United States Capitol with a former Congressman. In addition to the usual tour stops, we got to go out on the Speaker's Balcony (BEST VIEW in DC!), up the British Stairs!, and a few other places... and we got to do the usual tour stops - on our own! This is me, standing in the dead center of the rotunda! (After that we visited the White House, too!)

Our third day included a tour with a midshipman at US Naval Academy, and a visit to NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center... and later a speedboat cruise on Baltimore Harbor!

On our final day we visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport, which is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. BEAUTIFUL. Amazing things to see! including the Enola Gay, an SR-71 Blackbird and....

Space Shuttle Discovery!

It was an INCREDIBLE trip!!

Smashbook!

I'm sorry I've continued to be a bum and not posted anything.

On the 4th of July my step-grandmother passed away and we had to drive across the country for the funeral... all was chaotic. When we returned we had only a few days till all three boys flew off to Georgia to visit their grandparents. And all continued to be chaotic! Then I had five days of quiet, kid-free time when I accomplished very little.

Now oldest and I are preparing to head off to Washington DC with his Explorer Post.

I cannot WAIT! SO EXCITING!

I've decided to attempt a new method of documenting this trip -- a Smashbook!

I want to document as I go.

So I prepped this one:

It's the black "Mod Book"
And the Mickey baggie is full of supplies...

I've got internal pockets with ready-to-use fresh-cut with my silhouette die cuts. I've got airplane friendly scissors, washi tape, my tiny attacher, extra adhesive, journal cards, a spare pen and a variety of fun paperclips.

Can't wait to get SMASHING!

Summer Reading!

No, not the kids -- though they are working on the Summer Reading Program at the local library...

ME!

What have I been reading?

Well, a little bit of everything. Here's a glimpse at some of it but this isn't all... I've had some good reading time the last month or so!

First off on the Sci Fi front -- I DEVOURED  John Scalzi's Old Man's War books! Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigade, The Last Colony, Zoe's Tale and Sagan Diary.... there will be more Scalzi in my soon-to-read. I'm saving Redshirts for my upcoming trip to Washington DC. I read the four chapter preview and it took discipline to decide to wait!

In non-fiction land... 
AJ Jacobs -- I love this guy! (If you haven't read the Year of Living Biblically I highly recommend it!!!) His new book "Drop Dead Healthy" was really interesting -- I didn't love it as much as his previous books but I still read it in less than two days, so yeah... pretty good!

 The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. Once upon a time Kevin was AJ's slave (err... unpaid intern -- did I mention you should read Year of Living Biblically?) and with AJ as a mentor experimental writing was bound to come along and this book was thoughtful and heartfelt!

Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black & White by David Barton... Wow very readable. Fascinating stuff.

Elizabeth the Queen: Life of a Modern Monarch really enjoyed this!!

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim. Unbelievably readable. Seriously addictive. Amazing book. I shocked myself by how quickly I read it and how much I adored it.

On Audio with the Little Guy, while Muppet Boy read his own copy on his Nook while out of town... Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark. You already know that I am an enormous Disneyphile. I have no idea why I waited so long to read this book but I sure enjoyed it and sharing it with my kids.

So, What have you been reading?